How much “confidence” can the Harper Cons handle? How much do they deserve? They have made a mockery of the idea of confidence votes claiming virtually every Commons vote to be a confidence vote. This was a vain attempt at trying to trigger a needless and pointless early election. The con the Harper Cons are perpetrating now is even more ridiculous.
Yesterday they put the Con back in confidence with the allegations of doctored tapes of Harper recorded comments on the Cadman Affair. Their dumb and dumber diatribe over such superficial allegations underscores the propensity of the PMO for message control and media manipulation. This latest episode of the decline and eventual demise of the Harper “government” has taken on a theater of the absurd quality.
The latest Con claims of “doctored audio tapes claiming alleged changes in the “meaning” of the Prime Minister’s comments about a million dollar insurance offer to Mr. Cadman for his vote is as worrisome as it is laughable. Such efforts of diversion of media attention are not new with this “government.”
The thick binder of “evidence” presented at the “news” conference was to confirm the tape contained “edits” seems to be more voluminous than luminous. Author Tom Zytaruk, who did the recording of the PM for the Cadman book he was writing, explained the “edits” in the Globe and Mail today. He says he stopped the tape “…momentarily when he thought Mr. Harper had finished speaking. When Mr Harper turned back Mr. Zytaruk resumed taping. He (Zytaruk) insisted that neither he nor Mr. Harper said anything during the interruption.” Over to you and to your audio experts Mr. Prime Minister. Rebut that please.
The story gets richer. The PM has sued the Liberals for libel but he has not taken action against the book publisher nor the author, who did the taping where the claims originated. The doctored tape claims appear strangely political don’t you think? Strangely political goes even further in this farce.
The con the Harpercrits are perpetrating goes further into the absurd. According to news report they have applied to the Ontario Superior Court to seek an injunction to stop the Liberals from using the tape…but they don’t want the matter dealt with until Sept 18. The sense of urgency to protect the PM’s reputation in these circumstances is underwhelming. Clearly there is no concern over the potential damage that these so-called “doctored tapes” might cause to the PM’s reputation and standing in the community as a result of the alleged libel can wait 3 or 4 months to be dealt with. Could it be the Cons are trying to use the courts for political purposes? Say it ain’t so Steve!
The news reports show the Cons evidence to back up such claims of “doctoring” is scant to say the most. The posturing and posing by the Harper political and Orwellian message machine is beyond suspicion. It is so far past being ludicrous.
This is not about remedying a damaged personal reputation or seeking justice for a wrong. It is the same old – same old Cons pursuing a purely political agenda. This is about them using their tried and true political tools of message control, bluster and bullying.
This will not help the Harper Cons gain the trust and respect of Canadians they need to get a majority – or even win the next election. The confidence of the people in the face of the con being perpetrated by the Conservative “government” is now an open and undecided question for the Canadian voters. This latest Harper Cons misadventure and political ridiculousness will move the needle of public opinion but not the way the Harper manipulation machine intended.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Obama and Clinton Have Each Made An Impression - Neither Has Made History --- NOT YET!
The woman and the black man have both made an impression but neither one has made history…at least not yet.
For that to happen Obama has to win the Presidency. My money is on him. McCain is so 1975 and the disgruntled Hilary Democrats have nowhere else to go but to Obama– and the dare not stay home if they want to retake the prize - the White House.
There are a swack of 60’s feminists in my circle of friends that are mighty pissed at the Democratic Primary results. They are not American but the shared sisterhood in the States will not vote ever Republican nor for McCain...regardless of how angry and frustrated they feel. To not vote would belie their foundational belief in the democratic system and devalue their heartfelt desire for a female US President.
A female US President is inevitable because the odds favour it…the first female President is just not going to be Hillary. I say inevitable because of the number of women in the American voting pool is over 50%. All they have to do is get their act together, consolidate their political power and show up. They did for Hillary but it was not done well. the Clinton campaign was too presumptive and noblese oblige in tone. They old line campaign style was not able to deliver in the face of the phenomenon that was to be Obama.
The American voting pool for a black President is only about 10% and shrinking. So the Democratic nominee being black is ACTUALLY against all odds and that is the truly astounding thing. It is not quite a hundred years since women got the right to vote in America. For the first female candidate with as shot at the White House in 2008 is as impressive as it is saddening in its delay and disappointing result.
It has been about two centuries since the American stopped the slave trade. That factoid alone underscores the enormous impact of the Obama nomination and the significance it means for America and its place in the world. If Obama becomes President – and I hope he does, then America can once again aspire to become a beacon of hope and a place of promise, and an example of principled significance in the world. For the past 8 years of Bush-Cheney it has been anything but anything close to those aspirations.
Campaigns matter. The real campaign - McCain-Obama has been tepid and tentative so far...but that is about to change immediately. The next phase of selecting the "leader" of the free world is about to begin with a vengeance. Stay tuned. It is going to be significant. to you no matter where you live on the planet.
For that to happen Obama has to win the Presidency. My money is on him. McCain is so 1975 and the disgruntled Hilary Democrats have nowhere else to go but to Obama– and the dare not stay home if they want to retake the prize - the White House.
There are a swack of 60’s feminists in my circle of friends that are mighty pissed at the Democratic Primary results. They are not American but the shared sisterhood in the States will not vote ever Republican nor for McCain...regardless of how angry and frustrated they feel. To not vote would belie their foundational belief in the democratic system and devalue their heartfelt desire for a female US President.
A female US President is inevitable because the odds favour it…the first female President is just not going to be Hillary. I say inevitable because of the number of women in the American voting pool is over 50%. All they have to do is get their act together, consolidate their political power and show up. They did for Hillary but it was not done well. the Clinton campaign was too presumptive and noblese oblige in tone. They old line campaign style was not able to deliver in the face of the phenomenon that was to be Obama.
The American voting pool for a black President is only about 10% and shrinking. So the Democratic nominee being black is ACTUALLY against all odds and that is the truly astounding thing. It is not quite a hundred years since women got the right to vote in America. For the first female candidate with as shot at the White House in 2008 is as impressive as it is saddening in its delay and disappointing result.
It has been about two centuries since the American stopped the slave trade. That factoid alone underscores the enormous impact of the Obama nomination and the significance it means for America and its place in the world. If Obama becomes President – and I hope he does, then America can once again aspire to become a beacon of hope and a place of promise, and an example of principled significance in the world. For the past 8 years of Bush-Cheney it has been anything but anything close to those aspirations.
Campaigns matter. The real campaign - McCain-Obama has been tepid and tentative so far...but that is about to change immediately. The next phase of selecting the "leader" of the free world is about to begin with a vengeance. Stay tuned. It is going to be significant. to you no matter where you live on the planet.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Harper Cons Claim Libs "Doctored" Cadman Tapes
How B-grade Hollywood can you get. The Cons have continued to embarrass themselves over this sad and sordid matter.and not they are actually caricaturing themselves with such silly pronouncements.
I wonder who will the equivalent to the former Bush White House Press Secretary, Mr. Scott McClellan? Who in the Conservative brain trust will do the ultimate tell-all-tales and expose the back-room-truths about this group of non-governing Harper Con goofuses in what ought to a best selling Canadian book - meaning it might sell 5000 copies!
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Alberta Venture and the Ethics of Executive Pay.
The June issue of Alberta Venture magazine is out. The "The Right Call" business ethics column this month is on executive pay. The panel this week is me from Cambridge Strategies Inc., Janet Keeping from the Sheldon Chumir Foundation and Harold Milavsky of Quantico Capital Corporation. Fil Fraser moderates once again.
We can look at this in terms of pay for politicians now too with the hefty raises recently passed in the Alberta Legislature. Here is a link to my earlier blog post on that issue.
Give the column a read and let me know your thoughts.
We can look at this in terms of pay for politicians now too with the hefty raises recently passed in the Alberta Legislature. Here is a link to my earlier blog post on that issue.
Give the column a read and let me know your thoughts.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Is Harper on the Right Track or is He a Divisive Force in Canada?
The latest Ipsos Reid poll is at best a foreboding and foreshadowing for the future of Mr. Harper’s minority government. The wisdom of the public is reflected in that the Bernier affair has not changed the overall support rankings of the various political parties. It should not – at least not yet, until we know more about what went on with the security breach around the classified Cabinet documents.
The troubling trend for me in the new poll is the fracturing of the country on regional lines. Harper is a growing lightning rod for the fragmentation of the country based on perceptions of if the country is on the right track as a nation and the support to re-elect Harper's government.
His support for putting the country on the right track is regionalized from a high of 64% support in Alberta to a low of 48% in British Columbia. This is getting translated into growing questions about if the Harper government should be re-elected. There is a majority in Atlantic Canada (56%) and in Quebec (53%) who do not want the Harper government back. Only 48% of B.C. and 47% of Ontarians think Harper should be re-elected.
The lack of a forward thinking policy agenda from Harper’s “team” (sic) is now being talked about too as a growing concern. Tepid support for Harper being on the right track for the country and the growing sense he has no vision for the direction of the country and he is a divisive force will start to show his weaknesses as a leader.
We don’t need a manager as our Prime Minister. We need a leader we can trust and depend on. Harper has been positioned as a manager, a control freak and a master message manipulator, but that is not the stuff of a Prime Minister. Canadians are quickly coming to that realization and the new Ipsos Reid poll is showing this awareness which will be growing in the 17 months until the next election.
The troubling trend for me in the new poll is the fracturing of the country on regional lines. Harper is a growing lightning rod for the fragmentation of the country based on perceptions of if the country is on the right track as a nation and the support to re-elect Harper's government.
His support for putting the country on the right track is regionalized from a high of 64% support in Alberta to a low of 48% in British Columbia. This is getting translated into growing questions about if the Harper government should be re-elected. There is a majority in Atlantic Canada (56%) and in Quebec (53%) who do not want the Harper government back. Only 48% of B.C. and 47% of Ontarians think Harper should be re-elected.
The lack of a forward thinking policy agenda from Harper’s “team” (sic) is now being talked about too as a growing concern. Tepid support for Harper being on the right track for the country and the growing sense he has no vision for the direction of the country and he is a divisive force will start to show his weaknesses as a leader.
We don’t need a manager as our Prime Minister. We need a leader we can trust and depend on. Harper has been positioned as a manager, a control freak and a master message manipulator, but that is not the stuff of a Prime Minister. Canadians are quickly coming to that realization and the new Ipsos Reid poll is showing this awareness which will be growing in the 17 months until the next election.
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