So Prime Minister Harper is meeting the Governor General on Sunday to ask for an election. His official reason is that Parliament is dysfunctional and the opposition has lost confidence in his government. The facts are that Harper has led one of the longest lasting, if not the longest lasting, minority governments in Canadian history. He has stated publicly that he has accomplished all five of his policy priorities.
Parliament has clearly not been dysfunctional and since it is not sitting it is a puzzle how he can say it is dysfunctional now. That is unfortunately a logical concern and logic has nothing to do with political expediency.
Harper says the opposition has lost confidence in his government. Again how do we know that? Just saying it does not make it so Mr. Prime Minister. Parliament is not scheduled to sit until September 15 and it is impossible to know what the Prime Minister’s legislative intent is. Mr. Harper has met with the other party leaders and demanded compliance but did not say to what proposals or public policy ends. Harper has not said anything about those inconvenient details to the citizens of Canada either. How does he know that? How can he be certain he has lost the confidence of Parliament without actually testing it in the House of Commons?
Harper wants an election now purely for his own sly and slippery reasons. He wants the voters to pay over $400,000,000.00 just so he can push for personal power and then expect us to forget and forgive him for this waste of our time and useless squandering taxpayer money.
I hope the Governor General does not take Mr. Harper at his word about the loss of confidence in his government. I hope she demands he prove it by opening Parliament and then presenting a real non-confidence Bill. Please don’t insult Parliament and Canadians again with a phony piece of superficial legislation that he personally deems to be a confidence matter. We have seen say too much of that insipid game of political chicken Harper he has played for the past Parliaments.
Without proof, I think the Governor General is within her rights to tell her Prime Minister that she refuses the ruse. I hope she asks for some real proof of his self-pronounced non-confidence in his government. That will only happen in Harper losing a vote on a serious matter in the House of Commons. That has not happened yet. That means Harper is premature in his push for an election.
Respect for the Rule of Law and our Constitutional Conventions are critical issues for Mr. Harper to earn and sustain the respect of the citizens of Canada…who are after all his true political masters. His wanton disrespect for the real concerns of citizens along with his pointless waste of taxpayer money on an unnecessary election will be at his peril! It proves he is not fit to govern us if he can't even govern himself.
Citizens will not look kindly on Harper spending $400,000,000.00 of their hard earned money just because it is to his advantage in seeking more power. That is serious money that could go into improving health care access or protecting our food supply or fixing climate change. It is not public money that is well spent just to feed his personal partisan hubris and help him preserve and promote his passion for political bullying.
I implore the Governor General to take her Prime Minister to task on Sunday and require that he actually proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, with substantive evidence, that he has actually lost the confidence of the House of Commons. Tough to do when the House is not even sitting.
If she is satisfied there is actual proof of non-confidence on the basis of substantive evidence, when the meet this Sunday, then let the "games" begin. If she is not so satisfied, then I implore her to stop the gamesmanship and insist that her Prime Minister govern until he actually loses the confidence of the House in a real vote of non-confidence on a matter of substance - not superciliousness.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Palin Proved Herself
Sarah proved herself last night but did she improve the chances of the Republican ticket to win beyond reinvigorating the Base? The social conservative base is now shored up and will now show up to vote for Sarah. They will hold their nose over McCain if the Republicans win, Sarah will be the most powerful Vice President in the history of the United States.
The crowd was smaller at the Convention last night to listen to Sarah and the parade of the Republican also-rans. Will they show up tonight for McCain? Pretty certain he will have a larger audience, but he will not draw a crowd of 84,000 like Obama did last week - unless perhaps, they let the protesters in the hall.
The Republicans after Republican speaker last night showed a remarkable ability to make a virtue out of necessity. They retreated to their default positions of government is bad, taxes are bad, media is bad, science is bad, fear is good and without fear you can’t have nor enjoy freedom. Anyone can succeed if they work hard and follow Republican values. Anyone who disagrees with them is an enemy and freedom is all about a fight. Fighting is required to deal with those who are different from us and they must be attacked for being different.
With fear as their main motivation the Republicans returned to their roots last night and put away any more talk of the all too liberal McCain as a maverick. McCain was brought to heel last night and he will be trained to rollover next.
That said, Palin was personally impressive last night. She proved herself as a formidable and an effective speaker. She was consistent with her billing as a feisty hockey mom of considerable conviction over guns, abortion, taxes, sex education, fighting your enemy and a fundamentalist belief in God and country. She revels in being in the outsider role and is an adamant anti-elitist and anti-intellectual…she feeds on the raw meat of the basic Republican Party rhetoric.
Her defense of her political and governing experience was laudable and credible. Her skewering of the traditional enemies of down-home Republican ideology was masterful. She did an excellent job in achieving her goals. She was under considerable pressure and had lots of presumptions and prejudices to overcome. I don’t think this was a triumph based on any lowered expectations about her. I think she was masterful in how she rose above cackling of the critics and the quipsters, including me.
After listening carefully last night, my overall impression is that Sarah Palin is a Donald Rumsfeld clone. Like Rummy she will often be wrong but never in doubt. If the Republicans win she will be a dangerous force in her decisions and dealings with a diverse and difficult world she will refuse to try and understand. For example, in her speech last night she said she felt no need to consider dealing with the enemies of America by “reading them their rights.” That was chilling. So much for the Republican view of the laudable American principle of “Freedom and Justice for All” contained in the American Pledge of Allegiance. That Pledge was eloquently and ironically spoken and sung after her speech last night!
Republicans last night showed their true colours, and there are only have two of them… black or white. In the heart and soul of the Republican base you are either for us or against us. As for nuance and respect for differences and efforts at understanding and inclusion, well that is for sissies!
Now the race for President, the prize being the most important and powerful office in the world, should shift and be about platforms, character, personal capacities and the skills of the candidates. The battle for power must now be on the really serious issues. The campaign must now be more about helping the American voter better understanding the differences and preferences between the world view of the Republican and Democrat options. The media has a serious role to play in making this campaign shift to substance over abuse.
The choices being offered are well defined and starkly different. Are Americans going to be motivated by fear or hope? Are they going to adapt to the needs of tomorrow or try to perfect yesterday? Do they want to lead the need to change or choose to deny the need to change? Do they want to be measured by the power of their example or the example of their power? Are they going to be engaged in the world as a beacon of hope or retreat to fortress USA?
Some fundamental religious terrorists “took Manhattan.” Will Americans now build more walls on their borders and in their hearts? Will they become Berlin? An anxious world wants to know and needs to know.
The crowd was smaller at the Convention last night to listen to Sarah and the parade of the Republican also-rans. Will they show up tonight for McCain? Pretty certain he will have a larger audience, but he will not draw a crowd of 84,000 like Obama did last week - unless perhaps, they let the protesters in the hall.
The Republicans after Republican speaker last night showed a remarkable ability to make a virtue out of necessity. They retreated to their default positions of government is bad, taxes are bad, media is bad, science is bad, fear is good and without fear you can’t have nor enjoy freedom. Anyone can succeed if they work hard and follow Republican values. Anyone who disagrees with them is an enemy and freedom is all about a fight. Fighting is required to deal with those who are different from us and they must be attacked for being different.
With fear as their main motivation the Republicans returned to their roots last night and put away any more talk of the all too liberal McCain as a maverick. McCain was brought to heel last night and he will be trained to rollover next.
That said, Palin was personally impressive last night. She proved herself as a formidable and an effective speaker. She was consistent with her billing as a feisty hockey mom of considerable conviction over guns, abortion, taxes, sex education, fighting your enemy and a fundamentalist belief in God and country. She revels in being in the outsider role and is an adamant anti-elitist and anti-intellectual…she feeds on the raw meat of the basic Republican Party rhetoric.
Her defense of her political and governing experience was laudable and credible. Her skewering of the traditional enemies of down-home Republican ideology was masterful. She did an excellent job in achieving her goals. She was under considerable pressure and had lots of presumptions and prejudices to overcome. I don’t think this was a triumph based on any lowered expectations about her. I think she was masterful in how she rose above cackling of the critics and the quipsters, including me.
After listening carefully last night, my overall impression is that Sarah Palin is a Donald Rumsfeld clone. Like Rummy she will often be wrong but never in doubt. If the Republicans win she will be a dangerous force in her decisions and dealings with a diverse and difficult world she will refuse to try and understand. For example, in her speech last night she said she felt no need to consider dealing with the enemies of America by “reading them their rights.” That was chilling. So much for the Republican view of the laudable American principle of “Freedom and Justice for All” contained in the American Pledge of Allegiance. That Pledge was eloquently and ironically spoken and sung after her speech last night!
Republicans last night showed their true colours, and there are only have two of them… black or white. In the heart and soul of the Republican base you are either for us or against us. As for nuance and respect for differences and efforts at understanding and inclusion, well that is for sissies!
Now the race for President, the prize being the most important and powerful office in the world, should shift and be about platforms, character, personal capacities and the skills of the candidates. The battle for power must now be on the really serious issues. The campaign must now be more about helping the American voter better understanding the differences and preferences between the world view of the Republican and Democrat options. The media has a serious role to play in making this campaign shift to substance over abuse.
The choices being offered are well defined and starkly different. Are Americans going to be motivated by fear or hope? Are they going to adapt to the needs of tomorrow or try to perfect yesterday? Do they want to lead the need to change or choose to deny the need to change? Do they want to be measured by the power of their example or the example of their power? Are they going to be engaged in the world as a beacon of hope or retreat to fortress USA?
Some fundamental religious terrorists “took Manhattan.” Will Americans now build more walls on their borders and in their hearts? Will they become Berlin? An anxious world wants to know and needs to know.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Sarah is Palin' and McCain is Too!
Sarah is Palin’ and McCain is too. Obama gets a big time Democratic Convention Bounce.
McCain is getting so beat up over his impulsive judgment or lack of judgment about his choice of Sarah Palin for VP that he needs political crutches to get around. Saying a thorough vetting was done in a day and a 3 hour interview to pick a person who has the potential to be the leader of the free world is not about good governance. It is about pure politics.
Too bad our Westminster system of governance does not provide for a Ticket approach to electing leaders like the Americans have. I figure Sarah Palin would be a perfect choice for Harper's Deputy Prime Minister. We see many Canadians in envy of the American political and electoral process - maybe we should borrow a page and have a leadership Ticket.
Seems as if Sarah used to be part of an Alaskan Independence movement and wanted to have Alaska separate from the US. So that tells me she has some sensitivity if not real insight into Canadian politics already.
Reality check!!!
Does anyone believe for a minute Harper would actually allow anyone to be designated Deputy Prime Minister, even someone as perfect as Palin, given his control freak fetish. Not going to happen. Harper believes in the Power of One and is a team of one.
McCain is getting so beat up over his impulsive judgment or lack of judgment about his choice of Sarah Palin for VP that he needs political crutches to get around. Saying a thorough vetting was done in a day and a 3 hour interview to pick a person who has the potential to be the leader of the free world is not about good governance. It is about pure politics.
Too bad our Westminster system of governance does not provide for a Ticket approach to electing leaders like the Americans have. I figure Sarah Palin would be a perfect choice for Harper's Deputy Prime Minister. We see many Canadians in envy of the American political and electoral process - maybe we should borrow a page and have a leadership Ticket.
Seems as if Sarah used to be part of an Alaskan Independence movement and wanted to have Alaska separate from the US. So that tells me she has some sensitivity if not real insight into Canadian politics already.
Reality check!!!
Does anyone believe for a minute Harper would actually allow anyone to be designated Deputy Prime Minister, even someone as perfect as Palin, given his control freak fetish. Not going to happen. Harper believes in the Power of One and is a team of one.
If Emerson is Leaving Politics He Should Take Harper With Him
It will not be a surprise if David Emerson were to bow out of politics. He has a corporate, not a political, temperament. He was a progressive as a Liberal MP but, in a naive belief that holding political power was the only way to make a difference, he defected to the Harper Neo-Cons. He fit in like an Armani suit at a NASCAR racetrack.
He was a competent Minister but never an easy philosophical fit into the socially conservative culture of the Harper-Cons. To prove his defector bona fides to Harper he sold out his own forestry industry to the US softwood lumber protectionist interests. He did that to prove to Harper that he was truly worthy of trust by Harper as Prime Minister. Note that Harper himself is a man who has repeatedly and easily breach the public trust as a matter of pride and penchant.
By agreeing to a really bad softwood lumber deal he knocked the skids out of the Canadian forest industry who had been effectively battling the American protectionists in the courts and trade forums. Emerson's sell-out meant that he passed Harper’s gang-land-type test of his partisan loyalty. Emerson then threatened the forest industry with dire consequences if they opposed ratification of the “deal.” The industry was so vulnerable at the time – and still is thanks to the shoddy Emerson deal – that they merely succumbed to the Harper ratification extortion.
Emerson pushed the “softwood settlement” down the throats of industry again to satisfy Harper’s agenda and demands. Harper blithely and quickly accepted an out-dated and seriously flawed US softwood offer that had been constantly rejected for many years and for good cause. Why did Harper take such a shabby softwood deal in the first place? His goal was to cater to George Bush and curry American political favour of course.
Harper also wanted a political PR stunt to show he was no ditherer a la Paul Martin. Yes sir Harper was a man of action and decisiveness What he actually did was prove to us what a bad political mind and expedient economic manager he actually is by taking this smelly softwood deal. Harper’s penchant for political expediency and pandering to the Bush White House also illustrated just how decisively he will follow his blind spots. His political, economic and US relations judgment came into question over the softwood lumber deal and persist today. He is prone to situational ethics and has no scruples about making politically stupid and economically damaging decisions…so long as it serves his personal political ends.
We have often seen Harper’s ineptitude and improvisational policy making with his penchant for political pandering. He demands respect instead of earning it. He delights in micro-managing and message control, He relished chances at bullying - including his own people, all for purposes of personal political power.
Harper has shown us these true colours for almost 3 years now. Harper has had is chance. The goofy experiment we Canadians have conducted in trying to find a reason to trust Stephen Harper is over. He has obvious character flaws and he frequently fails in his duty of service to the public interest. He has shown a chronic and continuing lack of any real leadership sophistication and governance skill but is a black-belt in cheap political tactics and media manipulation techniques.
If he calls his phony election, Canadians need to show up at the polls and tell him, in no uncertain terms, it is time for him to go. The electoral experiment of governing the country his way and for his ends only is over.
He was a competent Minister but never an easy philosophical fit into the socially conservative culture of the Harper-Cons. To prove his defector bona fides to Harper he sold out his own forestry industry to the US softwood lumber protectionist interests. He did that to prove to Harper that he was truly worthy of trust by Harper as Prime Minister. Note that Harper himself is a man who has repeatedly and easily breach the public trust as a matter of pride and penchant.
By agreeing to a really bad softwood lumber deal he knocked the skids out of the Canadian forest industry who had been effectively battling the American protectionists in the courts and trade forums. Emerson's sell-out meant that he passed Harper’s gang-land-type test of his partisan loyalty. Emerson then threatened the forest industry with dire consequences if they opposed ratification of the “deal.” The industry was so vulnerable at the time – and still is thanks to the shoddy Emerson deal – that they merely succumbed to the Harper ratification extortion.
Emerson pushed the “softwood settlement” down the throats of industry again to satisfy Harper’s agenda and demands. Harper blithely and quickly accepted an out-dated and seriously flawed US softwood offer that had been constantly rejected for many years and for good cause. Why did Harper take such a shabby softwood deal in the first place? His goal was to cater to George Bush and curry American political favour of course.
Harper also wanted a political PR stunt to show he was no ditherer a la Paul Martin. Yes sir Harper was a man of action and decisiveness What he actually did was prove to us what a bad political mind and expedient economic manager he actually is by taking this smelly softwood deal. Harper’s penchant for political expediency and pandering to the Bush White House also illustrated just how decisively he will follow his blind spots. His political, economic and US relations judgment came into question over the softwood lumber deal and persist today. He is prone to situational ethics and has no scruples about making politically stupid and economically damaging decisions…so long as it serves his personal political ends.
We have often seen Harper’s ineptitude and improvisational policy making with his penchant for political pandering. He demands respect instead of earning it. He delights in micro-managing and message control, He relished chances at bullying - including his own people, all for purposes of personal political power.
Harper has shown us these true colours for almost 3 years now. Harper has had is chance. The goofy experiment we Canadians have conducted in trying to find a reason to trust Stephen Harper is over. He has obvious character flaws and he frequently fails in his duty of service to the public interest. He has shown a chronic and continuing lack of any real leadership sophistication and governance skill but is a black-belt in cheap political tactics and media manipulation techniques.
If he calls his phony election, Canadians need to show up at the polls and tell him, in no uncertain terms, it is time for him to go. The electoral experiment of governing the country his way and for his ends only is over.
Friday, August 29, 2008
More Palin for VP talk
So here is the GOP VP Nominee - Sarah Palin. This clip is last year in response to the rumours she may be considered for the VP lsot.
This shows how the old-boy sexist Republicans saw her. Nice to see a woman nominee. Too bad she may be an example of gender tokenism.
She is pretty stong politically. She brought Big Oil to its knees on fraud charges over Alaska resource royalites.
She is tough and competent and the real political maverick on the McCain-Palin ticket.
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