There is a new way to see the Canadian elections - through the eyes of creative citizens who are engaged. You should be too. I love this reality take on Dion. He is the best choice. Harper is a clear and present threat to democracy in Canada
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Harper's Policy on Afghanistan - Nothing New! How Come?
Harper’s first substantial policy announcement this election is a pullout of Afghanistan in 2011. More muddle from a man who would be king. Makes you wonder if this is not just more Harper pandering to Quebec voters, given the timing and the lack of substance to the “policy” position.
Dear readers, this Troop announcement is not news and it is not new…in fact it is not even original to Harper. This is one of the major facts that run contrary to his allegations of a dysfunctional Parliament. The commitment for a 2011 troop return was a decision supported by every party in the last Parliament.
I would have thought Harper would have come up with something original or at least more meat and meaning for such an important policy position. If he wants to be open, accountable and transparent one would hope for something of substance in such an announcement that he could personally take some credit for instead of this rehash of old ideas.
My take is he is not serious about this announcement. It is pure political messaging to Quebec and he has no more intention of keeping to this promise than he did for Income Trusts. If I am right then this is just another bur more shameful exercise of Harper’s style of pandering politics.
So much for a dysfunctional Parliament! So much for Harper trying to make this all-party political on the Afghan troop timing look like it is his alone. More proof Mr. Harper is not a leader. He is a misleader.
Dear readers, this Troop announcement is not news and it is not new…in fact it is not even original to Harper. This is one of the major facts that run contrary to his allegations of a dysfunctional Parliament. The commitment for a 2011 troop return was a decision supported by every party in the last Parliament.
I would have thought Harper would have come up with something original or at least more meat and meaning for such an important policy position. If he wants to be open, accountable and transparent one would hope for something of substance in such an announcement that he could personally take some credit for instead of this rehash of old ideas.
My take is he is not serious about this announcement. It is pure political messaging to Quebec and he has no more intention of keeping to this promise than he did for Income Trusts. If I am right then this is just another bur more shameful exercise of Harper’s style of pandering politics.
So much for a dysfunctional Parliament! So much for Harper trying to make this all-party political on the Afghan troop timing look like it is his alone. More proof Mr. Harper is not a leader. He is a misleader.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Greens Get to Debate. Harper and Layton Fold. Canadians Win!
Green lights for Elizabeth May! She is the election debates. YES!!!!
The forces of evil (Harper and Layton) have been vanquished…or at least they are humbled and brought to heel...by the power of engaged and enraged citizenship. Good start Canada. Now keep it up for the rest of this unnecessary and expensive election.
This is what can happen when citizens take back the power from the politicians and the patricians. This election is not the private property of the politicians and the political parties. Elections are about citizens deciding what is important going forward and who they dare trust to move us forward in the best way possible.
Good start Canada. Now keep up the good work and let Harper know we don’t buy his phony excuses about why we are paying $400,000,000 for an unnecessary election. It is not appropriate for him to screw us around just because he wants majority and has his heart set on breaking and bankrupting the Liberals...just for his personal political and power hungry purposes...and the hell with democracy.
Tell Duceppe he was right to move off the national stage as he thought to do earlier this term. The option open to him now is not the leadership of the Quebec PQ but to get off the national political stage entirely - and preferably PDQ!
Tell Layton to quit worrying if May is eating his political lunch – she is! Deal with it like a statesman not an henchman. If Layton is so delusional that he thinks we will buy his pretense that he is the Canadian Obama, he doesn’t know Jack…but we Canadians do! Give him a reality check.
Stephane – you need to start getting busier and bolder about explaining what will be the dire consequences to Canada if Harper get to have his way with us...not just a majority government...if any kind of Harper government.
Thoughtful progressive Canadians can't afford to abdicate our responsibility for active political engagement. It is our duty and our obligations to define OUR sense of democracy and not delegate it to Harper.
Cynicism is not an option – unless you want Harper to take over everything and control all of us like he does his caucus. Harper will end up ruling over us like a mini-me combination of George Bush and the Dick known as Cheney.
BTW:
Observation on the stupidest media question the campaign so far…to Steve Harper about what kind of vegetable he would be…if he were one! Most telling political answer given in the campaign so far! Harper’s reply to the stupidest question! He would rather be a fruit…! He is right. He would not be sweet and colourful as he aspires and alleges. He is a fruit, a prickly pear…pure and simple...but without appeal. (sic).
The forces of evil (Harper and Layton) have been vanquished…or at least they are humbled and brought to heel...by the power of engaged and enraged citizenship. Good start Canada. Now keep it up for the rest of this unnecessary and expensive election.
This is what can happen when citizens take back the power from the politicians and the patricians. This election is not the private property of the politicians and the political parties. Elections are about citizens deciding what is important going forward and who they dare trust to move us forward in the best way possible.
Good start Canada. Now keep up the good work and let Harper know we don’t buy his phony excuses about why we are paying $400,000,000 for an unnecessary election. It is not appropriate for him to screw us around just because he wants majority and has his heart set on breaking and bankrupting the Liberals...just for his personal political and power hungry purposes...and the hell with democracy.
Tell Duceppe he was right to move off the national stage as he thought to do earlier this term. The option open to him now is not the leadership of the Quebec PQ but to get off the national political stage entirely - and preferably PDQ!
Tell Layton to quit worrying if May is eating his political lunch – she is! Deal with it like a statesman not an henchman. If Layton is so delusional that he thinks we will buy his pretense that he is the Canadian Obama, he doesn’t know Jack…but we Canadians do! Give him a reality check.
Stephane – you need to start getting busier and bolder about explaining what will be the dire consequences to Canada if Harper get to have his way with us...not just a majority government...if any kind of Harper government.
Thoughtful progressive Canadians can't afford to abdicate our responsibility for active political engagement. It is our duty and our obligations to define OUR sense of democracy and not delegate it to Harper.
Cynicism is not an option – unless you want Harper to take over everything and control all of us like he does his caucus. Harper will end up ruling over us like a mini-me combination of George Bush and the Dick known as Cheney.
BTW:
Observation on the stupidest media question the campaign so far…to Steve Harper about what kind of vegetable he would be…if he were one! Most telling political answer given in the campaign so far! Harper’s reply to the stupidest question! He would rather be a fruit…! He is right. He would not be sweet and colourful as he aspires and alleges. He is a fruit, a prickly pear…pure and simple...but without appeal. (sic).
The Internet is a Political Game Changer.
The Harper recent apology for the continuation of pooping puffin bullying of Dion on another campaign website is merely an attempt to cut the story short in the MSM. And it will likely do the trick.
The problem is in the Internet age is the story never dies. It may go dormant but it lives on through the search engines – for-friggin’-ever. It will resurrect in the strangest places and times and can get a new life in a different context and hound Dion and hopefully Harper too.
Political campaigns are very different these days. More people than ever are getting their political news from the Internet. A June Pew Institute Report on the 2008 American election shows 46% of Americans use the Internet to get political news AND share their thoughts. “Online video and social networking sites have taken off, according to the study done by Princeton Survey research Associates for Pew.
The ancient ploy of politicians refusing to talk to reporters to take the oxygen out of a story is not as effective as it once was. YouTube has become a preeminent source of video on candidate’s comments and carryings-on. The study found that 39% of internet users go online to read and watch “unfiltered” campaign material. In case you think it is just kids and propeller heads that are doing this online, 29% of all adults are accessing campaign information that is “unfiltered.”
The Internet is not a panacea for participatory democracy but it is a game changing campaign tool. There is no doubt that the Internet is notorious for being replete with misinformation. Just like the Harper election campaign. When it is good, it is very good…and when it is bad it can be devastating and dangerous. Just like the mainstream media.
So who can we trust to tell the truth? How do we get authoritative and authentic information about who we can trust to run our country and speak in our name? The traditional news media has started to catch on and realize that they are being played by political campaigns. The games get played out in ways that serves the symbiotic needs of the politicians and the media…but not necessarily the public interest. The photo-ops, staged and symbolically visual events with pithy and timely sound-bite policy announcements are all designed. The political purpose is to prepackage and frame the message, get the exposure and trigger an emotional response to garner support for a candidate or a policy position.
Sophisticated political advisors know the MSM attention span and the behaviorally modified public consciousness means the key red-meat stuff of political messaging must primarily be emotional, tied to personal experiences and can even be factual, but that is not a requirement. If there is time to be accurate and contextual then facts may make it into the story too. But who really cares about context and factual accuracy when the next political adrenaline jolt is about to be injected into the reporter pool and the pack moves on.
As an example, yesterday’s Edmonton Journal front page headline blasted out “Libs, NDP anti-family: Harper.” This is a perfect example of what I am talking about. Allegations of Dion’s “hidden agenda to carbon tax, raise GST and cancel child-care benefits” in the subhead add to the emotion and tie into the experience aspect. The reader is invited to jump immediately to the obvious conclusion, as framed by Harper, even though it is factually inaccurate and devoid of context.
Each of these emotional laden headline issue frames of Harper’s henchmen is factually incorrect and contextually misleading. Dealing with just one example, there is a carbon charge on polluters in Dion’s ecological policy – but it is not just a “tax.” But there are also income tax cuts and rebates for low income citizens to compensate for the additional costs. The concept of making polluters pay and reducing tax burdens on good things like worker’s income and savings and investors who improve productivity are also part of the context of this story.
The hidden agenda angle gets the headlines because it feeds the competitive gamesmanship of politics and the facts get buried. The balance is lacking. The questioning is lacking and one suspect the reporter failed to read the Dion policy document so as to put context on the Harper hype.
What is the solution for citizens in such situations? Same as is has always been. First is the hard part. Become an actively and aggressively engaged citizen on the issues that are of interest to you. Come to the election campaign with a healthy sense of skepticism about the motives and manufactured messaging of political operatives. Then let your family and friends know what you think. This second part has never been easier, thanks to the Internet.
The problem is in the Internet age is the story never dies. It may go dormant but it lives on through the search engines – for-friggin’-ever. It will resurrect in the strangest places and times and can get a new life in a different context and hound Dion and hopefully Harper too.
Political campaigns are very different these days. More people than ever are getting their political news from the Internet. A June Pew Institute Report on the 2008 American election shows 46% of Americans use the Internet to get political news AND share their thoughts. “Online video and social networking sites have taken off, according to the study done by Princeton Survey research Associates for Pew.
The ancient ploy of politicians refusing to talk to reporters to take the oxygen out of a story is not as effective as it once was. YouTube has become a preeminent source of video on candidate’s comments and carryings-on. The study found that 39% of internet users go online to read and watch “unfiltered” campaign material. In case you think it is just kids and propeller heads that are doing this online, 29% of all adults are accessing campaign information that is “unfiltered.”
The Internet is not a panacea for participatory democracy but it is a game changing campaign tool. There is no doubt that the Internet is notorious for being replete with misinformation. Just like the Harper election campaign. When it is good, it is very good…and when it is bad it can be devastating and dangerous. Just like the mainstream media.
So who can we trust to tell the truth? How do we get authoritative and authentic information about who we can trust to run our country and speak in our name? The traditional news media has started to catch on and realize that they are being played by political campaigns. The games get played out in ways that serves the symbiotic needs of the politicians and the media…but not necessarily the public interest. The photo-ops, staged and symbolically visual events with pithy and timely sound-bite policy announcements are all designed. The political purpose is to prepackage and frame the message, get the exposure and trigger an emotional response to garner support for a candidate or a policy position.
Sophisticated political advisors know the MSM attention span and the behaviorally modified public consciousness means the key red-meat stuff of political messaging must primarily be emotional, tied to personal experiences and can even be factual, but that is not a requirement. If there is time to be accurate and contextual then facts may make it into the story too. But who really cares about context and factual accuracy when the next political adrenaline jolt is about to be injected into the reporter pool and the pack moves on.
As an example, yesterday’s Edmonton Journal front page headline blasted out “Libs, NDP anti-family: Harper.” This is a perfect example of what I am talking about. Allegations of Dion’s “hidden agenda to carbon tax, raise GST and cancel child-care benefits” in the subhead add to the emotion and tie into the experience aspect. The reader is invited to jump immediately to the obvious conclusion, as framed by Harper, even though it is factually inaccurate and devoid of context.
Each of these emotional laden headline issue frames of Harper’s henchmen is factually incorrect and contextually misleading. Dealing with just one example, there is a carbon charge on polluters in Dion’s ecological policy – but it is not just a “tax.” But there are also income tax cuts and rebates for low income citizens to compensate for the additional costs. The concept of making polluters pay and reducing tax burdens on good things like worker’s income and savings and investors who improve productivity are also part of the context of this story.
The hidden agenda angle gets the headlines because it feeds the competitive gamesmanship of politics and the facts get buried. The balance is lacking. The questioning is lacking and one suspect the reporter failed to read the Dion policy document so as to put context on the Harper hype.
What is the solution for citizens in such situations? Same as is has always been. First is the hard part. Become an actively and aggressively engaged citizen on the issues that are of interest to you. Come to the election campaign with a healthy sense of skepticism about the motives and manufactured messaging of political operatives. Then let your family and friends know what you think. This second part has never been easier, thanks to the Internet.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Stelmach to Harper - Stop the Attack Ads! They are Offensive.
Good for Albert a Premier Ed Stelmach for coming out against personal attack ads in this federal election. The Harper Conservatives have been bending the election advertising rules by spending millions of unaccountable dollars on television attach ads designed to mislead Canadians about Liberal leader Stephane Dion.
Harper is always looking for some tactic, angle or scam for personal political advantage. He would be better advised to concentrate on looking for better ways to do the right thing FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. Harper sees politics as all about personal political power and gamesmanship…never it seems is he focused on providing good old-fashioned honest, open, accountable and transparent government.
Ed Stelmach faced the same kind of misleading propaganda attach ads about his character and capabilities in the recent Alberta election. The anti-Stelmach ads were sponsored by some labour unions but the Alberta Liberals got blamed for them…and punished in the polls. They did not work. They backfired as Stelmach got a huge majority that rivaled anything Lougheed or Klein ever received...and Stelmach did it the first time out.
These attack ads don’t work unless they are truthful. Harper’s attack ads are not true and he doesn’t care about that. Dion is now calling Harper a liar for the propaganda ads - and other reasons of misrepresentation of the facts.
Albertans don’t like these sleazy and sneaky campaign tactics. Canadians don’t either. Only Stephen Harper’s party seems to be using this American style Karl Rove dishonest campaign tactics. Not surprising given his proclivity to follow the George Bush neo-Republican political playbook since he became the Conservative leader.
At election time citizens what to know if they can trust Stephen Harper’s character and integrity! They gave him a minority government as a chance for him to prove his worthiness to govern.
Harper has failed the test. He has only shown us his sly, conniving and disingenuous side. He has shown that he has no understanding or capacity to serve in the best interest of the country…only his own. He is out of step with the fundamental values of Canadians around fairness, justice and inclusion.
There are viable alternatives to vote for this time and Harper knows that. We are about to decide the nature and future of our country this election. I think Canadians want a new majority government and are tired of the status quo.
Harper is showing us that he is out of touch and out of ideas. He has displayed time and time again that he is deficient as a leader and a danger to democracy. That is why he is so focused on belittling his opponents instead of showing us HIS own better angels…if they exist.
Harper is always looking for some tactic, angle or scam for personal political advantage. He would be better advised to concentrate on looking for better ways to do the right thing FOR THE RIGHT REASONS. Harper sees politics as all about personal political power and gamesmanship…never it seems is he focused on providing good old-fashioned honest, open, accountable and transparent government.
Ed Stelmach faced the same kind of misleading propaganda attach ads about his character and capabilities in the recent Alberta election. The anti-Stelmach ads were sponsored by some labour unions but the Alberta Liberals got blamed for them…and punished in the polls. They did not work. They backfired as Stelmach got a huge majority that rivaled anything Lougheed or Klein ever received...and Stelmach did it the first time out.
These attack ads don’t work unless they are truthful. Harper’s attack ads are not true and he doesn’t care about that. Dion is now calling Harper a liar for the propaganda ads - and other reasons of misrepresentation of the facts.
Albertans don’t like these sleazy and sneaky campaign tactics. Canadians don’t either. Only Stephen Harper’s party seems to be using this American style Karl Rove dishonest campaign tactics. Not surprising given his proclivity to follow the George Bush neo-Republican political playbook since he became the Conservative leader.
At election time citizens what to know if they can trust Stephen Harper’s character and integrity! They gave him a minority government as a chance for him to prove his worthiness to govern.
Harper has failed the test. He has only shown us his sly, conniving and disingenuous side. He has shown that he has no understanding or capacity to serve in the best interest of the country…only his own. He is out of step with the fundamental values of Canadians around fairness, justice and inclusion.
There are viable alternatives to vote for this time and Harper knows that. We are about to decide the nature and future of our country this election. I think Canadians want a new majority government and are tired of the status quo.
Harper is showing us that he is out of touch and out of ideas. He has displayed time and time again that he is deficient as a leader and a danger to democracy. That is why he is so focused on belittling his opponents instead of showing us HIS own better angels…if they exist.
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