I have been thinking about the plagairism mea culpa of Mr. Lippert’s resignation from the Harper Campaign War Room over the cribbing of the John Howard speech. That speech was Harper parroting Howard’s promoting support for George Bush’s blundering into war with Iraq.
Some simple research and my lawyer’s mind tell me some things don’t seem to add up around this event. Owen Lippert was Harper's speech writer. He is not unsophisticated about issues and consequences of plagairism.
He claims it was all him and Harper and the senior advisers, who vet this stuff, did not know anything about his lifts from the Howard speech.
I think it is entirely possible that Mr. Lippert is taking a bullet for Mr. Harper's election campaign. There may be more to the story. Look at Lippert's background:
Former Fraser Institute Director who has published articles on intellectual property rights. In 1999, he wrote a book called, Competitive Strategies for the Protection of Intellectual Property. In 2000, he edited and contributed to another book called, Competitive Strategies for Intellectual Property Protection.
He has written articles that have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, National Post, Globe and Mail.
He was a former member of the Globe and Mail’s editorial board.
He also holds a PhD in European History from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana and a B.A. from Carleton College, Minnesota.
He is currently employed as Senior Policy Advisor at the Canadian International Development Agency.
Does this sound like the kind of guy who would knowingly mislead and steal someone else’s creative work and intellectual property as a matter of convenience? Does this level of experience and background sound like a guy who would be so naïve as to think a cribbed speech delivered in the House of Commons by a Leader of the Opposition that is being video taped and will appear in Hansard would not get noticed?
The official word from the Harper War Room now is they neither confirm nor deny the plagairism. The quote of the official position is “…the employee has released a statement. I think the statement stand for itself.” That is legalese for “no comment” and the hope is the story will go away.
This is a character issue that goes beyond Mr. Lippert. In fact Mr. Lippert’s only character question here may be his decision to take a political bullet to protect others and not his plagairism. If that is the case. Will we ever know? Perhaps! Strange things happen in politics and the truth is usually exposed.
It also took the Harper War Room seven ling hours to come up with a response to the plagairism allegations. Does this all add up for you? Sure doesn’t for me. Still feel OK about trusting Harper and the Conservatives to be your government?
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Craddock Political Commercial #3 - DEREGULATION
Chris Craddock is at it again. Best commercial so far.
Does Anyone Know the REAL Stephen Harper In This Election?
Harper could be the second Conservative leader in a generation to utter Brian Mulroney’s 1984 election appeal to “Give me four years, and you won’t recognize this country.”
Scary thought given what we see about how Harper is following the George Bush Neo-Republican values. Scary thought given how little we know actually about the REAL Stephen Harper.
In 2003 when Harper "delivered" the now famous cribbed John Howard speech, he was saying Canada should support George Bush in follow his blundering and go to war with Iraq. Harper was obviously a scary guy then. Harper had a hidden agenda then. He has a hidden agenda now.
He was intent on buying into George Bush's many policy mistakes from a disastrous social policy, to the folly of his foreign policy, and an anemic environmental policy. Now we see the devastation from the Bush White House crisis creating devastating economic policy. Harper is totally aligned with Bush on all counts and he will take Canada down the same destructive path as Bush has done to America.
What if McCain becomes President and Harper gets a majority? What if McCain actually does want to "Bomb, Bomb. Bomb...Bomb Bomb Iran"? (Apologies to the Beach Boys and Barbara Ann). If so, will Harper follow him into such a foolish and deadly folly, just as he wanted to with Bush in Iraq, a couple of short years ago. I think so. I think you can count on it.
The facts are that nothing has really changed about Stephen Harper since those scary days ---before Harper had power. And now we know, since he was given political power in 2006, he can't be trusted to tell us the truth. Nor does he keep his word and he ignores his own laws, like about election dates.
Sure Harper is wearing sweater vests to soften his "image", and shifting his share of the blame to underlings. He is also spending a shitillion bucks on television advertising dollars trying to convince Canadians his former mean-spirited and bullying self is no longer a clone of the Bush Republican politician that he was a couple of years ago. There is a new "REAL" Stephen Harper on the political shelf that we are supposed to "buy" and vote for without thinking or questioning.
But it is not working for Harper because the big bucks spent for campaign advertising will not change our values and it merely modifes our opinions temporarily. We are coming to realize that Harper is out of sync with Canadian's values. We are starting to rethink our priorities and looking at voting our values instead of being suckered by slick and conniving advertising campaigns.
When you take a moment to think about it, we don’t really know who the REAL Stephen Harper is, do we? Which masterful manipulation of the truth behind the “REAL” Stephen Harper do you think is the authentic person? Do you know what really motivates the Real Stephen Harper? Can you rest assured that as a politician he is more concerned about your best interests than his personal lust for political power?
Can you really believe in him and trust in him if you can’t depend on him to tell the truth, obey the law, and be open, accountable and forthright with you? Are you confident you know Harper's real intentions as our Prime Minister? Are you comfortable with giving Harper the absolute power of a majority government this election with all these unanswered questions?
Harper is not a leader. He is a MISLEADER. Think twice Canada and be very careful who you vote for. In uncertain times like now we need to be able to trust our leaders and rely on their integrity.
Until we are sure we are being shown the REAL Stephen Harper in this campaign we need to be cautious about how much power we give him. When the Conservative War Room stops selling us a facade and facsimile of a slick and softer Stephen Harper, we just can’t trust in him, rely up on him or believe in him. He is REALLY not worth the risk.
Scary thought given what we see about how Harper is following the George Bush Neo-Republican values. Scary thought given how little we know actually about the REAL Stephen Harper.
In 2003 when Harper "delivered" the now famous cribbed John Howard speech, he was saying Canada should support George Bush in follow his blundering and go to war with Iraq. Harper was obviously a scary guy then. Harper had a hidden agenda then. He has a hidden agenda now.
He was intent on buying into George Bush's many policy mistakes from a disastrous social policy, to the folly of his foreign policy, and an anemic environmental policy. Now we see the devastation from the Bush White House crisis creating devastating economic policy. Harper is totally aligned with Bush on all counts and he will take Canada down the same destructive path as Bush has done to America.
What if McCain becomes President and Harper gets a majority? What if McCain actually does want to "Bomb, Bomb. Bomb...Bomb Bomb Iran"? (Apologies to the Beach Boys and Barbara Ann). If so, will Harper follow him into such a foolish and deadly folly, just as he wanted to with Bush in Iraq, a couple of short years ago. I think so. I think you can count on it.
The facts are that nothing has really changed about Stephen Harper since those scary days ---before Harper had power. And now we know, since he was given political power in 2006, he can't be trusted to tell us the truth. Nor does he keep his word and he ignores his own laws, like about election dates.
Sure Harper is wearing sweater vests to soften his "image", and shifting his share of the blame to underlings. He is also spending a shitillion bucks on television advertising dollars trying to convince Canadians his former mean-spirited and bullying self is no longer a clone of the Bush Republican politician that he was a couple of years ago. There is a new "REAL" Stephen Harper on the political shelf that we are supposed to "buy" and vote for without thinking or questioning.
But it is not working for Harper because the big bucks spent for campaign advertising will not change our values and it merely modifes our opinions temporarily. We are coming to realize that Harper is out of sync with Canadian's values. We are starting to rethink our priorities and looking at voting our values instead of being suckered by slick and conniving advertising campaigns.
When you take a moment to think about it, we don’t really know who the REAL Stephen Harper is, do we? Which masterful manipulation of the truth behind the “REAL” Stephen Harper do you think is the authentic person? Do you know what really motivates the Real Stephen Harper? Can you rest assured that as a politician he is more concerned about your best interests than his personal lust for political power?
Can you really believe in him and trust in him if you can’t depend on him to tell the truth, obey the law, and be open, accountable and forthright with you? Are you confident you know Harper's real intentions as our Prime Minister? Are you comfortable with giving Harper the absolute power of a majority government this election with all these unanswered questions?
Harper is not a leader. He is a MISLEADER. Think twice Canada and be very careful who you vote for. In uncertain times like now we need to be able to trust our leaders and rely on their integrity.
Until we are sure we are being shown the REAL Stephen Harper in this campaign we need to be cautious about how much power we give him. When the Conservative War Room stops selling us a facade and facsimile of a slick and softer Stephen Harper, we just can’t trust in him, rely up on him or believe in him. He is REALLY not worth the risk.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Size Matters - But Do Pollsters Care?
Pollsters who use sample sizes of 243 in Quebec and 384 in Ontario and spin the “results” as being indicative of anything proximiting a degree of accuracy should be embarrassed. Those sample sizes are too small to make a definitive comment on voter stances in Quebec and Ontario with over 7 and 12 million people respectively.
Remember these days pollsters have to phone 15 -20 people before anyone answers their questions. So they are pretty self selecting people and not necessarily very representative. Also they don’t call cell phones so they miss the youth and young adult voter sentiments as well. Take this so called voter intention information with a grain of salt...and don't be fooled into thinking this is more fact than fancy. It is not.
The Pollsters were totally embarrassed in the 2006 election because they were mostly wrong last time, and significantly wrong - except for Nanos. He kept polling over the last weekend in 2006 and caught the shift in sentiment as Canadians got serious as they reflected on the future of the country.
Nik's three day running polls are showing very little variation in voter preferences from the 2006 election results...and it has been that way all through this election so far. In 2006 the Cons had 36.3%, Libs 30.2 and NDP 17.5. Not much has changed but MSM reports breathlessly as if something was actually happening that is different. It isn't!
This election will be decided on the long weekend of Oct 11-13 as Canadians reflect during Thanksgiving in the same way and about the future of the country as well as their own futures in uncertain times and who they dare trust. Many will not make a final decision until they pick up a pencil.
Harper is not a leader. He is a Misleader. I am for anyone but Harper BUT I know he has a very efficient and concentrated rural vote. So he has a real shot at a majority. Unless the rest of us show up to send him a message. We have to vote strategically to be sure to not split the vote either.
Partisanship has to conceded to pragmatism as conscientious Canadians who care for the country and the future for their kids cast a vote. Be sure to show up and vote. And be sure to vote Anybody But Harper.
Remember these days pollsters have to phone 15 -20 people before anyone answers their questions. So they are pretty self selecting people and not necessarily very representative. Also they don’t call cell phones so they miss the youth and young adult voter sentiments as well. Take this so called voter intention information with a grain of salt...and don't be fooled into thinking this is more fact than fancy. It is not.
The Pollsters were totally embarrassed in the 2006 election because they were mostly wrong last time, and significantly wrong - except for Nanos. He kept polling over the last weekend in 2006 and caught the shift in sentiment as Canadians got serious as they reflected on the future of the country.
Nik's three day running polls are showing very little variation in voter preferences from the 2006 election results...and it has been that way all through this election so far. In 2006 the Cons had 36.3%, Libs 30.2 and NDP 17.5. Not much has changed but MSM reports breathlessly as if something was actually happening that is different. It isn't!
This election will be decided on the long weekend of Oct 11-13 as Canadians reflect during Thanksgiving in the same way and about the future of the country as well as their own futures in uncertain times and who they dare trust. Many will not make a final decision until they pick up a pencil.
Harper is not a leader. He is a Misleader. I am for anyone but Harper BUT I know he has a very efficient and concentrated rural vote. So he has a real shot at a majority. Unless the rest of us show up to send him a message. We have to vote strategically to be sure to not split the vote either.
Partisanship has to conceded to pragmatism as conscientious Canadians who care for the country and the future for their kids cast a vote. Be sure to show up and vote. And be sure to vote Anybody But Harper.
Harper's Speech Writer Gone. Guilty of Plagiarism. More Questions About the Conservative's Values.
More situational ethics are coming from the Conservative Party campaign operatives. Yet another one has to resign in disgrace and further humiliate Harper and bring his personal judgment and trustworthiness into question.
An admission of plagiarism by an experienced speech writer working directly for a political leader like Mr. Harper is serious stuff. This speech writer clearly knows better but did it anyway, presuming he would not get caught? This is not an example of the over-exuberance of some amateur blogger getting out of line. This is deliberate deception. It begs the question of if it was collusion with John Howard, the defeated Australian PM who gave the peech first.
This smacks so much of Harper’s hardball bullying political style of doing whatever it takes to get power. This does not look good on Mr. Harper’s judgment and qualities to govern. It shows the deceit and conniving we have seen from the Harper government and political culture goes a long way back - a long way back!
Canadians have not warmed to Mr. Harper since they gave him a minority government in January 2006. His bullying and opportunistic approach to politics has firmed up his base voter support but it has not given him any traction or momentum to break through for the majority government he covets in this election.
Harper’s approach is obviously to get personal political power at all costs and then bankrupt the Liberals in the process. He wants a one-party state, the Harper party. Is this the kind of person you think represent the foundational Canadian values? Is this the kind of person you want speaking for you as Prime Minister? Is this the kind of person you feel comfortable enough with to give the power to make the serious decisions public policy decisions that will impact your life directly?
It’s about character, competence and caring. We need both in our political leadership. We need servant leaders, not power hungry politicians. Harper is continuing to prove has not enough of these qualities of effective leadership. Be careful who you elect Canada. And be very afraid of giving Stephen Harper the absolute power of a majority government.
An admission of plagiarism by an experienced speech writer working directly for a political leader like Mr. Harper is serious stuff. This speech writer clearly knows better but did it anyway, presuming he would not get caught? This is not an example of the over-exuberance of some amateur blogger getting out of line. This is deliberate deception. It begs the question of if it was collusion with John Howard, the defeated Australian PM who gave the peech first.
This smacks so much of Harper’s hardball bullying political style of doing whatever it takes to get power. This does not look good on Mr. Harper’s judgment and qualities to govern. It shows the deceit and conniving we have seen from the Harper government and political culture goes a long way back - a long way back!
Canadians have not warmed to Mr. Harper since they gave him a minority government in January 2006. His bullying and opportunistic approach to politics has firmed up his base voter support but it has not given him any traction or momentum to break through for the majority government he covets in this election.
Harper’s approach is obviously to get personal political power at all costs and then bankrupt the Liberals in the process. He wants a one-party state, the Harper party. Is this the kind of person you think represent the foundational Canadian values? Is this the kind of person you want speaking for you as Prime Minister? Is this the kind of person you feel comfortable enough with to give the power to make the serious decisions public policy decisions that will impact your life directly?
It’s about character, competence and caring. We need both in our political leadership. We need servant leaders, not power hungry politicians. Harper is continuing to prove has not enough of these qualities of effective leadership. Be careful who you elect Canada. And be very afraid of giving Stephen Harper the absolute power of a majority government.
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