Night Flight to Venus

Not Necessarily Accountability

2010-04-20T12:12:00.001-07:00

The Harper government manages to yet again attempt to avoid any form of accountability by denying requested information to Canadians.

The Globe and Mail reports that access to information is again stalled upon for no good reason with no indication of how long they will drag this out. The Tories have quickly become experts for not providing information by hiding behind every possible excuse they can find.

A truly sad sight for a government that once promised openness and honestness.
Sent from my BlackBerry device

It's Time to Call Them Out

2009-09-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, back to the grind. Summer is coming to a close and election fever has never been this high. It was not even this high last year, when Harper decided to call a snap election despite the promise of a fixed election date. (Although Harper called an election for personal benefit, doesn't the law still stand that the next election is October 19, 2009? But whatev.)

The funny thing is how many columnists are saying this election is unwarranted, unnecessary, and unbecoming. They blame Ignatieff of many crimes after the announcement that the Liberal Party will no longer prop up the Conservatives. This, in my own humble opinion, is exactly the right of any party elected to the House of Commons. Any party, any member, at any time does not, by default, have to vote in such a manner to ensure the government survives each and every day.

Harper has governed for far too long as if he had a majority and it should rest squarely on his feet if he refuses to cooperate with another party in a minority situation. Just because the Liberals may vote against the governement does not necessarily mean there will be a vote. Could you imagine if Harper went to the GG and said, "Yes, the bill did pass, but the Liberals voted against us. The Grits want an election, so we should have one, it's only fair." I think it is extremely misleading for any columnist to only blame Ignatieff for the government's demise. It takes more than one party to ensure bills get passed and it takes more than one party to bring the whole thing down.

These same columnists who blame Ignatieff for indicating that the Liberal party stands for better government, are the same columnists who said the Liberals looked weak by supporting the Tories and lambasted Ignatieff for not defining himself. Now Ignatieff that has said he can no longer support Stephen Harper, these columnists are saying his decision is purely selfish and that they think they're rightful place is in power. Sadly, they missed the fact that Harper thinks *his* rightful place is a leader with majority support even though he has failed at such over the last four elections.

It's no wonder that these same columinsts will probably also be critical when an election is called and they say it is horrible timing when the economy is starting to recover. How soon they forget that, if it were not for Harper's selfish ploy, we would be going to the polls on October 19th anyways.

Tough Times

2009-05-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

So the new Tory negative ad campaign extravaganza was recently released into the wild. It is an interesting time to be releasing expensive negative propaganda which seems to indicate there is a rather interesting thought process going on in the Tory War Room these last few days. (More surprising is that there is any thought process going on at all, really.)

I want to analyze what precipitated this and what must be behind it. First, these ads comes shortly after Ignatieff was officially knighted the new Liberal leader. Of course, their first objective is to beat his reputation into a pulp (as they managed to do to his predecessor) but maybe they didn't realize he had already won by acclamation. They couldn't have missed their timing this poorly, so the delay must have intentional. Could they have been worried a negative ad campaign on Ignatieff would have freaked the Liberal party out so much, before the convention, that the Grits would be forced to find someone else, someone possibly better, possibly impeccible, if the negative ad campaign was such an instant and undeniable success?

So they waited, but the Liberals climbed in the polls, passing the CPC nationally while also leaving them in a tough situation in Quebec. Maybe it was just an outlier, but poll after poll with the same trend: Liberals rising, Tories sinking.

The Oliphant Commission is now underway and their former leader might be getting into a lot of hot water, with no certainty of the outcome and who knows where the collateral damage will hit. The Tory War Room must be thinking: it's time to clog the airwaves and the print media with how horrible Ignatieff really is. How dare he think he can even suggest he wants to be Prime Minister? A Liberal leader become Prime Minister? He must be arrogant!

All of the above, plus the economy is not soaring back to the heights it once knew. The public is not seeing results in the promised "shovel ready" spending. The Harper Government needs to change the channel and fast.

So desperate does as desperate always has - he goes back to his prior ways of finding solace in what he knows best. So the Tories find themselves, once again, paying for negative ad campaigns, spinning tireless party rhetoric, and the underlying belief that no one, not even the Liberal party, deserves to form a government more than desperate Stephen Harper.

A plan for financial disaster vs proposals for the economy

2009-05-07T20:48:00.000-07:00

I spot that the Tories need some help with their "plan". Here's my truth-as-it-is edit:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper ~~understands~~ didn't expect the global financial crisis. His plan for the way forward has been ~~clear~~ visionless and consistent: ~~balanced budgets~~ deficits, lower taxes, ~~investments to create~~ jobs lost and keeping inflation low.

This is in stark contrast to ~~Stéphane Dion~~ Jim Flaherty and ~~Jack Layton~~ Jack Layton, who have only just realized that the economy is an issue.

Dion ~~wants to~~ thought about imposing a ~~massive~~ carbon tax that will drive up the cost of ~~everything and hurt families~~ emissions. Layton will increase taxes on businesses and drive jobs out of Canada.

The Liberals ~~and the NDP~~ are ~~both~~ a vote for financial ~~disaster~~ recovery. They have no a plan. ~~Both parties~~ The Tories would gamble with Canadians’ hard-earned money for short term electoral gain.

For the past year and a half, the Harper Government has been implementing a real plan to protect ~~our economy~~ Harper's job. The Harper Government is not really working for all Canadians who have a job to keep, a mortgage to pay and a retirement to save for.

A Conservative government will not be raising taxes, only federal debt. We will not impose a carbon tax. We will ~~not~~ cancel planned tax reductions for ~~business~~ everyone. We will not keep our spending within our means. It is that simple.

The alternative is ~~not~~ a plan. It is just the consequence of complete ~~panic~~ competence, and this government will not ~~panic~~ do anything at a time of uncertainty.

The Trend

2009-05-05T21:14:00.001-07:00

I believe the recent string of polls showing the Liberals tied, or at least with a lead, over the Conservatives and it is a distinguishing mark in the never-ending story of the Liberal party. I just read the Harris-Decima results here.

After only about six months since the 40th general election, after Harper almost winning an election outright, after Dion taking the Liberals to depths of history's worst, we are left in a position no one could have predicted the morning after.

Just for a refresher, let's look at the numbers

Election Post-Liberal
Day Convention
Conservatives 38% 29%
Liberals 26% 34%
NDP 18% 15%
Bloc 10% 9%
Green 7% 11%

One striking thing about the current position is that the Liberals are above the Conservatives with a lead that is above the margin of error.

Although, the Liberals might rise in popularity in Tory hot spots, they may still be far away from overturning the local encumbant. However, they are rising in spots like Quebec, Ontario and to a lesser extent, in B.C. These are all provinces where a slight change, even within the margin of error, could result in the changing of many seats in the House of Commons.

I think this means there is an opportunity here, for the Liberals, to start showing some swagger and push Harper on his own confidence motion strategy. There is nothing that the public appreciates quite like having the local bully stood up to. And considering the amount of confidence matters Harper has bullied his way through parliament, it will be a strong statement on his own character when he has to put his tail between his own legs and doing everything he can to avoid one. Or many.

Of course, this should be expected considered the results of polls showing the opposition with the popular lead. I just think the drastic change in the polling results since Election Day is a direct comment from the people that they think the Liberal party has made the right decisions recently and wants to support the party again. I think voters will smirk when they see Harper starting to lose at his own game, at his own tactics that managed to keep his own arse afloat. The writing is being written on the wall. And I think, the message is loud and clear.

Ignatieff Wins, Tories Pissy

2009-05-03T09:36:00.000-07:00

Watched the speeches yesterday. I thought it was fairly well done considering we all knew the outcome. The debates about how the rules of debating should be changed to reflect the ability of certain groups to influence debate, was rather, well, useless, in my mind. I know it was so that some groups could still bring certain issues forward that may otherwise be ignored. But, if they were ignored en masse, how important of an issue could they really be? And is any of this really binding on the party leader, who is the eye of the storm when it comes to party policy?

So I read a few stories today, and the comments from the anti-Ignatieff campaign are in full force. The comments are trying to slam Iggy for living in the US, for being divinely chosen to govern, and for lack of policy.

I love how quickly these party hacks forget that Harper is in government and that Harper is the failure. The Tories used to pretend that they were the rightly chosen to govern when they were in opposition, even before an election to determine that. Harper and friends are pathetically voiceless when it comes to party policy - it is his royal highness Harper, who decides what it best for Canadians and how they should suffer for it. It is laughable how Harper says there is no need for an election now, and that all parties should work together to make parliament work.

How can parliament work, when one person decides to prorogue it to save only himself? How can parliment work when one man decides to call an "illegal" election in the fall?

I think these people who freak out over Ignatieff's leadership and his speech are true signs of the change that is in the air. It is a litmus test of how scared the opponents of the Liberals really are. I think, rightly, it is a sign that another election cannot happen soon enough.

Under Rug Swept

2009-04-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

The new story about the Conservatives giving up on killing the long-gun registry is another example of how they are the party of retail politics at its most basic. It's all about the show, the presentation, the big headline. It's never about the facts, the policies, or the small print.

It is extremely sad that the Conservatives were pushing this button (which may be their third? fourth? attempt) since the long-run registry "was part of the evidence that ultimately led to the arrest and conviction of two men" in the Mayerthorpe tragedy.

However, every day brings a new challenge for the Tories, and lately that challenge has become a game of deciding what's in it for me and how many times can we announce it?

The Tories managed to squeeze out a number of headlines when they decided to introduce a Senate bill that would gut the gun registry. But now, there is no plan to vote on this magnificently Tory blue bill. They'd rather shove this bill out the back door than confront the situation tete-a-tete.

As all of Canada has now seen, they are willing to transfer any item from their list of priorities in exchange for another day with control of the House of Commons. It's not necessarily a bad thing, to be flexible, when running the country. However, it's a different story, when you hear from certain people who continuously state that Liberals will say anything to be in power, but do these people know it is the Tories who will do anything to be in power?

As a Canuck recently said on youtube, "give your balls a tug". Or maybe they should grow a pair.

Harponomics

2009-04-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

This is seriously on the conservative.ca website still. Still - and after all we've been through together! There are nuggets of proverbial dog doo all over that site. But what else would you expect other than a self-gratifying self-assessed pat-on-the-Tory back?

So maybe we should take the liberty to update it, so here, I'll give it a go.

The Conservative Record:

+ Highest unemployment rate in over 25 years.

+ Up to 600,000 jobs will be lost around the end of 2009.

+ National Debt has not been racked up this fast since the last time they were at the helm.

+ Secretly planning "surprise deficits" since the despised "surprise surpluses" Liberals had year after year were strategically wiped out.

+ Harper works harder each and every day to keep the conservative alliance together long enough in an attempt to fulfill his life long dream of destroying all opposition parties, especially those Liberals with no moral compass (This item is currently on hiatus.)

I'd love to continue, but I need to go recharge my Garmin MoralityMate 6000GT GPS.

Why Answer Questions

2009-03-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

Bloggies Tories are getting giddy defending Mr. Harper for not answering questions from Canadian reporters. Blogging Tories seems to have a hate-on for the Canadian Main Stream Media, or as they refer to them, the MSM. The use of the acronym, MSM, helps to lower their stature a notch. BT must be blue in the face from all their hatred towards, what they believe, is a ridiculously biased bunch of Liberal lovers.

This BT seem to think not answering lame questions is better than not answering anything to anyone. Somehow, the BT bunch thinks the media are incredibly stupid and should not even consider asking their intellectual leader Harper any questions, since they themselves are not nearly as cognisant as the outlandishly brillant guy who almost lost power a few months ago by virtue of his own political games.

Some of the comments on BT blogs seem to be coming from a room full of ardent Tory supporters who have worked themselves into a frenzy. It's a mad house and I've been thoroughly entertained this afternoon by reading some of it.

Unfortunately, it's now an afternoon that I will never get back.

What Do Canadians Matter?

2009-03-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

Of course, Mr. Harper, leader of accountability and all things righteous, does not want to be interviewed by Canadians. He would much rather speak with Americans. His true brethren?

From the Toronto Star:

Canadian journalists, who are paying $4,200 each to travel with the prime minister to the G20 and NATO summits in Europe next week, were told Friday they would be limited to two media availabilities with Harper over five days – each one comprised of two questions in French and two in English.

The limitation on the number of questions is a marked departure from Harper's recent past practice, when all Canadian media travelling with the prime minister were invited to ask questions.

Harper does not care about Canada as much as he adores America. This is painfully obvious in his attitude towards Canadian media. It's too bad we have a Prime Minister who has more interest in speaking with American journalists than he has with his own electorate.

Maybe he's too scared to hear the latest poll numbers about Ignatieff or how well his party is doing in Quebec. Maybe he's trying to avoid talking about the Canadian economy or what his own Parliamentary Budget Officer really thinks.

Smarmy Harper

2009-02-19T19:17:00.001-08:00

Mansbridge interviewed Harper on the National about his "hot off the press" meeting with Obama. Harper would not stop smiling and looked horrifically smarmy. Like a school girl who just met her childhood idol. Eyes still spinning, heart still pounding. Harper said that only two leaders in an intimate setting can get to really sharing ideas. However, their meeting was as brief as one can get. Probably less time than he's spent with Ignatieff and I'd think he's lying if he said him and Iggy shared any ideas or got to know each other any better. It was a symbolic meeting, not of any substance, as Mansbridge summarized.

I'm sure Tories will rave what a great leader Harper is. How proud they are. Well done, Tory nation blue. But it was meeting that really didn't do or resolve anything. It was a meeting where Harper agrees to unify their environmental movement, but we all know the environment is not something Harper is concerned about.

He also said they need more time to discuss items. Harper needs more time? Harper needed a life line, not too long ago. Of course he will say he needs more time, he never wants to leave, he wants all the time in the world. We have seen Harper will do anything to keep his grip on to power.

And we learn Harper and Obama are now on a first name basis! Great work, Steve. Don't forget to toss in one more smarmy smile before the camera cuts out. Ah, well done!

The Conservative Record?

2009-01-16T19:18:00.000-08:00

Straight outta Conservative Central, this is an edition of The Conservative Record? where we compare what they claim on conservative.ca, versus actual facts! Let's hold Tory smoke-and-mirrors up to the light to see what's really inside them eggs.

Note to self: I selectively cut-and-paste from the linked page because I don't have enough time in the day to argue every point that they selectively chose to make.

The Conservative Record?
> Lowest unemployment rate in 33 years.

The Truth!
> Yesterday, the Conference Board of Canada forecast that Canada's unemployment rate will boost to more than 8 per cent from 6.6 per cent last month.

The Conservative Record?
> Canadian job growth is overwhelmingly in high-quality, high-paying jobs like printing manufacturing, heavy and civil engineering construction, electrical equipment appliance manufacturing and mining.

The Truth!
> Yesterday, the Conference Board of Canada forecast that Canada will lose a net total of 175,000 jobs this year. 90,000 job losses in manufacturing is not job growth.

The Conservative Record?
> More than $37 billion of the National Debt paid off.

The Truth!
> Mr. Harper suggested the deficit could be up to $40-billion this month. With one budget, Harper more than erases years of "fiscal management".

The Conservative Record?
> Canada has the most resilient economy in the G7. And we alone in the G7 have kept our budget in surplus”.

The Truth!
> $40 billion deficit.

Thank you for listening to this edition of The Conservative Record?

Tune in next time when conservative.ca makes fiction fun again!

Taber vs Baird

2009-01-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

Taber vs Baird, not the title fight of today's Question Period, but sort of an inverted diamond-in-the-rough of what turned out to be the Obama edition of CTV's QP.

The tenacious and fiscally-responsible? Minister of Transport, Mr. John Baird said on QP earlier today, we're spending "...literally billions and billions of dollars in each province and we're going to be doubling that." Billions in EACH province? Minimum $6 billion in Quebec (more or less?) plus at least $1 billion in each other province is $15 billion (this could easily be a lot higher, but I'm just going off Baird's words). Baird promises twice as much spending, so let's double down on that 15! Now his one department is spending another $15 billion (minimum) plus augmented spending in close ridings, I'm sure. I wonder how did Harper ever get away with pretending he would never run a deficit?

John Baird's mandate comes directly from the Prime Minister, which, as he said, is to make things happen. Which must be a variety of things, taking from how many times he used the word "variety" to describe what they are actually doing. Spending on a variety of things here and a various things there. He also wants support for the Tory agenda - yet Mr. Harper is taking a conciliatory approach for the next parliament. Maybe, Mr. Baird is no longer reading the Tory interoffice memos.

Mr. Baird, who usually never lets other people control the topic of conversation, appeared extremely nervous and was rushing through his answers. He seemed to be scared that Jane might ask him an "out of the park home-run" question, but, in her usual Jane-trademarked scripted line of questioning, she tries to stick him with some tough ones, but her rebuttals and follow-ups are weak and Lunesta-inspired.

Baird wins by split decision.

Hockey Crazy

2009-01-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've been writing on the chalkboard here. Working and studying too much, keeps me glued to the desk for far too long. My freedom arrived when I managed to watch a lot of the World Junior Hockey Championship! Oh glory days. I am amazed how great our Canadian boys are - they are a true inspiration. Congratulations to each of them for a well deserved victory.

Now, my return here was basically spurred on by Mr. Harper and his dismal enthusiasm while attending a fantastic game. I saw his image literally burn into my TV set and I thought wow, Mr. Funbags, the self professed "hockey nut", is taking time out of drafting the next budget to attend a photo op. That photo of him (not at the tournament) screams "proud to be Canadian" - look his son is a Leafs fan. What fun! High five.

I even found a quote on the PM's website “This event is great for the future of hockey in Canada and is a real treat for hockey fans around the world." Sure, it's great for hockey IN Canada, we're beating the crap out of other countries in our national sport. I love that the PM released this shortly *after* Canada beat Kazakhstan 15-nil; what a treat it is, to be out scored in the tournament 46-2!

Oh well - I suppose he would have actually worn Team Canada colours if they weren't so Liberal.

Ottawa Minute

2008-09-10T17:34:00.001-07:00

I'm in Ottawa, just finished a work-related seminar. Nevertheless, it's surprisingly non-partisan here in the nation's capital. No smearings of campaign slogans or MP posters or missing documents. I guess I had assumed Harper and the choir would be painting the town red, so to speak.

I've been buried in the books since Sunday, so I am just emerging in to the current state of the federal campaign. Here are my impressions of what has happened since the writ was dropped:
1. May was voted off of the election island (2 voted against her out of a possible 4?)
2. Harper crapped on Dion, quickly wiped it off, then apologized for it.
3. Dion said he doesn't listen to English music very well.
4. Harper promises to cut a tax on burning fossil fuels - claiming David Suzuki wanted it this way.
5. May gets re-introduced to the Big Brother household by a surprise twist in the election rules!
6. Politics on CBC states Harper has run a very careful and strategic campaign so far.

Now, I may be slightly off on all of the above 5 items, but why did Don Newman let his press gallery "puff" up Harper without interjecting about ignoring his own (election) law, the Puffin Incident, or the fact that Harper's lying when he says that "Dion will increase the GST and eliminate the child care benefit"? The Tory campaign seems to be struggling to control the agenda, as they so desperately need to do, yet it's only 72 hours old?

I think Harper will be cleaning up a lot more off himself soon enough.

Tories Bury Negative News

2008-08-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

FICTION: Conservatives are making government more accountable to build a stronger, safer, better Canada.

FACT: Tories slammed for burying negative reports

OTTAWA -- The Harper government's timing for the release of some unflattering reports has critics scratching their heads over the Conservatives' concept of transparency.

The Tories took office promising clean, open governance and vowing not to practice the same old politics as previous governments. But they've stuck to one tried and true tactic -- releasing negative news when it will get the least media attention

Last Thursday and Friday -- on the eve of a holiday weekend -- three major reports were released late in the afternoon, leaving the opposition scrambling to respond.

The latest release -- at 5:30 p.m. Friday -- was a Foreign Affairs report on the misplacement of government documents by former foreign minister Maxime Bernier.

from
The Canadian Press

Harper Gets Rejected

2008-08-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

Jasbier Sandhu with the Professor Mohan Singh Memorial Foundation says the brief announcement was not at all what the Sikh community was looking for.

"As soon as he spoke, he left. The Indo Canadian community right away rejected it with their hands up in the air. They totally rejected the apology that was offered."

Of course, Harper is only apologizing in local ridings to each individual community so he can try to win over votes across the country. Apologizing for the right reasons, and that reason in this case is what was done is incredibly unacceptable. However, apologizing on a regional basis only, not a national stage, which is quite apparently, only to try to win over votes in the Sikh community, is simply unacceptable.

Harper shoves his foot in his mouth, while Jason Kenney quickly tries to pull it out. Harper no longer can do his own dirty work. Harper quickly changes colours.

O Canada

2008-07-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

I noticed on our national birthday, the Government of Canada's main web page has a splash graphic that is absurbly Conservative blue. Is the sky really that shade of blue or has it been changed?

Just to compare, here is an image from the Conservative web page and the Government of Canada splash image:

Green Day

2008-06-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

Well - it's finally released. And I tried watching Politics with Don Newman today, but I found it very difficult to watch.

First batter, was Dion, who while came across as extremely confident, but also slightly unprepared for a few of the questions.
Second hitter, the CD Howe Institue, with a somewhat flattering opinion of the Green Shift but overly enthusiastic.
Third up, Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney, who says he is outraged! that Dion thinks Canadian are going to buy his tax tricks. His argument is that the Green Shift is a ploy to pay for all of the unbudgeted promises Dion has made.

Now I don't mind so much the anger and hatred Mr. Kenney pretends to have for Dion's plan. The kicker, for me, is that this opposition to the plan started before they heard of any details. The Conservatives are getting off quite easily considering that they showed their hand before any cards were dealt.

Dion was given the ability responded to their arguments (i.e., having the Auditor General monitoring tax neutrality) before the plan was revealed. Now, for anyone to believe the arguments the Conservatives make regarding this plan, should not soon forget that they made their bed before the Green Shift hotel was even open for business.

Some in the media are saying Dion will live or die by this plan -- he's walking through a door, as they paint the picture... it's just not known yet if he is walking into the room, or out from it.

Tax Freedom

2008-06-15T21:57:00.001-07:00

How funny - the Conservative Party put up some facts about Tax Freedom Day.

The posting is copied below, but the basic Tory spew-a-thon is based upon the shampoo debate. Lather yourself in self-indulgent lies, rinse yourself of any accountability, repeat until your point of view is actually considered to be factual.

Even on the Conservative Party website, I love how often they mention the Liberals. I also find it funny how the first couple "facts" have dates associated with them. The implication being that they are real facts. And then the list gradually becomes questions. Since when were questions considered facts? Is this a fact? Some tidbit advice to Harper: Facts do not have question marks associated them.

...

Today the Fraser Institute announced that Tax Freedom Day will fall on June 14th this year, four days earlier than last year. Tax Freedom Day now falls 11 days earlier for hard working Canadians than it did under the Liberal government:

The facts:

Tax freedom day - the day average Canadians have paid off the year's tax load and begin working for themselves - arrives Saturday, according to the Fraser Institute, which means Canadians are keeping four days' worth of earnings more than last year (Canadian Press, June 13, 2008)
Thanks to the reduction of the goods and services tax and trimming of various provincial taxes, this year's tax freedom day falls four days earlier than in 2007. That in turn was five days sooner than in 2006, which followed a two-day gain from the June 25 in 2005 - under the Liberals (Canadian Press, June 13, 2008)
The Conservative government is reducing taxes from a record high by cutting sales taxes, personal taxes and corporate taxes.
Our tax plan will reduce Canadian federal taxes to their lowest level since the 1960s
Actions taken by the Government since 2006 are providing $21 billion in incremental tax relief to Canadians and Canadian businesses this year alone. This is significant and substantial economic stimulus, equivalent to 1.4 per cent of Canada’s GDP
Under the Conservative government, hard working Canadians are seeing the benefits. They are keeping 11 more days worth of their earnings compared to under the Liberals
Actions taken by the Government since 2006 are providing $21 billion in incremental tax relief to Canadians and Canadian businesses this year. This is significant and substantial economic stimulus, equivalent to 1.4 per cent of Canada’s GDP
If Stephane Dion and the Liberals had their way, how much later would Tax Freedom Day be?
After the Dion Tax Trick, with his planned carbon tax and his musings about raising the GST, how much more of their hard earned money would Canadians being paying in taxes to pay for Dion’s numerous uncosted promises?

Duffy vs @#$*!

2008-06-11T20:43:00.001-07:00

Mike Duffy Live 5:51pm EDT

Duffy: I raised the question earlier on whether today was Nixon to China. Stephen Harper a staunch conservative... person who has... uh, strong conservative ideologies, take someone like that and be able to reach out... uh, and in effect not have, not come on to attack because he is... so strong?

Fife: Well, I think we know that the, uh, the Reform Party, of which he was one of the original founders, uh, uh, and, and, as he was conservative there was a lot of native people who were very suspicious of the conservatives and about Mr. Harper and whether they, he actually cared about their conditions. Well, clearly, what he did today and what he spoke today, uh, puts a lie to that. He does care.

Duffy: I'm told he was in tears in the caucus.

Fife: I heard that too.

Duff: ..and of course, and he has young children. So he, I'm sure, can imagine what it's like to take those young children and send them off with strangers.

Cut! CUT! CUT!

*He* is so STRONG? *He* CARES?! *He* can imagine what it's like to take *those* young children and send 'em off?

With that lack o' thought pattern, then if he didn't have kids, I'm sure he wouldn't have a clue of what it would be like to send *those* kids off in random directions. But thank goodness, he is so great, and he does have kids. His own, in fact! Quelle surprise! He's a dad, and it's almost Father's Day.

Oh, I started (I tried. I am still trying...) to watch a complete episode of Duffy on PVR without skipping forward 10 minutes at a time because his interviews are so painful in the worst places. Most episodes I've watched seem to last about 8:13... and that includes watching the commercials.

Well, it turns out, this is not an interview, but rather a mutual foot rub over how great our Great Conservative Leader really is. Too bad we never really got to talk about Madame Couillard.

There's always hope. There's always another episode.

Fascination Street

2008-06-10T21:55:00.000-07:00

I take an unusual delight in copying (innocently) photos of politicians (especially when they are throwing axes) and improving the photo so it speaks more about the character of the politician, and not the quality of the camera.

I will release these images on occasion, trying to release them either due to their relevance, or just as my uncontrollable humour may find them, funny.

Reid Recovered

2008-06-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is, for once, pleasureable news to read - especially on the eve of the Apology in Ottawa tomorrow.

The RCMP detachment involved in this investigation have been able to save irreplaceable art by an irreplaceable artist. To have their recovery in such a short time, before they could be melted down, is an absolutely outstanding result.

I applaud the Mounties involved!

(NEWS1130) - RCMP say no charges have been laid yet, despite the recovery of 10 of the 12 Bill Reid gold art pieces stolen last month from the UBC Museum of Anthropology. And RCMP are asking for the public's help in recovering the last two items, which they believe are still in the Lower Mainland.

Poilievre and a Glass of Chardonnay

2008-06-08T16:41:00.001-07:00

After watching the segment on CTV Newsnet regarding the Conservative Attack Ads, I now have a true distaste for the blatant smugness that Pierre Poilievre exhibits. However, this seems typical across most Conservative MPs, yet they used to accuse the Liberals of being smug a disappointingly countable number of years ago.

The new Attack Ads are smart in that they are defining the message of what Dion's proposal is all about, before Dion has even really explained what he plans to do. I do not blame the Conservatives for jumping in, when they were so feverish to define Dion as a non-Leader, this is just a natural progression for their party.

I could go in so many different directions right now about why their party has become the non-Leading party, or why the culture of the Conservative Party no longer means trying to govern towards a better Canada, but rather governing such that every item for view by the public eye, however few, is completely motivated to (attempt to) enhance the Conservative party's image rather than improving our country.

The decision to release another set of Attack Ads is partly motivated by an attempt to bully the other parties, not only trying to bash the messenger but also to thump their chest with the depth and velocity of political contributions to their party.

The fact that their ads do not have the Conservative Party logo on them means they are pretending to represent an unbiased point-of-view. Kind of like paying for your own experts to tell you something that you want to hear. I'd laugh to know who actually believes the Attack Ads are not purely the Conservative opinion and actually unbiased.

Enough for now, there is a glass of Chardonnay with my name on it.

Libby Davies Responds During Question Period

2008-06-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

March at Dawn

2008-05-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

The beginning of a new dawn. The genesis of a new day. A light upon which new ideas and new directions will be shawn.

But for now, I must rest.

For tomorrow, greatness awakes.

(Ye olde test post.)