WARNING!!  RANT!!

Our government is changing.  And it is changing for the worse.  I know this is NOT news for many people (especially the five or six who read this blog), they already feel that to be true.  In fact, many Conservative party supporters are even feeling that way and, it seems, over two dozen sitting Conservative MPs are NOT running again – presumably BECAUSE of their feelings toward Harper.  That says something.

But politics is not why I am blogging this time.  At least not partisan politics.  Last night I watched on TV an ad for Canada’s military along the lines of the ‘Be all you can be’ ads the Americans run.  It glorified our military.  It heaped praise on soldiers for simply being soldiers.  It was blatant boosterism and sickening propaganda.

Yes, I know that these ads are not the first.  But they were the latest.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I think any person who signs up to keep our country safe is a good person.  Well intended, anyway.  I have no problem with that.  And if they actually have their mettle tested in battle or even in a peacekeeping mission, my respect for their commitment to our country increases even more.  I have no problem with soldiers and, in fact, I have intimate second hand knowledge of their sacrifices as my father was catastrophically wounded in WW2. He suffered incredibly and we, his family, suffered alongside him.

And that is the point, really.  War should NOT be glorified.  My father paid a huge price  for his dedication to Canada. His life was ruined (he had a 100% disability).  Being a soldier is nothing to be proud of until you HAVE TO BE a soldier. Then and only then is it something to be hailed as heroic.  And my father would likely disagree even then…“how the hell does a young man or woman know what they are getting themselves into when they sign up? War is hell and so is surviving it.  Don’t think otherwise, there is nothing good about it. And once you know how horrible it is, you just want out.  People should only do it when it is absolutely necessary and, even then, they should think twice!”

Harper’s government spent millions in television advertising waxing boastful about Canada’s War of 1812. Same for the Franklin Expedition.  Same for other stupid historical parodies like the Fathers of Confederation ads.  Harper spends even more millions now extolling military virtue at every turn and even going so far as to saber-rattle against Russia (Ukraine) and actually sending a rusty saber or two against ISIS/ISIL.  Canada is fast adopting a bombastic and pugilistic face where before we presented a neutral, peace-making presence.

If that was all there was to it, I’d just ignore the imbecile and hope that we eliminate his weirded-out personal agenda and influence from our country in the next election.  The problem is that he is leaving a legacy, a smear of stupid and evil that will stink and linger even after he has left the building.  Harper is a disease and we have not been inoculated.

“Why would you say that, Dave?  Won’t getting rid of Harper be sufficient?”

No.  Propaganda is an insidious thing.  People tend to believe what is brainwashed into them.  The inundating Harper-messages are sinking (and stinking) in.  Another stupid ad on ‘being a hardworking Canadian and getting a $4000 loan so that you can work in the trades’ runs even more often.  And there is a hidden message in favour of the oil industry in that, too.  Not to mention indebting youth for their education.  We are already tainted.

And it just feels to me as if it is ramping up.  Last night’s ad raised the hair on the back of my neck.  I have smelled the rank odour of politics gone awry for some time.  Last night I am pretty sure I also smelled a rat.