Definition: Corruption does not require consciousness. It can occur unconsciously and, in fact, much of what is described further herein is that kind of corruption. Corrupt and evil are, however, synonymous – they go together. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Let us put aside for a minute the incredible expense of trying Duffy for illegal behaviour regarding his expenses while sitting in the senate. The ‘investigation, the prosecution, the RCMP, the trial itself. Let us put that aside but NOT forget it, because that is as much a crime – if not more than – the ones (thirty plus charges) Duffy is accused of and that is the point of this blog. We are focusing on the wrong thing!
But, of course, that is the intent of this prosecution, isn’t it? It is misdirection by design. It is by political design and by the design of those who play the game to cooperate in this fiasco so as to divert our attention to the picayune, the sordid (and especially the salacious) whenever possible. That sleight of political hand is aided and abetted by the media and the legal system (consciously or unconsciously). They are all co-conspirators in a morally corrupt system.
We all know the media lies, exaggerates and carries bias. Plus it focuses on what it deems entertaining rather than revealing truth. But THAT is not news. And we have a legal system that is not only slow and stupid but unfair and expensive as hell. The ‘legal’ system is a giant racket! It is NOT about truth. It is NOT about justice. It is NOT about fairness. It IS about a privileged and powerful group making bundles off of the tax payer while protecting the system they all enjoy. It is the heart of corruption. The politicians are the brains. The media is the hands and mouth.
But little of that is news and, once again, I digress. So, back to Duffy….
Basically, he is accused of doing to excess what all the politicians (except a notable few) do. He is also accused of doing all that gorging and wallowing where he shouldn’t have – while politicking for the Conservative party and pretending to represent PEI. Duffy is a spoiled brat and we are gonna spank him for it. He cost the tax-payer in champagne and caviar say, $10X dollars where the ‘rules’ state that he should only have charged $2X dollars. And it will cost us $100X to prove it. That public servants should NOT be indulging in champagne and caviar is never even questioned. The system design is working.
But was Duffy conscious of his corruption? Was Wallin? Was Marie Antoinette? Or were they (more likely) products of the system?
Another example: Deputy Prime Minister John Duncan’s limo driver made more in overtime than does the average Canadian earn in a regular salary. Why? Because he sat in the car awaiting a beckon while Duncan had fancy meals in restaurants doing God-knows-what. Duncan is not accused of anything. Duncan is not on trial. And we know Duncan is not alone in his habits. He, too, is a believer in the system.
Good system design. For corruption!
But here’s where the system really shines: it is in the political interests of the politicians to find, isolate and prosecute the odd miscreant now and then so that the focus of so-called justice is on the details of the the naughty one and not on the system itself. Put bluntly, it is like attacking one germ in an abscess, one criminal in a prison, one chicken in a rotting, stinking chicken factory. Prosecuting Duffy, who played prominently in the system, and not looking at the system that put him there, is a waste of time and resources.
Duffy(Wallin, Harper, Brazeau, Clark, Campbell et al) didn’t get to where (they) he is by walking in off the street and making a job application! They didn’t get to where they are by working hard and doing the right thing! They didn’t get there by serving the public! They got there because they were picked by a corrupt system that saw them as keen and willing servants of the system itself.
Bottom line: If the system is not also on trial, we are wasting our time.
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There is one possible positive that could arise from this diversionary trial. Just possibly, the “average ill-informed citizen” of this country ,might realize that our system is corrupt. Just possibly the citizens of this country will vote for more “common” people to the House of Commons. People that understand the difference between justice vs legal manoeuvering. People that are not afraid to lead. Am I being too optimistic ?
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I think so. Or, better put; no citizen’s awareness will be increased because of Duffy. Awareness of the all-but-invisible evil might happen if everyone writes and talks about it and some wing-nut politician decides to jump on the bandwagon and ride it but the trial itself just reinforces the system. The system ‘feeds’ off this kind of thing. If Duffy had buggered a page as well as imbibed champagne and caviar, it would have been perfect for the system. ‘DON’T LOOK at the system that created the doofus, look at the doofus humiliated in the village stocks, instead’. It’s a perfect diversion.
And, let’s be frank – even writing a blog about it just diminishes readership. No one wants to hear any more about what is wrong with it all. Even I don’t. We know that there is something rotten in Denmark and Canada (just to name two) but we are too tired and trying to make ends meet to do anything about it.
“So, why did you write about it?”
Two reasons: ‘for evil to be done I only have to do nothing.’ And, pathetic as it is, this is something. And, #2: we have an obligation to each other to speak the truth out loud. Not a whole bunch of times, but at least once. I am guilty of repetition, I admit.
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Duffy says, “I followed the rules.” The complication here is that ethical behaviour does not reside in the rule of law, it is a moral philosophy and resides in the character of an individual and is guided by one’s conscience. PM Harper considers himself to be morally superior and fears his choice of the amoral Duffy to be senator will tarnish the PM’s image and raises questions about the PM’s judgement in choosing a morally bankrupt person of amoral values.
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There is that, of course. But that is the minutiae. THAT is the ‘stuff’ of pointless argument. It is a focus on Duffy or Harper or Nigel or whatever rather than the larger, bigger mistake of the current system. We get caught up in the details of their convoluted thinking (which is encouraged in law, of course, because it serves the law to be so caught up). But, in reality…at the base of it…at the core of it……should any one be eating and drinking large on the public purse? Should anyone have such perks? Isn’t there something inherently wrong with even discussing this? It is antithetical to public service – duh! And isn’t that larger wrong magnified by a gazillion when lawyers and judges and RCMP are paid small fortunes to discuss the acts of pigs being pigs?
Harper is not superior by definition. He is a sycophant to a corrupt system and he rose, like scum, to the top.
Yes, I understand the conundrum: how does anyone change the system without subscribing to it and succeeding at it first? I dunno…it is why I am here.
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When the deck is stacked by partisan appointments hypocracy goes hand in hand. In the last election Harper claimed the moral high ground.
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Sorry. Have to respond with the same refrain: wrong topic. Too focused. Too narrow. When the whole system is corrupt, it makes no difference how corrupt one part of it is. Partisan, schmartisan….we are rotten to the core. Harper only has the higher ground in the pit of an outhouse.
What I am saying is this: by trying Duffy, we are saying, ‘HERE’ is a moral problem. Just look here! Focus here! We should be saying, ‘EVERYWHERE’ there is a moral problem.
Even BEFORE Duffy cheated on his first expense claim, he played a huge part in cheating the people. If he was a partisan person reporting for the CBC, he never should have claimed to be a reporter. He should have resigned. But our system is founded on tit-for-tat, what’s in it for me, me-first and duplicity at all times so he kept his politics to himself and to certain power brokers (Conservative ones) and then played that card when the time came. He became a Conservative senator. Eeeeuuuw! That he cheated on his expenses is the LEAST of his crime. And that we are looking ONLY at that little misdemeanor is what is wrong with us. We keep pretending and this kind of spectacle reinforces the BIG lie.
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As long as folks vote out of fear for Conservatives, Canada will be run by a group of folks that they think they deserve to drink $20, glasses of orange juice. Many politicians feel entitled to every perk they can grind out of the system. Those that scam the system do so because they lack character. Obviously the oversight on such activities is limited and politicians are expected to act ethically. As long as Canadians hold their noses and vote for unethical politicians we will have what we. The present government has mishandled the economy and increased Canada’s deficit. According to the dog whistles I hear if the Conservatives are voted out Canada will get a party that can not manage the economy. Ironically this is what we have in the present government.
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Agreed. It has always struck me as more than ironic that the so-called parties-of-business seem to run the economy into the ground time and time again. But I think that is a separate rant…no? This one is simply about a system that should be on trial, not just the players. Think: Killing animals for ‘sport’ or some other brutal blood sport – it is wrong plain and simple. Any individual case or situation is overshadowed by the wrongness of the basic concept. The root is rotten.
I think professional hockey is all wrong but I don’t think the basic game is. I just think they ruined it with money and stuff. The roots are good. So hockey can be fixed. But this system we have of politics is simply all wrong – right from the foundation and on up to the top pigs at the trough.
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From your first post of today I’ve agreed with you and I still do! Mr Duffy’s behaviour appears criminal and it appears that government for the most part appears to condone such behaviours by providing very weak over sight of politicians. The government has behaved badly. The defence for bad behaviour has always been the sop, “If you do not like them vote them out!” But what is not to like when money is given in tax breaks to the voters. The rich get the most tax breaks because they are the most deserving so the sop goes. The Conservatives are making the voters complicit in this kleptocracy by bribing them with lower taxes. Canada is in debt which is growing larger under Conservative policies.
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Abandon the system and live off the grid…
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You both know where I stand and live. OUT here! I am still part of the system, I know, but the air is better and I am trying to minimize my support of the liars by distance at the very least. But, to be fair, critiquing them without helping is a smidge disingenuous. I think I have just run out of time and energy to do much in the way of socially constructive rebuilding. Seems too big a job from this perspective. I’ll have to concentrate on the greenhouse instead. As for the cynicism…..I am not so sure it is that. I would call it observation. All systems eventually degrade. Our system is degrading and it is not cynical to point that out. We are just being aware of it is all. Observation and awareness are keys to survival, after all.
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An experiance I had last night, I was at the diesel fuel pumps in wee early morning hours, and was approached by a normal guy needing some help in regards of cash, claiming his brother was a half a day away to bring his forgotten wallet. Seems the owners of the hotel would not take his 45$ dollar partiall payment. That is where the problem with society starts, and that would of guaranteed future business if they had. Now, i may of appeared to be an easy target, but by not assisting him, I would of been no better a person than those abusing the system for personal gains. And this reflexes our system in large. Not looking out for each other, self centred gains. The system is where it is, because we as the people, all want more for less. We are taught to ‘get’ a good deal, never ‘give’ a good deal. I think the government is a perfect reflection of it’s people it represents.
So maybe a conclusion is that it is not as big a job to create change at those high levels, as it needs to begin at the bottom.
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I have a pinko-bleeding heart streak,too. I usually help out. I have no qualms about it. Sometimes I say no. 90% I say, ‘Here! Get some fries with that!’. The way I figure it: I will either die with money in my pocket or owing some. Very few can synchronize the bank account with the life force. It will never peter out at exactly the same time so no amount of ‘accounting’ or ‘watching the pennies’ is going to help. Ergo, share the pennies. Throw in some dimes now and then. Ain’t gonna kill me and it may just be what the poor bloke needed.
One thing I HAVE noticed tho is that the more I share, the more seems to come my way………go figure?
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I’m with Glen , turn our backs to them ! The system of Government is corrupt by design and any effort to reform such a system is a waste of ones precious time. We need to look outside of such a system to find the answers. A time for change will come but only after the lies are known by a critical mass. The frustration for me lies in being aware of the corruption and realizing that chance of fixing it is quite a ways off if ever. Maybe the internet will speed things with the sharing of real people’s ideas ! I wish I wasn’t so cynical but it’s nice to know others are thinking about these issues as well. I wish I had a productive solution to share , will have to keep thinking about it and listening to what others are thinking.
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Wow, really interesting – and a story that does not exist south of the border!
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Unh….John…I think it does……happen south of the border, I mean…. and I think you are teasing us…entitlement, elitism, theft and deceit are universal. The real story is in the various ‘styles’ employed. Plunder like the Putins? Or lie with sleight of hand and obfuscation like Harper and Bush?
But, it is NOT the single evil-doer I am protesting. Not the party or the leader. Or the spoiled little Duffys. Too many of those. It is the larger system that ‘profits’ and exploits and makes ‘getting ahead of the next guy’ a good thing. It is greed and status and clubs and cliques and even unions-that-restrict participation. We are a system of systems each designed to ‘protect’ the members from others. And that seems to be in direct contravention of their various mission statements. Hippocratic oath or pledge of allegiance to the AMA? Do the right thing or make a buck?
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I met Mike Duffy many years ago while walking around Charlottetown one sunny Sunday morning. I did a double take because I didnt know he was a native Islander at the time and was shocked to see him walking towards me.
I asked him if he was in town on a news story and he looked at me like I was a turd he had just stepped on. He walked on without saying a word. I related the story to some locals and they shrugged and responded, “He’s a miserable prick”.
That being said, I am actually looking forward to the dirty laundry being aired in this trail just before the election.
I can only imagine the back room deals being hammered out to either delay this until after the Fall election OR a quick, quiet plea bargain with a slap on the wrist.
Either way, Duffy will serve no time in jail playing “dodge the soap on a rope” and all testimony will be sealed.
The “big boys ” will win another round and justice will weep.
And politicians and judges actually wonder why the average citizen has so much disdain for them.
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