Like most things in politics the politicians make official what everyone already knew. Leadership, the Canadian way. Safely. From behind.
The election has been called. BIG surprise. They’ve been out humping the stumps (or whatever they call it) for some time now. As usual, Harper comes late to the party like the dilettante he is to make it official.
Oh well, at least it’s on.
I won’t bore any of you with any more political rants aimed at influencing your vote. You know how I feel. But I will point out a few things of interest. The ‘debates’. Those ‘staged’, boring, play-it-safe, talking heads rigmarole that supposedly show our leaders ‘as they are’ are a sham. You’ll only see something by mistake or else the political panderers will explain to you what you missed. Shock and awe? Very unlikely. Brilliance? Impossible. Coal does not shine.
Firstly, Harper is playing it coy. Like he’s ‘above’ that sort of thing. Talking to others, I guess. He won’t commit to any debates except one and Elizabeth May is NOT included. Incredible. Secondly, Mulcair won’t commit if Harper doesn’t. Presumably he doesn’t want to waste his time debating the rabble either….hmmmm….very Harper-like, if you ask me. They must both think they are above.
Above what?
But here’s the point I want to make. I don’t care. I really don’t care. I DON’T CARE what these dickheads do or say during the election! They talk gibberish 99% of the time anyway. Poli-speak. Party-line. Anything but REAL. They are liars and hypocrites and they don’t know how to lead themselves out of an outhouse on fire (possible exception: E. May, who, like the Japanese say, “When drunk, the real person showed up.”
If Liz gets drunk, then I’ll listen.
Harper is going to give us back some of our own money in an attempt to buy our vote and many people with go for that. Incredibly pathetic on our part. Mulcair will not say one thing that smacks of reform, change or social conscience lest he be branded a ‘commie’ and Trudeau will either speak pablum or put his foot in his mouth and start sucking like the idiot-child he is. How do I know that? Because that is what they have been doing for some time now. Do you think Just-in is going to grow up right before your eyes? Think Mulcair is going to risk his slight edge in the polls? And Steve has money. Do you think a Con won’t spend money to win? Ask Mike Duffy. Harper knows how to use it (not for the betterment of Canada) and he will (for the advancement of Harper).
The game is afoot but, like all Canadian politics, it’s a club foot and the lame shall prevail.
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Our Off the Grid Home 
Debbie Wasserman Schultz chair of the Democratic Party was asked how the democratic party differed from socialism? She instead commented on the ways that the Democratic Party currently differed from the Republican Party. The premise of the question asked of her assumes that there is but one type of socialism whereas there are many varieties of socialism and there is no single definition. She might have been asked if the Democrates believed in private ownership or free enterprise and she would have answered unequivocally, “Yes!” Recognizing these as mere slogans and aspirational at best. She might have been asked if she supported freedom often defined as “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” Of course she supports “freedom” knowing full well that America’s prisons are full of people who have exercised their freedom of action. Sadly political discourse is dispensed in sound bites and the voters appear to have little patience for any analysis what-so-ever. Recently Cecil the lion was killed and social media was all a twitter. Declining lion numbers are sad and challenging and only government preservation efforts might halt this decline. Dr. Palmer spent $50,000 to hunt lions whereas BC grizzlies may be hunted if one has a $1000 license. What is most challenging about the monetization of public capital and public goods is the implication that everything is for sale including the moral and ethical health of our society. Occasionally a particular incident such as a Cecil galvanizes a moment but general disquiets such as inequality, poverty and abuse are washed away in a cacophony of slogans. The Affordable Care Act is lifting the lives of millions of Americans but the slogans say it is socialism.
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Well said. See longer response above
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Thank you for your knd comments. It’s interesting that Paul Martin balanced the budget and left a surplus but seeming failed as the PM. Very perplexing. One assumes then that being an effective financial manager is trumped by some character flaw. What is his flaw?
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Oh, I dunno….too flawed myself to tell….but I would hazard the guess that he came across as dull. I think the average voter is also looking to see the ‘measure’ of a person, meaning: some humanity however flawed. Money manager – not so much. Harper comes across as ‘awkward’ and ‘institutionalized’ (like a cop). He is stubborn, quiet and isolated. And vain. And we all know men like that. So, in that way, he is ‘knowable’. Might be a reason that women were slower to join the ranks – they can more easily ‘put on a face’ and thus we tend to discount them for that….dunno…just thinking out loud. I, for one, have stopped being enthralled by the instant, toothy, photo-op smile and look, instead, for different facial indicators. I guess I no longer trust ‘the smile’ unless it literally beams – like children can still do. The ‘canned’ Christy Clark smile now puts me off.
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Not a Liberal, not a fan of CC, Paul Martin reined in the debt but lacked FILF appeal…? Not a fan of the NDP but I will be voting.
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Tis a shame there isnt a “None of the Above” choice on the ballot.
A successful winning vote for “N.o.t.A” would immediately kick in a legion of auditors and accountants to non deficit spending. (10% would be designated to reducing the Federal debt which has ballooned obscenely during the Conservative “Reign of Error”).
Federal tax dollars on maintenance of infrastructure, medical, education, etc would all recieve their miniscule pound of flesh( as opposed to the 80% of federal/ provincial tax dollars currently shovelled into the maw.)
No salary increases for govt workers until the federal debt was reduced by half or their numbers were cut by half or their generous garanteed govt pensions were cut loose and allowed to “survive” in the real world of market fluctuations with no govt backed garantees.( welcome to the real world retired govt sloths its cruel and scary and not totally unlike Greece……..).
I can just see the outraged govt employee replies.
Not to worrry.
Vote NDP.
Higher taxes will make everything muuuuuuch better
I’d vote for a pig wearing lipstick if they could actually balance a budget and stick to it.
A la Paul Martin in the 1990’s. Great Finance Minister, horrible PM.
Not that the “Liberals” are my cup of tea.
Justin Trudeau’s breathless, wheezy, born again speeches remind me of some revivalist preacher standing on a peach crate in a grimy tent. Forced sincerity, overly coached, unblinking stare with robotic expressions of empathy for the great unwashed… Creepy.
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Couldn’t agree more. He lost me at his father’s eulogy. I was gonna heave then and I am equally repulsed now.
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Well said. Exceptionally well said. What passes for political discussion is gibberish, misdirection and lies. And the pundits like it ’cause they claim to speak that obscure language and have to interpret for us. How ridiculous that a politician can’t speak plainly and truthfully! And you are right – ‘socialism’ dos NOT have a concrete definition. It is a concept that has specific applications in certain circumstances. Like ethics. There are rules and there are ethics. Ethics are situational.
Because there are folks like you and nonconfidencevote, I have hope. Because folks like you are never to gain power, I have despair. Because I have despair, I ran away to the forest. Because I have the forest, I have hope again. When they take away my forest, I will kill the bastards. That pretty much sums up why I will vote Green.
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An interesting myth has evolved around Ronald Regan to the effect that he didn’t raise taxes and that he cut the deficit. But au contraire, the Huffington Post reports that, During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.” Reagan enacted a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously. Despite the conservative myth that tax cuts somehow increase revenue, the government went deeper into debt and Reagan had to raise taxes just a year after he enacted his tax cut. Despite ten more tax hikes on everything from gasoline to corporate income, Reagan was never able to get the deficit under control. The Canadian deficit has grown under “…Mr. Harper [and] has no progress to report. Indeed, his government is adding $169-billion in new Conservative debt — driving the accumulated total to an all-time record high at $627-billion. His earlier target for significantly reducing his debt-ratio has been postponed for eight years, until 2021.” August 2nd Harper said, “Canadians will make a critical decision about the direction of our country, a decision with real consequences, a decision about who has the proven experience today to keep our economy strong…”
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Yeah…now that would be just ONE of the lies, now wouldn’t it?
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Paul Martin Jr. was always despised by Jean Cretien.
The hatred went way back to Paul Martin Sr.s day when he blocked Cretiens bid for the leadership in the 60’s.
Jump forward to the 1990’s and Cretien threatened the Martin camp that he (Cretien)would run for a 4th term if they tried pushing him out before he wanted to go.
Martin was an excellent manager/delegater but when he became “top dog” it seems like he was lost. Directionless.
The Economist magazine dubbed him “Mr Dithers” because he was always trying to please everyone at the same time.
I sent him a letter (back before the internet) when he was finance minister asking him about his policies and I recieved a hand written, signed reply. Still have it somewhere.
Nice guy. Too nice for politics.
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Yeah. Me, too. Way, way too nice for politics.
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