Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Democracy in Action and the Pundits Recoil

So, it takes the biggest political crisis of my lifetime [born 1957] for the corporate media and their mercenary mouthpieces to display their true colours. The last four days or so I have been watching and reading various Canadian media regarding the potential replacement of the Cons with the Coalition. I won't bore you with the reasons for this upheaval, but a few story lines have been actively promoted by our free press:

1. Mr. Harper, with some help from a couple of his sleazier acolytes [Flaherty], is without a doubt the cause of this whole mess.
2. Mr. Harper and the Cons are still the best choice to effectively govern Canada. Nevermind that they refuse to do anything regarding an economic stimulus package until it is too late.
3. Mr. Dion is not fit to be PM. He was 'rejected' by the public at the last election. Nevermind that in our system we don't elect the PM or that the Liberals finished second in number of seats, or that the Cons are not a majority.
4. The NDP are socialists and will turn this country into a socialist country. Nevermind that we are a socialist country already and so is all of Europe and a lot of the rest of the world.
5. The Bloc will be calling the shots and will destroy Canada. Nevermind that they will not take part in the government and have only pledged to vote for it for eighteen months or so. And see below from a Globe and Mail forum with Globe editorial board editor[Dec. 2, 2008];

Richard Stanczak from Corunna, Ontario Canada writes: Mr. Geiger, there has been much bashing of the potential support of the coalition by the Bloc in the media. Some of the imagery used, by the Globe and Mail in particular, is outright fear mongering. The Bloc MPs have been elected by Canadian citizens who felt they were the best representatives to serve their interests. I believe they are required to take an oath of office which [must] require allegiance to the country and its institutions. My question is, why is the media so bent on attacking the Bloc MPs and assigning the worse possible motives for their support of the coalition? Do you not think it is possible that they see their constituents in trouble and are trying to act in their best interests? Would you not expect all MPs, no matter what party, to act that way?
John Geiger: Perhaps. But at the end of the day the Bloc MPs are committed to the destruction of Canada. We cannot escape that fact, nor can we gloss over it. Mr. Duceppe is an effective politician, and he clearly satisfies some constituency within Quebec, but lets not pretend that he has the interests of the country at heart. He is not the man we should turn to as the saviour of Canada. He sincerely believes he has the interests of Quebec at heart. That is where the matter ends.

Indeed. Uhh, first off the Bloc wants to separate Canada through the democratic process. You know, by voting. That hardly merits the term, 'destruction of Canada'. Second, Mr. Geiger displays his uncanny ability to read minds, specifically Mr. Duceppe's. And lastly, he is not the saviour of Canada. He is not even in the government. He is only voting with the coalition. Mr. Geiger and the rest of the media horde seem to think that Mr. Duceppe is the real leader of this coalition. Why do they think that? Don't expect an answer.

The Globe and Mail, CTV, Rex Murphy of CBC, Andrew Coyne of MacLeans, and many others have been in full howl over the unfairness, the stupidity, the illegal, and the undemocratic nature of this coalition. It appears that their option of choice is to allow Mr. Harper to have another go at it. Presumably chastened by his brush with political suicide. Although they refuse to come out and say this. They heap such scorn on the coalition without offerring an alternative, that one can only surmise that they think Mr. Harper, a kinder gentler Harper, will behave and govern Canada responsibly.

Personally, I don't think we can take that chance. Toss Mr. Harper and his fellow trolls into the opposition for a spell. I don't think the coalition can do any worse.

UPDATE: I am starting to hear a lot of talk about Mr. Harper resigning, and maybe taking Flaherty with him, if the coalition will allow the Cons to stay as the government.

Great, just what Canada needs. An Albertan Putin pulling the strings of his appointed puppet.

TOSS THE BUMS OUT!

1 comment:

opit said...

TTBO would require consciousness and choice. I well remember that 1993 election when Kim Campbell led the P.C.'s on Brian Mulroney's policies of GST and Free Trade ( something we Canucks fought bitterly about the first 40 years after Confederation! )
At the end of the day GST stood for God Save the Tories ( nobody else will ) who were reduced to 2 seats in Parliament.
And Jean Chretien, Lie-beral leader with connections to the Establishment ? He had a Red Book of electoral promises. I think he established a record by not keeping one.
After that, any idea that Canadian elections were more than a sham went down the tubes.
I started following the Overton Window idea ( links under that header http://my.opera.com/oldephartte/links/ ) after reading an article at Needlenose followed by some exploration. After that it was just making notes as I tripped over related pieces.
Anyway - how they can be so wrong. Ideas to make your blood run cold
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutocracy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleptocracy