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!

November 2008 Update

Its been awhile since I last posted, and strangely, during a time when elections were held in Canada and the US that I followed quite closely. Frankly, I did not write because I was depressed and dreaded the outcomes that I believed were about to occur. In short:

Canada- we had an election about nothing. It was very unlikely anything would change. The accomplishments of this election? Stephane Dion was thrashed as the Liberal leader, the Greens got some much needed airtime and a few hundred thousand more votes, and Harper was further exposed as an opportunistic Bush lite clone. Some people are upset about the waste of energy, money, and time on this election about nothing [philosophically I believe that any practice of our democratic rights is worthwhile], which probably led to the embarrassingly low turnout.
Oh, in case you missed it, NOTHING CHANGED.

US- this was the one I was dreading. Americans were presented with a choice between their past [that would be McCain] and their future[that one]. I fully expected the outstanding qualities of Barack Obama to get buried by an avalanche of sleaze and racism and the US would sink ever lower towards a third world style society: ie. disappearing middle class, tremendously wealthy elite, unbelieveable poverty, increasingly ignorant and uneducated citizenry, and a growing military and police state.
Oh, in case you missed it, SOMETHING CHANGED.

I'll post more about the American election later.

Who are the Taliban?

Finally, a mainstream media company practices some real journalism. On a topic of critical importance to Canadian citizens. I have read and watched the first two installments, link to the image above, and strongly encourage everyone else to.

Perhaps if we understand these people a little more we can bring ourselves to understand why we are in Afghanistan, and how this mission might be ended.

Talkin' Bout Afghanistan

As part of my ongoing personal campaign to get Canada out of Afghanistan, I have spoken to numerous [over two dozen] people in various settings over the last few weeks. Not once have I had a person defend or promote the Canadian mission in Afghanistan. In fact, most people seem to be more against it than I am. At least a third claim they were against it from the outset.

These people range in age from early twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and seventies. This is by no means a representative sample as they are all from Southern Ontario and probably skew a little high when it comes to income and education.

A common thread of their unhappiness is that we were snookered/strong armed into this mission by the US. Primarily, to cover their withdrawal to attack Iraq.

There is also a resignation that with the Conservatives or Liberals [or a combination of them] in the drivers seat, that we will never leave unless the Afghans chase us out.

The discussions I have had have been surprisingly emotional [for Canadians] and have actually lifted my spirits regarding a change in policy. I will continue to raise the issue as often as possible and hope that other Canadians are doing the same.

NOTE: With that in mind I have linked to a couple of Canadian Anti-Mission Blogs in my Links
List. Check them out.