The Reform Party of Preston Manning is Dead. The Canadian Alliance of Preston Manning is Dead. The New Conservative Government of Stephen Harper has liquidated it's Reform Alliance democratic populist ideology for the politics of the Strong Man.Wait a minute...the Reform/Alliance party was always a one man show, it was never really a grassroots democratic movement after Preston consolidated power. It was always about the Cult of Personality.
Stephen Harper understood that, which is why he quit the Reform Party under Preston and came back to usurp the King and make the R/A/Conservative party his own.
Which is why since his election as PM he has personally dominated his party and the government. We did not elect a political party we elected a PM. The party may be in a minority position but the PM is not. Thus the cult of personality that is now appearing on the Conservative home page.
Fellow blogger Jeff Davidson made the observation today about the Conservative Party website which features endless pictures of Stephen Harper... Link to Conservative Site I agree, what's up with that? Is it a one man party? I have heard the stories about Harper being a control freak, but I think this says something about his character and the party; that it is about Stephen Harper. Link to Jeff's Blog Post
Ironically the Supreme Leader of Canada now appears to have done to his party what Trotsky accussed Lenin of wanting to do the Russian Social Democratic Party.....
The most prescient critique of Lenin's style and methods was contained in Trotsky's 1904 pamphlet, "Our Political Tasks":
"Lenin's methods lead to this: the party organisation at first substitutes itself for the party as a
whole; then the Central Committee substitutes itself for the organisation; and finally a single 'dictator' substitutes himself for the Central Committee."
And of course the result of Lenins 'dictatorship' was Stalin, the founder of the cult of personality, who seems to have a special place not only in Stephen Harpers library but in his view of the world.
See
Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Canada, Government, PM, PMO, Harper, Stalin, Great, Leader, Autocrat, Conservatives,
ethics, accountability, autarch, autocrat, politics,
The Reform party and now the CPC like to pretend they are farmers and rodeo guys. They talk the populist talk, and people eat it up.
ReplyDeleteI choose to believe people aren't dumb, but why do people support these right wingers against their own best economic interests? The cult of the personality surely has something to do with it, but I don't think it explains everything.