The Week That Was

I took some time off this week. I could say I was being productive, well sort of. I read, I shopped for Xmas. and I got caught up in playing an online multiplayer role playing game; Fallen Sword.

In other words besides being busy at work I goofed off instead of blogging. Mind you that does not mean I did not pay attention to the wonderful world of politics this week. And so I will do a little update here of the week that was. Or at least my interpretation of it.

LIARS CLUB

Well after hearing Karlheinz Schrieber tell his side of the cash for Thiesen weapons systems story, apparently paying off Brian Mulroney after he left office but making the deal while he was in office. It got all very complicated. Before the Star Chamber of the Ethics Committee of Parliament Schrieber insisted that the Liberals had been wrong all along. As had Stevie Cameron. It had nothing to do with Air Bus. Nope it was all about Thiesen and their Light Armoured Vehicles that they wanted to manufacture in the Maritimes. It was about weapons. And Mulroney took cold hard cash to promote weapons. A weapons system that he himself kaboshed when it turned out that it would cost taxpayers a 100 million dollars.

So this week BM showed up before the Star Chamber and contradicted Schrieber. He didn't get $300,000 in thousand dollar bills, he got $225,000. And he kept $75,000, the initial retainer, in a safety deposit box. But he did eventually declare and pay taxes on $300,000. He did meet Schrieber twice while in office, once for coffee at 24 Sussex Drive and once at his PM get away cabin. But shucks that was just a social call, anyone of us could have visited him.

The whole thing showed that both these characters are liars and scoundrels. It just so happens that one of them was once the PM. The other a gun runner.

Now anywhere else in the world a gun runner putting a PM of a country on a retainer to sell weapons would raise an eyebrow or two.

But not in Canada. And it wasn't about Airbus. At least they both agreed on that. Nope it was about Theisen and promoting LAV's. And the deal was cooked up while Mulroney was still in office but concluded once he left. And with cold hard cash there is no paper trail.

Now lets not forget that this was the same Brian Mulroney who got appointed a director of Archer Daniel Midlands, and that company was plagued with a price fixing scandal at the time. And low and behold if ADM didn't buy out Robin Hood Mills of Canada, thanks to Mulroney's FTA with Reagan.

Thats the kind of guy Mulroney is and was. So we should be shocked that he would be a gunzel for a gunrunner?

CTV YOUR BIAS IS SHOWING

For weeks prior to and finally the week of the Star Chamber revelations of Karl and Brian, Craig Oliver of CTV Question Period and Mike Duffy sounded like Conservative hacks. First they complained this was all old news. Then as revelations were made by Karl, Mike dismissed them. Both of them characterized the hearings as a clown show. In fact they insisted, despite facts proving it was anything but, on reporting it as such. Now what got their knickers in a twist?

Surprising and shocking revelations that came from Karl as reported on all the other channels became irrelevant ramblings according Mike. He spent more time dismissing Karl than the Conservatives did.

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Wednesday the Taser report on the RCMP was released but it was lost in all the news coverage of the 'Waiting For Brian' Story. On Thursday as the Mulroney Royal Entourage came before the Star Chamber, the Conservatives finally released their Pavier Report on Polling.

Remember that. Well this could be why they delayed the report and then released it on the day Brian was testifying. Tories spend more on polling now than Liberals did
Meanwhile Stockwell Day was nowhere to be found on Parliament Hill. Neither Wednesday when the damning Taser Report came out, calling it a lethal weapon.

RCMP watchdog demands tougher rules on Tasers
Canadians 10 times more likely to be Tasered to Death by Police then Americans

Nor was he around on Friday when the RCMP Investigation Report came out.

Task force says RCMP should be 'separate entity'


RCMP JUST ANOTHER PUBLIC SERVICE

The Task Force revealed that the RCMP is just another group of public sector workers. Yes there was the usual media and pundit comments about the iconic nature of the RCMP, blah, blah. But when you look closely at the report you see that the RCMP is no different than any other public sector workers. They are over worked, putting in unpaid overtime. The force has allocated for increased staffing but never hired personnel. RCMP officers are doing data entry that should have been done by data entry clerks, but of curse those positions were never filled. Working Alone is dangerous for most workers, and many provinces have Working Alone legislation. Of course the RCMP deaths recently in the North shows that these workers share something in common with their civilian counterparts. Due to cost savings, the bottom line, they are put in the way of danger that has ended up with fatalities. Cost cutting, cutbacks, unfilled positions are all the legacy of the neo-con attack on the public sector in the nineties. And the RCMP are public sector workers just like their civilian counterparts. The report talks about the need for civilian oversight, for making the RCMP autonomous and giving them access to the the oversight commission for complaints. What it failed to recommend was a real grievance procedure and an authentic new form of staff relations, that is they failed to recommend unionization of the RCMP.

CSIS BEAT THEM TO IT

The revelation that the CIA destroyed waterboarding torture tapes reminded me that CSIS did the same thing with its wire tapping of the Air India conspirators twenty years ago. Nice to know Canada leads the way. Of course the CIA says it did it to protect the identities of its agents. Did CSIS do it for the same reason?

HYUK, HYUK, IT'S HUCKABEE

As your faithful wag predicted here Huckabee has come from the second tier to be a real threat to the leading Republican Presidential Candidates. That's because they believed their own press. While Huckabee appeals directly to the base of the party. He is one of them. And while he is he is also a Red Tory. A socially liberal politician in right wing garb. The Republican establishment hates him and have begun attacking him, as have media pundits like MSNBC Chris Matthews, that reminds us Huckabee endorses the Second Amendment because folks need guns to protect themselves from the Government. Watch for more smears as Huckabee support rallies in Iowa.

On the Sunday Talk Shows south of the Border the has been McCain who polls below Paul sometimes and is neck and neck with Thompson for falling out of the top tier, is being lauded as the guy who will win New Hampshire. Don't count on it. I predict given New Hampshire's libertarian bent that Paul will surprise folks more than any McCain comeback. After all he raised $3 million dollars online, in one day. A record for any politician. And that money makes him richer than McCain. As for Thompson, glad he didn't give up his acting career.

As for Democrats, Iowa will go to the guy who looks like JFK and talks like RFK. No not Obama, John Edwards. He has the machine in the state, and is everyone's number two choice. In Iowa being number two makes you number one in the caucus's and he has the organization to pull it off. Look for an upset.

PATRIARCHY KILLS

The death of teenage girl in Toronto made headlines. Her father allegedly killed her for being, well a Canadian teenager. You see she rejected her 'religious' faith. Or at least the symbol of womens oppression in that faith.The headscarf. No she wasn't Amish. She was a Muslim. Heck she could have been Christian or Jewish, or a Hindu. It matters not. These are all patriarchal religions who believe in the Father God, and God is the Father. Hence women and children and animals remain chattel to the husband. Secular, pluralist society is being besieged by the identity politics of the oppressors. Thousands of years of religious oppression led to the enlightenment and the revolutionary modernism. Today the forces of humanism face a determined opposition from those who would proclaim their backwards anti-human morality as justified in the name of cultural understanding and inclusiveness. Religion is Political, and always has been, and the battle for freedom is about freedom from religion, not just freedom for religion. Those who would claim that it is only Islam that is intolerant should look to their own holy books, to the divisions between men and women in their synagogues, temples, and churches that exist today. This could have happened to any teenage girl in Canada whose parents are religious zealots. In fact it is the reason we also have young girls and women having babies while denying they are pregnant, which has often ended in tragedy.


There we go a week of rants in one day.




Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Canada, government, Conservatives, Stephen Harper, Brian Mulroney,
Harper, Airbus Affair, Karlheinz Schreiber, Stevie Cameron, William Kaplan, CTV, GlobeandMail,
Canada, anti-terrorism act, Government, Liberals, NDP, Conservatives, War Measures Act, 1970, Arar, terrorism, crime, liberalism, state, statism, libertarian, civil liberties
Air, India,, John, Marshall,, RCMP,, CSIS,, Sikh,
Giuliano Zaccardelli, Zaccardelli, , RCMP, Resigns, Arar, Commisioner, Harper, Government, lawandorder, Conservatives, Parliament, MPs, Liberals,
Religion, babuskhka, Headscarves, Veils, Hajib, Patriarchy, Women, Church, Muslim, Catholic, Islam, burqa,
black bloc, Muslim, voting, Quebec, elections canada, Burka, Bikini, Damascus, Syria, feminism, Islam, women, liberation, empowerment
Religion, babuskhka,Headscarves, Veils, Hajib, Patriarchy, Women, Muslim, Islam,

Which Priority Was This?

Gee I didn't know Capital Punishment was one of the Stephen Harper Party priorities. No mention was made in the throne speech. Did I miss that.

And gee they even did a 'secret' poll and found out that other than their base, the majority of of Canadians oppose capital punishment. Does that matter? Nope its full speed ahead with their Hidden Agenda.

So now we have reversals on clemency and the abandonment of sponsorship of the UN resolution on a global moratorium on the death penalty. All straight out of Tom Flanagan's play book

OTTAWA - The Conservative government will not co-sponsor a United Nations resolution calling for a global moratorium on the death penalty, breaking with a nearly decade-old tradition.

An official with the Foreign Affairs Department says Canada will vote in favour of the resolution when it comes to the floor of the UN General Assembly in December, but will not sponsor it.

"There are a sufficient number of co-sponsors already, and we will focus our efforts on co-sponsoring other resolutions within the UN system which are more in need of our support," said Catherine Gagnaire.

Seventy-four other countries have put their names forward as sponsors, including the United Kingdom, Australia and France.

Last week, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day surprised the House of Commons by announcing that Canada will not oppose the execution of a Canadian citizen on death row in Montana for two murders. Day said the new policy will apply to "murderers" such as Ronald Allen Smith who have had a fair trial in a democratic country.

The government has not specified which countries it considers democracies.

Scott hits the nail on the head with his observation;

"Basically I perceive that image the Cons want to be seen showing is “we’d support a reinstatement of capital punishment if we had the numbers in parliament to do so, but since we don’t, we’ll send out a sublinimal message like this and like last week’s “no clemency pleas” to show our hard-core supporters we really do wish we had capital punishment here (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)”

SEE:

Another Tory For Capital Punishment

More Conservative Media Backlash

Conservative Columnist Opposes Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment Poll

Harpers Lethal Injection


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Stockwell Day capital-punishment, Canada, crime, death penalty, Montana, Ronald Allen Smith, UN, lethal injection, global moratorium on the death penalty,

More Conservative Media Backlash

Over the Harpocrites reversal on capital punishment of Canadians abroad. This time from the National Post in an editorial. There can be no joy in Harperville this weekend over the continuing criticism from its normally sycophantic media allies. And the fact they keep reminding us of the Harpocrites Hidden Agenda.

Yes, the United States is "a democratic country that supports the rule of law," but it is also one that has come to a different conclusion on the fundamental moral question of whether it is ever permissible for the state to take a human life in the service of criminal justice.

With his announcement, Mr. Day is either (1) falsely suggesting that this difference in outlook isn't worth making a diplomatic fuss about, even though a man's life is at stake; or (2) indicating that this government truly does support capital punishment, notwithstanding the three-decade old ban on the practice that's been in place in our own country (not to mention a 2001 Supreme Court of Canada decision that effectively declared the practice unconstitutional).

Both of these implications reflect poorly on the government. If Stephen Harper's party seeks to overturn our nation's stance on such an important issue, the proper place to do so is Parliament -- not a communique involving a single Canadian monster awaiting a cocktail of pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

Ouch.

H/T to more notes from the underground.


See:

Capital Punishment Poll

Harpers Lethal Injection

The Return of Capital Punishment

Say No To Capital Punishment

Pro-Life Pro-Death

Free Kadhar

More Foreign Affairs Incompetency

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Stockwell Day capital-punishment, Canada, Stephen Harper, death penalty, media, National Post, lethal injection, U.S. Supreme Court,

Conservative Columnist Opposes Capital Punishment

In an editorial in today's Edmonton Sun,and Calgary Sun, Calgary Sun columnist Licia Corbella speaks out opposing the Conservative Governments reversal on capital punishment .

She spanks Harper for his decision to abandon a Canadian to face lethal injection in the U.S. In particular she points out, as I have, that it reveals the Conservatives hidden agenda regarding Capital punishment.

Now Licia is no raving left winger, heck she is proudly opposed to all things Liberal. She is a dyed in the wool conservative, check out her columns, and yet even she is appalled at Harpers anti-democratic, executive decision to overturn a longstanding Canadian policy. I quote;

"Canada is a country that opposes the death penalty. Period.

Now, with no debate, the minority federal Conservative government has changed decades of Canadian foreign policy to stop seeking clemency for Canadians facing the death penalty in other countries.

Asked about his government's about face on protecting a Canadian from the death penalty, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said seeking clemency for Smith would run counter to his government's tough stance on crime.

In other words, Harper is comfortable with reversing decades of democratic Canadian procedure while in a minority position, but isn't comfortable being at odds with party policy.

How's that for a killer of logic not to mention Canadian ethics?

It's also bad politics for the Tories, who have been portrayed with having a scary "hidden agenda" that they will roll out should they ever win a majority.

Yes, Smith is a monster. But Canadians decided long ago that capital punishment is an even bigger monster.

Shame on the federal Tories for letting it loose. "

Some honorable gentleman; "Here, Here."

When the right wing press and its columnists oppose this decision you know that it ain't as popular with the base as the Harper hoped it would be. It's a big political duh' oh.


See:

Capital Punishment Poll

Say No To Capital Punishment

Pro-Life Pro-Death

Free Kadhar

More Foreign Affairs Incompetency

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Stockwell Day capital-punishment, Canada, Stephen Harper, death penalty, Licia Corbella, Edmonton Sun, Calgary Sun, lethal injection, U.S. Supreme Court,

Capital Punishment Poll

This is an online poll so vote It is on Canoe.ca , home page for the Sun papers. Because clearly the conservative echo chamber has been voting. And you can vote twice, click here and then go to the home page and vote again. See we can do that echo chamber thing to.

Should Canada bring back the death penalty?
Yes
No
Not sure



Results

Should Canada bring back the death penalty?
Yes		66%
No		28%
Not sure		5%
Total Votes for this Question: 1610

SEE:

Harpers Lethal Injection

The Return of Capital Punishment

Say No To Capital Punishment

Pro-Life Pro-Death

Free Kadhar

More Foreign Affairs Incompetency

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Stockwell Day capital-punishment, Canada, crime, death penalty, canoe.ca, poll, Sun newspapers,, lethal injection, U.S. Supreme Court,

Harpers Lethal Injection

It is a specific case of a Canadian facing the death penalty in the U.S. that the Harpocrites have decided they will use as their cause célèbre to arbitrarily abandon our long standing national policy that we do not extradite criminals to countries with the death penalty and that we fight for Canadians facing the death penalty abroad.

The U.S. implemented the Death Penalty in 1976 the same year that Canada in a free vote ended the death penalty. Remember 'free votes' that used to be the cornerstone of the Reform/Alliance/Conservatives parliamentary reform policy until they became the government.

A bill to officially ban the death penalty passed in a free vote in 1976.

A free vote on reinstating the death penalty was held in the House of Commons in 1987. MPs agreed by a 21-vote margin to maintain the abolition of capital punishment.

And the irony is that the Canadian on death row is facing death through lethal injection which is now before the Supreme Court in the U.S. as a form of cruel and unusual punishment, torture by any other name.

Is The Government Finally Scrutinizing The Death Penalty?

Since the Supreme Court effectively legalized the federal death penalty in 1976, death penalty legislation or even legislative oversight has been nearly non-existent. Feingold's hearing this summer on death penalty implementation was the first of its kind since 2001-- the last time a Democratic majority enabled Feingold to chair a Senate committee.

But there are indications that Feingold may no longer be the lone wolf in Washington howling about the death penalty's moral and practical problems. His hearing this summer actually made front-page headlines when fired U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton gave specific examples of the Alberto Gonzales-led Justice Department eagerly pursuing death sentences at the expense of due process. Nationally, executions this year are down to 42, their lowest level in a decade.

Of those executions all but one were done via lethal injection. And the Supreme Court's stay of execution for Mississippi prisoner Earl Berry was, according to the New York Times, an "indisputable indication" that the Court will stop all deaths by lethal injection until next spring.

That's when the nine justices argue Baze v. Rees, which will determine if death row inmates can challenge the so-called three-drug cocktail used for executions as a violation of 8th amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. Some doctors now argue that the drug combination may sometimes result in inmates being paralyzed but not anesthetized, meaning the final moments of their lives are spent in searing pain, unable to move.

Looking at the Ethics of the Lethal Injection Challenge

The Supreme Court decided to halt an execution in Mississippi this week, marking the third stay from the justices since they agreed to hear a challenge to lethal injection. It likely means that states will hold off on all executions until the high court rules on the case, which claims the drug mixture used for the injections can cause severe pain and amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.

The "de facto" moratorium and the case itself raise an interesting ethical question. In the past, other inmates have challenged the constitutionality of lethal injection, have lost their appeals and have been executed. And Richard Dieter, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, says that the court has declined to take similar appeals in the past. So how is it fair that the justices have just now decided to weigh in, and, in the meantime, executions are likely to stop?

Marin judge rules lethal injection procedures invalid

Portrait of lethal injection reveals a barbaric scene

The other irony is that the Canadian in question is an Albertan. And Alberta is the home base of Harpers Law and Order Government.

The lawyer for a Canadian awaiting execution in a Montana prison says he was shocked by the federal government's announcement it will no longer seek clemency for his client.

In the past, the government has requested that Canadian prisoners sentenced to death in the U.S. be allowed to serve out life sentences here, since Canada opposes the death penalty.

The apparent change of heart came as a blow to Don Vernay, lawyer for Albertan Ronald Allen Smith, who faces lethal injection for the 1982 murders of two men in Montana.

"I mean, talk about having the wind knocked out of you. I'm astounded, is all I can say," Vernay told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day announced in the House of Commons on Thursday that he will not plead for clemency for Smith, since he had been found guilty in a democratic country "that supports the rule of law."

On Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed Canada has no interest in wading into the debate over capital punishment, and would not be coming to Smith's aid.

"The reality in this particular case is, were we to intervene, it would quickly become a question of whether we were willing to repatriate a double murderer to Canada," Harper told reporters.

"In light of this government's strong initiatives on tackling violent crime I think that would send the wrong signal to the Canadian public."

Vernay said representatives of the federal government contacted him about a year ago and said they intended to try and bring Smith home.

"They came to us and they said we want Mr. Smith back in Canada, he's one of our citizens," Vernay said.

"We want the death penalty lifted and we are going to do whatever we can to secure his transfer to Canada and to have the governor of Montana grant clemency. And so we were pleased and we were surprised."

Vernay said he flew to Montana and met with the staff of Gov. Brian Schweitzer late this summer, and got the sense the clemency request was on the agenda.

"It was in the preliminary stages but everybody knew that this is what was on the agenda," Vernay said.

"And we had the Canadian government 100 per cent behind us and then all of a sudden out of nowhere comes this statement."

Vernay said the decision seems to fly in the face of Canada's position on the death penalty and sends a confusing message to the world.

"For your government to make a statement like that to the world internationally that you now support the execution of your own citizens -- what can I say? I mean, it's breathtaking in terms of its implications."

The Harpocrites are abandoning not only Ronald Allen Smith to his fate, but any right to legal intervention that could occur in the Supreme Court hearings on lethal injections. Perhaps fearing their intervention could sway the court.

"We have no desire to open the debate on capital punishment here in Canada -- and likewise, we have no desire to participate in the debate on capital punishment in the United States." Harper told reporters.

Now if one was prone to conspiracy theories one could be forgiven for thinking that the Harpocrites abandonment of this specific case is a sop to the White House, given the President is Executioner In Chief and rather proud of his record of executions when he was Governor of Texas.

And we know that the White House endorses other forms of torture err cruel and unusual punishment; like waterboarding, using public security as an excuse. Which is the excuse Stockwell Day gave for this sudden reversal of policy;

"It would send a wrong message. We want to preserve public safety here in Canada."

One wonders since this announcement has come out of blue. One has to ask why now, and why are they doing this. There is a hidden agenda here despite the Harpers assurances that he does not want to open up a debate on capital punishment.

Except they have.

In 1987, the House of Commons defeated a motion to bring the death penalty back. Among those who voted in favor of the idea was Rob Nicholson, now the federal justice minister. Nicholson did not talk to reporters in Parliament and his chief spokeswoman did not respond to queries about whether he still backed capital punishment.

Yep, a not so hidden agenda. It is the slippery slope towards a return to capital punishment in Canada if the Harper Law and Order government gets a majority.

Mr. Harper added: "The reality of this particular case is that were we to intervene, it would very quickly become a question of whether we are prepared to repatriate a double-murderer to Canada. In light of this government's strong initiatives on tackling violent crime, I think that would send the wrong signal to the Canadian population."

SEE:

Say No To Capital Punishment

Pro-Life Pro-Death

Free Kadhar

More Foreign Affairs Incompetency

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Stockwell Day capital-punishment, Canada, crime, death penalty, Montana, Ronald Allen Smith/a>, Feingold, lethal injection, U.S. Supreme Court,

The Return of Capital Punishment

The Harpocrites have decided that it is okay for another state to murder Canadian citizens as long as that state is a so called democratic one.

The Conservative government's announcement that it will no longer stand up for Canadians who face the death penalty in the United States is drawing fire from the opposition. The Tories officially announced a change in Canada's foreign policy when it comes to Canadians on death row. "We will not actively pursue bringing back to Canada murderers who have been tried in a democratic country that supports the rule of law," Day told the House of Commons on Thursday.

Though as arch conservative Pat Buchanan reminded us last night on Dan Abrams show on MSNBC , discussing the use of waterboarding as torture, "the United States is NOT a democracy IT IS A Republic."

This is the same Republic that kidnapped Mehar Arar and sent him to Syria to be tortured and is still illegally holding a Canadian citizen at Gitmo.

And there are those in the United States who will be impacted by Canada's failure to support our own citizens whose right to life is threatened by state sanctioned murder.

Feingold Statement on the Severe Injustices of Capital Punishment

So much for Canada's international reputation as a defender of Human Rights. Once again tarnished by the Orwellian logic of the Harpocrites. They have of course used this logic to attack Canadian values and government programs, claiming them to be aberrations; simply the result of the previous Liberal governments, whether it is over the issues like the Middle East, Kyoto or Peacekeeping.

They are now imposing their Conservative values in reshaping the policies of the Canadian state through executive edict. This is just another example of their anti-democratic agenda, an agenda that uses the power of the PMO and cabinet to avoid parliament.


SEE:

Say No To Capital Punishment

Pro-Life Pro-Death

Free Kadhar

More Foreign Affairs Incompetency

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Stockwell Day capital-punishment, Canada, crime, death penalty, justice,

Same Old Con

Say, isn't this how Stockwell Day got his seat?

Harper responds to release of warrants in probe of allegations candidate O'Brien used cash, contacts to get opponent to withdraw

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
Stephen Harper, Harper, Mayor of Ottawa, Stockwell Day, Conservatives, Conservative Party, politics, Government, payola, Ottawa, Canada,

Puffin Dance

Now that the Liberals have adopted the Puffin as their official mascot their Great Leader does the Puffin Dance.



After all the Puffin is known as the "clown of the sea,"

Yes, yes I know this photo is already controversial.

However to be fair and balanced here are some more goofy politician photo's.





















I guess that was Day doing his

Stanfield imitation.





















And of course who can ever forget this.
The Queen of the BBQ circuit
before he became King.





















Apparently it's a Liberal Leader tradition
to also be the Minister of Dance.
Pierre does the pirouette.












H/T to Engaged Spectator.



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
politics, Puffin, bird
Canada, politics, Liberals, Dion, Ignatieff,

Them and Us

According to King Stephen the Conservatives don't have time for protesters. Which we knew.

And the reason is that he claims protesters are not ordinary Canadians, or in this case Quebecois, but a new profession. Basically a 'rent a crowd'. They are not Canadians or Quebecois like you and me or the Conservatives.

"Dear friends, remember always that this is how we can measure our progress as a political movement: bring true results, work for the well-being of families and taxpayers, for truckers, the cashier, the retired person, the salesman, the farmer, the entrepreneur--for people who work hard, and who don't have the time to protest, or have the money to hire protestors.

But who support their families--Quebeckers of the middle class, the enlarged middle class, who were largely ignored for too long, by the political class.

The Conservatives saw them, the Conservatives heard them, the Conservatives have understood them, because we are they [i.e. the middle class]."

Gee someone tell that to the professional protesters at the Fraser Institute, of which Jason Kenney, Rob Anders and Ezra Levant are graduates of. Or the professional protesters of the NCC Lobby, which Harper once spokesman of. Or the professional protesters of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Or the professional protesters opposed to the Wheat Board. Or the professional protesters at REAL Women. Or the professional protesters who demand Childcare Choice. Or the professional protesters who lobby for traditional marriage. Or the professional protesters who oppose Native Rights and Land Claims. Or the professional protesters of the Canadian Medical Association. Or the professional protesters who celebrate Red Friday.

Apparently they are no longer welcome in Harpers New Conservative Party of the 'enlarged middle class'.

Harper defines this mythical class as; 'truckers, the cashier, the retired person, the salesman, the farmer, the entrepreneur'. Now other than the the retired person and the cashier; who is a wage slave, the rest are gainfully defined as 'self employed' which is the classic definition of middle class; self employed professionals. Who were once called the petit-bourgeoisie

After liberal ideologue Daniel Bell declared the end of class war, sociologists defined the middle class as the great American melting pot which included blue collar workers, white collar workers, service workers, professionals and the self employed.

It was not based on the Marxist defined 'relations to the means of production', but on their salaries. No one was working class anymore, that was passe instead we all became a nation of the great unwashed 'middle class' we were now all 'consumers', not producers.

Now given that one would think with all those protesters who makeup the Conservative Party base, that Harper would have enlarged his middle class to include professional protesters and those who have the time and money to hire them. What he is saying is that the hard working Canadians and Quebecois who oppose him are simply in the pay of.....whom? Commies? Trade Unions? Maude Barlow?

In true animal farm fashion he has defined some protesters as more Conservative than others. They are the Special Interests. 'Them' to Harpers 'Us'.

Of course what he really is saying is that by his definition Thomas D'Aquino and his clique of Canada's CEO's are not a special interest group, but the mass of folks who protested last weekend at summit in Montebello are.

We have heard it all before, the protesters are 'commie dupes', and their fellow travelers in the media and blogosphere are 'nattering nabobs of negativity'.

And typical of right wing populism Harper again appeals to being one of the people; "because we are they" ignoring the political reality that his Party is not only a Minority Government but a minority political view amongst Canadians and Canadien's.



SEE:

The Peasants Are Revolting!

Police Black Block

Day In Wonderland

Jelly Bean Summit


Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
contientalism, integration, economic integration, Canada, Stephen Harper, Quebec, NAFTA, SPP, North American Union, capitalism, labour, left, left nationalism, Quebec, Canada, labour, environmentalists, union, labor, police agents, QPP, RCMP,

Day In Wonderland

Stockwell Day expands on the Humpty Dumpty syndrome of the Harper government, and becomes the Red Queen for a Day,

The Red Queen said, "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place."

By justifying the Police use of undercover agent provocateurs to incite violence and justify the use of riot police at the SPP protests in Montebello.

Public Security Minister Stockwell Day, meanwhile, continued to brush of questions about a call for a public inquiry. "The thing that was interesting in this particular incident, three people in question were spotted by protesters because (they) were not engaging in violence," Day said Friday in Vancouver. "Because they were not engaging in violence, it was noted that they were probably not protesters. I think that's a bit of an indictment against the violent protesters."

An undercover cop carrying rocks encouraging violence and acting as an agent provocateur is an indictment against the police and idiots like Day.

"They were being encouraged to throw rocks and they were not throwing rocks, it was the protesters who were throwing the rocks. That's the irony of this," said Day,

You see the cop was not being violent he was just carrying a rock. A rock he had handed to him only moments before, and he was going to drop it, but union protesters surrounded him and didn't give him a chance.

So still carrying his rock, he walked towards the riot cops to show them his evidence. And so they pretended to bust him so they could dust the rock for fingerprints for the identity of the real violent protester who handed him the rock.

And all those other rock throwing protesters? Well none seem to have been arrested. In fact they all seem to have disappeared.

On Wednesday, the mayor of Montebello thanked police and protesters, praising the fact that there wasn't a single report of damage during the two-day summit.

In the Wonderland that is Ottawa, Humpty Dumpty logic continues to dominate the mindset of the Harpocrites.

“When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone,
"it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.”

SEE:

Police Black Bloc



Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:
contientalism, integration, economic integration, Canada, US, Mexico, NAFTA, SPP, North American Union, capitalism, labour, left, left nationalism, Quebec, Canada, labour, Stockwell Day, union, labor, police agents, QPP, RCMP,