The Irrelevance of Protests

As I have said in the past mass demonstrations would not be violent if armed police, riot cops and Swat units were not present. But of course then they would be a carnival that resulted in nothing much than another day out in public solidarity. The FT has a satirical look at the recent protests in the UK against the Cameron Austerity measures and attacks on the public sector unions.

The point is well made, however a real difference is not that violence attracts more attention, as the writer implies, but rather what is a more effective form of resistance to state sanctioned measures we oppose.

Union and Civil Society/NGO endorsed marches, end up being a call to vote out the bastards, which neither challenges the system nor the institutional form of politics.

What does work is mass occupations of the legislature, as occurred in Alberta in the nineties during the attacks on medicare, and the recent occupation of the Wisconsin legislature. But they need then to be followed up with the Mass Strike, of workers and citizens. As we have seen in Egypt.

For it does seem a basic rule of modern British democracy that if you are marching against something you’ve already lost. Parading one’s discontent through London is the political equivalent of a fly bashing its head against a window pane. Of course there’s a terrific sense of community on a march – 250,000 flies with the same headache; it’s hugely empowering. But short of handing out placards with slogans such as “Mildly Miffed” or “I’m so angry I walked peacefully through London”, it is hard to imagine what more the protesters could have done to signal their acceptance of defeat.

It’s irresponsible to admit it, but this kind of peaceful protest is pointless. The system has all the shock absorbers necessary to handle a law-abiding demonstration. The next day ministers were already clear they would ignore the entire event, while insisting that they would be happy to discuss the issues with marchers, though sadly not over tea at Fortnum’s as it seems to be attracting the wrong sort these days.

It’s not that I’m advocating violence and disorder, just dispassionately noting that in Britain it is more effective. What last weekend’s thugs grasped is that ministers can’t ignore anarchists daubing the Cenotaph and bringing a bit of havoc to the capital. Once or twice they might be able to turn on the rioters, but not if it keeps happening. There’s nothing like stoking voters’ fears about the rule of law and the fabric of society to get the government’s attention.

You have to think of this in management terms. On key deliverables peaceful marching just doesn’t cut it. It’s all inputs and no outputs. But violent protest can be measured on key performance indicators. How many shops did you smash up? What percentage were banks? Did you manage to scare the Duchess of Cornwall? I’m sorry Dave; you are below target; do you want to nip over the road and vandalise that RBS?”

Mike Fluffy

CTV's paunchy pundit Mike Duffy has become a political puffball with his interviews with Harpocrite ministers. He throws them softballs and lets them anwser with their spin message with no challenge offered. As the ad's say' ya gotta talk to Duff' cause he will let you spin. It was particularly bad during the political crisis of last week, when he sided with the government against the coalition calling them the three stooges, and mimicking the party line of the PMO.

Of course he isn't the only one, Greg Weston of the Sun has called the coalition members that and further yesterday on Duff's show he called the coalition an attempted coup. Which of course it was anything but. It was perfectly parlimentary process, however the Harpocrite spin message has sunk deep into the mainstream media, especially amongst the pundits who repeat the talking points in their articles and commentaries.

Mike Duffy now spins the party line for the public, while chastising his guests if they raise issues he doesn't approve of. Case in point the NDP strategist dared to point out that the Bank of Canada was predicting dire times and Mike chimed in that in fact foreclosures in Canada were very small. A point made earlier by an economist he interviewed. However what he missed is that bankruptcies are on the rise again.

At other times Mike has fawned over the Calgary School lads over the military operations in Afghanistan, without so much as a critical comment.

At least Don Newman over at CBC Politics, Duffy's comptetition in the same time slot, asks hard questions of his guests, Mike spoon feeds them an opening to give the party line.

SEE
Sexism Duffy Style
Mike Duffy Makeover
CTV/G&M Showing Conservative Bias
Duffy Slaps Out Duffy
Ezra's Petard

Find blog posts, photos, events and more off-site about:Media, Canada, CTV, Mike Duffy, Duff, BellGlobalCTV, , TV, politics,

Political Astrology of the US Election

I came across an interesting article on political astrology of the U.S. election day, Nov. 4, predicting Obama's win.

The celestial events taking place now are amazing. Pluto rules nations, and Capricorn rules governments. The last time Pluto was in Capricorn was from 1763 to 1778.This was the time of the American Revolution which culminated in the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.The next time that Pluto was to return to Capricorn was this November.
Today, the planet Saturn is in direct opposition to the planet Uranus. Saturn represents the status quo; and Uranus represents revolutionary change at a grassroots level. These two opposing forces meet each other head-on!
When you look at the charts ofMc-Cain and Obama, we see McCain is a Virgo, with moon in Aquarius and Pisces Rising.
Obama is a Leo, with moon in Gemini and Aquarius Rising.
Both these guys are successful go-getters. What will make the difference is which one of their charts has the strongest connection to the chart of the U.S. based on July 4, 1776, 2:24 p. m. I'll cut to the chase and tell you right off--it's the chart of Barack Obama, hands down.

Along with this being a once in a 250 year event Pluto in Capricorn means a major realignment of the world economy as well.

On November 27th Pluto goes back into Capricorn until 2023. If you ever wanted a signal that the world is in major reconstruction follow the path of Capricorn for the next fifteen years. The mantra that I give the transit of Pluto in Scorpio is ‘brick by brick and stone by stone’.

There's plenty of blame to go around for why the nation and the world finds itself in such a financial pickle. Greed. Lack of regulation. Too much easy money.
But some astrologers put much of the blame on that pesky one-time planet Pluto. Rumson astrologer Flo Higgins said Pluto is moving from Sagittarius (laissez-faire attitude, not following rules) to Capricorn (conservative, regulated).
"Things have got to be destroyed and rebuilt and that's what's happening in the world," Higgins said. "We're not doomed to eternity like this. It'll be okay, but we have to go through some life lessons.

Those who pooh-pooh astrological predicitions forget that they are essentially mathematical formula's, and their predictability is over the long term. And given their predicatability, they function well for long term global events. As for being irrational, as my skeptical friends like to dismiss them, nothing can be more irrational than Stock Market Capitalism.

For instance here is an interesting political astrological pre-election predicition.....

Saturn vs. Uranus: The Smackdown
Friday, October 31, 2008

On Tuesday, November 4th, Saturn in Virgo will be exactly opposite Uranus in Pisces. This hasn't happened since 1967, when the two planets were reversed -- Saturn in Pisces and Uranus in Virgo. Again in 2008, the times are indeed changing, as Dylan said. Back then we had the Vietnam war and the summer of love: two distinctly opposing poles in a roiling paradigm shift. Now we have youth, charisma, and hope writ large in the symbol that is Barack Obama. He has inspired millions and gotten us to take to the streets in a living, breathing network of change-making. All the organization and grassroots fundraising he's done is a testament to these beautiful progressive values. It is indeed interesting that Obama has Aquarius rising (the sign connected to the planet Uranus.) On the other hand, we have John Mccain, whose Saturn in Pisces is opposed to the Cosmic Taskmaster's current placement in Virgo. He's also a Virgo sun, so Saturn is sitting right on top of his sign, affecting his health, happiness, and making him angry all the time. Americans have a major choice to make right now, and the world is watching with baited breath. We can choose hope (Uranus/Obama) or we can choose fear (Saturn/Mccain). Just a quick word about the insanity of election day aspects: it doesn't look like it's necessarily going to be over by midnight. The moon and Mercury both change signs that day, Mars squares Neptune, and Saturn dukes it out with Uranus, putting everyone on edge. Be vigilant, and vote early if you can in your state. If not, clear your schedule and wait as long as it takes on that line at the polls. Document your experience there with your cell-phone camera. Don't be cowed by anyone that tells you can't vote -- voting suppression will be out in full-force in swing states, but documentation of irregularities will go far to prevent another stolen election. Even if we have to wait days, weeks, or months for a final result, let's hope that it reflects our democracy's best intentions.

India is awash in astrologers as well as mathmaticians and theoritical physicists, all of whose predictions are based upon the Vedic system; whether mathematical or astrological. And they too predicted Obama's win.

Indian astrologers predict sweeping Obama win
AFP - 30 Oct 2008


I have posted before on political astrology....

The Monkey On Paul Martin's Back

Year of the Pig and the Liberal Green Alliance

Burma's Curse

And I am not the only one to note the signifigance of te political astrological impact of the American election....

Obama, by Jupiter!
If the stars were aligned today for the coronation of the king of Bhutan, what does the president-elect's horoscope foretell?
Jupiter is why former president Ronald Reagan, a keen follower of astrological advice, took office as governor of California in January 1967 at the bizarre time of quarter past midnight. The giant planet was then high in the sky, promising a prosperous term for the king of the B movies. So it proved.
Might Jupiter have been similarly shining down on the victory of Barack Obama two days ago? Actually, no. By the time Obama was greeting the crowd in Chicago's Grant Park, Jupiter and most of the planets were below the horizon.
However, those looking for astrological omens for the Age of Obama (quite a few people, as a glance on the web confirms) have already noted that his inauguration – at noon on January 20 2009 – finds Jupiter perfectly aligned alongside the sun at the peak of the event's horoscope.
Most astrologers would look at the chart of the event and find it promising. By contrast, the inauguration of George W Bush in 2000 came dominated by Mars, planet of war.


So lets look at the new leadership of the U.S.

Barack Obama Astrology Natal Horoscope Report

Michelle Obama's Astrology Chart: The New First Lady - SpiritNow

Joe Biden is a Scorpio and is well suited to be the watery fire sign, not unlike Michele's Capricorn which is a watery earth sign, to balance off Obama.

Like many celebrities, Joe Biden has a stellium (more than three planets in one sign) in his chart. He has four planets in Scorpio, meaning that this is not a man to be messed with. He has the sun, Venus, Mars and Mercury in Scorpio. This line up speaks of pure power, as Scorpios are very good at politics, but they are ruthless when crossed! This many planets in Scorpio would also account for his incredible charisma.

And it is interesting to note that Sarah Pallins chart, she is an Aquarian, reveals her true self, which is that because of her Uranian/Neptunian nature she is a trickster. She is not what she seems.Scorpio is Novembers sign and it was not good for Pallin. She stung herself to political death.

All of these "sudden revelations" about Sarah Palin do smack of Uranus, though, and sure enough using this chart we have transiting Uranus retrograding over her progressed Midheaven. That would fit perfectly with her being picked out of nowhere and then this rapid meltdown.

Irene Mack
October 28, 2008 12:37 PM
Her Aquarius planets square Neptune in Scorpio. Transiting Neptune is on her Sun, reinforcing the Neptunian energy. Am I the only person here who is seeing someone who isn't who she professes to be? It's obvious to me that she's a phoney. Unfortunately, with that Neptunian energy she has going, she does have some people hypnotized into believing she's the real thing. And Venus in Aries. Please.She loves herself first.


I have posted here before about how Obama models himself on Lincoln....so lets look at their astrological coorespondence;

Barack Obama vs. Abraham Lincoln
September 22, 2008 ·
Their career paths have been compared, and almost parallel in their meteoric rise from being state legislators to Presidents (in Obama’s case potential president). But what do their charts say. Are they similar? And if so how? Let’s take a look at the man who helped start the Republican party and the current lead Democrat.

Others have gone further in associating Obama with Lincoln and indeed with JFK through their astrological charts, let alone Obama's adoption of their political iconography.

Last March, prominent psychic, Gordon Michael Scallion, speaking to a group at the A.R.E. (Association for Research and Enlightenment, The Edgar Cayce Foundation) in Virginia Beach, channeled the information that Obama is a reincarnated Abe Lincoln-- a compelling if improvable thesis. Lincoln may have freed the slaves and defeated the Confederacy, but he did not live to complete his mission of reuniting the nation. Many of the deep divisions that persist today are the legacy of a reconstruction gone awry. Obama is passionate about uniting the country, as if to complete Lincoln’s unfinished business. His statement I don’t see red and blue states, I see the United States, echoes Lincoln’s sentiment to bind up the nation’s wounds. Pundits are already predicting that the electoral map will morph into the color purple. Obama often cites the motto on the Great Seal epluribus unum, out of many one. Unity is essential if we want to effect real political change and fulfill the founders’ vision.

And while saying Obama is the reincarnation of Lincoln is pushing it the political iconography being used by Obama of continuing the Lincoln legacy is psychically potent as a political metaphor within the American mindset as he well knows.

The Presidential Inauguration will be held on January 20, 2009. A week of festivities will include the Presidential Swearing in Ceremony, Inaugural Address, Inaugural Parade and a night of Inaugural Balls and galas honoring the new President of the United States. The theme for the 2009 presidential inauguration will be "A New Birth of Freedom," commemorating the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The words come from the Gettysburg address, and express Lincoln's hope that the sacrifice of those who died to preserve the nation shall lead to "a new birth of freedom" for our nation. The theme is particularly appropriate in light of the historic election of Senator Barack Obama.

Words of Lincoln Will Be Woven Into Obama Inaugural Activities

And lets not forget that when Obama won his first primary we were still in the Chinese Year of the Pig...we are now in the last phase of the Year of the Rat...... by the time he takse power we will be in the year of the Ox.

A Rat Year is a time of hard work, activity, and renewal. This is a good year to begin a new job, get married, launch a product or make a fresh start. Ventures begun now may not yield fast returns, but opportunities will come for people who are well prepared and resourceful. The best way for you to succeed is to be patient, let things develop slowly, and make the most of every opening you can find.

the year of the Rat is still ruled by the cold of winter and the darkness of night. Those who speculate indiscriminately and overextend themselves will come to a sad reckoning.

In the Chinese zodiac, McCain is a rat and Obama is an ox. "2008 is a rat year, but next year is Year of the Ox and that favors Obama," says Weber. According to Weber the rat is a sign ruled by water and that makes McCain's personality one that conflicts with the energy of the coming year and explains much of his actions. "Looking at McCain during the debates, you could tell his emotions fluctuated and, like water, were more fluid."
Rats are considered positive, charismatic, hardworking and industrious and their negative qualities are over-ambition, ruthlessness, intolerant and scheming. If McCain came into office, it's possible that his emotions would get the better of him, as he's often known for a hot temper and quick reactions.
"Watching Obama in the debates showed his Ox qualities of being unflappable and steady," Weber explains. An ox is associated with the earth element and is known for being dependable, calm, methodical, and resolute and their negative qualities make them stubborn, materialistic, rigid and demanding.
According to Weber, McCain's rat energy would keep him from being effective in the Oval Office because the 2009 energy is earth and earth dams water. "It would be a "dammed" presidency from the start," she quips. Even so, rats are industrious and opportunity-driven and have great qualities for business, but with next year's energy, the rat energy isn't harmonious because water added to earth makes mud.
Obama, on the other hand, has earth qualities that will create a harmonious start with the earth energy of next year, and Weber explains, that next year has a double earth energy making the steady approach of the next president important in order to settle down the "rollercoaster we've been on" and take care of important things like America's standing in the world and investing in American infrastructure. "You could look at it as McCain's Year of the Rat is almost over, but Obama's Year of the Ox is the future. Speaking purely to the feng shui of time and energy, feng shui supports Obama over McCain."

A rat's life
For those who believe that the world is shaped by historical coincidence (a small minority populated entirely by sports commentators), a more worrying US election trend is also visible - 2008 is the Chinese Year of the Rat. In five of the last six Year of the Rat American elections - 1996, 1984, 1972, 1948 and 1936 - the incumbent president has been re-elected.
George W. Bush's greatest political asset has been his ability to win elections in which he seemingly had little or no hope either before or after the votes had been cast.
Let us hope that this Rat Year election proves a bridge too far even for him.

The Year of the Rat has been a rough one for China's richest, with fortunes being dragged down amid a 60% plunge in mainland stocks and a 50% drop in Hong Kong shares in 2008. The combined net worth of the 400 richest dropped to $173 billion from $288 billion. The top 40 lost $68 billion, or 57%. The minimum net worth slipped $20 million to $180 million.

On the Western calendar, the start of the New Year falls on Monday, January 26, 2009 — The Year of the Ox.

The OX year is a conservative year, one of traditions and values. This is not a year to be outrageous. A slow but steady year.This OX year will bring stability and growth where patience and diligence pays off.
This is a year of Harvest - when we reap what we have sown. Take care of business this year, do not let things slide.


SEE:

The First Computer- Second Century B.C.

Snake Oil Saint

1666 The Creation Of The World

Lucky Number 7

Godel, Cantor, Wiener and Schrodinger's Cat

Kabbalistic Kommunism


Tags:
Barack Obama, Barack, Obama, astrology, America, Michelle, Senator, Chicago, Illinois, USA, politics, Democrat, President, Presidentialrace, John McCain, republican, U.S.presidential election

Facebook Politicians

Here is the Facebook listing for Canadian politicians.

It appears that Dion is more popular here than in Quebec. Jack Layton is in second place while our PM places third.

Poor Gilles Duceppe has the least support and he has no pic. And he can't blame Facebook for being Anglo it has hundreds of thousands of members in Montreal, QC and Quebec City, QC .

Name:

Stéphane Dion

Supporters:

11,557

Name:

Jack Layton

Supporters:

9,137

Name:

Stephen Harper

Supporters:

6,815

Name:

Gilles Duceppe

Supporters:

377

While the guy who wants Dion's job may have a lot of friends in high places and the back rooms of the party but not on Facebook. He has a ways to go to catch up with Dion, Layton and Harper.

Name:

Michael Ignatieff

Supporters:

3,969

Lucky for him the other contender for Dion's job, unelected, Bob Rae doesn't have a profile on Facebook. Come to think of it neither does Gerard Kennedy.

In Toronto Liberal Martha Hall Finlay, unelected, is in a race with Dipper Peggy Nash, elected.

Name:

Martha Hall Findlay

Supporters:

259

Name:

Peggy Nash

Supporters:

289

While Olivia Chow of the NDP is in a neck and neck race with Belinda Stronach who is no longer a MP.

Name:

Olivia Chow

Supporters:

2,486

Name:

Belinda Stronach

Supporters:

2,455

There are 166 politicians listed and the majority are men. However women politicians on Facebook are more popular than the majority of their male counterparts.

And of these three are openly gay, Brison, Davis, and Siskay.

Scott Brison, Carolyn Bennet and Dr. Hedy Fry were all wannabe Liberal leader. Maybe Ruby will try next time.

Name:

Scott Brison

Supporters:

1,819

Name:

Ruby Dhalla

Supporters:

1,812

Name:

Libby Davies

Supporters:

1,237

Name:

Carolyn Bennett

Supporters:

987

Name:

Dr. Hedy Fry

Supporters:

745

Name:

Todd Russell

Supporters:

685

Name:

Irene Mathyssen

Supporters:

517

Name:

Tina Keeper

Supporters:

428

Name:

Maria Minna

Supporters:

405

Name:

Bill Siksay

Supporters:

363

Another neck and neck race is between these two, and McGuinty has more name recognition.

Name:

Rebecca Coad

Supporters:

354

Name:

David McGuinty

Supporters:

353

File this under Geekiest photo.

Name:

Gord Zeilstra

Supporters:

395

Poor Paul Martin remains the forgotten PM. Heck the other Martin is more popular.

Name:

Paul Martin

Supporters:

55

Name:

Pat Martin

Supporters:

156

The NDP, Liberals and even the BQ outnumber the Conservatives. In fact it's hard to find any Conservatives outside of the boss in Facebook. Must be the long arm of the PMO. Somebody forgot to send the memo to this guy though.

Name:

Bev Shipley M.P.

Supporters:

278

Of course there is always the possibility that being on Facebook could be embarrassing.

FRENCH government ministers have faced embarrassment from their own children whose entries on Facebook were aired to the public.

Embarrassed ... French PM Francois Fillon's son Antoine has revealed some of his favourite pastimes on Facebook / File

French Prime Minister François Fillon's son, Antoine, 22, is a member of several “high-brow” chat groups including "I am too proud of my poo" which has 93 members who discuss the "16 different types of turd", Telegraph.co.uk reporte


You even find wannabe politicians here. This guy is running against right-whingnut Calgary West Conservative Rob Anders.

Name:

Kirk Schmidt

Supporters:

311

Heck even a wannabe B.C. Green candidate has a profile.

Name:

Dan Grice

Supporters:

312

While this would be B.C. NDP MP is driving a solar car.

Name:

Julian West

Supporters:

245

Being the NDP Defense spokesperson who has taken the lead on opposing Harpers War has not hurt Dawn Black's popularity.

Name:

Dawn Black

Supporters:

221

Despite his efforts to be the Blogging MP Garth Turner seems to have overlooked Facebook.

Name:

Garth Turner

Supporters:

241

And there is even one Senator listed from Alberta no less. And no it's not Bert Brown. Rather it is former leader of the Alberta Liberal Party.

Name:

Grant Mitchell

Supporters:

60

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Canada, Canadian Politicians, facebook,social network, politics, Conservatives, Stephen Harper, Liberals, Stephane Dion, NDP,BQ, Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe,

Harper Covers Up Torture

The Harper Government was forced to accept the Arar inquiry, and now that they called the Air India inquiry they realize that public inquiries about their pals in CSIS and the RCMP can lead to political embarrassment. Of course the illegal detention and torture of Canadian citizens with the complicity of the Canadian State is the real embarrassment.

Evidence at the inquiry is being heard primarily in-camera without lawyers for the three men present.

Lawyers for the government argued that only they should be present for most of the inquiry because it is only government officials whose actions are at issue.

So despite calls for a public inquiry Harper denies our right to know, he likes the idea of a Star Chamber it is his Executive prerogative after all. Clear, Transparent and Accountable to nobody but himself.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he will not impose new public-disclosure rules on an inquiry that's examining the role Canadian security agencies played in the overseas detention, interrogation and alleged torture of three Arab-Canadian men.

Harper told reporters Friday the internal inquiry, headed by retired Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci, already has a mandate that allows him to balance the need for national security and public confidence.

"Justice Iacobucci has all the power necessary to decide whether something should be held in private or whether it can be held in public," he said. "The government has given him that mandate; the government isn't going to interfere in how he conducts the inquiry."

Iacobucci has not taken any evidence in public or released any documents since ruling in late May the inquiry will be held largely in secret.

That has left the three Canadian citizens at the heart of the inquiry, Abudllah Almalki, Ahmad El-Maati and Muayyed Nureddin, deeply frustrated by their inability to participate in it.

"All I want is a fair and open process that I can be a part of, that I can help with, so that all Canadians can learn what happened," said Nureddin, who was detained for 34 days in Syria.

Nureddin says he was repeatedly tortured while being interrogated with questions that he had earlier been asked by security officials in Canada.

Almalki, an Ottawa engineer, contends he was arrested in Syria and tortured because of an incompetent CSIS and RCMP investigation that wrongly identified him as a high level al-Qaida member.

The Arar Inquiry has already revealed the RCMP sent questions for Almalki to Syrian Military Intelligence.

And it adds to Canadians disillusionment with the Justice system, which plays into the Conservatives Law and Order program.

- A recently-released government poll shows Canadians believe the rights of an accused person in the justice system trump those of the people they've committed crimes against.

SEE:

No Fly List

Why The Tories Want Tory Judges

Because They Ain't White

Paranoia and the Security State

State Security Is A Secure State

Free Kadhar

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Arar, RCMP, CSIS, Syria, Torture, Rendition, Ahmad, El, Maati, Abdullah, Almalki, , Muayyed, Nureddin, torture, CIA, ICC, Hague, Day, Harper, Conservatives, Public, Security, Zaccardelli, Government, politics,

Ontario Election

Some notes on the Ontario election.

1. The affable approachable John Tory, the man of the people, tried to reshape the Ontario Progressive Conservatives to be the party of the people. A kinder compassionate Red Tory, went down to defeat personally in his own riding and his party stayed with the same seats it had entering the race. Tory tried to reform the Tories to be Progressive in order to divorce the party from its Harris heritage.

Tory's campaign message of more money for transit, the need for more family doctors, more funding for treatment of children with autism and for public housing, and phasing out the health tax, was drowned out by the controversy over religious school funding.

2. The Green Party made huge gains at the expense of the Conservatives!! Note that well.

The NDP gained in popular support taking votes from the Liberals, while CTV showed last night that the percentage by which the Conservatives declined in popular vote went directly to the Green Party. What does this mean Federally? Well the same. 'Progressive' Conservatives, Red Tories are abandoning the party for the Greens.

The Ontario Greens had a candidate in every riding for the first time.

Party leader Frank de Jong, who only won about 10 per cent of the vote in the Toronto riding he was running, said the political landscape has changed.

"We've tripled our vote and we've come third in many ridings," he told CTV's Naomi Parness after the results were in.

"We're thrilled. It's a huge gain. Politics will never be the same in Ontario again."

The Green leader was upbeat after winning about 8 per cent of the vote, even though he didn't achieve any of his three election aims, including the main goal – electing the first party member to a Canadian legislature.

A handful of Greens appeared set to finish third, and the party polled about 10 per cent of the vote in central and southwestern Ontario.

And while de Jong didn't get equal coverage with McGuinty, Conservative Leader John Tory and the NDP's Howard Hampton, and was excluded from their TV debate, he was regularly quoted or profiled in province-wide media outlets.

The Green buzz seemed to be confirmed when Hampton, late in the campaign, warned left-leaning voters against their "right-wing, conservative philosophy," including plans to privatize health care and other public services.

That drew a suitably angry public rebuttal from the usually upbeat and positive de Jong, a part-time elementary school music and shop teacher. "Hampton is spreading disinformation by saying such things," he said at a St. Catharines campaign stop. At the same time, he was delighted with the attention the spat produced.

All this was a huge gain from previous campaigns, when de Jong was pretty much anonymous.

3.The NDP were virtually left out of this whole election yet gained in popular support as well as gaining seats. At one point in the night it looked like they had doubled their seats to 14! In the end they got 10. A good reason to change leaders!! Hampton's lack of popularity as a potential Premier in pre-election polling dragged the party down. It had good policies and positions but that was all lost in the fracas over private religious school funding. Had they had a leader that was more outspoken and charismatic they could have gotten more seats. Unfortunately for the NDP he is promising to stick around.

NDP Leader Howard Hampton fared slightly better than Mr. Tory, in that the coverage of him generally focused on whatever issue he was trying to get across that day. But in his case, the problem was that it wasn't the right message. With an unimaginative campaign, he wound up being marginalized - the one thing he absolutely needed to avoid.

C

HOWARD HAMPTON

Last Thursday I wrote that Howard Hampton appeared to be reaching the end of his rope. In the midst of a third straight futile campaign as NDP Leader, he had openly speculated to The Toronto Sun's editorial board on Wednesday that he might be "the wrong person" for the job. It was in keeping with his tone in the campaign's latter stages; when he'd visited our own editorial board at the start of the week, there was little pretense his party had much chance on election day.

The first, more minor mistake was the NDP's lack of preparedness for the start of the campaign. Rather than trying to set the agenda, Mr. Hampton waited several days before unveiling his platform. With the NDP needing a big splash to avoid becoming an afterthought, that marginalized them from the outset.

The bigger problem was that Mr. Hampton declined to make the one pitch that could have increased the NDP's support base. With polls showing the potential for a minority government, he should have openly campaigned for the balance of power - something Jack Layton, did in the last two federal elections. By outlining all the progressive things the NDP would force Dalton McGuinty to do, he could have won over enough left-leaning Liberals to increase his seat count.

NDP Leader Howard Hampton easily won his seat in Kenora-Rainy River, and said New Democrats made strong gains in the number of Ontarians who voted for the party.

"We increased our popular vote significantly tonight. And we're going to send more New Democrats to Queens Park and some of them are very youthful, and I look forward to the opportunity to work with them," he said.

And while Hampton had no problem being re-elected for the sixth time in his northern riding of Kenora-Rainy River, he now joins the other leaders whose parties lost with questions being asked about how much longer they should stay on.

After three campaigns as leader and without a breakthrough, some are wondering whether Hampton will want to lead the NDP through another campaign.

- Despite his efforts to raise "the real issues," Howard Hampton failed to make major gains in his third election as NDP Leader, but vowed to lead the party into the next one.

"I'm not going anywhere," he told a crowd of supporters to a huge round of applause last night at a hotel in Fort Frances, in his riding of Kenora-Rainy River. "I'm going to continue to work as hard as I can."

4. Despite the slander campaign launched by Liberal hacks; Cherniak and Kinsella last year, NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo kept her seat.

5. The McGuinty and Williams landslides mean that the Harpocrite government is in serious trouble if they force an election. And now all eyes move west to see what the results in Saskatchewan will be. If the NDP play Williams card of bashing Ottawa and win, well that will be the final nail in Harpers attempt to force an election over his 'every vote is a confidence vote' Throne speech.

In his first news conference since gaining power 20 months ago, Harper delivered an ultimatum to Parliament. If the opposition parties support the throne speech, they have to support everything in it. All items will be confidence votes.

Sound familiar? That's because it is. University of Calgary political scientist Tom Flanagan -- who is to Harper what Karl Rove was to U.S. President George W. Bush -- outlined the exact strategy in an article in the Globe and Mail Aug. 1 under the headline: It's time for Conservative minority brinksmanship.

"By using confidence measures more aggressively, the Conservatives can benefit politically," Flanagan wrote. "If the opposition parties retreat, the government gets its legislation. If the opposition unites on a matter of confidence, the Conservatives get an election for which they are best prepared."

Now here's Harper Oct. 3: "We must be able to govern... It's not a matter of making threats. They (the opposition) have got to fish or cut bait. The choice is not an election or obstruction, the choice is an election or give the government the mandate to govern.

"You can't pass the throne speech one day and the next day say, 'Well, I didn't mean to do it or we didn't actually give you a mandate,'" he continued. "We will be interpreting a positive vote on the speech from the throne as a mandate to consider the major elements of the throne speech and the major elements of the government's program to be matters of confidence going forward."

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Thoughtful

Fellow blogger thoughtinterrupted was kind enough to redo my CBC/Ezra ad.






Thank you for the much better designed ad. I have replaced my crude one on the sidebar.

She comments on yet another dreadful appearance of this opportunist self promoting partisan of the right on Don Newman's Politics on CBC yesterday.

And Ken Chapman another thoughtful Alberta blogger concurs.

Expand your Alberta based Rolodex Mr. Newman and do the province - and the country a favour.

But is CBC listening?

Well Ezra is apparently, since as thoughtinteruppted points out, he finally mentioned the Alberta NDP, who have four seats in Redmonton.

Levant proclaimed that after Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, by having commissioned a panel of mostly pro-business types including one former Fraser Institute associate to review Alberta’s energy royalties, has become so far left that “everyone” in Alberta is “wondering when we elected Brian Mason and the New Democrats”.

Business type's, Fraser Institute alumni are left wing? Give your head a shake, Mr. Newman. Is this the kind of politically challenged comment you would accept from someone talking about Ontario or Quebec or heck even Newfoundland politics? I think not. This would be like having Kate from Small Dead Animals comment on Saskatchewan politics.

Uh oh maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that, it might give the Politics producer ideas, since the CBC has already bowed to right wing pressure for political correctness by having Ezra on, to try and show they are not liberal lefties.

As for Ezra's comment itself he is shilling pro-bono for Big Oil, repeating comments made by Ralph Klein. They are the only ones in Alberta upset over the royalty report. Albertans support our ownership of our own resources, a key plank of the right in fact, that socialist idea that the resources belong to the people, not big oil. And that they should pay us for the privilege of processing them.

Perhaps Ezra ever the opportunist hopes to get some cash injected into his fiscally challenged Western Standard from the oil boys. Watch for an WS email ad solicitation campaign to target oil companies.


SEE:

Conservative Broadcasting Corporation


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Denis Lebel Nationalist

As newly elected Roberval–Lac-Saint-Jean Conservative MP Denis Lebel told CPAC last night "I am a nationalist and Mr. Harper knows that." Well that says it all. Harper played the Mulroney nationalist card and has won over voters from the BQ as well as the ADQ.

In fact this can also be seen in Saint Hyacinthe-Bagot which went neck and neck all night between the BQ and the Conservatives. While the NDP came in third there. In playing the nationalist card Harper bought himself a round of support in rural Quebec. It is the nationalists in rural Quebec who voted Conservative as they do BQ.


The NDP on the other hand are now a viable left wing alternative to the BQ in Quebec. Their position on the War and the Environment resonated with voters in Outremont and will in other urban Quebec ridings come the general election. Mulcair's acceptance speech last night emphasized that he was the Peace Candidate first and then the Environmental Candidate. The war will be as big an issue as the environment come the general election and that bodes well for the NDP.

"Today, Quebec has chosen a new direction," NDP Leader Jack Layton told supporters in Outremont, and praised them for "making history and changing the direction of politics in Quebec and across Canada. For the future we are hoping that what people see here now about the NDP is something that we are going to be able to take to the ballot box, not only in the election here in Quebec but the rest of Canada as well, as people realize we are a national party with representation everywhere," he said.

The Liberals lost last night, in all three by-elections and thus they can no longer claim the mantle of the Natural Governing Party. They can no longer take Quebec for granted and will be forced to retreat to Ontario as their base. They are no more important in Quebec now than the NDP and anyone who says they are a player needs only look at their standing in Roberval and Saint-Hyacinthe after last night. Those are not big numbers.

In a Liberal nightmare scenario-turned-reality, the party lost a traditional Montreal fortress and was reduced to single-digit support in two other Quebec ridings. A party that owned the province through much of Canada's history has now fallen below what was supposed to be the nadir of the post-sponsorship election last year.

Francophones deserted the party in all three ridings on Monday. Their last remaining stranglehold on multi-ethnic, federalist pockets of Montreal was slackened.

And in Roberval–Lac-Saint-Jean the Liberal candidate was high profile, a businesswoman who was head of the Chamber of Commerce, while the NDP ran a parachute part time candidate. She certainly lost big for the Liberals.

With high profile candidates the NDP can make a break through in the next election in Quebec while the Liberals will need to rebuild. Something they have failed to do for the past year. Petulant over Dion's victory, the Quebec Liberals abandoned the party to work for Charest and his victory should have been telling about the party's loss of power in Quebec. And last night was the result of their petulance.

The finger-pointing began before the ballot boxes even closed.

Some said it was incompetence on the part of Liberal officials. Others said it was the result of leadership rivals sabotaging the Liberal campaign.

Less than a year after Liberal Leader Stephane Dion moved to reunite his party after a winning a bloody leadership race, that fragile unity was in danger last night and questions swirled about his leadership ability after his party was shut out in three byelections — including the traditionally Liberal bastion of Outremont.

Liberal insiders recount a litany of organizational problems with the Outremont campaign, including an apparent power struggle between members of Dion’s entourage and personnel in the Quebec wing’s headquarters. For example, while some in the Quebec wing tried to keep Dion’s appearances in Quebec to a minimum, personnel in Dion’s office insisted on him making trips to his home province to campaign.

Fuelling the discontent even more was an article published over the weekend in which unnamed Liberal supporters of Dion and Michael Ignatieff traded barbs over whether the poor campaign was the result of incompetence, or of sabotage by Ignatieff supporters trying to undermine Dion’s leadership.

And so while the Liberals regroup some to lick their wounds and others to sharpening their knives. Good thing then that newly elected Saint- Hyacinthe MP Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac is not a Liberal.

Born in Vietnam, Thai Thi Lac was adopted by Quebecois parents and raised from the age of two on a local farm. She speaks French and reminded voters of her local roots by telling them during the campaign that, unlike the other candidates, she knows how to castrate a pig.

SEE:

Sept. 11 for Dion

Politics is Local

Quebec By-elections

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Sept. 11 for Dion

Dion in Outremont conceding Liberal defeat in all three Quebec by-elections, as seen on CPAC.

"When a general election comes we will remember this evening
of Sept 11 err Sept 17"

Uh oh Freudian slip.


And thanks to Far and Wide for setting up a live blog in on the by-election.

SEE:

Politics is Local

Quebec By-elections

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Politics is Local

If the Conservatives win the byelection in Roberval-Lac-St-Jean today it will be because this former BQ stronghold has seen a neighboring riding get largese from their Conservative MP Jean Blackburn, and because the Conservative candidate is a former Mayor who is personally popular as this CPAC report shows. Harpers coat tails will not count as much as local politics.

And while all politics is local, it is also interesting that in CPAC's coverage of all three by-elections the top national issue discussed was Afghanistan.

Quebec By-elections

Carole-Anne Guay looks at the by-election taking place on September 17, 2007 in the Quebec riding of Roberval-Lac-St-Jean.

SEE:

Quebec By-elections

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Quebec By-elections

As fellow blogger Gone Green In Alberta points out CTV has a media bias in its Quebec By-election polls when it comes to the Green Party.

The Greens are ahead of the Conservatives in Outremont. But you wouldn't know it from the way it is posted.

The Greens are ahead of the Liberals too, in Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot, again you wouldn't know it from how the poll is set up.

And the only poll that is unaffected is that of Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean, where they are neck and neck with the NDP.

And Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean is the only riding the NDP is not ahead of the Liberals.

It is not just NDP candidate Thomas Mulcair who is popular in Outremont, and Quebec in general, it is also Jack Layton who has scored well in polling of Quebecers.

In Quebec, support for Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe now sits at 17 percent (up 1 point), compared with 29 percent for Stephen Harper (down 3 points), 18 percent for Jack Layton (up 3 points) and 10 percent for Stéphane Dion (down 2 points).



Leader Approval. There have been some shifts in the approval ratings of the party leaders over the past three months. The proportion of Canadians approving of the job being done by Stephen Harper has fallen below the 50-percent mark for the first time since he became prime minister and now stands at 48 percent (down 6 points from March). Approval of Stéphane Dion has declined once again to 38 percent (down 2 points) and the proportion expressing disapproval of him has risen to 48 percent (up 5 points). Jack Layton has the highest approval rating of any of the party leaders at 56 percent (up 2 points), and a similar share of voters in Quebec approve of the job being done by Gilles Duceppe (53%, down 3 points). Approval of Elizabeth May has dropped three points to 42 percent.

Which leaves Dion as the dud. And it doesn't help when the dud chooses his doppelgänger to run. But then Dion has been more of a similcarum of a leader than a real leader.

The biggest loser of all, if Mulcair pulls it off, would be Liberal leader Stéphane Dion. The loss would be a devastating blow to his already shaky leadership.

"If his party underperforms, Dion -- as an untested leader -- will take the biggest hit," wrote Toronto Star columnist Chantal Hebert on Friday.

"By all indications, Dion's candidates in Saint-Hyacinthe-Bagot and Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean are not even in contention for second place."

The degree of pressure on a leader also depends to a large extent on how closely the party's candidate in a by-election is identified with the leader.

This plays heavily in Outremont because Coulon was handpicked by Dion, who also blocked Justin Trudeau from the nomination, though some Liberals maintained Trudeau would have been the party's best hope in the riding, said Antonia Maioni, director of McGill University's Institute for the Study of Canada.

"Dion's claim was that he'd win back Quebec, and this is what potential Liberal voters are going to look at, and more so people in the party. If he fails to capture the riding, one of the safest Liberal seats in the province, it's not going to play well outside Quebec."

"Coulon is sort of Stéphane Dion's alter ego," said Antonia Maioni, a political scientist at Montreal's McGill University. "He's like Stéphane. An academic, quite reserved, very well spoken. And so in many ways, this is not only a by-election, but it's also a referendum on Stéphane Dion because he's chosen someone who resembles him the most."

SEE:

Rudderless Liberals

Layton and May Winners

Ms. Joe Clark

Waiting For Dion

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