Archive for the ‘Harper’ Category

One year on…

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

One year ago today, a minority of Canadians elected a Harper majority government.

So, what have I learned?

  • I learned that growing pot is a worse crime than being a pedophile.
  • That it’s OK to force people to register a car, but an affront to democracy to do so for a gun.
  • That the government keeps two sets of books when it comes to reveling the true costs of expensive projects… like fighter jets, for example.
  • That OJ is a lot more expensive than I would have thought possible.
  • That Harper did NOT major in Canadian history.
  • That Vic Toews want to know everything about us!
  • That, thanks to omnibus legislation, Parliament has become impotent.
  • That conflict of interest rules don’t apply to Cabinet Ministers.
  • That planned cuts to seniors’ pensions are not worthy of mentioning during an election campaign.
  • Nor are cuts to health-care funding .
  • That environmental controls for energy projects aren’t really that important.
  • That continuing to spend millions on royal visits is an appropriate use of taxpayers dollars.
  • That environmental charities ‘launder’ foreign funds.
  • That it’s OK to diss your country, forsake your citizenship, but be welcomed back with open arms.
  • That the Grits better do something about selling themselves as a real alternative. And that does NOT mean elected Bob Rae as leader!
  • That Jack Layton was a special man.
  • Jason Kenney, Tony Clement, Vic Toews, Pierre Polievre, John Baird, Jim Flaherty and Stephen Harper are not.
  • And possibly (jury still out) that election fraud is only election fraud if it implicates one of the other parties – and not the CPC.

What did I miss?

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

No one is really surprised, right?

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

That Harper is opening the door leading down a right-to-choose debate corridor?

If you are, or if you really think that this is an innocent Private Member Motion to simply discuss updating the “when does life begin” law, then you need to give your head a shake.

Of course, the timing of this is to distract Canadians from the F-35, prisons, crime bill, Bev Oda, election fraud, etc. etc. And the motion itself is intended to appease the red meat social cons from the west and in rural Canada.

The end game is to take away or limit right-to-choose rights from women. There is no doubt in my mind.

Harper micromanages and controls all messaging coming out of the CPC. All of it. This PMM did NOT just sneak though. It has the full support of the PM.

Didn’t he say last election “Let me be perfectly clear, we will no reopen the abortion debate”

Asked in French by a reporter whether he is personally for or against a woman’s right to choose abortion, Harper didn’t answer directly.

“Very clearly I am against reopening that debate,” he said. “That is my position, now and in the past five years as well, and as long as I am prime minister, we will not reopen the debate on abortion. We will leave the law as it stands.”

Yup. He sure did.

But of course, campaign promises are a dime a dozen for these guys, eh?

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

When Harper raises the retirement age to 90…

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

… it will look like this.

Harper’s vision of retirement…

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Harper and the abortion issue…

Thursday, February 9th, 2012

…or non-issue… depending on where you stand.

I had an extensive back and forth with some conservative friends the other day on FB. I was referring to a piece by WK on how the abortion issue is NOT really off the table for the CPC. I don’t cut and paste these things very often, but it was a good debate.

Names removed to protect the innocent…

What do you think? Just an outlier of an issue or the long CPC long game?

______________________________________________________________________________________________

To my CPC friends: told ya so!

· · · Share · 12 hours ago
    • What does uber-Liberal Kinsella have to do with anything? Harper has said repeatedly, no opening of this issue! ps – other parties have their share of members with similar views.

      11 hours ago ·
    • Trashy: I guarantee that this will gain traction over the next 12 months. Take it to the bank. And while the Grits have 2 MPs who want to open the issue (no Dippers that I can think of) there are at least 16 Cons who are evangelicals and would love to see the issue opened up again.

      10 hours ago ·
    • It’s a back bencher….let’s not get all “I told you so…” The guy’s got the right to an opinion…..it’s nothing…..

      10 hours ago ·
    • Trashy – Guys – this is the most whipped caucus since Voldemort took over Slitherin.

      10 hours ago · · 1
    • Trashy-  NOTHING happens there without the nod of the PMO. Common knowledge here in O Dot.

      10 hours ago ·
    • Trashy – ‎”Slytherin”

      10 hours ago · · 1
    • Never going to happen Trashy and deep down I think you know it. Stop being so desperate to find faults!

      10 hours ago ·

Trashy – I’m not. Just looking at this logically.

Think about it and put aside your partisan hat for a moment.

Can we agree that caucus discipline is of utmost importance to this government? That all messaging is carefully scripted and approved through the PMO? And that Harper himself, along with Mssrs Baird, Flaherty, Kenney, Clement and Toews, exercise strict control over the PMO?

If we can agree on this – and I really don’t see how it can be disputed – then why is it that a backbencher from Kitchener along with a few other Christian social conservatives, have managed to repeatedly raise the issue of “when does life begin”? They HAD to have the blessing of the PM.

Again, I’m not speaking as a partisan.

Here’s what I think. And don’t dismiss it out of hand. The PM knows that he is going to have about 8 years of a majority government. Yes, 8 years. It pains me to say that, but realistically, I cannot see the Grits (the NDP will decline without Layton) challenging the Harperites in the next election. I do think that the Cons won’t make any significant gains, but they will win another majority unless something unforeseen happens.

So, in the long game, claims and promises can legitimately change. He is telling the truth when he says that this government is not opening up the debate. For now. But IF a “discussion” happens about when life begins and IF the Cons see an opening, they will slowly start to suggest that maybe, just maybe, the laws should be revisited… in light of the “new” evidence that sprang for the “discussions”.
I think we can all agree that Harper is a social conservative and he personally is against abortion, right? So then, why wouldn’t he try to change the policy to fit his own weltanschungg and those of his fellow So-Cons.

Think about it. Point out the flaw in my logic.

  • Tuesday at 07:57 ·
  • IF a discussion is opened I (in his shoes) would know my job is about to end. I don’t think he is as stupid as many claim and job security and personal beliefs don’t make good bedfellows in his arena.

    Tuesday at 08:29 ·
  • Personal freedoms and a “right to choose” will always trump one’s personal beliefs.

    Tuesday at 08:29 ·
  • ‎…because Harper is a political animal and he saves his capital for that which matters most; he uses the fringe stuff to his own means and he concentrates on those issues that matter…. this “issue” ( and it isn’t one for 80+ percent of the nation) is a time consuming, capital wasting journey into a social quagmire that he just doesn’t need. Harper may be anti abortion at home; but he’s too smart a politician to open this box….. think about it; why would you bring the social agenda into play when you don’t have to; in this case it’s a losing card to play and if you open it; it might just bite you at the polls. The “pro life” camp has tents, the pro choice crew drive honkin big RV’s and sleep at Hiltons….. no way Harper lets this get legs… private members bills are like Christmas cards, they get written; sent; read and thrown out….and waste a lot of resources and time.
    Tuesday at 09:16 ·
  • Trashy

    Oh, I am not suggesting that he is stupid! Rather the opposite. The one and only thing I admire about the guy is his skill as a tactician… brilliant! And this is the weakness in my argument. He is too smart to touch this thing with a ten foot kingfish… but then explain why he is giving so much platitude to some nobody backbenchers? And no XXX, I disagree with your outright dismissal of PMB’s and the MPs who sponsor them… these are the hearts and souls of the CPC!
             And yes, you make valid points. But look at what Greg noted… will, in this case, personal freedoms and the right       to  choose trump Harper’s personal beliefs? I’m not so sure in this case.

 

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

A brush with evil…

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

…or at least extreme nastiness…

No. It was evil.

And I don’t even believe in the absolutes of good and evil. My complete lack of belief in things spiritual prevents such thoughts.

But I cannot explain the following without thinking that evil may really and truly exist.

And it resides in Ottawa.

Out for a drive on the Rockcliffe Parkway yesterday with C and 2 of the subunits. We get to the roundabout outside Rideau Hall (if you’re from O-Town, you’ll know where I mean). And I was going a little quickly as I pulled up to a stop to allow a black Chevy Tahoe to go through. The SUV came to an almost complete stop and the two guys in the front gave us a really good look over… like our little Malibu was gonna ram them or something.

The back windows were blacked out and the two big guys in the front wore ear pieces and dark sunglasses. They carried on, and then I felt it.

A tingle up the spine. A feeling of foreboding… like I was in the presence of real evil… kind of how I would imagine Harry Potter feeling when running up against he-who-shall-not-be named. The truly weird thing is that at this moment, C turns to me and ask “did you just get a tingle up your spine? I bet that was Harper.”

I’m not making this up.

Sure enough, the Chev turns into 24 Sussex.

Spooky.

I think I’ll tell this tale next Hallowe’en…

 

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

He’s a robot…

Sunday, December 4th, 2011

…it says so here…

This came home with my son the other day – part of his pre-school “portfolio”.

Good to see that the boy has been paying attention for the past couple of years!

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Ahhhhh…

Thursday, August 4th, 2011

20110804-060026.jpg

…man, I love this country…
And the Harperites can’t ruin this part of it at least.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

And in addition to letting industry monitor itself…

Friday, July 22nd, 2011

…environmental compliance-wise… comes news that the Cons are looking at turning another vital public sector function over to the private sector: search and rescue.

I really don’t get this one. Where’s the upside? They will piss off DND and the Coast Guard – which are two constituencies that the Harperites like to cow-tow to. They would be dismantling a Canadian institution – we are known globally to be one of the best at search and rescue. And they would be putting the safety of the public at risk, which would be odd given their focus on public safety through getting tough on unreported and imaginary crimes.

Oh wait! I.D.E.O.L.O.G.Y.

Why should the government pay to rescue some family whose boat broke down off the coast of The Rock? It’s their own damned fault! And they’re probably Liberals anyhow!

Thank you for calling Sam’s Search and Rescue – a Division of Walmart. I’m sorry that your boat is taking on water and that you and your family will surely die, but rescuing you at this time doesn’t represent a good ROI. If you would like to reach an operator, please push #.

This is dumb. Don’t even go there, Stevo!

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Now don’t slam me for saying this!

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

The Heritage robot, James Moore, has said that the CBC isn’t immune to Strategic and Operating Review cuts – and this has the Twittersphere et al squawking mightily.

While I do strongly support the MotherCorp, I don’t see any reason why it should be immune from the same review that my and all government Departments are going through right now. The Harperites are going to put everyone through mucho pain as they fight the deficit that they created on the back of the Public Service… just like Paul Martin did.

I do fear, however, that these cuts to the CBC will be the thin edge of the wedge. The Cons have no love for Canada’s public broadcaster and if they see a opportunity to slash and burn something that in their small minds is a socialist mouthpiece, they will do so.  Though, after Mansbridge’s lob-ball “interview” with Our Dear Leader during the last election, I have no idea why they still think the CBC is full of pinkos!

But still,  should the Corp be exempt from any cuts? No way.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Canada’s military… is Sweden next???

Friday, July 8th, 2011

We have fairly suddenly become a nation of Hawks. War is good and it is necessary. Wave the flag mightily. Buy the best of the best for the troops.

Support the troops, dammit!

Our identity as brokers of peace and the keepers of peace is perhaps forever gone.

Behold the new Canadian militarism. It’s everywhere.

Hardly a week goes by without the government gushing about our troops, or bowing to a DND wish. It has become politically incorrect, practically unpatriotic, to question the military. Our government’s Afghanistan propaganda makes it sound like it was mission accomplished. And everyone is expected to be gung-ho on the war in Libya.

The government is moving ahead on the purchase of the zillion-dollar F-35 super jets which yet another study has just criticized, saying they’re unsuitable unless we’re trying to build a Pentagon-styled war machine. We now take a harder line in the Middle East than virtually any other country. We’re seldom heard on the disarmament front. We’ve lost our traditional honest broker standing at the United Nations.

The first thing on the itinerary of Prince William when he arrived was a visit to the tomb of the unknown soldier. Our smallish foreign aid output is increasingly tied to military adventures – war projects as opposed to long-term development. The military is for the first time starting to take part in our citizenship ceremonies. Our foreign policy is now, arguably for the first time, to the right of the United States.

For a country that has long prided itself on a reputation as a peacemaker, it’s a remarkable turn. Hawks of the western world? Who would have thunk it?

For some time now, the Harper government has appealed to Canadians’ sense of loyalty and patriotism in order to advance its own policies. Keep ‘em waving the flag, they say, and we can pretty much say or do whatever we want.

Lawrence Martin – in always excellent way – discusses how the military has been elevated to some type of super-institution in and of itself. Says Martin:

In the broader context, Harper’s glorification of the armed services appears to fit his goal of stirring a new Canadian patriotism. Canada Day was an example as crowds of unprecedented size, displaying hero worship for non-heroes, turned out to cheer on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. As Harper beamed, Prince William spoke in superlatives about the work of the Canadian forces in Afghanistan.

Appeal to the base instincts and the insane purchase of those lemon fighter jets will be overlooked. We have to protect the troops! Are you against the troops having the best equipment? They say. Or like the bumper stickers say (and it ain’t a good policy unless it can be described on a bumper sticker)

If you’re not behind the troops, feel free to stand in front of them…

The Harperites love these bumper stickers. And dyed-in-wool conservatives love the military and Harper is at their lead.

Understand that despite the fact I am a pacifist, I acknowledge the need for the military in some circumstances in today’s world. And indeed, many of those who serve in the military deserve the respect of Canadians – especially those who perished in that ridiculous quagmire called Afghanistan. But I am very much against the glorification of the military. For example, having a military presence at citizenship ceremonies is in my mind completely ludicrous! The subtle support of our troops that has been the tradition of we Canucks has been something I have always been proud of.

Not so subtle anymore.

Of course, this begs the question: what will Harper do to keep the military front and centre in people’s minds now that the combat mission is over? Let’s see… those damned Swedes have been a bit cheeky lately… c’mon, my military friends… whaddya think???

 

 

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

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