MORE TWADDLE FROM THE CALGARY HERALD: HARPER, OBAMA TWO PEAS IN A POD!!!!????

As if we needed more proof that the inmates have taken over the asylum at the editorial offices of the Calgary Herald, the lead editorial today is titled – don’t laugh – ‘Harper, Obama two peas in a pod.’ I’m being serious and you can read this twaddle here: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=d69059bd-e25d-4239-8485-1808f1d6786d&p=1

According to the editorial writer, “Harper is only conservative compared to the Canadian left. By American standards, the prime minister is a northeast U.S. Democrat . . .”

Well, let’s see if you agree with the above drivel once you have considered the following statements delivered by Stephen Harper during the course of his public career:

"America, and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world,"

"Rob is a true reformer and a true conservative. He has been a faithful supporter of mine and I am grateful for his work."- Stephen Harper endorsing Calgary West Conservative MP Rob Anders, who in 2001 called Nelson Mandela "a Communist and terrorist."

"You have to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from Eastern Canada; people who live in ghettos and are not integrated into Western Canadian society."

"Mr. Speaker, the issue of war requires moral leadership. We believe the government should stand by our troops, our friends and our allies and do everything necessary to support them right through to victory."- Stephen Harper, supporting the American invasion of Iraq, House of Commons, April 1, 2003.

"It is inherently dangerous to allow a country such as Iraq to retain weapons of mass destruction, particularly in light of its past aggressive behaviour. If the world community fails to disarm Iraq, we fear that other rogue states will be encouraged to believe that they too can have these most deadly of weapons to systematically defy international resolutions and that the world will do nothing to stop them."- Stephen Harper supporting the American invasion of Iraq, House of Commons, March 20, 2003.

"I think it's a typical hidden agenda of the Liberal party... They had the courts do it for them, they put the judges in they wanted, then they failed to appeal -- failed to fight the case in court... I think the federal government deliberately lost this case in court and got the change to the law done through the back door."- Stephen Harper, attacking the Liberals on same-sex marriage by claiming a conspiracy, News Hound, September 7th 2003.

For more left wing statements from our Northeast Democrat Prime Minister who the Herald says has so much in common with President-elect Obama read: http://trustbreaker.freehostia.com/stephen_harper_quotes.htm

McCAIN'S HARD LESSON: RECOGNIZE ONE'S OWN LIMITATIONS

One has to look upon the present plight of Senator John McCain with some sympathy. Although he has toiled mightily to win the Presidency, he appears to be well behind his Democratic opponent Barack Obama. For McCain, given the time, effort and money he and his friends have expended in his unsuccessful, twenty-year pursuit of the office, it will be a painful defeat.

But he will suffer more than merely having lost the contest. He will have lost something of his reputation, his stature and perhaps even his place in the pantheon of great Americans.

From the time of his release from a North Viet Nam prison thirty-five years ago where he had been locked up, tortured, and mistreated for six years, ex-fighter pilot McCain was a genuine American hero. During his years of incarceration, he took everything the North Vietnamese had to throw at him. He rejected early release and held out honourably until he was released along with his compatriots. His resilience to unfathomable adversity and cruelty made him one of the greats – right up there with Babe Ruth and Neil Armstrong. Just a step down from Lincoln and maybe Eisenhower.

Public service was in his genes. Once out of military service this son and grandson of Admirals then pursued high public office. He started first as a Congressman and wound up as a high-profile and successful Senator from Arizona.

He then went for the brass ring – the Presidency of the United States. He ran respectably in 2000 in the Republican primaries against George W. Bush. However, the Bush Republican pedigree and the dishonorable tactics of Bush’s brain Karl Rove did McCain in. The whole experience was not a happy one for McCain, who clearly believed he was beaten by a lesser man. In fact, McCain was beaten by a dim-witted, silver spooned ideologue and it should have been a signal to him.

But McCain didn’t get the signal. Instead he bunked in with the Bush administration. Over the next 8 years he voted with his conqueror more than 90% of the time. He supported Bush in all of his misadventures and became a spear carrier and drum beater for the worst administration in American history.

For the past couple of years, McCain once again has been reaching for the brass ring. This time he came closer than in 2000. He won the Republican nomination and has been battling it out tooth and nail to win the Presidency.

In the process the war hero has invited the public in to see far more of his character than it had ever seen before. The American people have been introduced to what he really seems to believe about foreign and domestic policy. They have been given the opportunity to rummage around all of the darker nooks and crannies of his life. They have seen him operate under stress and observed his judgment lapses and periodic meanness. They have witnessed the actions of his political handlers and advisors. And for all of that, most Americans will vote for his opponent on Tuesday, probably in a big way.

Had McCain been satisfied with his accomplishments as a Senator and remained in that capacity, it would have been better for him. He would have continued to be a revered American hero and have a real impact on public policy – for better or worse. He is now diminished in a real way. His name will no longer invite a rush of respect or awe except perhaps for rock-ribbed red necks, neocons or religious nuts who comprise the base (dare I say, the basest) of the Republican Party. He has not met expectations. It would have been better for him had he recognized and accepted his limitations and not pursued the Presidency. He would have been remembered as a war hero and a pretty good Senator. Instead, mixed up with his hero and good senator status, there will also be the memory of a bumbling, petty, hawkish candidate who trivialized the presidency with his choice of a running mate, and who led his party to a staggering defeat.

Canadians have seen this happen in our country. John Turner (pictured below) was the vaunted Prince-in-exile for many years waiting for Trudeau to leave the scene. He was regarded as an excellent minister and served in many portfolios up to his departure from government in 1976. During the ensuing eight years in the private sector, the incessant natterings of the chattering classes convinced the public that Turner had the attraction and talent of a JFK and would make everybody forget about Trudeau. Furthermore, Turner's political pals big and small made him believe that, by God, he could go all the way and be a great Prime Minister. He would be a genuine Canadian hero. Our superman.

After Turner won the Grit leadership and once the public eye was focused only on him alone and people had taken a good gander at him, they wondered what all the fuss was about. They concluded that he was not that special. He did not meet those early soaring expectations. His tenure as Prime Minister was one of the shortest on record. His time as Liberal leader was not particularly happy times. When he left in 1990 to reenter the private sector he was regarded as a fine Canadian and a good man but not a particularly good leader. The myth of his extraordinary political skills had long since been shattered. His vaunted political reputation was sadly diminished.

Not only did Turner fail to meet public expectations. Also, like McCain he did not realize his own political limitations when he should have, namely before entering the leadership contest. Had Turner not returned to seek the leadership, people would have remembered him as a excellent minister and as a larger than life politician who could have been a great leader. That would have been much better for him than people remembering him as being a lackluster leader who couldn’t beat Brian Mulroney.

The same was true of former Alberta premier Don Getty (pictured below). Getty was regarded as a cool operator when he was a senior minister during the Lougheed era. A former football star with the Edmonton Eskimos, Getty was thought to be – like Lougheed - an intelligent and urbane no-nonsense leader. He had done well in the portfolios he had handled for Lougheed and the Tory party together with other Albertans believed that he would be an excellent successor to Lougheed and would continue on with Alberta’s Camelot. The Tories elected him leader in 1985.




Alas, he was quickly plagued by serious bad luck in having to face a growing recession and plumetting oil prices. But worse than that, now that the unrelenting public focus was on Getty alone, people found him a tentative and uncertain communicator. He also lacked inspirational skills during difficult economic times, with a recession and a rising deficit and debt. Increasingly, people began to believe that Getty just did not have 'it.' Party support began to crumble. Citizens began to get angry. He lost his Edmonton seat and had to get elected elsewhere. Anti-Getty cabals broke out within the party. In 1992, he packed it in.

Getty too was a disappointment and re-entered normal society as a diminished figure. He too should have perceived his political limitations much earlier. Had he done so he might have left in the public mind the memory of an outstanding minister who in failing to go after the top job deprived the people of Alberta of a great Premier. Instead he left with the reputation of a failed Premier.

A similar example was the fate of Paul Martin Jr. (pictured below). As Finance Minister he was regarded by the press and other Canadians as a powerhouse. He succeeded in slashing the deficit to zero and even paid off some debt. He was widely touted and regarded as better leadership material than the man he so wanted to succeed, Jean Chretien. For several years he and his people worked tirelessly at toppling Chretien and finally succeeded at the end of 2003.

Now the spotlight was exclusively on Martin. Canadians were unimpressed. He appeared to be indecisive. Many thought he was vindictive and small-minded. Many found his passionate speeches to be shallow and fatuous. His support nose-dived. He eked out a minority government in his first electoral contest as Prime Minister. But he lost the next, and he was out. It was another case of the public concluding the emperor had no clothes, a conclusion that he had to carry with him back into private life. Neither did Paul Martin appreciate his political limitations. Had he done so and not pursued the brass ring there is no doubt that he would have left with the enviable reputation of being one of the greatest finance ministers of all time. At the moment his reputation is soiled from the public observation that he was a whopping disappointment as a prime minister and was the man who split the Liberal Party.

This whole idea of recognizing one's own limitations is a tricky and painful business. The fact that aspirants to high public office are continually surrounded by backslappers, flatterers and fawners makes it very difficult to be objective about oneself. Furthermore, the constant beguiling press bafflegab about one’s superlative leadership skills is hard to resist.

But there are many politicians who withstand these siren calls. Peter Lougheed (pictured above) was one when he was asked to seek the leadership of the national PC’s. He turned it down. Brian Tobin turned down the chance to run to lead the federal Liberals. Frank McKenna has now done it three times. All of their reputations remain undiminished. Indeed they may grow not only because of their accomplishments in their political and subsequent business careers but also because of the wistful thoughts of their legions of admirers about what might have been.

Aspiring leaders of the Liberal Party of Canada should think seriously about all of this before they file their papers. They should ask some very tough questions about themselves before they go grabbing for the brass ring.

PETER PUCK WELCHES ON A COMMITMENT TO KIDS

Peter Puck (on the left) with unknown acquaintance (on the right)

For years, Peter Pocklington was a legendary figure in Edmonton. To say he was high profile is an understatement. He cultivated the image of a swashbuckling entrepreneur. He was a cocky car dealer, real estate developer, meat packing house owner, promoter of right wing causes, candidate for the leadership of the National Progressive Conservative Party and above all, publicity-crazed owner of the Edmonton Oilers during the legendary Gretzky years. Edmontonians and the sporting world affectionately called him ‘Peter Puck.’

On Sunday the Edmonton Journal published a sad and pathetic story about Peter Puck who for some years now has been living in California. The story tells of Pocklington welching on a commitment he made to junior high school students during the time he was still a leading citizen in Edmonton. See: http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=e1e4ab9d-75f0-4251-af64-161fbec42b24&p=1

The story goes that in 1997 Pocklington promised to pay university or college tuition for all Grade nine students of the inner city McCauley Junior High School who attained an average of 80% or better and who decided to go to university or college when they had completed their high school studies. He even shook the hands of the students who had qualified and gave each of them a certificate and Edmonton Oiler jersey.

Pocklington said he decided that McCauley students should be the ones to receive his largesse because he knew parents of children in that school could ill-afford to pay for their children’s university or college education.

Boe Lefebvre, now 26, was one of those students. He couldn’t believe his good fortune. He said “All throughout junior high, I knew I wanted to be on the list. For my parents, it was a huge weight off their back because there was no way they could pay for my education." Boe graduated from high school and enrolled at college. He fulfilled his end of the bargain. He racked up a total student loan of $11000 while at college. He is now married, operates a business and is working on a degree.

Alas, it has now been the better part of a decade that Boe has put the arm on Pocklington to pay up. So far, there has been not a hint of the green stuff crossing Boe’s palms. There have been sporadic communications between the two and some promises to pay, but still no bread.

Another young man who got stiffed was Sam Ngai. Sam was philosophical about it saying, “I wasn’t so much mad as disappointed, but I guess that’s life.”

When contacted about the matter Pocklington said that he had left some money with the Alberta Treasury Branch to administer the program, but the guy in charge had left. In Peter Puck’s words, "That is the last I know about it. That was 13 years ago, and normally, there is an end to these type of things."

Although Boe’s attempts to get Puck to honor his commitment have not yielded results he seems to be willing to continue the fight. He says “I knew this was going to be a longshot from the get-go, but in my mind, it all comes down to principle.”

By the way, until recently the famed Peter Puck was a director of the Fraser Institute. You remember the Fraser Institute, shurely. It promotes that hard right flim-flam about the perfection of markets, deregulation, rugged individualism, laissez-faire economics and other Aynrandian voodoo which is gospel to much of the business establishment. Why, the Calgary Herald even puts more stock in its studies than it does in the collected works of Stockwell Day.

As I have earlier pointed out in my musings the famed Institute has or has had among its real or wannabe fat cats, former directors and convicted felons, Conrad Black and David Radler, and senior policy analyst and admitted plagiarist Dr. Owen Lippert. Now the former director and welcher Peter Puck joins this distinguished company.

FRASER INSTITUTE: ALBERTA ROADS GONE TO POT(HOLES)

If anyone needed convincing that the Alberta infrastructure has gone to potholes under the successive Klein and Stelmach regimes, one need not look further than a recent report from the Fraser Institute.

The right-wing, neocon unthinktank comprised of fanatical deregulation fat cat windbags, issued a report ranking Alberta in 7th place out of the 10 provinces in respect to roads in “good condition.” In fact, the report says that only 63% of Alberta’s roads are in good condition. See: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/story.html?id=1503efef-f1b6-4ca0-a48c-974d4ecb0df7&p=2

The dismal state of Alberta’s roads were confirmed by an Alberta Transportation spokesman who acknowledged the province was behind in road repair due to insufficient funding, rising construction costs and a shortage of labour and material.

According to the Institute’s study, the top three provinces with roads in good condition are Ontario which is in first place, followed by Nova Scotia and Quebec. See: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/fraser-institute-ontario-has-best/story.aspx?guid=%7BC19C21EE-6F54-48DD-8A7E-755ACAE78DAA%7D&dist=hppr

Given the Institute’s great affection for Ralph Klein, the ex-Premier primarily responsible for the current dilapidated state of all public services and public infrastructure, the province’s ranking would probably be much lower than 7th place, if the study was performed by an institution with a record for objectivity.

STEPHANE DION: A MAN OF HONESTY, NOBLE PURPOSE, AND CLASS

A GREAT CANADIAN

Stephane Dion announced intentions to leave as leader of the Liberal Party in the same manner as he has conducted his whole political career - with honesty, noble purpose, and class.

He leveled with the Canadian people as to why he lost. The Conservatives had painted him into a corner with unprecedented attack ads well before the election got under way, and they could do it because they had bucks that the Grits never had. He could have said that the Grits never had the bucks because they had spent too much time and effort fighting each other in the few years before he became leader. He did not have to say that though because people already know. He knew that, and he had too much class to remind them.

He defended the Greenshift plan as the forward thinking good policy that it was. I'm sure there will be the usual neocon bumboys who will rant about that statement. However, I refer them to the hundred or so economists who endorsed the plan, as well as to the recent statements of Bill Clinton giving B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell a pat on the back for the same policy.

The right-wing press never stopped talking about Greenshift's so-called complexity. Yeah, complex - a plan that taxed the big polluters who had been ripping off the world with high energy prices, so that some of their excessive gains could be put back in the hands of the little guy, and so the polluters themselves would discipline themselves to produce greener emissions. What was it about that statement they didn't understand?

Dion also made clear that the Liberal Party had to deal with the new era of fund-raising. The party has got to stop talking about it, and do something about it. They have to take a page out of the book of Howard Dean and Barack Obama on mass fund-fundraising. One of the Chretien legacies - and a good one in my opinion (although not in the opinion of the Gritdom's disloyal, bonehead, narcissist-in-chief Stephen Ledrew) - is that political parties henceforth be funded by people. What could be more noble than that? I thought that democracy was all about people. Whatever program the Liberals settle upon must be broad based, and work has to start in earnest on it yesterday. Dion knows that this has to be done in order to protect the same Conservative personality assassination squads screwing his successors as they did him.

He also intends to preside as leader until the convention that chooses his successor. If anyone has the honor and stature in the party to ensure fairness in the leadership process and unity in the face of the result it is Dion.

Dion has always been a respected figure in the party. Today's substance and style of his announcement sustains that respect. His whole career - which happily remains ongoing - and the manner that he has conducted it will ensure his place in the pantheon of great Liberal leaders.

DARRYL RAYMAKER BLOG MAKES MINOR CONCESSION TO STOP MINDLESS CONSERVATIVE DRIVEL

Some of my loyal and faithful Conservative readers of my blog continue to rant and whine about minor inaccuracies in my prediction of the outcome of the federal election. It is my hope that they will accept this publication of my picture upside down as a small admission of such inaccuracies so that they will cease and desist in their mindless drivel about what the result of the election really means.

HARPER'S MINORITY GOVERNMENT: REMEMBER JOE CLARK

Joe Clark in 1980

Don Martin the conservative Conservative Canwest parliamentary columnist, no doubt heartily moistened from celebrating the Conservative victory alongside of his Conservative pals at the Conservative victory celebration in Conservative Calgary, had this to say about yesterday’s election in his column this morning:

“The Conservatives have won a majority in political power if not in name” and that “. . . the Conservatives are now set to lead the an[sic] absolute-power minority, perhaps the strongest in history.” See http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=cfc26653-302d-48d5-bd68-00905896b77a

A combination of unrestrained triumphalism, lubricated by ubiquitous liquid spirits always found at celebratory political events, oftentimes cloud one’s judgment and memory – as was the case with Martin as reflected in his column.

In the federal election of June of 1979 the Progressive Conservatives under leader Joe Clark won 136 Commons seats out of 282 – 48.2% of the total number of seats.

In the federal election of yesterday, the Conservatives under leader Stephen Harper won 143 Commons seats out of 308 - 46.4% of the total number of seats.

After the election of 1979 Joe Clark stated that even though he had a minority government, he would govern as though he had a majority government. See: http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:WnscpCcro-EJ:www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm%3FPgNm%3DTCE%26Params%3DA1ARTA0005326+Joe+Clark+govern+as+though+he+had+a+majority&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=ca

He tried to do so. The result was the defeat in the Commons of the Clark government 6 short months after its victory at the polls. In the election of the following February, Clark and his Tories were defeated and the Liberals were returned to power.

The morals of the story:

1. A minority government is not a majority government.

2. Do not argue with simple arithmetic.

3. Don’t get too drunk at Conservative victory parties. It clouds memory and judgment.

STEPHEN HARPER: DONE IN BY HUBRIS AND IDEOLOGY

Harper (at bottom) having flown too close to the Sun

Hubris: Excessive pride displayed by a character, at times taking the form of a boastful challenge to the gods or other higher powers--often resulting in harsh punishment.

Practical hubris is the hubris of Icarus, son of Daedalus. In Greek myth, Daedalus, imprisoned on an island, devises a novel means of escape -- he crafts wings which enable him (and his son) to fly. Before they make their departure, Daedalus warns Icarus of the dangers of flying too high or too low. However, once they are underway, Icarus gets carried away with the joy of flying and ascends to a great height up near the sun. The heat from sun melts the wax that holds the wings together, and Icarus plunges to his death. See: http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:icK6CAg14C8J:www.blog.speculist.com/archives/000606.html+icarus+hubris&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. After all, he was the one with the leadership qualities. The Kennedy haircut, the business-like approach to government, the glibness hidden behind a voice with a tone of reason, the self confidence – ah yes, the self-confidence - supreme, ever present, impatient, patronizing.

And the chief opponent, struggling with a distinctive French accent and a mangled English syntax, the boring professor with a back pack, to whom he thought he had put the boots to with the TV attack ads well before the election.

And the socialist – old hat by now, and doctrinaire, leading a party in its final chapter on the way into the history books.

To say nothing of that pesky woman. Yes, a woman. A fanatical tree hugger no less, with the temerity to challenge the safe seat of Peter McKay. Surely, the good burghers of Central Nova or anyone else in the country would pay no attention to such an extremist.

Surely it would be a romp, he said to himself as he appraised the situation on September 7.

Finally he would be given the opportunity of governing as he wished. He would have a free hand in changing Canada at last. He would change its values, move it further within the orbit of the United States so that they would fight side-by-side for all of their shared neocon principles – private medicare, massive deregulation, glory on the battlefield, deep corporate tax cuts and tax cuts for the rich to create those private dynasties that are so effective in creating wealth. Now was his time.

Such an easy romp he thought it was that he could even break a basic election promise of a specific date for the election. And why not? He could say that parliament was dysfunctional and the Canadian people would believe him. Because it was him who was saying it. Look at who his opponents were. And look at the polls. And his party had plenty of money - not the green shift but the green stuff. Now was the time.

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the polls.

First of all, there was plenty of baggage. The Canadian people had never really warmed up to him. They saw him as a brooding and cold character. He was smart enough, they thought, but weirdly different, and even dangerous. He was too close to the United States for some. His drum beating for the war in Afghanistan to shed blood for a seat at the table did not go down so well for many. They remembered his support of the war in Iraq. They remembered his attacks on Medicare and some of his more extreme statements when he was the head honcho of the National Citizens Coalition.

Even many in his own party distrusted him. He was known to have been disloyal to colleagues. Even Preston Manning distrusted him. He could also be curt and surly. He was a control freak.

He had lapses of integrity. He was not above poaching speeches made by others – even important speeches exhorting the country to have its young bleed in a foreign war.

His slashing partisanship was in a class of its own. He accused his Liberal opponents who dared question some of his policies of supporting the Taliban and not being friends of Israel. When a bereaved father who lost a son in Afghanistan subsequently criticized his government for its policy there, one of his minions said that it was because the father was a Liberal. In the Commons, when a Sikh MP criticized government policy, he said it was because the MP was attempting to protect a relative from testifying at the Air India Inquiry.

And he had a mean streak. He relished seeing his opponents humiliated. He enjoyed holding over their heads the constant threat of an election that he knew they weren’t ready to fight. He approved the running of attack ads that centered on the Opposition leader's French accent in communicating in English as being indicative of a lack of leadership.

He carried on with unsettling behavior during the campaign. When reminded during one of the debates that a medical journal published a letter from a Doctor attacking the government's food inspection system, he said it was because the Doctor was a Liberal. His partisanship was so infectious that an overzealous campaigner created a cartoon puffin doing its private business on the shoulder of the Leader of the Opposition in a TV ad. He took a cheap shot at struggling Canadian artists who, he said, are not appreciated by ordinary Canadians because of their rich taxpayer subsidized galas.

And he hated to admit mistakes. During the English language debate, despite the repeated badgering of Gilles Duceppe, he side-stepped, evaded, bamboozled, and muttered his way into an ignominious corner until he had to cry uncle with an abject admission that the Iraq invasion was a mistake.

Then along came the economic meltdown.with stock markets crashing, foreign banks going broke and real estate values plummeting. There was fear in the hearts of ordinary Canadians. They were worried about their jobs, their savings, their retirement, their children’s future, and they were looking for answers and reassurance.

Far be it for the neocon to come to their rescue. Neocons live and die with the market. They believe in hard-nosed laissez-faire, market forces and rugged individualism. And they will hear no belly-aching, thank you very much. That is the neocon’s solution to the problems the little people are facing today. And that is what he offered.

He was unprepared for the tough times. He had no platform. He had no solution beyond the rigidly conservative provisions of his earlier announcements of a little here and a little there. And he certainly had no compassion. Not even an appearance of compassion. Compassion is the last thing a neocon would even think about.

And so, the chickens have come home to roost. All of that hubris, all of that narrow ideology has done him in - his government, his leadership and his political career.

PRESTON MANNING WANTS GEORGE W. BUSH TO MANAGE THE CANADIAN ECONOMY

Fraser Institute political hack, Preston Manning

Canada's George W. Bush (on the left) with the real thing (on the right)

Preston Manning’s column of this today’s Globe and Mail asks the question: Who would be the best person at the helm of the ship of state as Canada heads into stormy economic seas?

After giving short shrift to Elizabeth May ( “ . .weak, terribly weak, on the economy.”), Jack Layton (“ . . . cut from the same cloth” as “economic disasters . . Bob Rae and Dave Barrett”), Stephane Dion (Dion’s degrees from university “are in political science and sociology – adequate preparation for salon politics but not for economic crises.”) - - surprise, surprise, he recommends his fellow arch-conservative and prodigy Stephen Harper.

Manning these days spends much of his time beating the drum for conservative causes. He remains a Fellow of the Fraser Institute.

You know the Fraser Institute, don’t you? It is that political arm of the Conservative Party that masquerades as a think tank. Amongst its former trustees are convicted felons David Radler and Conrad Black, both of whom helped to fund it. A former Fellow is Dr. Owen Lippert, an admitted plagiarist and patsy who fed Stephen Harper his Commons speech urging that Canada join George W. Bush in invading Iraq. Another Fellow of the Institute is that genius that brought Health Care in Alberta to its knees. Yes, Ralph Klein is also a Fellow of the Institute.

It is the same organization that has recently hosted George W. Bush’s political guru Karl Rove in two expensive dinners in Toronto and Calgary so that they could listen intently about what a great success his boss’s Presidency has been.

Yes, Manning actually believes that Stephen Harper is the best man to lead our country as the economy goes into the tank.

But think about this. Harper is an unabashed cheerleader for Bush and has been during all of the dark Bush era. Whether it was supporting the war in Iraq, mindlessly supporting the lost cause in Afghanistan, sticking a finger in the eye of China, supporting a disastrous course in the Middle East, or telling the Canadian people that the fundamentals of the economy are strong as we headed towards the abyss, Harper has been Canada’s George W. Bush.

And now Manning is telling the Canadian people that they should support Canada’s George W. Bush to manage the Canadian economy! That’s like putting the inmates in charge of the asylum.

Preston Manning is a neocon Reform/Alliance hack, and has been since his first foray into the federal arena. His advice is not only worthless, it is downright dangerous!

HARPER PLAGUED BY MORE PLAGIARISM

Harper (on the left) with John Howard (on the right, or is it Mike Harris??)

There is a new accusation of plagiarism in another speech given by Prime Minister Harper. It was revealed today by the Liberals that in a speech delivered in February 2003 Harper cribbed the lines of neocon Ontario Premier Mike Harris. See http://www.thestar.com/federalelection/article/511503

This follows upon last week’s news – proved true – that much of a speech he gave to the Commons urging Canada to join the Iraq invasion were the words of neocon ex-Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

The stolen Harris words were originally delivered by Harris in an address to the Montreal Economic Institute on December 4, 2002. Their text reads as follows:

"Thinking about things from a new and different perspective is never easy. It takes courage, conviction and the strength to know that in taking a new and innovative course, you are making change for the better. ... Genuine leaders are the ones who do the right thing."


Little more than two and a half months later – on February 19, 2003 - Harper addressed the Commons saying:

"Thinking about things from a new and different perspective is not about reading the polls and having focus group tests. It is never easy because it takes courage, conviction and the strength to know that taking a new and innovative course is going to make change for the better. Genuine leaders are the ones who do the right thing."

On hearing of this new plagiarism revelation Conservative mouthpiece Dan Dugas accused the Grits of wanting to "deflect attention from their lack of an economic plan." He added that "It's a stretch to say it's the same as the Howard speech, which concerned us and which we took seriously.” He pointed out "Here, they've identified 44 words out of a 4,956-word speech that are similar – not identical – to a speech by another conservative."

So according to Mr. Dugas, the Conservative Party under Stephen Harper believes that if you steal 2500 words out of a 5000 word speech, that is obviously a problem. In fact, so much so, they fired the fall guy. However stealing 44 words out of 4956, with a couple of wrinkles added on for deniability down the road, is not a problem.

That’s like saying if you steal 2500 cars out of a Mercedes Benz new car factory lot containing 5000 cars, that is theft and demands a penalty. But if you steal only 44 and, say, change one digit on a serial number to make the 44 look unique and not part of the 5000, that is not theft. It is a mere trifle deserving of no sanction.

Anybody who is thinking of casting his or her ballot for the Conservatives in the next Federal election better think about this. And if they agree with Conservative spokesman Mr. Dugas, they better consult their spiritual advisor and lawyer - preferably a criminal lawyer.

THIS JUST IN: HARPER VICTIMIZED BY OWN PLAGIARIZED SPEECH

WELL KNOWN CONTROL FREAK

VICTIMIZED

BY

MYSTERY PLAGIARIST
FROM THE FRASER INSTITUTE

This morning Liberal Foreign affairs critic and Toronto MP Bob Rae revealed Prime Minister Harper as a possible plagiarist. And not just a mere bagatelle of a plagiarist. But a real doozer of a plagiarist - a lulu, a dilly, a humdinger, the real McCoy!

He appeared to have plagiarized almost half of a speech of more than 3000 words – much of it verbatim and most of it in wide swaths. Harper’s plagiarized speech was delivered by himself to the House of Commons on March 20, 2003 when he was Leader of the Opposition Canadian Alliance.

When he delivered the stolen words, the ink had hardly dried on the originals. The original speech had been given only two days earlier on March 18, 2003 by fellow neocon and Australian Prime Minster John Howard, to the Australian Parliament.

Howard used his speech to announce that Australia was joining the Bush II coalition of the willing neocons to invade Iraq. In it, he also set forth the reasons for the action - weapons of mass destruction, the threat of terrorism, the evil-doer Saddam Hussein, yada, yada, yada. Harper delivered the plagiarized version to exhort the Canadian Parliament to join in the great crusade and advanced the same reasons.

It is instructive to reflect on plagiarism in light of this astonishing revelation of contempt for the Canadian people. The following two appropriate quotes express the revulsion appropriate to such sleaze.

”In essence, plagiarism and her two twins--fabrication and falsification, emanate from sheer human greed.” S.M. Sapatnekar, An editorial in JAPI (Journal of the Association of Physicians of India), vol. 52, pp. 527-530.

And,

“What is even more tragic, however, is that those who purposely commit plagiarism reveal the shallowness of their own character. To knowingly steal the work of another and pass it off as your own is to betray yourself in a way that can never be redeemed. By committing this act you are destroying the honor, integrity and principles of your own spirit. This is perhaps the longest lasting and most tragic consequence of plagiarism.” "Editorial: Plagiarism is a Serious Offense." The Rebel Yell

Late today a former foreign policy advisor to Harper took the fall. Dr. Owen Lippert (pictured as a young man in the lower photo above) who was up to now a paid Conservative campaign worker, said he did it.

A biographical sketch of the now disgraced Lippert is to be found on the website of the venerable neocon Fraser Institute. It notes that Lippert is a senior policy analyst for the Institute. He holds a PhD in Modern European History from the University of Notre Dame and was a trusted press secretary to Kim Campbell when she was federal minister of Justice. For further information on this pathetic mystery man see http://oldfraser.lexi.net/about_us/people/owen_lippert.html

Lippert apologized and stated that he had resigned his position in the Conservative campaign. No doubt the Fraser Institute will give this miserable worm the boot as well.

Ah, yes. Lippert’s dirty little secret has been exposed at last. His boss was his victim. Yes, ahem, indeed.

THE VERDICT ON STEPHEN LEDREW

Loser

I know Stephen Ledrew. I have observed the ups and mostly downs of his career.

His penchant for loud bow ties and narcissistic publicity seeking, his overbearing stature and his love for his deep rapturous voice, are turnoffs. He annoys me.

He did well by the Liberal Party of Canada. He was an Executive Assistant to a former Solicitor General of Canada. He worked in the Prime Minister’s Office. He was its President between 1998 and 2003. His party involvement helped launch his dubious public career as a loudmouth minor media personality on a couple of rarely listened to TV and radio channels in the Toronto area.

None of that helped in his personal life. He went bankrupt in 2005 owing $360 thousand or so to the taxman. His law firm also went belly up. With a splash he announced he was running for Mayor of Toronto in the November 06 election. He received 1.3% of the vote. People can be forgiven if they think he’s a loser. He has the earmarks.

But there are some who like his clownish persona. He is invited as a panelist from time to time on CBC Newsworld and CBC News.

Ledrew loves the limelight. His chosen tool to attain it is controversy. Given his failings he has earned little public credibility, if any. Yet, there he is, giving interviews, writing columns, opining on television – as if he were some kind of oracle. He’s a loser.

Last week in the Canwest Conservative tabloid the National Post, Ledrew wrote that it was likely “the Liberals are going to take a drubbing in this election — which is exactly what they need . .” In the rest of the piece, with obvious relish, he stuck it to the party leader and the platform, and made a banal call for party renewal.

After extracting the stiletto from between the party’s shoulder blades, thinking no doubt that he should lay the ground work for a possible return to party prominence, he tries to make nice:

"In this call for renewal, I do not mean to dishearten the hard-working people of all ages

who are pounding in signs, looking up addresses, sending e-mails and knocking on doors

under the Liberal banner. Keep it up, for you are vital to the political process. One must

fight on against all odds . . . "

Predictably Nigel Hannaford, a tiresome Harperite drumbeater for Calgary’s Canwest Rag The Calgary Herald, this morning called Ledrew “a Liberal Prophet.”

Ledrew is not a prophet. His opinions have no value whatsoever. He is just an annoying publicity seeker who will do or say anything for public attention.

GORDON GIBSON JR: MORE DRIVEL FROM THE RIGHT

JUNIOR

If you have a yen for some real bullshit reading today, check the editorial page of today’s Globe and Mail and read Gordon Gibson Jr.’s latest drivel: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080919.wcogibson22/BNStory/politics
By way of review, Gibson is the highly educated (Harvard, London School of Economics) son of one of British Columbia’s great entrepreneurs, Gordon Gibson Sr. Gibson Sr. was born during the gold rush in Dawson City and rose from hardscrabble poverty to become one of the most successful lumber barons in the history of B.C. By the time he died in 1986, he had put together a huge diverse business empire founded on the forest industry including a shipping line, hotels, and radio station. He also sat as a Liberal member of the B.C. Legislature.

Gibson Jr. early in his career was by all reports a bright young man. He was one of the earliest supporters of Pierre Trudeau in the lead up to the leadership campaign in 1968. He so endeared himself to Trudeau that upon Trudeau’s winning the leadership he was hired as the new P.M’s first Executive Assistant.

Thereafter a strong relationship developed between the two. So strong in fact that Gibson Jr. was one of the handful of people who participated in the highly secret marriage ceremony of Pierre and Margaret.

In 1972, young Gibson went home to B.C. to personally test the political waters for himself. In 1974 and 1975 he won two elections to the Legislature and was provincial party leader for a few years before being defeated in 1975.

After 1975, although he emerged politically from time to time as a prominent B.C. provincial Liberal, he wisely shifted his sights on continuing in the tradition of his father in business. He also decided his political future lay more in punditry than electoral politics. Over the years, his opinions, carrying an ostensible view from the west perspective, have been read in several different daily newspapers.

Gibson Jr. fell out with Trudeau over the great constitution debate of the early eighties that gave rise to the Charter of Rights and the Amending Formula.

As time marched on he became an increasingly right-wing tub thumper. He is now firmly in support of the Reform, Alliance, Tory mishmash of far right wing ideology. So much so that he was appointed as a Fellow of its favorite propaganda machine, the infamous Fraser Institute.

Gibson Jr.’s message today poses the question whether or not it matters who is in power in Ottawa. He theorizes that whoever directs the government “will not move far from the public good. Government may – indeed, will - make mistakes, but public opinion will correct them soon enough.” It is assumed that the piece was designed as a dose of valium for Canadians who have disquiet over a possible Harper majority.

Alas, Gibson Jr. may be good at making money, but he he is sorely deficient in historical knowledge. Otherwise he would have known that it mattered a hell of a lot who came to power in Germany after the national election of November of 1932. Or that in the late thirties in Great Britain it was a matter of great importance who held the reins in the House of Commons as Hitler was gearing up to march across Europe. Or that in the United States in 1964 it mattered who was going to be the Commander in Chief, given that when the dust settled in Viet Nam, more than 60,000 young Americans had become tragic statistics of a lost cause.

He goes on: “The idea is that in a democracy, the general will of the people will govern, and the truly important leaders are not the managers of the day, but rather those in politics, business, religion, and the arts who shape that general will.” As an example, he puts forth the Fraser Institute shibboleth that fellow Fellow Fraserite “ . . . Preston Manning changed the fiscal policy of the government 180 degrees in the 1990s with his insistence on the importance of eliminating the deficit, in effect giving the day’s government permission to do what needed doing. He did this from the Opposition side.”

What utter nonsense! Pierre Trudeau must be spinning in his grave listening to his former Harvard educated trusted advisor drooling out such drivel. Reduction of deficits as a government priority was embraced by many jurisdictions in the west almost simultaneously. Manning had nothing to do with it, save for the rhetoric, which he and countless others of all political stripes were spewing at the same time throughout the western industrialized democracies. Manning was no Messiah on deficit reduction. He was one voice among millions, including Liberals, who were espousing the same cause.

Gibson Jr. knows this. He degrades what little is left of his public reputation as a responsible voice in the body politic by uttering such false banalities. He becomes just a lowly pamphleteer for the right like the rest of his pals in the Fraser Institute.

After waxing poetic about his favorite themes – institutional change, the primary importance of local and provincial governments – he says “The world today is certainly better than ever in my long lifetime, notwithstanding the past week’s financial turmoil.”

If he believes that, Gibson Jr. a child of privilege, is spending far too much time at the Vancouver Club. In fact, the world is in deep trouble – largely as a result of Gibson Jr.’s fellow travelers from the extreme right. Russia and the United States have revived the cold war. The Middle East continues to be a cauldron of real or threatened violence. Pakistan is a basket case. Afghanistan is a dismal failure, with our young men and women dying there for reasons that become less apparent by the day. Commercial greed in the United States requires a bailout by its little people of trillions, causing economic havoc world wide. A woman who aspires to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency of the United States – and may well be come November - has never held a passport.

And Junior - that’s only the beginning!

The world today better than ever? My eye!

THE CALGARY HERALD AND THE ART OF THE WHOPPER

CORBELLA

In today's edition of the Calgary Herald, Licia Corbella, Editorial Page Editor of the Calgary Herald has fired her first salvo of the imminent Federal Election. See: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/columnists/story.html?id=4ead416f-5b85-469d-b6eb-a4f6781eb902 It masquerades as speculation on the risk that Bush's pal Steve Harper is taking by breaking his own certain election day promise as well as law by calling an election.

But its real purpose is to bamboozle her readership and malign the Liberals.

Nobody maligns Liberals like Corbella. Even her former colleague from her Calgary Sun days, Paul Jackson (ret) - one of the biggest Liberal tormentors in the business - doesn't hold a candle to the meanness and pure bullshit of Ms. Corbella's invective pen when it comes to Grits.

Her column today goes all the way back to 1991 to lambaste former Ontario Liberal Premier David Peterson as "self-serving," "arrogant," "cynical, " and ultimately "humiliated." Poor Peterson, the only place in the country where he is still reminded of his now quite irrelevant but ignominious defeat is in the yellow pages of the Calgary Herald. Shurely, he's suffered enough!

Then she turns her sights on his successor, the former NDP Ontario Premier - now Liberal M.P. - Bob Rae. Rae in her words, was "an unmitigated disaster" . . . "not just for Ontario but for the entire country." I'm sure Rae will be surprised to learn of his vast national influence during his short reign as Premier.

Then she turns her guns on Dion bigtime.

About the Grit leader she says, "Dion is spectacularly inarticulate in English and apparently not a very good speaker in French either."

First of all, Corbella has obviously not spoken to Herald reporter Jason Fekete. For if she had, he would have told her that in his speech in Calgary during Stampede Week to a Liberal gathering, Dion was spectacularly articulate in English. He would have told her that he gave an excellent address in both official languages for which he was heartily rewarded with a standing ovation by his 500 or so listeners.

As for Dion being "apparently not a very good speaker in French either," the use of the word "apparently" here is a bush league weasel word. It is oftentimes used by irresponsible journalists - Corbella being a champ in that department - when they cannot prove the assertion that they are making and have no evidence of it.

She continued the heavy guns on Dion by writing that the Greenshift plan "will cause gasoline prices to soar." In making this statement, either Corbella has not done her homework, or shows a mendacious disregard for the truth (if Corbella needs this last phrase translated, she should check the definitions through Google; however, in order to get the right definition of the words she will have to spell them correctly). Gasoline at the pump is exempt from the Greenshift plan! See: http://www.liberal.ca/story_14102_e.aspx

Corbella also points out that the Greenshift plan "is so complex it takes hours to explain properly . . " Well, maybe I can help. The Greenshift plan taxes the polluters. The taxes generated will be equitably distributed among middle and lower income earners so as they can recoup something of what they have been dishing out to governments and oil companies over the past several years of high energy prices. There it is in a nutshell. Corbella, are you reading this? What part of that do you not understand??

She went on to malign Jean Chretien. She tells this whopper - that from the Liberal victory in 1993 Chretien's popularity "was all downhill from there." The truth is that Chretien went on to win two majority governments after 1993, with the popularity of the Liberals declining a negligible 0.1% between Chretien's first general election of 1993 to his last in 2000. She then writes that Chretien's downhill path "proves that telling whoppers isn't exactly the way to increase your popularity." Well, Ho! Ho! Ho! Statistics show that editors telling whoppers these days isn't exactly the way to increase your readership, or for that matter, the share value of Canwest Global Communications!

But now, for the Corbella granddaddy of all whoppers. Harper, she writes, says that "the Liberals have carried out obstructionist tactics in committees so key work is not getting done. She goes on, "Depending on who you talk to on Parliament Hill that is either very true or partially true . . "

In her column this morning in the good and true Globe and Mail - a great English language journal of record and one of the only two remaining in all of Canada, the other being the Toronto Star - June Taber writes in her political notebook that Herald Ottawa columnist Don Martin is Hot. Martin, she writes, "has a copy of the . . Conservative dirty tricks manual or "Parliamentary Obstruction Document," a 200 page tome on how to make Parliament dysfunctional" that many opponents of the Harper crowd would love to get their hands on. In fact, the Conservatives have written the book on how to make parliament dysfunctional. Corbella should talk to her colleague Martin, so that she may perhaps sneak a peek.

If Corbella thinks that this Conservative text book is gathering dust somewhere and not being put to the use for which it was intended, she probably believes that the Greenshift will result in higher gasoline prices or that Chretien's popularity went all downhill after 1993, or that Dion can't speak English or French articulately or that Canwest shares will increase in value as a result of her presiding over the editorial page of the Calgary Herald.

JOHN McCAIN: DEMENTED OR DUMB ?

McCAIN: DEMENTED?

GUN TOTIN' PALIN (Second Row on the Right)

POLITICAL OPPONENT (Reclining in Front Row)

The United States is in big trouble. Any discerning observer can see it. Its problems are visible on a host of levels. Indeed they are obvious to anyone who switches on the boob tube or to anyone who can read. Obvious to anyone except perhaps to many, if not most, Americans.

The nation remains divided along racial lines. Let’s take the prison system. It’s bursting at the seams. According to recent statistics, 7 million adults (3.2% of the country’s adult population) are in U.S. slammers. And how’s this for a sobering statistic - the U.S. has 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the total number of incarcerated adults world-wide. In the U.S. there are 737 adults per 100,000 people in jail. This compares to England and Wales with 139 per 100,000 and even China – with 4 times the population - at 111. Norway is at 59 per 100,000. Whatever the reasons, something is dreadfully wrong.

Furthermore, we find that 10.4% of all black males in the U.S. between the ages of 25 and 29 are in jail. 2.4% are Hispanic and 1.3% are white. Blacks comprise 12% of the population of the United States. They also comprise 44% of all incarcerated inmates in the United States. Indeed, something is dreadfully wrong – and racist too! See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_the_United_States

And the books are in a shambles. As of this month, the war in Iraq had cost the poor Yankee taxpayer 550 billion bucks. The burn rate for the conflict is somewhere between 8 and 12 billion a month. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are projected to cost 3 trillion dollars before they are over, and that is likely to be a modest estimate. The total U.S. deficit this year is expected to be 410 billion dollars – keeping pace with the 500 billion dollar average deficit per year since 2003. The total debt as of this spring was 9.5 trillion dollars or $31,600 for every man, woman and child resident in the U.S. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt

This is bad news for a country that a few short years ago – during the Clinton years – was running surpluses with the books in great shape. Not so today. And it looks to get much worse if the country decides to give their citizens a break and get into the universal medicare world.

The nation has become uncompetitive in manufacturing. The great automotive companies, long a staple of American industrial might, are edging towards bankruptcy. Other U.S. corporations to remain competitive are building their widgets in the low wage markets of emerging economies in the third world. Good jobs are being lost. Banks are in trouble. The real estate and financial markets across the country have taken an enormous hit from the sub-prime financial crisis.

The country’s thirst for oil remains unabated despite skyrocketing prices. Domestic supplies continue to diminish and high price imports continue to increase with no serious attempt by government to change the people’s appetite for gas guzzling.

And all the while, vacuous and shrill talking heads on the cable and network news channels waste the viewer’s time with trivial matters of sex or mayhem, not designed to inform but to entertain. Print publications that dare to deal with public policy are usually doctrinaire, selling the flim-flam of their ideological masters – their advertisers. Most politicians – particularly Republican politicians - with some notable exceptions, continue to mislead the public on wars, energy, the economy and most everything else.

And now, in a move that is as irresponsible as it is bizarre, John McCain has picked as his running mate a ditzy, ardently pro-life, gun totin,’ creationist, and ex-beauty queen runner-up in Wasilla, Alaska, population 5469. Oh yes, she was Mayor of Wasilla and served on its Town Council. In December 2006 she became Governor of the State of Alaska, population 683,478 – ranking 47th of 50 states. If McCain is elected President and during his tenure finds himself on the wrong side of the grass, well, it will be President Sarah Palin.

McCain has the nerve to say that she is as qualified as his Democratic opponent Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden, to be President of the United States. Only doctrinaire neocons and obtuse Canadian Conservatives would ever buy that line. The fact is that McCain, like Fox News and the talking heads and all of the rest of the sorry lot who are leading what was once the great United States down the road to perdition, are trivializing the challenges that lie ahead. They have no appreciation of the complexity to make things right. They are not serious about their country.

And in the meantime, the Democratic ticket instead of being far and away the heavy favorite to win, is struggling in the polls. They are only neck and neck with the yahoos that brought that poor country to its knees through arrogance and stupidity. And why are they only neck- and – neck? Well, you see, Obama happens to be black. It’s a helluva mess.

SACHA TRUDEAU: CALLING IT AS HE SEES IT

Trudeau: Calling it as he sees it

I noted this weekend that both The Globe and Mail and The Calgary Herald editorial page took shots at Alexandre Trudeau for his recent comments on Afghanistan. See http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080823.wetrudeau23/BNStory/specialComment/home
and http://digital.ottawacitizen.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

He had recently stated that Canada should end its “aggressive military operation in Afghanistan.” He thought that the Pashtun people should be left alone because they had “extremely different values than ours, values we may not agree with.” In his view we “have no reason to tell . . .how to live their lives,” and that “It’s not our business to try to teach them lessons.”

The Globe first of all pointed out that the Pashtuns was only an ethnic minority in the country, with about 42% of the population. Whether it is 42% or 50% as said by some observers, the Pashtuns are by far the largest ethnic group. The other six major ethnicities in the country are ranging between 3% (Turkmen) of the population, to 18% (Tajik). But I quibble.

The Globe’s editorial then resorted to the usual emotional and graphic rhetoric that we have come to expect from the supporters of the war. It said the Taliban were oppressors and were the “champion of the global league of utterly odious societies,” who, if returned to power, would “resume exporting abroad the venom that fuelled its barbarity.”

The Globe acknowledges that the mission “is far from perfect,’ and that progress towards secular democracy had been erratic – a very rosy description given the view of many on-the- scene observers who would say that progress has been non-existent and is now in considerable retreat.

But the most glaring, misleading statement of the editorial was the statement that there was a question as to whether NATO could defeat an insurgency without “a substantial reinforcement.” The Globe has excellent people on the ground reporting on the war. They must know that the use of such a benign term as “a substantial reinforcement” to describe what NATO needs to win in Afghanistan is further evidence – if any was needed – of a continuing deception on the Canadian people. If the Globe had said, NATO has 50,000 troops in Afghanistan but needs 300,000 to 400,000 fighting men and women - at least! - to win the day and establish democracy, that would have been a true statement. But the Globe didn’t come clean.

At least Trudeau told the truth as he, and many other observers who have hunkered down in alien cultures with bullets whizzing past their heads, sees it. In his opinion, this is not a good war, and its best we get out.

The Herald as is its wont these days, now that it has relegated itself to being a mere pamphleteer of neocon causes, accused Trudeau of uttering ‘defeatist remarks.’ It took issue with his description of Canada’s role as “aggressive” and conveyed astonishment that Trudeau seemed to consider that Canada was part of a 19th century ‘Great Game’ for dominance in central Asia. Well, its not such a hare-brained idea. No doubt the Herald writers – boneheads as most of them are these days – did not know that it is widely rumored that President Karzai was a consultant for Unocal (since taken over by Chevron) regarding the proposed but now stalled Trans-Afghanistan Gas Pipeline to transport gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, thence to Pakistan and India. Chevron, in fairness, is no longer part of the deal. In fairness to Karzai, he denies the rumor. However, in judging the veracity of the rumor it should be kept in mind that Karzai is not popular in the country, is distrusted by most of the people and his government is corrupt.

Then, in a character assassination worthy of the infamous Senator Joe McCarthy, the Herald poses the thought that Trudeau’s use of the word “aggression” to describe the NATO Afghanistan operation exposes Trudeau “to the suspicion he does not wish the military mission well.” Get it? He doesn’t support the troops. Warming to the subject, the writer describes Trudeau’s words as “a slap in the face to every Canadian who grieves a fallen soldier.”

We’ve heard this cowardly stuff before, during the war in Viet Nam and more recently during the Iraq war. The people making the war and their cheerleaders say, you must support the war, and if you don’t, well, then you obviously don’t support the troops – and if you don’t support the troops you are unpatriotic, perhaps even a traitor, etc. That’s what they said about Muhammed Ali when Uncle Sam tried to throw him into the slammer for failing to go to Viet Nam.

The fact is that there are times – and I believe this is one of them – that to advocate getting the hell out of the war, you do support the troops. Our NATO partners are not pulling their weight. Things are going backwards not forwards. There are still bumper crops of poppies, and plenty of corruption. And the Taliban are using our troops for target practice. The Herald ignores all of that. It continues its mindless jingoism and tries to assassinate the character of a young man who dares to tell the world what he thinks and sees as the truth.

MENDACITY OR IGNORANCE REDUX: THE TIRESOME NEIL WAUGH

Waugh

Anxious to join his pals? Or, just plain dumb?

I note in yesterday's Calgary Sun, the last remaining Tory neanderthal columnist not yet hired by Premier Stelmach's propaganda office - Neil Waugh - wrote about the recent downturn in Alberta housing construction:

“ . . . The senior market analyst immediately concluded that when it came to single-detached starts: 'last month's activity represented the worst July performance since 1986.'
That harkens back to a time when the Alberta economy was still locked in the economic winter that Pierre Trudeau's NEP caused. . . .” http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Waugh_Neil/2008/08/12/pf-6422166.html

Either Waugh is getting desperate to join his pals Olsen and Stanway on the Stelmach gravy train or, he really is ignorant. Either way its an even money bet.

For the real facts read:

http://darrylraymaker.blogspot.com/2008/07/calgary-heralds-disrespect-of.html

LEW MACKENZIE 'GETS IT' ABOUT AFGHANISTAN

Lewis MacKenzie

"Gets It" about Afghanistan

Will Never "Get it" about Afghanistan

As those of you who read my blog from time to time know, I don’t give Tories very much credit. The truth is though that I liked some of the old PCs when it was a kinder and gentler party than the Conservatives are today. I liked John Crosbie. And I liked Joe Clark too. There are several others. There were some good men and women in the old PC party and some great Canadians amongst them. My hat goes off to them.

Today my hat goes off to another old Tory. He ran as a PC under the leadership of Jean Charest in 1997 in the riding of Parry Sound – Muskoka. Alas, he lost to the Grit, but had he won the people of Canada would have been well-served. Just as he served them well as a career officer in the Canadian Armed Forces for 35 years. He is also an author, sometime columnist and winner of the 2007 Diamond Class Ontario Championship for formula Fords - at the age of 67. He is also one Canadian who ‘gets it’ about our role in Afghanistan. I speak of Major-General Lewis MacKenzie (ret).

MacKenzie has written several pieces about Canada’s role in the Afghanistan quicksand, and was one of the first prominent Canadians to see the conflict in realistic terms and have the guts to talk about it. For some time now MacKenzie has told Canadians that this is a very difficult operation requiring far more resources than our NATO allies seemed to be prepared to commit.
In this morning’s Globe and Mail he comments on Canada finally getting its hands on six used Chinook medium-lift helicopters to help us and our NATO partners in the Afghanistan effort. Those helicopters are to be leased for one year at a cost – to you and I - of three hundred million bucks. In his piece MacKenzie notes that among NATO’s twenty-six countries, there are 3,000 such helicopters sitting around airports. However, none have been made available to Canada for the war effort. He questions NATO’s commitment to the project, and calls upon its member nations to either pitch in, or forget about NATO. MacKenzie sees it and tells it like it is.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080811.wwconato11/BNStory/Afghanistan/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080811.wwconato11

Good on Lew MacKenzie – a great Canadian!

THE FRASER INSTITUTE INVITES YOU TO AN EVENING WITH 'TURD BLOSSOM'

Turd Blossom

Former Trustee Conrad Black

Former Trustee David Radler

Yesterday I had a big surprise. I received an invitation to a reception and dinner from the far right wing Fraser Institute, the Calgary Herald's think tank of choice. The event will be held on September 24th at a tony downtown Calgary Art Gallery. The guests will be treated to a lecture by Karl Rove.

Rove, you will recall, until last year was the loyal and faithful servant of President George W. Bush. He served as the President's Deputy Chief of Staff, and headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. Despite these lofty positions he has been described as 'Bush's Brain,' - not exactly a complement. In fact, Rove is a university dropout. He did attend university for a time - long enough to get draft deferrals until the draft ended in June of 1973.

His boss the President, showing the privileged and Ivy League class for which he is so famous, calls him 'Turd Blossom.' For his part, Rove describes the President as "one of the most intellectually gifted presidents we've had."

Throughout the greater part of Bush II's political career as Governor of Texas and President of the United States, Rove has been his closest political advisor. Thus he has been in on all of the great decisions - like going to war in Iraq and the public misinformation initiative that was its foundation, the woeful lack of preparation for rebuilding Iraq after the invasion, paying little more than lip-service to the war against the Taliban, the feeble response to Hurricane Katrina, public policy that has brought about the near bankruptcy of the United States, the wink-wink approach to torture and rendition, and foreign policy that resulted in the plummeting of American influence throughout the world. And that is only a partial list of the catastrophes of the Bush II years.

Rove's political gifts however, are not something to sneer at. He is an expert in smear tactics and dirty tricks. Rove the draft dodger has been given credit for labelling 1972 Democratic candidate for President George McGovern as a "left-wing peacenik" notwithstanding McGovern's stellar World War II service as a B-24 pilot. Rove has been accused of masterminding a telephone poll to voters in the Texas Gubernatorial contest between Bush II and Democrat Ann Richards, wherein the people being polled were asked if they would be more or less likely to vote for Richards if they knew that her staff was 'dominated by lesbians.'

He has been accused of doing the same thing in the 2000 Republican Primary in South Carolina, a contest between George W. Bush and John McCain. The telephone pollsters asked the question if they were more or less likely to vote for John McCain for president 'if you knew he had fathered an illegitimate black child."

During his long stint at the President's side, Rove had been up to his neck in other allegations -like being instrumental in the outing of Valerie Plame as a covert CIA operative, dismissing U.S. federally appointed attorneys for failing to prosecute democrats, and being involved in the 'swiftboating' of John Kerry's military service during the Viet Nam war.

So Mr. Rove is the guest speaker at the dinner to which I was invited. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. If I were to go it is not for free. Tickets are $500 per individual, $900 per couple and $5000 for a table of ten. Mr. Rove does not come cheap these days. However, probably unbeknownst to the Fraserites in Toronto, he comes cheaper in Calgary. On September 23 in Toronto, the Bay Street Harperite cheerleaders will pay $700 for one ticket, $1300 a couple and $7000 for a table of ten. I guess the recent downturn of oil prices from $150 a barrel to $120 or so prompted the better Calgary deal.

The Fraser Institute is a registered charity with Revenue Canada. It is a rabid proponent of competitive markets, less government spending and regulation, less gun restrictions, more privatisation of government services and more private medicine. It opposes government involvement in global warming. Two of its illustrious former members of its Board of Trustees are Conrad Black and David Radler formerly of Hollinger fame, and presently indisposed. The current Board is comprised primarily of Canadian captains of industry, past and present. Among speakers at Institute functions in the coming months are former Socred Preston Manning, fallen Premier Ralph Klein, failed magazine publisher Ezra Levant, and Harper eminence grise Tom Flanagan. Just so you know.

As for me, I'm skipping the Rove banquet.