Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Without Prejudice

I've been too caught up in the Ed-Files election to pay much attention to the goings-on in Ottawa over the past few days but, boy, have there ever been goings on! Since the Liberals refuse to oppose him, Harper has gone looking for an opponent, first picking a fight with Dalton McGuinty and then turning his sights on...Barack Obama? Who's next? Nelson Mandela? Michael J. Fox? The Pope?

He's also suing Dion, Ignatieff, Goodale, and the entire Liberal Party over accusations they've made about his (ALLEGED) role in Cadscam. Given that he's handing out lawsuits like they were life insurance policies, I've decided to make a few pro-active appologies (note: I am not implying that Harper has ever had anything to do with giving out life insurance policies, merely that everyone is getting a lawsuit, just like everyone has life insurance). So, to Mr. Harper and his lawyers, I say the following:

1. Even thought the word "bribe" is used in this post, this was not in connection with Mr. Harper or any members of the Conservative Party. Clearly, they have done nothing wrong and anyone who suggests otherwise, be they man or audio tape, are wrong.

2. When I said "Stephen Harper" is practicing blatant patronage, I was mistaken. I'm sure he was appointing very qualified individuals who just happened to be Conservatives. And, after all, it's not like he appointed them to a politically sensitive job like, say, returning officer, so there was certainly no harm done.

3. Contrary to what I may have implied, yes, Jim Flaherty did end the long unproductive era of bickering between the federal and provincial governments.

4. Although I called Harper a hypocrite in this post, he clearly is not. His logic was consistent then, as it always is. Things which appear to be inconsistent only appear that way to those whose minds are not as developed as Mr. Harper's.

5. Although I have, over the years, been critical of Mr. Harper's taste in fashion, I must say that he looks absolute dashing in this picture.

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23 Comments:

  • Great ass-covering!

    Lord Black should get lessons from you.

    By Blogger Möbius, at 8:14 p.m.  

  • To be fair, I think that dion handled yesterday badly.

    He should not have been confrontational with harper. He could have simply allowed harper to offer a simple excuse for the taped confession.

    1) I misspoke.
    2) My memory is shot when I don’t take my medication.
    3) My memory is shot when I take my medication.
    4) I was confused. Normal for me (Grin!).
    5) It was the fault of my COS.
    6) It was the fault of Mrs. Cadman.
    7) It was the fault of stephane dion.

    By Blogger JimTan, at 8:46 p.m.  

  • Please, more links to the Zionofascism blog. Every little bit of traffic helps.

    By Blogger Gary, at 8:57 p.m.  

  • So the silent majority gave the Liberals the finger in Alberta & now you are jumping into the federal scene with a pout?The Cadman stuff promises to be a bit of fun,but if you don't want to see a repeat federaly ,perhaps the Liberal party should come up with more than a we are not Conservatives ,or see they are just as crooked as we are.Maybe the party should show up with some new initiatives ,or at least show up.I am having difficulty getting a grasp on why the heck I should even consider voting Liberal when the time comes!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:37 p.m.  

  • Hopefully the results in Alberta are a preview of an upcoming federal election.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:54 p.m.  

  • greyburr said... "the Liberal party should come up with more than a we are not Conservatives"

    Damnit I was just about to go to bed... and now I am forced to stay up all nite and possibly all week laughing at the dumbest thing I've EVER read.

    If the Conservatives paid every Canadian a penny each time they mentioned the Liberal party's abysmal environmental record whilst doing NOTHING about it themsevles... we could all retire and purchase beach front property.

    By Blogger MERBOY, at 11:52 p.m.  

  • g; Oops...google let me down there. I've changed the link.

    By Blogger calgarygrit, at 9:07 a.m.  

  • So Dalton McGuinty and Barack Obama are as 'untouchable' as Nelson Mandela, The Pope and Michael J. Fox?

    What have either of them done to enter such rarified air?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:21 a.m.  

  • michael; He just seems to picking bigger and bigger targets. From Dion...to McGuinty...to Obama...

    By Blogger calgarygrit, at 12:00 p.m.  

  • "So Dalton McGuinty and Barack Obama are as 'untouchable' as Nelson Mandela,"

    Well, harper is in character when he picks a fight with Dalton. He's already fought with the premiers of Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and NFL.

    By Blogger JimTan, at 12:19 p.m.  

  • cg,

    It's telling you consider McGuinty a bigger target than Dion. Shouldn't the federal Liberal leader be a bigger target than a provincial leader?

    Maybe Dion should pick something, anything to oppose the government on...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:59 p.m.  

  • MB: Dion is an opposition leader and we've all come to understand Harper's preference to attack Dion than to govern.

    But now he's expanding his repertoire. Dalton is bigger since he is actually in government representing an entire province, one that is getting mightily peeved with how it's being treated by the Harper government with it's anti-democratic seat increases for Conservative-friendly jurisdictions at Ontario's expense, to Flaherty encouraging the world to invest elsewhere.

    The attacks on Obama though defy any kind of logic.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:16 p.m.  

  • Well, McGuinty is certainly more popular than Dion...

    And I suspect Barack Obama is too...

    By Blogger calgarygrit, at 4:45 p.m.  

  • What exactly was the 'attack' on Obama from Harper?

    It is pretty easy to say all Harper does is attack people if you call everything that he does an attack.

    The only attack in the Obama article was "They're a nasty, unprincipled bunch, who are incompetent to boot."

    Oh wait that came from Bob Rae, and it was against the Conservatives, so there must be a more polite description. Contrast statement? Definition statement?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:01 p.m.  

  • "...to Flaherty encouraging the world to invest elsewhere."

    Dalton is the one encouraging the world to invest elsewhere with his high provincial corporate tax rates. Do I really need to make a comeback?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:33 p.m.  

  • calgarygrit said...

    Well, McGuinty is certainly more popular than Dion...

    And I suspect Barack Obama is too...

    4:45 PM

    Realism. I like that.

    I have listened to Bob Rae spar with Carole Off, [ a shark more dangerous than Barbara Frum], and the Rae of sunshine calmed her attacks and mellowed her humour like magic.

    The sooner you get Rae leading the party, the sooner the sun will shine.

    Iggy the US fly-in is dead in the water just as is Dion, the accidental leader. TG

    By Blogger TonyGuitar, at 7:39 p.m.  

  • Anonymous The Common Sense Revolution said... "Dalton is the one encouraging the world to invest elsewhere with his high provincial corporate tax rates. Do I really need to make a comeback?"

    Since Ontario isn't drowning in money at the moment... unlike the federal gov before they pissed it all away with their useless yet politically popular GST cut... maybe Ontario could borrow to lower the tax rate... hmmmm something about that idea sounds familiar... and I don't recall it working all that well last time.

    By Blogger MERBOY, at 8:31 p.m.  

  • That Clever Harper attack on Harper.

    Sending Brodie into the lockup make a casual comment about Clinton's reassurance knowing full well it would run as a story about Obama thereby tricking one of the 200 policy wonks who used to leak to Taber into a release of a briefing by an Obama hanger on. Evil genius that.

    And don't get me started on the clever sabatoge of the Ontario economy... Waving about Flaherty to goad the province most in need of upgrading it's manufacturing base... thereby tricking them into opposing broad based corp tax incentives that would be ideal for a high dollar low unemployment manufacturing economy. It's diabolical.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:35 p.m.  

  • Lookee who isn't answering questions now:

    "There was no explanation last night for why Mr. Brodie was said to have referred to the Clinton campaign but the news report was about the Obama campaign. CTV president Robert Hurst declined to comment".

    - globe & mail

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:16 a.m.  

  • "Since Ontario isn't drowning in money at the moment... unlike the federal gov before they pissed it all away with their useless yet politically popular GST cut... maybe Ontario could borrow to lower the tax rate... hmmmm something about that idea sounds familiar... and I don't recall it working all that well last time."

    All of which you nicely back up with stats and figures, I see.

    I could point out that real average real GDP growth from 1996-2001 was 4.0%, outperforming the national average of 3.6%. We were top in the G7 at the time.

    I could also point out that from 1996-2001 Ontario also led the rest of Canada and the US in productivity growth, (growing at an average annualized rate of 16.9% in real GDP growth perperson).

    I could also point out that in constant year 2000 dollars the real average family after-tax income in Ontario rised from approximately $53,000 to $62,000 (after declining in the early 1990s).

    I could also point out that from 1995 to 2001, the Ontario economy generated 839,000 new jobs, almost half of the new jobs created in Canada. I'll also add that over 200,000 of these new jobs were in the now beleagured manufacturing sector and a 23% increase in manufacturing jobs in this province since Harris took over.

    In conclusion, you're wrong. Cutting taxes even if it means going into the red can work to stimulate the economy and it can also be politically popular and get you re-elected. Why? Because at the end of the day most people would rather have a job than a balanced budget. I think that's just common sense.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:52 a.m.  

  • "I could also point out that from 1996-2001 Ontario also led the rest of Canada and the US in productivity growth, (growing at an average annualized rate of 16.9% in real GDP growth perperson)."

    Unclear! Annualized 16.9% sounds unlikely.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:20 p.m.  

  • "Unclear! Annualized 16.9% sounds unlikely."

    Oops. The actual stat is 16.9% change in real GDP per person between 1996-2001. Not an annualized average change. Read the graph wrong. Good catch.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:47 p.m.  

  • Dalton is bigger since he is actually in government representing an entire province, one that is getting mightily peeved with how it's being treated by the Harper government with it's anti-democratic seat increases for Conservative-friendly jurisdictions at Ontario's expense

    I think this is the only policy of Harper's that I like!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:55 p.m.  

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