Stories like this and an article on the Calgary Eyeopener this morning about a transgender woman with a confusing voter id card (the link isn’t available yet but the card was made out in her previous name and sent to an address that she didn’t move to …
Continue readingAuthor: Constant Vigilance
If Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: Harper will "win" the election
Stories like this and an article on the Calgary Eyeopener this morning about a transgender woman with a confusing voter id card (the link isn’t available yet but the card was made out in her previous name and sent to an address that she didn’t move to until after her
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: Harper will "win" the election
Stories like this and an article on the Calgary Eyeopener this morning about a transgender woman with a confusing voter id card (the link isn’t available yet but the card was made out in her previous name and sent to an address that she didn’t move to until after her
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: Get yer Stephen Harper Wind-up Doll Here!
Even his supporters acknowledge that this fellow is a bit robotic but it is getting painful to watch Harper dependably spout the lines fed to him by the Lizard of Oz: “Old Stock Canadians” (Still not certain what that means), Niqab!, Dual Citizenship! It will go on and on for
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: Get yer Stephen Harper Wind-up Doll Here!
Even his supporters acknowledge that this fellow is a bit robotic but it is getting painful to watch Harper dependably spout the lines fed to him by the Lizard of Oz: “Old Stock Canadians” (Still not certain what that means), Niqab!, Dual Citizenship! It will go on and on for
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: Get yer Stephen Harper Wind-up Doll Here!
Even his supporters acknowledge that this fellow is a bit robotic but it is getting painful to watch Harper dependably spout the lines fed to him by the Lizard of Oz: “Old Stock Canadians” (Still not certain what that means), Niqab!, Dual Citizen…
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: This is not a "Seinfeld Election"
Warren Kinsella (the ultimate example of a “pisser inner”) called this the Seinfeld Election. In that it is about nothing.Wrong. It has become about the most important of things. Citizenship, civil and human rights. Fighting big…
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: This is not a "Seinfeld Election"
Warren Kinsella (the ultimate example of a “pisser inner“) called this the Seinfeld Election. In that it is about nothing. Wrong. It has become about the most important of things. Citizenship, civil and human rights. Fighting bigotry. Do not be afraid to speak out! The more people who here that
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: This is not a "Seinfeld Election"
Warren Kinsella (the ultimate example of a “pisser inner“) called this the Seinfeld Election. In that it is about nothing. Wrong. It has become about the most important of things. Citizenship, civil and human rights. Fighting bigotry. Do not be afraid to speak out! The more people who here that
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: Mulclair’s Redemption
I would never vote for Thomas Mulclair or any other Laytonesque version of the NDP. They will never be able to atone for their guilt in enabling Harper to come to power in the first place. The Sherbrooke Declaration is another inexcusable b…
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: Mulclair’s Redemption
I would never vote for Thomas Mulclair or any other Laytonesque version of the NDP. They will never be able to atone for their guilt in enabling Harper to come to power in the first place. The Sherbrooke Declaration is another inexcusable betrayal of principle in order to pander for
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: Mulclair’s Redemption
I would never vote for Thomas Mulclair or any other Laytonesque version of the NDP. They will never be able to atone for their guilt in enabling Harper to come to power in the first place. The Sherbrooke Declaration is another inexcusable betrayal of principle in order to pander for
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: I Will Speak Out
Because I was not a Socialist.
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Because I was not a Jew.
So all this agitation over the niqab, all the fierce declarations of what the majority in Canada wants at citizenship ceremonies, is about fewer than a handful of people. Except that it isn’t about those two people; it is about tapping into support that any responsible politician shouldn’t want.No political party in the 1980s or 1990s, except the occasional fringe one, was actively whipping up antipathy to the French minority in Canada. You can’t make a country work that way, even if it does yield some crucial votes.And no party in this election, similarly, should be whipping up antipathy to Muslims, or any religion or culture. It’s repulsive if it works and even more repulsive if it was planned to work that way.
If Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: I Will Speak Out
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: I Will Speak Out
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: The expediency of wedge issues and the judgement of history tied together by a strip of fabric
The Lizard of Oz has given Harper his wedge issue and it is paying dividends since the Conservatives have started to move up in several polls. Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff attributes the latest bump in Tory fortunes to the party scoring points amid the recent flare up in
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: The expediency of wedge issues and the judgement of history tied together by a strip of fabric
The Lizard of Oz has given Harper his wedge issue and it is paying dividends since the Conservatives have started to move up in several polls.
One can only hope this benefit for the Conservative Racist Party is a short term hiccup and that this manufactured issue flares out soon enough for people to recollect the manifold failings of the Harper Government. We seem to have regrettably been able to forget about a little boy soon enough.
Andrew Coyne summarizes why the niqab is a non-issue and the shame that accompanies a politician willing to utilize this odious tactic:
That so many, especially in Quebec, have somehow been persuaded to believe their lives are materially affected by it — worse, that so many politicians have been willing to pander to this sentiment — is also what makes this ridiculous issue terribly serious. They are marking out a small and easily identified minority, already made to feel vulnerable by the presence of a few violent extremists in its midst, for shame and suspicion. They are trafficking in their humiliation.…A liberal society is pluralist, not relativist. It allows each of us to pursue our vision of the good life, to hold and espouse our ideals of what is just, without prejudice to the notion that goodness and justice exist: indeed, precisely so that we may more nearly approach them as a society. Neither is a liberal society incompatible with the idea of cultural norms: beliefs that are commonly shared, practices that are commonly observed. It draws the line only at enforcing these norms upon the unwilling.
And the inevitable fallout from the utilization of hate tactics has begun:
On Tuesday, Le Journal de Montréal reported that Oumessad Khoufache, 31, was walking to pick up her child at school when two boys on bicycles approached her, grabbed her hijab and knocked her to the ground. She’s four months pregnant.
What brave boys. Knocking down a pregnant woman picking up her child from school. (I wonder if they had swastika streamers on their handlebars) But they are just taking their lead from the Harper and his ilk.
Harper won’t be Prime Minister forever and historians will not be kind to him. (There is a better than even chance that he will be gone after October 19 as some have suggested). Regardless, Harper will eventually be called to task and compared to the legacies of other Prime Ministers. His risible results in the field of economics and finance, the pervasive corruption of his PMO, the disdain for responsible government have pretty much reserved a unique space for Harper as the worst Prime Minister ever. When his legacy is compared to the Nobel Peace Prize of Pearson, the efforts on behalf of Nelson Mandela of Mulroney and others before him, Harper is guaranteed to be alone as the worst person to ever hold the office.
If Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: The expediency of wedge issues and the judgement of history tied together by a strip of fabric
The Lizard of Oz has given Harper his wedge issue and it is paying dividends since the Conservatives have started to move up in several polls. Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff attributes the latest bump in Tory fortunes to the party scoring points amid the recent flare up in
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: I would like to heap Mounds of praise on this post
Hear, hear Mr. of Sound. I have nothing to add to this.
Continue readingIf Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging: I would like to heap Mounds of praise on this post
Hear, hear Mr. of Sound. I have nothing to add to this.
Continue reading