Peace, order and good government, eh?: The real danger of Conservative government

A lot of people have been commenting that no matter what evil Harper would, in his heart, love to wreak in the upcoming Conservative majority, it won’t really be that bad. The idea is that Conservatives will be wanting to position themselves for the long term as a natural governing party, and so they will act like safe hands and not do too much damage. There is something to this. But I think there are things such people are overlooking when they discuss how a Conservative majority will govern. Two problems with this view are obvious. One is that they may simply not be able to restrain themselves, at least not completely. They, including Harper, have been champing at the bit to redraw this country for over a decade and the smell of victory is in their nostrils. Now they’re supposed to act like they didn’t win? Another is that our idea of what they can get away with and still seem "safe" may be overoptimistic; let’s not forget that on the economic front, the news media are going to be in there cheering for anything up to and including zero corporate taxes and flat income tax, because the owners…

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