At last someone has dug down to the root of the swell of public protest that has manifested itself in the OccupyWallStreet movement:Feingold rejected the argument — made even by some of Occupy Wall Street’s sympathizers — that it has failed to ar…
Continue readingTag: Democratic Deficit
CuriosityCat: Meet the Canadian rebel who sparked OccupyWallStreet
The spark for the insurgency that now grips the heart of Wall Street, and has spread to many other American cities as well as cities in other parts of the world, was struckin Vancouver during a brainstorming session led by the Canadian rebel, Kalle Las…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Heart of OccupyWallStreet
The British are deft with words – is every Briton born a wordsmith? – and today The Guardian has come close to defining the heart of the American Spring now taking place in many cities there (my highlights):But the ultimate failure here is of imagi…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Who will nail OccupyWallStreet’s theses to the door of modern capitalism?
A pretty fast trajectory for a movement that many dismissed as nonsensical last week:After a weekend growth spurt, the New York financial district sit-in “Occupy Wall Street” has blossomed into not only a national movement, but also a global one.Mo…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Cat supports Occupy Wall Street, the revolution that won’t go away
Michael Moore paid the protestors a visit, and on television was asked what he wanted. I want to see those responsible for the mess doing the perp walk, he said.Michael MooreFrom small beginnings, the Occupy Wall Street uprising is gaining steam. And i…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Powerful reason why Horwath should support PR now: her party is bleeding votes
The latest EKOS poll shows one dismaying finding that Andrea Horwath should respond to if she wants to end up on Friday in a position to influence the way the province is going to be governed for the next 4 years.The EKOS poll shows substantial bleedin…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: How NDP Andrea Horwath could secure PR within a few months
The latest compilation of poll of polls by threehundredeight shows that it would appear that Liberal support is solid, PC support is sliding, and NDP support is on the rise.The 308 projection is as follows:And this leads 308 to the conclusion that the …
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ontario election: NDP Horwath blows it
With polls showing a minority government possible after this Thursday’s election, Hudak has started a Harper-clone drumbeat of “the socialists are coming” by talking about a vote for the Tories versus a vote for “the two of them” (being the Liberal and…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: NDP will lose ground in Quebec under Topp and gain under Mulcair – Angus-Reid poll
Some very bad news for the NDP in the latest Angus-Reid poll. That sound you hear in the background is the clucking of the chickens coming home to roost:Most Canadian voters are standing by their choices in the May 2011 election, but the survey shows t…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Rex Murphy: NDP leadership election rules are "suicide"
The latest voice to chime in on the questionable leadership rules for the NDP is that gravelly-voiced prophet of doom, Rex Murphy.Known for his incisive and opinionated views on Canadian politics and politicians, Murphy has made a career of being strai…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Is this NDP leader Nycole Turmel’s "Kissinger Moment"?
Nixon and Kissinger: Benign NeglectHenry Kissinger firmly believed that his understanding of Realpolitik reflected the realism of a handful of famous statesmen of bygone decades.Bismarkian in his aloofness, Metternichean in his pronouncements, Kissinge…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: NDP’s brilliant use as a wedge issue of the Quebecois are a nation resolution
Right now Liberals and Tories are getting warm around their collars because the major candidates for leadership of the NDP are supporting a special deal for the province of Quebec which locks in a permanent 25% of seats in the House no matter how small…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ontario election: Will the NDP be able to remedy Ontario’s democratic deficit?
With polls showing neither the Liberal nor the Conservative parties being able to secure a firm majority in the coming election, we might be poised for a historic breakthrough in the way we run our elections in Canada.Andrea Horwath – lacking insight…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Liberal Riding Associations: Will you take up this torch?
We are entering the time of conventions, when new policies will be discussed as part of the Liberal Party renewal process.I extend the invitation to Liberal riding associations to talk to each other about one of my pet ideas, and to combine with othe…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Should Trade Unions get 25% of the votes for the new NDP leader? A solution
This issue is boiling up right now, and on Friday the party brass will decide whether to continue the favoured position of trade unions by reserving one quarter of the votes for them. This amounts to a kind of “affirmative action” whereby some Dippers …
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Will the new Canadian NDP leader lack legitimacy?
There’s a good chance he or she will.If the NDP executive (bureaucracy) decide on September 9 to hamstring the Quebec wing of the NDP by setting a date for the election that is too short (anything before May 15 would be too soon), and/or provide for so…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Bob Rae and the Iffy Question of Merger with the NDP
Summer nonsense spilled over into the press conference held today with Bob Rae. One of the questions dealt with a possible merger between the Liberal and NDP parties. Rae was forthright, and quoted FDR in his answer.Like Roosevelt, Rae said he saw the …
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Jack Layton’s lesson for Liberals and Tories
This is what Adam Radwanski said in today’s Globe & Mail:It should be humbling to his contemporaries that this was enough to make many Canadians acutely feel a void as soon as he was gone. Because without taking anything away from Mr. Layton’s …
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Congratulations to the Tea Party
House leader Boehner has hit a brick wall:The postponement was announced just minutes before the planned 6 p.m. vote. The House instead moved to consider a far less controversial measure — to rename a post office in Peoria, Ill.Republicans had been wo…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Martha Hall Findlay for Liberal President
Martha Hall FindlayI wish to go on record that I would support Martha Hall Findlay for Liberal Party president, should she run / be drafted / be persuaded to run.Findlay has paid her dues in the trenches, and would add youth, experience and vigour to…
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