Methinks John Ivison has hit the nail right on its head with this: If the Auditor-General’s report does suggest a systemic problem of corruption and abuse, who would bet against the Conservatives using the Senate as a classic wedge issue, pointing out that the Liberals are in favour of preserving
Continue readingTag: framing
CuriosityCat: US Debt Ceiling: Issues Punted to early next year
The Cat goes to the Senate Twenty-four hours of so before the US government ran out of money to pay its debts, Republican senators nudged aside the Tea Party senators and House representatives, to kick the can down the road and renew the fight in two months time: The expected
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Obama & Syria: A Rehearsal for Iran?
After Prime Minister David Cameron’s failure to bring along with him a majority of the MPs in the British Parliament, America has been reduced to vocal support from Germany (but no fighting Germans) and vocal and forceful support from France, in his attempts to put together a coalition to punish
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Brilliant Analysis of the BC Election by Gary Mason
Christy Clark outworking and outframing Dix If you relish the nitty-gritty of political campaigns, like reading a well-written journalist post, and want to learn why framing cost the BC NFP a surefire win in the recent provincial election, then study the article headed Anatomy of a Comeback by Gary Mason
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Prime Minister Harper leaves country while Ottawa burns
The Senate under siege With the press baying at the prime minister, calling for answers to serious questions about a possible deal with a senator accused of fudging expenses, PM Stephen Harper decided to leave Canada and visit South America. Resolute in his own righteousness, Harper refused to allow “distractions”
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Grover Norquist: The Bathtub Drowner meets his comeuppance in 2012
The 2012 presidential election has been a time of momentous and historic changes in American politics. For the first time the Republican voter suppression tactics boomeranged, with millions of those targeted turning out to exercise their votes – taki…
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Sandy & FEMA: How Obama can ensure his second term, if he moves fast
The gods of politics abhor predictability and delight in upsetting humans’ applecarts. Just when Mitt Romney was doing so well, along came hurricane Sandy, wreaking devastation on the eastern seabord. Sandy has given President Obama a gift: the opportunity to use FEMA to clearly demonstrate to voters the enormous difference
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Obama & Romney: Who is the "change"candidate this time?
President Obama surged to victory in 2008 riding the twin horses of “hope” and “change”, in the process beating off Hillary Clinton and then The Maverick and his moose-hunting Veep candidate. But right now the mantle of “change” candidate seems to have settled on the shoulders of the Gekko-like shape
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Our Struggle to define Inequality – Doug Saunders’ Take
Doug Saunders In today’s Globe & Mail Doug Saunders has an interesting article on the difficulty we are having in defining exactly what inequality means: That’s why inequality has replaced poverty as the great political theme of the moment. Once upon a time, we might have believed the two were
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Presidential Election: Is this what happened?
Demonized Mitt The article in the Washington Post summarizes a plausible scenario for the dynamics of the race so far, and highlights the dangers of not having a Plan B if your main strategy (demonize your opponent) falters: All of this suggests that the presidential race changed in some fundamental
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Justin Trudeau and tic-tac-toe politics
Justin Trudeau does not believe in tic-tac-toe (noughts and crosses to some of us) politics: As for Stephen Harper’s policies now, Mr. Trudeau says they are dividing the country, as are NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair’s. “Mr. Harper put an X over Quebec and is anchoring himself in the West. Mr.
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Who will win the Big Bird framing battle: Obama or Romney?
The Obama camp clearly understimated Mitt Romney going into the first presidential debate. No doubt seeing him as a bit of a bumbler, not too quick on his feet, Obama did not do his homework, and Romney pounded him in the debate. No money from China for you, Big Bird!
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Justin Trudeau: Controlling the narrative
The Trudeau camp have shown deft footwork in recent weeks by their control of the Trudeau narrative through speedy responses. Two attacks on the Trudeau brand have been immediately countered, and successfully changed into a more positive narrative. PET & hat The Branding Attack The anti-Trudeau commentators struck out with
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Justin Trudeau: Well said, Andrew Cohen!
Andrew Cohen reflects in the Ottawa Citizen upon the Trudeau brand, and its impact on Justin Trudeau, in a good summary of what Pierre Trudeau means to Canadians: Andrew Cohen on Trudeau His name is Trudeau. In political currency, his name is a promissory note of hope, expectation and sentimentality,
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Justin Trudeau & The Ibbitson Question: Lessons from George Lakoff
John Ibbitson questions whether Canadians will follow the values that Justin Trudeau represents, and concludes that there is much mushiness which bodes ill for the Liberal Party under the younger Trudeau: The Ibbitson Question Both political strategist Warren Kinsella (Fight the Right) and former journalist Paul Adams (Power Trap) have
Continue readingCuriosityCat: NDP’s Mulcair challenges PM Harper to stop the hollowing out of Canada
Thomas Mulcair’s NDP is onto a good thing with its policy of taking steps to stop the continuous hollowing out of the manufacturing industries in Canada. Harper’s Tory government is vulnerable to the charge that it lacks an industrial strategy designed to offset the massive hollowing out of the industrial
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Carbon Tax, Cap & Trade, Framing: When will Thomas Mulcair learn?
Stephen Harper, the one party leader who probably reads a chapter from George Lakoff’s magnificent work Don’t Think of an Elephant each night before he switches off the light, dragged an elephant into the House this week, and smiled contentedly as the man who wants his job kept flailing away
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Should Mulcair channel Hillary Clinton on the Ballot Box Question?
The 2015 election is already on, with Stephen Harper trying to choose the ballot question as anything but the poor Conservative performance in so many areas, the party’s blunders and scandals, and the fact that deep down so many Canadians still do not really trust his party and particularly him.
Continue readingCuriosityCat: NDP’s Thomas Mulcair bamboozles media on Quebec referendum
Showing adept footwork (almost as good as that of Justin Trudeau in the boxing ring a short while ago), Thomas Mulcair has succeeded in persuading the media that he not only can have his cake on the framing of any Quebec sovereignty referendum question, but eat it too. To put
Continue readingEnvironmental Law Alert Blog: On importing U.S. “Job-Killing” rhetoric
Monday, May 28, 2012 The phrase “job killing regulation” is beginning to enter Canadian discussions about environmental laws and Bill C-38 – the Budget Implementation Bill which would repeal several laws that protect nature, democracy and marginalized society. This phrase has been embraced by politicians in the U.S. who are
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