2015: The ballot question in Canada’s next election?
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…
framing
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…