I like standing in opposition to things. And yes, part of the reason is that being in opposition to stuff suits my generally contrary manner. But I also think being in opposition to things serves a purpose. Things do not get better, things do not improve, if there is no one standing up and shouting 'Yeah, but what about this." I'm not talking about opposing shit for the sake of opposing shit, which happens too often. I'm talking about legitimate criticism and holding people and governments to account when they're not doing as well as they should.
I like to think I'm not stupid in my opposition. I get mad and oppose Danny Williams not because I'm eager for the Liberals or the NDP to take power. I'm not an idiot; neither of those parties are ready to govern any time in the near future. I oppose Williams because I think he should be doing much better than he is. But there is potential.
But this isn't just a anti-Tory thing. I was pretty annoyed with the rambling, giving away the farm approach that Roger Grimes seemed to be taking to government. And I loathed Brian Tobin, that smarmy prick who was one step removed from being the type of con man you see in bad TV movies. I will stand in opposition to anyone, at any time, given the right cause.
But what do you do when your survey the political landscape and you see nothing inspirational, nothing that looks vaguely competent, and nobody who you believe could do a good job of leading?
I'm so depressed by all of this foolishness that I hardly no where to start. I face the same problem I had a scant 7 weeks or so ago...I have no faith in any of the political parties right now to actually do the job of leading the country. This is unprecedented for me, by the way. I'm a cynic, but I've always believed there's been one political party, in every election since 1988 (the first one I voted in) that was more fit to lead. I have no clue this time. None. It's bloody depressing.
Prime Minister Steven Harper is an idiot, let's not cover up the obvious. He's so caught up with political vendettas that he's utterly oblivious to how scared Canadians are right now. Iqaluit is a bubble in the ocean of reality, but hell, we can sense it up here. How do you not have the sense that there's only so far you can bully and push other political parties before they're going to stand up and punch you in the nose?
On the other hand, the three "opposition" parties are nothing to get wowed over. I'm not chomping at the bit for this Coalition of the Damned. And yes, that's exactly what it is. Dion ran as inept a campaign as you'll ever see a Liberal run. Despite the most favourable electoral conditions he's ever likely to see, Layton still couldn't crack 40 seats and then there are the separatists, who find themselves in a situation more bizarre than when they were "Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition" back in the mid-90s.
This is what you want to lead your country in a time of turmoil? Canadian humour can be a bit weird for outsiders to get sometimes, but this joke is even slipping past me. I wouldn't trust either of these three parties to organize and run a Christmas party, let alone the country.
So what to do? What do you do when you oppose all of the parties involved because you trust none of them and see nothing competent, let alone inspiring about them? Well, I'd suggest a mass purge, but that's not likely to happen.
Or maybe it can. I think what is needed is a sacrificial lamb. And that ought to be Harper. That's the deal the Conservatives offer up to the opposition. Let us stay in power, you guys really don't want to be in charge, given the state of things and what a mess your parties are in right now. But we'll punt Harper, because we know you really hate him and, well, right now, we're not that fond of him either.
I still think they're all morons and we'd be almost better off petitioning to the United States to come and run us for the next five years until we get our act straightened up. But getting rid of Harper, that's a step in the right direction. I could go for that.
And before people come after me for the "let the Americans run the place" comment, consider this. Everything that President-Elect Obama has done since winning the election has been well-planned, intelligent, decisive and designed to reassure the American public who are freaking out in the middle of a crisis that smart people are preparing to take charge of the situation. Everything Harper has done has been petty, partisan and seemingly designed to put politics ahead of the welfare of Canadian citizens. You figure out who we would be better off with...
Last Five
1. In a little while - U2*
2. Oh Susanna - The Be Good Tanyas
3. Morning is broken - Lloyd Cole
4. Hey little world - The Hives
5. You can look (but you better not touch)(live) - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
13 comments:
LOL, I had already started formulating my comment as soon as I read your "come run us" statement... But then I stopped.
And thought.
And realized the knee-jerk "US-BUSH" association has got to stop.
Might as well start today.
Also, I watched a snippit from an Obama press conference yesterday eve. He was downright friendly with the press. Bring 'im over.
Man, your comment about the bullying is on the nose. Dion in Question Period today (gotta love streaming CPAC feeds) was absolutely the nerd who's been pushed around so much that he snapped, is freaking out and going postal.
Yes but honestly if we did punt harper who in the conservatives would make a better case? Peter Mackay?
I think this is good for Canada, let's see ALL the parties screw up in one 12 month period. Maybe we'll get someone out of this mess.
I for one am supporting the Liberal/NDP coalition. We've never seen it before, maybe it will be the right thing at the right time. Certainly I'd take Liberal/NDP over Harper.
But that's just me.
Dups
I agree with Dups, coalition governments are not ideal but they are not damned. And Craig seperatists are not the devil, in fact they are fairly socially progressive in terms of policies. Our country desperately needs to get back on track with being socially progressive along with economic stimulus concerns.
Jason
Well said. All of it.
I'm just mildly amused by the whole thing. I figure at least with all this going on, even if Harper keeps power, this'll keep him from making any more damaging decisions in the short term.
Jason, I like progressive governments. I like competent governments. I'm not even opposed to the idea of a coalition. But this group? Ummmm....
I'm not seeing a lot of competency. I'm not seeing anything here that reassures Canadians. Dion is a lame duck and has been a disaster for the Liberals. It's not like the Liberals lost by a few seats in the last election....they lost by a lot. And Dion wears the weight of most of that.
And the BQ might be socially progressive, but they only give a shit about Quebec. Great, bring out the stimlus package. As long as there are lots and lots and lots and lots of goodies for Quebec, that's great. The rest of Canada, as far as they're concerned, can really go and hang.
I reiterate, I think the best option, of all the ones I've heard so far, is for the Conservatives to stay, but with a new leader. Granted, that depends on Harper doing the honourable and self-sacrificing thing of falling on his sword, which seems unlikely.
But it seems a better option to me that putting three rejected political parties (I think Canada is a socially progressive country, for the most part, and most wanted nothing to do with these guys).
Oh Craig I have to refute this, it may hurt.
Yeah I wouldn’t have picked Dion I would have given Iggy the job,
but hey I’m not a member.
The BQ only gives a shit about Quebec. Yes I forgot everyone in our
country cares about everyone no matter where they are from. We are a country of love. Just look at the comments flowing towards Quebec, and Toronto, and Newfoundland, the selfless love is profound.
Given the comments coming out of the PC party and their vial
rural bible thumpers, I can see the appeal for Quebec of the BQ.
Not like the Conservatives are going to help Quebec, @&#*# artists with their fancy suits and dinners, don’t go giving them money, geez they spend it on drugs, learn English!
Really Craig, let’s compare them to the Reform party, they may care only about Quebec
but they use logic and they can work with other parties. They supported gun registration,
they supported same sex marriage; they think Afghanistan isn’t really the place for our country right now. Somehow I don’t think they are going to convince “Clarity Act” Dion to split up the country in 18 months. Also they have a right to represent the people who
elected them. Quebec which, I believe is part of Canada including its representatives. Quebec doesn’t vote for the BQ entirely to separate but for some one will look out for their best interests. Yeah federal money going to Quebec, thankfully the rest of the country has never pandered for federal money. Acoa, something or other comes, to mind, or something with fish and a lack of , eh not important.
The Conservatives should stay? New leader, pray tell, let me know who from this collection of submissive, dominant daddy seeking figure, intolerant, Harris/Klein refugees, should we pick?
Tony Clemente? Hey I know more about medicine then actual doctors? Insite , safe needle exchange, reducing the spread of HIV and saving lives. Medically praised, doctors supporting druggies, I know more about fighting disease, crap, close it.
Stockwell Day? Hey who doesn’t like dinosaur tales and water skiing?
Jim Flaherty? Let’s sell national assets now, and fuck those pay equity b***s, it’s a man’s world baby!
Jim Prentice? Wow his C61 bill really is going to make downloading music and going through customs so much fun.
Maxime Bernier, geez he was good, I mean I recall something but darn it escapes me at the moment.
I’ll stop the countdown of successful ministers there. But really dwell on that.
In a parliamentary democracy, a minority government governs with the confidence of the house and the parties in it. Harper torpedoed that, his party let him because they are afraid of him and he tossed them their red sweet meat. B** civil servants, fu** government, let’s drown guys so it can only deliver the mail and fight wars.
You say Canadians “rejected” the other parties no they did not! The majority of Canadians voted for someone other then Harper and his party. The GG has an obligation to give this coalition a chance. Harper will attempt to hang on with lies, and whatever slime he can stick. A coalition is not the preferred choice but it is the only sensible choice given the situation our country finds itself in.
62percentmajority.ca
Who knew parliamentary democracy could be so entertaining?
There just might be some odd bonuses to a coalition.
1. Because they aren't a party - they might just be free to do the best thing for all Canadian's.
2. In order to actually sign this deal, the members of the coalition actually demonstrated a remarkable amount of cooperation for a bunch of politicians that clearly have some ideolgical differences. Perhaps there ability to do this will role model the concept of cooperation to Stephen Harper - because if he could have managed to at least pretend to be cooperative, then he wouldn't be where he is.
3. This affair might just do wonders for the education of the masses on how parlimentary government works.
4. Who knows... something revolutionarily good might just come out of this mess... Such strange bedfellows might just have some interesting and healthy offspring.
You know, I'm really not going to get sucked into defending the Conservative Party of Canada. Laura, on her blog, rightly called the current prime minister of Canada a "douchebag" and I won't argue with that assessment. The day Harper is gone, I will dance the Dance of Joy. Not as big a dance as when Mulroney left, but still, a happy jig all the same.
I maintain that I have my concerns about the competency of the Liberals, NDP and BQ and I don't think that's an unreasonable response considering the Liberals managed to fuck up something so simple as a video response to Harper last night.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/548207
One of the reasons you're in opposition is your party is broken in some way and this is your chance to fix it. I wonder if this isn't a short term power gain that delays a much needed overhaul. I wonder if this doesn't do more long term damage. Because this move will piss off a lot of people. And yes it's fair under parliamentry rules. Absolutely.
Doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people out there, people who ordinarily wouldn't give Harper the time of day, crying shennanigans over this.
Look past five minutes from now and ask if this is a good idea. And I know't know if it is.
Well Craig, we'll have to agree to strongly disagree on the idea of a coalition. However I will say I agree the Liberals screwed up the video response.
People who have been crying shenigans over this sadly are the uneducated,parochial people who sadly know little about their system of government or well the big picture.
The point is moot now anyway the GG has given him his time out. He was won a fundamentally dangerous victory. Harper is far more dangerous to our country then Mulroney was.
You gotta love this stuff, even if the Harpy got the GG to burn down his school house so he wouldn't have to fail his exam, he'll have to face everyone in January when it will be even colder in the country. Oddly enough, many comments out of western Canada seem to oddly out of sync with a clear knowledge of parliamentary rules. Perhaps they think a minority is a majority with a bully for a leader... Strange.
I was pretty annoyed with the rambling, giving away the farm approach that Roger Grimes seemed to be taking to government.
Which farms did he give away?
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