Hargrove vs. Layton – Round 3?
The Hill Times is reporting that all is not well with Canada’s New Democrats.
Hargrove says: “Jack as a leader has developed a hell of a profile for himself, but I don’t believe he’s developed a profile for the party on the issues that are critical to Canadian families.”
Now, I don’t always agree with Buzz. But this time, I have to agree (with the statement above). In fact, I more or less said the exact same thing 10 days ago.
Seriously. The NDP website is the best party website out there (and it pains me to say that). (I was just with a bunch of web designers yesterday who agreed that “orange” is the new “green”, and had to snicker a bit when I thought of the political implications.)
Unfortunately (or, fortunately for some), they really don’t have anything useful to say. It’s completely, 100% irrelevant. The kids like the website design, but the message sounds stupid.
Is this entirely Jack’s fault? Not so much. But the NDP could’ve turned a corner if they picked a leader who could reform the party and policy a bit (like Bill Blaikie or Lorne Nystrom), rather than trying so hard to reform the image of the old message to make it more hip for the kids.
As a libertarian Conservative, it doesn’t matter too much to me. But for democracy and the greater Canadian political debate, Jack Layton’s leadership has contributed very little.
Shakedown: How Our Government is Undermining Democracy in the Name of Human Rights
Picking up my copy of Shakedown: How Our Government is Undermining Democracy in the Name of Human Rights by Ezra Levant tomorrow.
I suspect it will be a great read; I will post my thoughts once I have had a chance to read it.
I hope the Conservative Party follows through on the almost unanimous resolution to overhaul these horrible Human Rights Commissions, and their mockery of democracy!
See Ezra discuss his book on his blog.
The Reactionary Left
It’s time to for the NDP to try contributing something constructive to Canadian political discourse, instead of the typical reactionary drivel they’ve been dishing up for the last few years.
I know many of their supporters are reasonable, intelligent people, with constructive ideas, but the leadership continues to dish out nonsense.
Here’s a few examples:
The Problem: Somebody gets shot during gang violence crossfire in Surrey or Toronto.
The Left’s Solution: Take hunter’s rifles away.
The Problem: Canadian soldiers die serving their country, defending Afghan people from the Taliban. The same Taliban that would sooner burn a school-aged girl than see her go to school.
The Left’s Solution: Peace talks with the Taliban.
The Problem: A recession takes hold after the longest bull market in a generation.
The Left’s Solution: Protectionism, higher taxes, and a new national holiday in February. Honestly.
These are serious problems that deserve serious solutions.
Does anybody take Jack Layton and the NDP seriously anymore?
In case you were asleep last week.
This is a must hear state of the union for media in Canada from Andrew Coyne and that other guy.
And the winner is … The liberal political agenda!
I really, really wanted Mickey Rourke to win Best Actor. Failing that, it was good to know that Brad Pitt would finally win one. Because everyone knew these were the two best movie actors this year. Well, everybody except “the Academy”, of course.
For anyone who reads my stuff regularly, you probably already know that I’m not some rabid anti-gay neanderthal. (Really, how could I be a neanderthal when the world is only 6000 years old? Whoa, kidding!)
(In my youth I was even been accused by some – in the media, no less – of being a “gay rights crusader”.)
While I didn’t support the gay marriage amendments here, I did support removing the word “marriage” from law (as some smarter countries have done). My logic went something like this: why enrage either side of a debate when you can enrage both. Well, hmmm… something like that.
Anyway.
On to the Oscars…
I haven’t seen Milk. I heard it was great, and I would like to see it. I saw The Wrestler, and Mickey Rourke was simply brilliant. I didn’t see Benjamin Button, but Brad Pitt is looooong overdue for an Oscar (c’mon Academy, it’s time to forgive him for A River Runs Through It).
But the fix is definitely in on Sean Penn. No, I don’t think there’s some Obama-Hollywood conspiracy orchestrated from the Oval Office – but I do think those Hollywood liberal elite have outdone themselves this time by choosing politics over their art.
When a clear toss-up between Mickey Rourke and Brad Pitt results in … “Sean Penn”.
I think this is sad. Not because it’s a movie about a gay man, but because two clearly better actors in what might be the greatest roles of their careers are snubbed.
And maybe Sean Penn’s performance was brilliant. But his little political speech at the end of the show certainly didn’t inspire me. Honestly, Sean, if I wanted politics, I would have changed the station to Fox News (or CNN if I was in Hollywood).
Shame on the Academy for another show of political grandstanding. I guess nobody should be surprised.
Anyway, I guess I best be off to see Slumdog Millionare.
The 6 Million Dollar Question!
So, did Prime Minister Stephen Harper get Barack Obama’s BlackBerry e-mail address?
That would be the real means test as to whether it was true love or political showmanship.
Bye, Bye Conservative Pie …
CONSERVATIVE PIE
by Anonymous
A long, long time ago…
I can still remember
How that man used to make me smile.
And I knew he had his chance
Preston could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.
But February made me shiver
With every Macleans I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.
I can’t remember if the tears were mine
When I read about, Budget 09’
But something touched me deep inside
The day, conservatism, died.
So bye-bye, right-wing guy.
Drove the platform to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And libertarians were drinkin’
Whiskey and rye
Singin’, this’ll be the day it all died.
This’ll be the day it all died.
Did you write the book on gov
And do you have faith in the market above,
If Friedman tells you so?
Do you believe in capital-ism,
Can you talk about it ad-nauseum,
And can you teach me how to spend real slow?
Well, I know that your in love with him
‘cause I heard you singin’ Trudeau’s hymn.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, Keynes can give me the blues!
I was a lonely teenage, ideologue
With a pinko teacher and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day, conservatism died.
I started singin’
“Bye-bye right-wing guy.”
Drove my platform to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And so-cons were drinkin’
Whiskey and rye
Singin’, this’ll be the day it all died.
This’ll be the day it all died.
Now for 3 years we’ve been on our own
And pork grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
But that’s not how it was supposed to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from Flaherty,
And a voice that came from you and me,
Oh, and while the king was looking down,
Dion tried to steal his thorny crown.
Parliament was adjourned;
No confidence was returned!
And while Layton read a book on Marx,
The Bloc practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark,
The day, conservatism, died.
We were singing
“Bye-bye right-wing guy.”
Drove my ideas to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And Reagan was drinkin’
Whiskey and rye
Singin’, this’ll be the day it all died.
This’ll be the day it all died.
Helter skelter in an Ottawa swelter.
Martin’s ships sailed from a tax shelter,
From Barbados and steamin’ fast.
It landed foul in an AG report,
The CPC tried in QP and court,
With Orchard on the sidelines in a,
pillow fort.
Now the convention air was sweet perfume
While the grassroots played a victory tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
‘cause the Coalition tried to take the field;
The Government refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed.
The day, conservatism died?
We started singing,
“Bye-bye right-wing guy.”
Drove my dreams to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And Klein was drinkin’ (lots) of
Whiskey and rye
Singin’, this’ll be the day it all died.
This’ll be the day it all died.
Oh, and there we were in one place,
A generation of conservatives lost in space
With no time left to Reform again.
So come on: Jack be nimble,
Layton be quick!
Duceppe say on a candlestick
Cause the NDP is the Bloc’s only friend.
Oh, and as I watched in the House
My hands were cusped over my mouth.
No capitalist born in hell
Could break that socialist spell!
And as the red ink spilt over the Budget
I got the feelin’ we’d fudged it.
I saw Rae laughing with delight
The day, conservatism, died.
He was singing
“Bye-bye right-wing guy.”
Saw your plans at the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And Mike Harris was drinkin’
Whiskey and rye
Singin’, this’ll be the day it all died.
This’ll be the day it all died.
I knew a think-tank that spoke of Blue
And I asked it for some happy news,
But Fraser Institute just turned away.
I went to a Calgary store
Where I heard Preston speak years before,
But the MP there said with voters,
it wouldn’t play
And on payday: the taxpayers screamed,
The blues cried, and libertarians dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The movement now was broken.
And the three men I admire most;
Harris, Preston and Reagan’s ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day, conservatism, died.
And they were singing,
“Bye-bye right-wing guy.”
Drove my vision to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And the Great Ones were drinkin’
Whiskey and rye
Singin’, this’ll be the day it all died.
This’ll be the day it all died.
And they were singing,
“Bye-bye right-wing guy.”
Drove my dreams to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And grassroots were drinkin’
Whiskey and rye
Singin’, this’ll be the day it all died.
For those who remember Belinda’s rant about baking a bigger economic pie, this is completely unrelated.
It was apparently inspired by the good folks at Macleans Magazine (people like my newest FaceBook friend, Andrew Coyne).
This is an anonymous poem. Although it is very humourous and witty (like me), I did not write it. (As much as I’d love to take credit.)
Michael McCain, Maple Leaf CEO
The terrible events of the Listeria outbreak and all the human tragedy resulting from it cannot be underestimated. My intention with this post is in no way meant to take away or belittle this reality.
But I would like to share with you how refreshing it was to see how the Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain handled this whole terrible situation.
You expect these guys to hunker down, point fingers, pass blame, play down the tragedy, and withhold the apology the families deserve – for fear of a legal consequence. Later, you expect them to disrespect the families of the victims – fight them tooth and nail in court – and certainly never apologize.
But not Michael McCain. He acted swiftly to pull the products, took immediate responsibility, held a press conference to apologize to the families and answer the hard questions – all the while genuine and sympathetic. Then, when it comes time to deal with the inevitable lawsuits, they are dealt with quickly and sincerely.
Not only is this approach refreshing, but it’s also good business. The hardnosed approach typical in these situations usually leads to nasty lawsuits that eventually cost these businesses far more (both money and reputation).
Michael McCain is a class act. If only we could say the same about all our politicians.
Hippies in Mercier?
For an anglo in the far West of the country, I hadn’t heard of Québec solidaire or Amir Khadir (yes, apparently, his name does rhyme). But congratulations go out to him for winning in the riding of Mercier.
I was just thinking, too, that one thing Quebec needed was a party on the far left (politics in Quebec is always waaaayyyy too right wing).
Perhaps we’ll be hearing much more about Amir and far less about Mario in the coming months.
What a strange country we live in.
Dominic LeBlanc: The Anti-Democrat
First Dominic LeBlanc doesn’t believe in democracy for the country. Replace the elected Government with a coalition that nobody voted for (and that his party and his coalition partner specifically campaigned to not do).
Now he doesn’t believe in democracy in his own party – have the caucus choose the permanent leader.
Wow.
The Liberal Party of Canada has truly sold its soul.
Network
