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January 24, 2006
Maudes and shockers
The (I hope) final dispatch from Macleans' guest harridan recaps all the horrors that now await Canada under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It's the same brand of nonsense she's been peddling from the start, but in reading it I will admit to picturing the debates that will surround issues like gay marriage, missile defense and abortion (in descending order of likelihood), and to not liking what I see any more than I did before the campaign.
The divide on these issues is just as huge today, and perhaps even more impractical to bridge. It is the protest vote beneficiary's fate that a huge number of his constituents, even some who voted for him, will be unhappy when he attempts to do exactly what he promised. There's no way around that, but there's an easy way to make it a whole lot worse — by never espousing a clear position on anything or even attempting to justify whatever unclear positions you have. By doing nothing, essentially. By being Paul Martin, essentially.
Stephen Harper can make things as easy as possible on himself simply by talking to the Canadian people. "Here's why I'm against gay marriage"; "Here's why I'm for joining missile defense" (preferably something more substantial than "because it won't cost us anything and not doing so pisses off Washington"); "Here's why it's wrong for Canada not to have an abortion law."
Avoiding such policy declarations, as Paul Martin did, is as no more effective a defense against political ruin than closing your eyes and covering your ears is against an oncoming freight train. It just postpones the inevitable, and offends absolutely everyone in the meantime. I voted Conservative primarily in hopes of having a Prime Minister and a government that make sense, and I am confident that this is not too much to ask of Stephen Harper — especially considering the alternative has just proven, at long last, to be political suicide.
(Cross-posted to the Shotgun.)
Posted by Chris Selley at January 24, 2006 06:08 PM
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Comments
I loved that sentence right near the beginning, apparently delivered with a straight face:
"The intervention of many progressive civil society groups in the last weeks of the campaign helped to turn the tide..."
Who the hell does she think she is, indeed.
Posted by: Matt at January 24, 2006 08:31 PM
Now that the west has voted in and the cities, notably Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have voted out what can we expect. Note that lots of urban centers voted in, just not those three. I think we need another Liberal style ad here.
Men in gangs
With Guns
In Toronto
Who voted Liberal and NDP
Who are soft on crime
In our cities
They must like it
I am not making this up!
So now we have the image, on National TV, of the mayors of these cities blustering about how the Conservatives had better not ignore them. How the mayors may have supported the Liberals all through the campaign but they expect the Conservatives to support them now!
The problem with all these doom sayers is when the event occurs and the doom doesn't follow they are left without a crutch. They rapidly try to explain how, thanks to their interference, although the unthinkable happened - they saved us from the doom. Who funds these groups? Why can't they think about what they say, and how it will affect their future, if they turn out to be wrong - as it has.
I don't have a lot of pity for Toronto, they are the authors of their own misfortune, time to grovel. I am sure that those Toronto MPs will be willing to vote with the Conservatives on tougher crime laws, in fact maybe they can attend a press conference with the new PM and give him their support!
Posted by: commsguy at January 25, 2006 12:02 PM