I Always Knew Chuckles Adler was a Yahoo and a Redneck

I can't remember the name of that commentator of at Searching For Liberty's page, a conservative blog, from yesterday. I do remember him or her leaving a comment with a list of all that is so-called Left winged. Media was on his/her list. I responded that mainstream media was as slanted to the right these days. Well, here's an example of how rednecked some of these hacks can be. What holes do these media outlets crawl into to find these rednecks, anyhow?


I first caught this over at Pale's . Then I read Chuckles' little ranting and I am reminded as to why I nick named him the redneck of Winnipeg. Sooo glad CJAD no longer has him as a pundit.  Yes, if Chuckles wasn't so damned ignorant and offensive, he might even be somewhat amusing.


"The scenario is that our soldiers -- who have been in that hellish, brutish part of the world, where NONE of you want to spend one hour, never mind one year, two years, three years, how about the last eight years..." 


No we don't. Do you, Chuckles? Have you?  What's your point?  That no matter what, the Afghan insecurity forces can do no wrong? What do you think of child molestation perpetrated by these very same insecurity forces, and Canadian troops seeming to look the other way,  Chuckles?


He too, is not sympathetic to the allegations of torture, much like that useless shrew and chicken hawk, Christie Blatchford. 


Here's something else of interest. He blathers on about how those of us against the war in Afghanistan are elitist snobs sitting on our fat asses with our lattes in coffee shops.


Gee, Chuckles, are the family members of the late Jonathan Couturier a bunch of elitest, latte sipping couch potatoes? They're very much against the war, as was Jonathan, himself prior to going to Afghanistan. 


If wanting our Canada who helps others in need and doesn't break international laws such as Geneva Conventions makes us quiche eating latte sucking elitests...then so be it. If that thinking makes you warm and fuzzy at night.


Although, personally, I'm more down to earth and certainly less pretentious than chicken hacks like you are.


Speaking of fat asses, Chuckles, have you weighed yourself lately? I don't see you signing up to the war effort. I don't even see you signing on with organizations like Reporters without borders. Your usual redneck language doesn't scare us so-called 'elitests', although, I do like a good latte from time to time; my work is near so many coffee shops.


Chuckles is another Chicken Hawk who likes to talk the talk, but when it comes to putting his money where his mouth is; FAIL!! 


Why should we expect more?

Here's Chuckles trying to out elite Julian, Ricky and Bubbles. See? How can I be an elitist if I know the names of the Trailor Park Boys?

Kool-Aid and Teabags

Well, it's official. Obama did drink Georgie's kool-aid. While his speech was not nearly as manic and psychotic as I've heard Georgie on the subject on those wars, he was reiterating him. Particularly when it came to the wording, according to Huffington Post.


Obviously, he never read Michael Moore's open letter. He most certainly wasn't listening to his own constituents. I doubt even most of the Dems in his own party agree with this decision. All were probably thinking the same thing: neither Afghanistan nor the Iraq wars were his. He could have ended both of them right now; sign orders to bring the troops home; to cut their losses. All who voted for him and his fellow Democrats (with perhaps the exception of Blue Dogs and members of C street) would not only have let him go for pulling the plug on both wars but it would have been more welcome than this. Obama is now a 'war president', having taken ownership of Afghanistan war.


As with LBJ before him, Obama is already taking hits from both the left and the right. The right, of course, say no deadlines should have been set and even his own friendly democrats are balking at the idea of sending 30 000 troops.


Imperialism is still imperialism, no matter who does it. Funny how Obama called the U.S. relationship with Pakistan a 'partnership'. Perhaps before making such assumptions, he should have checked some polls about the Pakistani people.


A Gallup poll in Pakistan last August showed that only 11% of Pakistanis felt that the Taliban were the biggest threat to their country. 18% felt India was the biggest threat and, you guessed it, the poll indicates that the U.S. is their biggest threat. That same poll also concluded that 67% of Pakistanis were against any Americans conducting operations in that country.  That message to me is loud and clear; the Pakistanis never asked for our help and they don't want or need it.


As for the Afghans, they too, no longer welcome us in their country. They never welcomed foreigners. The Soviets learned that the hard way. This is a country where democracy clearly doesn't work. The so-called elected Karzai government is corrupt and that will never ever change.


The Taliban will never disappear completely as no one can really know who they are. The Afghan people seem to believe that Taliban occupation is the lesser of the evils. Yes, even the women believe this. Life hasn't changed that much for them. Karzai is still very much a misogynist, having made into law that husbands were allowed to rape their wives; the term 'rape' doesn't exist in their world. It's how both men and women over there prefer it.


As for Al-Qaeda, most are from Saudi Arabia, not Afghanistan. There is nothing to indicate that they would even still be in Afghanistan or Pakistan for that matter. After all those years, with all the intelligence the U.S. has to offer, such as the CIA, how come no one caught Al-Qaeda?


What is with Obama anyway?  First, it was the waffling on the public option for health care reform; a plan that will significantly be watered down.


Now, he is practically giving a carbon copy speech of Georgie's. 


What the hell does he hope to achieve? He obviously hasn't learned that in trying to make all happy, you make everyone unhappy and this is what exactly is happening here.


Obama will never endear himself to Republicans, the ever-growing loud tea-baggers and of course, the Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Fox News machines.  I expect it will get worse. Obama may have had a shot at a second term if he pulled the troops out now and just not taken ownership of this war. It will worsen as this time, he will have alienated his supporters and they won't be so quick to defend him.


Below, is Michael Moore's reaction on the Larry King Show last night.  His take is that he still believes Obama is a decent man with a good heart, but he is taking very bad advice that will cost him. 




Since Obama is sure to be a one term president and his former supporters will either abstain from voting in the next election or vote for a fringe candidate like Ralph Nader, I dare say, Say hello to President Palin. I know, a gloomy outlook, but she will be the GOP candidate as they have no one near the star status of See Sawah run. Intelligence obviously doesn't matter here; like Ronald Reagan being the useful idiot to Don Regan of Merrill Lynch, Sawah will have a corporate puppet master running the country behind the scenes.


No, she won't win because she will end the wars, if anything, she'll probably expand wars all over Middle-East. She will win because the noisy minority of the growing popularity of the Tea-bagger movement will outshine the cynical and silent progressives.


She will also win the same way Georgie did; scaring American voters into believing only she and the GOP and tea-baggers can keep them safe; to keep the Communist Muslim boogie men from hiding under their beds. This escalation has already provoked the Taliban to strengthen their resolve.  No doubt Al-Qaeda will be provoked into further attempts at attacks on U.S. soil. Obama will be blamed for that as well.


I wish it were April fool or Halloween, but anything short of Obama changing his mind and withdrawing the troops immediately and cutting their losses,  his presidency is over. I really hope he realizes this decision will ruin the U.S. by giving the keys to Sawah.

One More Night of Hope, Mr President, Pull the Plug

One more night indeed and it doesn't look good. Depending what you read, it looks like Obama is going to be repeating the mistakes of Lyndon B Johnson in the 60s.


Johnson's fateful decision to continue to escalate the Vietnam war is what costed him the presidency in 1968.


The New York Times as well as other pundits, including those in Canada like Craig Oliver are calling this Obama's Vietnam. 


After all, it has been proven by pretty much all, except for some war mongering wingnut chicken hawks on the Right, that this war isn't winnable. The Soviets had proven this much many years ago. They knew when to cut their losses, pack up the show and haul it on home.


The Afghans don't want any more foreigners invading their homes and way of life. They have made this clear. Life has gotten worse for them since we began to invade. Even the women aren't noticing much improvement. Malalai Joya, who once served on Afghan parliament admits this. 

"Women's conditions in some cities have slightly improved since the Taliban regime. But if we compare it with the era before the rule of the fundamentalists in Afghanistan, it has not changed much. Afghan women had more rights in the 1960s to 1980s than today. Rapes, abductions, murders, violence, forced marriages, and violence are increasing at an alarming rate never seen before in our history. Women commit self-immolation to escape their miseries, and the rate of self-immolations is climbing in many of the provinces. Afghanistan still faces a women's rights catastrophe.

"The root cause of this ongoing catastrophe in Afghanistan is that the government is controlled by fundamentalists of both brands (jihadis and Taliban) who are constantly nourished by the United States and its allies. …People suffer from such extreme insecurity that many have stopped sending their children to school, especially girls, fearing that they might be kidnapped or raped." 

Why are we all there again? As I've pointed out here, this is not a war on terror, this is not about improving the lives of Afghans, particularly the women. PM Gordon Brown has even warned Karzai about corruption in his government. Every government knows this government is corrupt and no, it will never be able to sustain itself. As I've pointed out in the past as well as others, I'm sure, it doesn't matter when we leave: the Taliban will be back at the helm. The folks of Afghanistan seem to prefer life under them than with this war.

In the words of Michael Moore, it would seem that Obama is about to drink Bush's kool-aid and cave into the pressure General McChrystal to send about 40 000 more troops. 

 “This is not a war of choice,” he told the Veterans of Foreign Wars at their convention in Phoenix. “This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which Al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans.”

Except for one problem: Binladen and the other thugs who were behind 9/11 have not been caught. We've been at war for eight years, allowing a corrupt Karzai Government to continue, killing innocent civilians and cutting short the futures of many soldiers. Ouf! what a mess! How in the world continuing this senseless war; this Vietnam,  going to accomplish anything it hadn't in the previous eight years? 

Gulp! He is indeed about to drink Bush's Kool-aid! How did he get sucked into it? If the GOP was pressuring him to send more troops as well, he doesn't realize that he's playing into their hands? The GOP and their pundits don't really care about the wars overseas, they see what can cost Obama the presidency.

It is time to end the war, Mr President. Make that move to start withdrawing. The Europeans would surely pull out as well, and yes, maybe even our war mongering, monkey-see; monkey-do PM will follow your lead and pull the show out. Let's just get out now. Take a cue from the Soviets before us and cut our losses. Continuing an unpopular and unwinnable war cost LBJ the presidency in spite of the good things he did implement in the U.S. Obama is pretty certain to meet this very same fate.

As Michael Moore says in a letter he wrote to Obama, he can show courage by ending this all right now. Here is the letter from Moore to Obama

Dear President Obama,

Do you really want to be the new "war president"? If you go to West Point tomorrow night (Tuesday, 8pm) and announce that you are increasing, rather than withdrawing, the troops in Afghanistan, you are the new war president. Pure and simple. And with that you will do the worst possible thing you could do -- destroy the hopes and dreams so many millions have placed in you. With just one speech tomorrow night you will turn a multitude of young people who were the backbone of your campaign into disillusioned cynics. You will teach them what they've always heard is true -- that all politicians are alike. I simply can't believe you're about to do what they say you are going to do. Please say it isn't so.

It is not your job to do what the generals tell you to do. We are a civilian-run government. WE tell the Joint Chiefs what to do, not the other way around. That's the way General Washington insisted it must be. That's what President Truman told General MacArthur when MacArthur wanted to invade China. "You're fired!," said Truman, and that was that. And you should have fired Gen. McChrystal when he went to the press to preempt you, telling the press what YOU had to do. Let me be blunt: We love our kids in the armed services, but we f*#&in' hate these generals, from Westmoreland in Vietnam to, yes, even Colin Powell for lying to the UN with his made-up drawings of WMD (he has since sought redemption).

So now you feel backed into a corner. 30 years ago this past Thursday (Thanksgiving) the Soviet generals had a cool idea -- "Let's invade Afghanistan!" Well, that turned out to be the final nail in the USSR coffin.

There's a reason they don't call Afghanistan the "Garden State" (though they probably should, seeing how the corrupt President Karzai, whom we back, has his brother in the heroin trade raising poppies). Afghanistan's nickname is the "Graveyard of Empires." If you don't believe it, give the British a call. I'd have you call Genghis Khan but I lost his number. I do have Gorbachev's number though. It's + 41 22 789 1662. I'm sure he could give you an earful about the historic blunder you're about to commit.

With our economic collapse still in full swing and our precious young men and women being sacrificed on the altar of arrogance and greed, the breakdown of this great civilization we call America will head, full throttle, into oblivion if you become the "war president." Empires never think the end is near, until the end is here. Empires think that more evil will force the heathens to toe the line -- and yet it never works. The heathens usually tear them to shreds.

Choose carefully, President Obama. You of all people know that it doesn't have to be this way. You still have a few hours to listen to your heart, and your own clear thinking. You know that nothing good can come from sending more troops halfway around the world to a place neither you nor they understand, to achieve an objective that neither you nor they understand, in a country that does not want us there. You can feel it in your bones.

I know you know that there are LESS than a hundred al-Qaeda left in Afghanistan! A hundred thousand troops trying to crush a hundred guys living in caves? Are you serious? Have you drunk Bush's Kool-Aid? I refuse to believe it.

Your potential decision to expand the war (while saying that you're doing it so you can "end the war") will do more to set your legacy in stone than any of the great things you've said and done in your first year. One more throwing a bone from you to the Republicans and the coalition of the hopeful and the hopeless may be gone -- and this nation will be back in the hands of the haters quicker than you can shout "tea bag!"

Choose carefully, Mr. President. Your corporate backers are going to abandon you as soon as it is clear you are a one-term president and that the nation will be safely back in the hands of the usual idiots who do their bidding. That could be Wednesday morning.

We the people still love you. We the people still have a sliver of hope. But we the people can't take it anymore. We can't take your caving in, over and over, when we elected you by a big, wide margin of millions to get in there and get the job done. What part of "landslide victory" don't you understand?

Don't be deceived into thinking that sending a few more troops into Afghanistan will make a difference, or earn you the respect of the haters. They will not stop until this country is torn asunder and every last dollar is extracted from the poor and soon-to-be poor. You could send a million troops over there and the crazy Right still wouldn't be happy. You would still be the victim of their incessant venom on hate radio and television because no matter what you do, you can't change the one thing about yourself that sends them over the edge.

The haters were not the ones who elected you, and they can't be won over by abandoning the rest of us.

President Obama, it's time to come home. Ask your neighbors in Chicago and the parents of the young men and women doing the fighting and dying if they want more billions and more troops sent to Afghanistan. Do you think they will say, "No, we don't need health care, we don't need jobs, we don't need homes. You go on ahead, Mr. President, and send our wealth and our sons and daughters overseas, 'cause we don't need them, either."

What would Martin Luther King, Jr. do? What would your grandmother do? Not send more poor people to kill other poor people who pose no threat to them, that's what they'd do. Not spend billions and trillions to wage war while American children are sleeping on the streets and standing in bread lines.

All of us that voted and prayed for you and cried the night of your victory have endured an Orwellian hell of eight years of crimes committed in our name: torture, rendition, suspension of the bill of rights, invading nations who had not attacked us, blowing up neighborhoods that Saddam "might" be in (but never was), slaughtering wedding parties in Afghanistan. We watched as hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were slaughtered and tens of thousands of our brave young men and women were killed, maimed, or endured mental anguish -- the full terror of which we scarcely know.

When we elected you we didn't expect miracles. We didn't even expect much change. But we expected some. We thought you would stop the madness. Stop the killing. Stop the insane idea that men with guns can reorganize a nation that doesn't even function as a nation and never, ever has.

Stop, stop, stop! For the sake of the lives of young Americans and Afghan civilians, stop. For the sake of your presidency, hope, and the future of our nation, stop. For God's sake, stop.

Tonight we still have hope.

Tomorrow, we shall see. The ball is in your court. You DON'T have to do this. You can be a profile in courage. You can be your mother's son.

We're counting on you.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. There's still time to have your voice heard. Call the White House at 202-456-1111 or email the President.

You can get the email link here. 

I sincerely hope that President Obama will lead and do the courageous thing. This war needs to end now (as does the one in Iraq, of course). It's about time the President concentrated on helping his own people recover from the recession and the damage that is Georgie jr and Dickie. Let's do what the Afghans want us to do: get the hell out!

Online Petition to Demand Harpercons To Investigate Torturegate

I just found this over at Thwap's Schoolyard. Here is the link for the online petition for Inquiry into Torture. It would appear that a whopping 94% of Canadians believe the testimony of Richard Colvin. 


Just because Stevie is going to Copenhagen to pretend to be interested in climate change doesn't mean he shouldn't face the music over torturegate. Enough already! 


I think most Canadians are tired of looking more and more like a disgrace on the world stage.

When the Tough get going: Stevie Runs Away

There is a reason I left that little Stevie pic in that Carmen Sandiego theme on my sidebar. This just keeps on being a recurring theme with him. 


To summarize: when there are UN climate talks, he goes to have din din with Mayor Bloomberg. When Obama gives speeches at UN week; he comes home for Timmy's Donuts. 


Immediately following the leak of that video behind closed doors, he was incognito only to crawl out of his snake hole for 9/11 memorials a day or two later. 


The height of the H1N1 crisis; the bungling of pandemic plans and vaccination campaigns gone haywire, Stevie pulls another disappearing act yet again: he's on the east coast trotting off with the Royal Twits Charlie and Camilla, leaving the clearly unqualified Agluquack in charge.


He takes off for India for photo ops in for Bollywood reality TV to escape, yes, the tortured Afghan detainee scandal. He comes home briefly only to stifle testimony or other things to pretend the torture never happened or to actually attempt to justify breaking international law. He ain't stayin' long though.


Remember Copenhagen Climate change talks? That place he was never goin' to go?  Don't get too surprised: he still don't care about the environment. He still has no plans to do anything about climate change. No, it isn't about giving the illusion that Canada cares on the world stage. Bingo! Keep in mind, would he really go to Copenhagen, Barack Obama or no Barack Obama presence; whether or not any world leaders showed up,  if it weren't for that pesky Afghan detainee thing?


That scandal is about to get worse for him. When even the likes of the Rush Limbaugh of Astral Media Radio, Ryan Doyle start condemning Afghan detainee torture and start demanding answers on his radio show; you kind of get the feeling, this ain't a goin' away so fast. 






Yes, in my opinion, the above cartoon will best define the leadership of ol' Stevie. During any crisis or scandal or blunder from one of his flunky ministers, we shall all be asking: 'Where in the world is Stephen Harper?'


Between allowing torture to happen and not even attempting to respect the Kyoto accord, Stevie could become a fugitive.

In the end, perhaps the only place Stevie can go is  here:



Hopefully, before he flushes Canada into oblivion.

Canadians Condemned Bush Jr's America; So Why Do We Want Bush Jr's U.S. Here?

I came across this article in the Globe and Mail a few days ago and surprisingly, this author wrote exactly what I had been noticing as of late: More and more Canadians have swung to the Right. Not just right of Centre: Old progressive Conservative Right; but extreme right. War mongering right. Capitalist Greed Right. Far less compassionate, more self-centered. Also very self-contradictory.


This has been proven over the past decade. I'm not even sure Children are being taught to share  anymore. 


They bitch about paying taxes for social programs and other things to ease poverty either in Canada or internationally, they bitch about paying more tax to help environment, they were happy not to pay taxes for programs like the Court Challenges Program. Yet, they have no problem supporting corporate welfare, that trillions upon trillion dollar war in Afghanistan, Porky Puffy Duffy's expense account which in three months, exceeds that of an annual salary of most Canadians, and of course, the conservative court cases subsidized by the Canadian Constitution Foundation.


Any explanation for this?


Attitudes Toward Poverty


Most no longer care about helping their fellow man, Kathy Shaidle even comes straight out to say that she hates the poor and we should do nothing to help them. Repugnant? Absolutely, but, to her credit, at least she comes out to admit this. No doubt, most conservative Canadians share this attitude towards the poor today but instead of admitting this, they skirt around the issue trying to dismiss the so called looney left. 


One example of Canadians now really wanting to distance themselves from the poor is employment. I have noticed that if an employer finds out a candidate has drawn welfare in their lives, their application is treated like that of an ex-convict and thus never hire such people.


Donations to charities like food banks and others helping poor families  or various shelters have gone down over the years. We can blame the recession all we like, but that trend started before the recession.


I have heard some of the right winged pundits in the blogosphere from both the U.S. and Canada say they know poor families who don't want any help; that they're too proud. This, of course is a cop out and something they tell themselves so they can let themselves off easy without guilt. I don't doubt that these 'proud' families exist, but every one needs a hand up once in awhile to move up somehow.


It would seem that the only thing most Canadians care about now is the free markets and paying way fewer taxes. To have less government, they don't seem to ming the cut backs or all out elimination of government services with perhaps the exception of health care. 


While most still want to maintain our single payer health care system, more Canadians, particularly those where the most health care cut backs took place like Alberta, B.C. and Ontario are bitching more and more about single payer and are starting to long for private for profit even if (and it does, due to NAFTA) means the American Health care system.


War in Afghanistan


Our military had been known as peace keepers who help with rebuilding war torn nations. This, of course, is no longer the case since Afghanistan. Canadians don't seem to mind. In fact, they think we're just not militant enough. 


When Chretien refused to allow Georgie drag us into Iraq, Stevie was disappointed (yah, so was Iggy, but he wasn't even a player at the time, and he is right of centre; even more right leaning than Paul Martin). I remembered the opinion pieces and letters to the editor back then: many were disappointed about us not showing solidarity with our 'friends' the U.S. 


We hear of Afghan prisoners of war being tortured and in some respects, the Geneva Conventions not being respected. Not only do most Canadians not seem to care, but they go in so far as to say they deserve to be tortured.


When  we heard that Afghan prisoners were going to potentially receive the H1N1 vaccines, again, we heard outrage to the point where Agluquack ranted about not knowing how this happened and that they would not get it. Again, breaking the rules of the Geneva Conventions. P.O.W. s are supposed to have health care.


H1N1 Crisis


Speaking of H1N1, this last crisis perfectly illustrated how Canadians were being self-centered. They were queue jumping.  A lot  even went in so far as to whine about the homeless population or the prisoners getting their vaccines earlier than most. A lot even bitched about anyone getting that vaccine before they did. 




Gun Control


The Long Gun Registry is all but scrapped and most are thrilled about it. Nobody seems to care that this is leading down the path to no gun control whatsoever. I was talking with someone recently who flat out told me everybody should be allowed to tote a gun on the streets just like in the U.S. His co workers agreed whole heartedly. I have even seen comment boards on various pages posting about the subject reflect as much.


Immigration and Bigotry


Well, it seems most are in favor of Jason Kenney's new citizenship handbook illustrating basically that a good Canadian citizen is a war mongering, gun loving, WASPy who votes Conservative.


In the past,  we welcomed Vietnam draft dodgers with open arms. We sympathized with their plight. 


Now, we don't want to take in anybody escaping the wars, including the illegal war in Iraq. Most seem to be hell bent on sending Pte Bethany Smith back to the U.S. in spite of knowing what her fate would be should she return. 


Also, let's not forget how many oh so many Canadians were celebrating the victory of Marc Lemire, the holocaust denying, homophobic  white supremacist who won his right to say whatever the hell he liked even though the things he says are just what incites violent acts like defacing synagogues, gay bashing, and other violent acts. I remembered that being a dark day for me. I couldn't believe that Canadians were so festive on those comment boards. I honestly thought I had stumbled into Klu Klux Klan Territory.


Environment


Stevie and Prentice clearly don't care about the environment. Stevie's ol' wait and see if other countries will partake and the fact that he was a no show at U.N. climate talks reflects this much. Stevie has basically said that the Kyoto accord was a socialist scheme to suck money out of wealthy nations. Nowadays, he and Prentice think it's more important to protect the tar sands in Alberta. Another example of how the west, mainly Alberta are all that count for Stevie.


I have observed from most Canadians that they don't believe in Global warming any more the way they used to. They wish to do nothing to help the environment, thus, they don't think our gov't. should neither. Instead, they want to continue driving their big-assed  gas guzzlers, not recycle, not choose more environmentally friendly products. Remember how all whined when a carbon tax was proposed before the 2008 election by Stephane Dion?


As much as this disheartens me, the reason behind the lack of concern for the environment is because of making changes to help the planet are just too much work for most. Al Gore's movie did indeed have the most appropriate title. The truth about the environment is inconvenient due to the work and concessions everyone would have to make.


Media


Most of mainstream media is right leaning and very Harpercon friendly: Asper papers, Globe and Mail, Maclean's magazine, Astral Media Talk/News Radio Stations and their hosts and of course, CTV. It seems the only remotely progressive media outlets in Canada would be the Toronto Star and that's starting to be right leaning with the likes of Chantal Hebert and  a few others. The other would be the CBC but that is struggling due to lack of funds: Cuts by Stevie and the Harpercons. Even the CBC is widely read by the Right: just look at their comment boards.


Self Contradictory Conservative Canadians


As that Globe and Mail article pointed out: most Canadians loathed Georgie and were glad to see him go. Most loved Obama. That may have been true once upon a time, but not as much today.


Do most Canadians dislike Georgie as much as they said they did? I'm not so sure about that.  Why are Stevie's numbers within majority range? Clearly, he aspires to Georgie's America for Canada. His video behind closed doors in front of his Harpercons in Sault Ste Marie last September proved as much. it is a reminder (or at least, it should be) that Stevie has not really centered himself in any which way.

"America, and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world," - a speech Stephen Harper made eight years ago to a conservative American think-tank. 

Here is where a lot of Conservative pundits, journalists and bloggers are self contradictory: they all say that Iggy is American and has no understanding of Canadian values or of Canada as a whole. While this may well be true, most of these same people are failing to discuss or mention Stevie's love for all things Bush era conservative. None even mention Stevie's obvious disdain for Canada (or their own for that matter). This piece from Buckdog illustrates Stevie's feelings of hate for Canada and love for Georgie's America very well.


Why the self contradiction? Is the real reason they criticize Iggy for being Americanized is jealousy? We know Stevie is an American wannabe. How about his supporters? Do they really believe that Stevie represents Canadian values? Or do they know we're going toward a Bush Era American way of doing things and this is exactly what they want but don't talk about it?


Most of these Canadian Conservatives are even cheering for Sawah for Pres in 2012 and criticize everything Obama does or doesn't do.


There are even Canadian Birthers; Followers and supporters of Orly Taitz.  I can introduce you to one of them. I'm ashamed to say I have known such an individual since childhood. 


They even overuse and misuse the the word Socialism the way the Americans neo-cons do. One of my neighbours has those American pictures of that 'socialist clown' in joker make up' in their window. Scares the hell out of me when I pass that house.


Why?


While the U.S. is trying to move forward, somehow trying to claw its' way out of the mess Georgie and Dickie left; that train wreck that pretty much cynched the recession, Stevie seems to be hell bent on driving Canada toward a Georgie and Dickie style of America here in Canada.


Clearly, over time, it has been proven that this type of Capitalist greed, deregulation and Free market system have proven to not work. It didn't work in Margaret Thatcher's Great Britain (especially not in the 80s) neither did Reaganomics.  The deregulation of Wall Street proved to be a failure. Finally, it took Georgie and Dickie to hammer the final nail on the global economic coffin. 


Nevertheless, folks are still hell bent on having that same system here in Canada and somehow think it will work. 


Why would this be? 


Globe and Mail Article Possible Explanations for Trend


The article does suggest a reason among others for Stevie's popularity is that while the Right winged parties merged, there are too many parties left of Center (article included the Green party, although, I would hardly call Elizabeth May Left winged). The left is too fractured. Even this author of a right leaning newspaper remotely hints at a merger of the parties left of center. I always thought that was a good idea and I still do. Strength in numbers.


However, I don't believe that's the main reason for Stevie's numbers remaining within grasp at a majority in the next general election. 


A lot of the Progressive bloggers might disagree with me on this, but I really do think Canadians are more ultra right winged conservative, just like our Tea-bagging neighbours.


I guess the only way to really find out if more Canadians are neo-cons than not would be to merge the parties left of center before the next general election.


Can this trend end? Can we go back to being Canadians? The type of society that distinguished us from the American Neo-cons once upon a time?

 

Anybody Going to Swallow Stevie's Upcoming Poison Pill?

A poison pill indeed & this time, all will swallow it. According to the latest Ekos poll, the Harpercons are well within grasp of a majority.  I know, I know, Canadians don't want an election....supposedly. If one were to read the comment boards of this article, it would seem that most are cheering for the oncoming Stevie majority. Don't be fooled, they want an election yesterday. Stevie knows it.


So, what's next? A poison pill of course. Another confidance motion that all the opposition parties are sure to not vote on.


What would it be? Well, one thing I can think of is not only scrapping the gun registry but also waiving the registration fees. Now, here is the catch 22: The N.D.P., the Liberals & the Bloc have all been always for keeping the gun registry.  They would look foolish if they voted along with such a motion & I don't even think Jack will sacrifice his principles that far.  Then we go to election where Stevie can finally have his precious majority. Stevie would find himself in a win-win situation. If one party does somehow vote along with this, the gun registry is scrapped & if the motion doesn't pass, we go back to the polls & Stevie can get his majority & he would scrap the gun registry & most likely, eliminate gun control altogether.


Another possibility is the possibility of an extension past the 2011 deadline in Afghanistan which I wrote about earlier this evening here.  I don't think it's a coincidence the CBC would be publishing this today, shortly after printing the latest EKOS poll, nor is it a coincidence that Petey would be talking about this today. Whether or not Stevie made some kind of backroom deal with President Obama, this surely must become a confidance motion. 


Again, none of the opposition parties will support this. Layton voted against extending the mission to 2011 in 2008; should he vote for another extension this time; he would be hammering the final nail in his political coffin. Iggy still plans to go against anything & everything & this wouldn't be any different. In spite of the fact that Stephane Dion voted with the Harpercons for the extension, the Liberals have a new leader & thusfar, Iggy has proven to distance himself from Dion. The Bloc won't vote for it because, Quebec is where the Afghan war is the least popular. 


However, unlike the gun registry, could extending the war in Afghanistan lower Stevie's numbers? Only time will tell.  It seems that many Canadians, even outside Quebec are tired of this war & want to bring the troops home now.  IF the war is that unpopular, Stevie's numbers should reflect this. Could it be wishful thinking on my part?


On the other hand, Canadians have proven that they will sacrifice anything to get a precious majority in parliament so they won't have to worry about fitting five minutes into their schedules to go to the polls for at least another four years. Why wouldn't these same Canadians be willing to have Stevie extend the mission to this end?


The possibilities for more poison pills do seem to be endless for Stevie these days.  I bet he's probably cursing out the N.D.P. for voting with him in the last non-confidance motion.


Either way, reading about the state of our politicians & the looming possibility of a Harpercon majority is just ghoulish.

Wheeling & Dealing Hypocrisy in Afghanistan

Why is this a suprise? I knew it: I would hazzard a guess that even most journalists knew it. Now the CBC has just come out with a story that Peter MacKay, the federal defense minister, saying that we will stay in Afghanistan past 2011; but not in a combat role. He also says that we're going to stay to help with 'reconstruction' (nice to clean up after a party ain't it?) &  train the Afghan Security forces. Weren't those the same forces who abused young children?. Yikes! 


Yah! Right! If you believe that it would not be a combat role, I have some swamp land in Florida to sell you. 


When asked how our soldiers would go about this so-called mission with the resurgency of the Taliban. Petey simply avoided the question.  I think we have our answer right there. Of course it will continue to be a combat mission, and for what? I say to hell with that 2011 deadline & pull out NOW!!


This war is not winnable. Even the Soviets cut their losses, packed up & left in the 80s. We would all do well to do the same.  How many more soldiers have to lose their lives in vain?  Jonathan Couturier, a young soldier who was killed last month told us through his family that this war effort was useless. Do we even remember why we're there?


Retaliation for 9/11 on Georgie's behalf. Pure & Simple. War on Terror? How is the pursuance of Osama Binladen & his merry band of bushwhacking thugs going? With all the intelligence we have at our avail, how come we haven't caught & prosecuted them? They're the ones responsable for the attrocities committed at 9/11. 


We tried telling ourselves this was to free the Afghan people from the Taliban. Anyone see the hypocrisy here? The Taliban have ruled over Afghanistan for many years. We never cared about them before 9/11. The longer we stay & destroy the Afghan homes & kill their citizens, the more they don't want us there. In fact, there are Afghan citizens who actually prefer the Taliban over the current situation. To them, Taliban rule is all they know; they felt secure with them. 


Now, I'm not saying that the Taliban are warm & fuzzy people. I know that they're crazy Islamic Extremist wingnuts, misogynists & thugs, but if the Afghan people were satisfied with life under them, who are we to upset that apple cart?


How is the Karzai government much better? Why are we willing to shed our blood & throw bad money after bad for this government? After all, he, himself legalized spousal rape. His government has proven time & again to be corrupt. The last election was a joke, taking over a month to decide the results. As mentioned above, Afghan forces are physically & sexually abusing young children. Yet, we are willing to turn a blind eye to all of this. How come? Either way, I venture to guess that if/when we leave, the Taliban will be right back at the helm anyway. 


Ol' Stevie hasn't come out to confirm his flunky's statement today, but knowing what kind of war monger he is, will he jump at this? You betcha! 


We mustn't forget that General McChrystal, the top NATO commander has been pressuring President Obama as of late to send more troops. Not a great time to demand  a struggling president who is trying to extricate himself from both wars. 


Stevie rushed to pester Obama last month to plead with him to loosen up on his "Buy American"  policies. We heard recently that Canada is exempt. Now, I don't think President Obama simply granted Stevie's wish simply to be rid of Georgie's lost pet.  The exchange was the provinces would open its' markets to the U.S.  Hmm, not as simple as that.  I think Stevie had to promise Obama Canada would continue the bulk of the mission so Obama can begin ending the American part of this senseless war.


It's time to pull out now. Forget the 2011 deadline, after all, if Petey can decide to stay longer inspite of their agreement with the Liberals under Stephane Dion at the time; Canada can surely decide to pull out earlier. Having the United States loosen it's "Buy American" policy just isn't worth it.