The Latest Conservative Bloviation

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Recommended read: The CCF, Hitler and History, written by Aaron Wherry for Macleans.ca.

Unlike the NDP, we are not going to ideologically have a position regardless of circumstances [Italics mine]. The leader of the NDP, in 1939, did not even want to support war against Hitler.

Stephen Harper (Question Period Thu. 26-Apr-2012)

Most interesting that der Harper’s band has taken to slinging attacks against the NDP with the same “the CCF’s J.S. Woodsworth was against going to war with Hitler” citation.

As it is, it’s one of those that is only partially-true:

1. The CCF¹ was the precursor of the NDP and while the latter replaced it that only happened in 1961 not in the years interbellum.
2. Woodsworth was a pacifist, would’ve voted against any war on principle and more importantly was the only one to vote against war in the House of Commons then — including his own party.

So, if the Conservatives are trying to sling mud, must they use tremendously watered-down clay?

Harper’s Belligerent Assertion

Der Harper was in fine form and didn’t disappoint. To me, the prize-winning bit from the Conservatve “Dear Leader” was: Unlike the NDP, we are not going to ideologically have a position regardless of circumstances. The leader of the NDP, in 1939, did not even want to support war against Hitler.

I did a double-take when Harper spewed that! Kettle, meet pot.  Pot, kettle. I cannot imagine a more partisan, jingoistic and more ideological party than the CPC² so it really made me double-up in laughter for it so betrays the disconnectedness and obliviousness behind his arrogance.

1. CCF abbreviates Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (in French, Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif). ↑

2. CPC abbreviates Conservative Party of Canada. ↑

Is Canada a Democracy Still?

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Vigilance has been mostly absent from our midst. Is it just apathy? We just can’t be bothered? Should we care?

• Is This Still a Democracy? You be the Judge Not to be facetious, but isn’t it time to find a new name for our system of government? Aren’t we being rather generous in still calling the operation in Ottawa a democracy? Isn’t it a bit like calling the Maple Leafs a hockey team or Vladimir Putin Aristotelian? By Lawrence Martin writing for iPolitics; posted Sat 28-Apr-2012.

Mall Bench

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Slapped on the old Cokin^® soft-focus filtre and took several shots using Ilford^®1 FP film — taken December 1981.

Not bad for a hand-held shot; this was the best of several shots done to bracket stops. Had I brought the tripod along, I could’ve been more adventurous with longer exposure time and obtained a better blurring effect.

1. In the 1980s I used a variety of film brands — including Kodak^®, of course — as well as types. The Ilford brand became my go-to brand for black and white, though. ↑

More DND Foul-Ups

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Yet another of the Conservative government’s multi-billion dollar military equipment programs has gone off the rails and will have to be restarted. For the second time in less than a year candidate vehicles — some of which are in service with allied nations in Afghanistan — have been rejected by the Defence Department.

Here’s the article by David Pugliese writing for Canada.com (posted here Sun 29-Apr-2012) — Military Hits Reset Button on $2B Close Combat Vehicle.

For a Quick List of “Low Availability” Posts Related to this Article on the F-35 Acquisition, please click here.

Cuts: A Surmise

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Can’t wait for the denouement… After all most government cuts tend to cost way more in the end and down the road — particularly to rebuild later what is dismantled now. Of course, while it’s simply the likely outcome from myopic we gotta run the government like a business thinking, the impending failure is likely part of the Conservative desire to wean Canadians from reliance upon government for too many things. Wonder how that’s going‽

• Ottawa’s Quiet Removal of Internal Auditors Draws Fire The federal government has quietly removed internal auditors from four regional development agencies, placing the work in the hands of a central department that is itself faced with a shrinking budget. By Carys Mills writing for The Globe and Mail; posted Mon 30-Apr-2012.

Your Conservative Government: Hard-at-Work at Being “Open & Accountable”

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You have to hand it to the Harperites. The public doesn’t have to know what we do or will do; and let’s not hesitate to brag on and on to anybody’ll listen how well we did as long as we don’t mention the you-know…

• Canadian Banks Got $114B ‘Bailout’ during Recession Support for banks ‘much more substantial than Canadians were led to believe’: CCPA¹ report From CBC News; posted Mon 30-Apr-2012.

1. CCPA abbreviates Canadian Council on Policy Alternatives. ↑

Whither the Conservatives‽

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The Conservatives — specifically, the Harperites — have always been loved by their “ever-loyal” base. I strongly suspect that when the CPC refers to “Canadians” they mean their political base strictly and exclusively.

So in a decidedly perverse way, Harper wasn’t lying when he said stated on Monday 02-May-2011 that there’d be no “surprises” — just a matter of to whom, though.

Among my pet assertions has always been that the sense of entitlement possessed and exercised by the CPC¹ — as a body — arises from the miasma of their perceived persecuted and “we, as victim” outlook — that they’ve been put down and disrespected that they’d do anything to wreak vengeance evan as strive to persist in and exercise power.

Another assertion of mine as voiced in this blog is that the CPC wants to wean Canadians away from their seeming and purported readiness to rely and depend on government for too much and often. In their zealousness, it may be the Conservatives’ undoing since they seem to present — frequently and variously — an impression of incompetence, not to mention a shallow, albeit arguably maladaptive, preoccupation with image and reputation.

It might turn out that the Conservatives are not necessarily being oblivious since it is a rather inelegant (if intentional) way to sour the milk — metaphorically speaking — by ensuring that every Canadian’s experience with and treatment by government is unpleasant and ignominous. On the other hand, it might just be that the Conservatives confuse and conflate their innate disdain and hatred of government with the expectations and attitudes of all Canadians in general — standard psychoanalytic stuff, this … confusing their own anxieties, passions and attributes as shared with those of the object.

• Tories Spent First Year in Power Surprising Canadians over Pensions, Health Care and Environment One year into its majority mandate, the Harper government is not asleep. What remains unknown is whether it has awoken a groundswell of anger among Canadian voters. By Mark Kennedy writing for Ottawa Citizen; posted Tue 01-May-2012.

1. CPC abbreviates none other than the Conservative Party of Canada. ↑