Another $500 down the tubes. So keep those pay-pal donations coming!
Friday, December 12, 2008
News Release To Nowhere
Ezra's latest Canada News Wire effort gets as much coverage as his previous. Which is to say: doodley squat.
Another $500 down the tubes. So keep those pay-pal donations coming!
Another $500 down the tubes. So keep those pay-pal donations coming!
Who Said That?
A senate chair should be occupied by someone with a democratic mandate, and Canadians should be able to mark their ballot for their Senator, as well as for their MP. We need a ballot with senators' names, and seats with senators that have been elected. Under a Conservative government, Canadians will choose who sits in this chair. In the 21st century, those who want to sit in the parliament of a democratic state should have a mandate from the people.The Prime Minister currently holds a virtually free hand in the selection of Senators. As Prime Minister I will use that power to establish a federal process for electing senators. Probably the same guy who said this:
Lets be clear: Harper has the perfect right to stuff the Senate with cronies. Its the Canadian way. One might even argue that the integrity of the institution demands these appointments be made.
However, they are most accurately viewed as signalling the inevitable process by which a political party or movement sheds its Idealism in the face of hard reality. Where once the CPoC could argue that there was a clear moral distinction between them and the Liberals, now they can merely argue that there is a barely perceptible moral distinction between them and the Liberals. In three months, they will be arguing that their latest scandal isn't as bad as Adscam was. In six months...well, everybody count the spoons on Parliament Hill.
(PS. I'm hoping Harper does what so many people have tried to do for so many years-- get Puffy off the air-waves. For one thing, that would literalize the "stuffing" metaphor. Would they be forced to give him two Senate seats, a la the major airlines?)
H/t Ted.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Speak, Iggy, Speak
Canada should continue fighting the war in Afghanistan after the mission's scheduled end in 2011, the United States' top military official hinted today.
Peter MacKay spokesman Dan Dugas has already suggested that no extension is in the cards. Iggy should also make his position known. Let's hope this isn't one of those cases where he decides to try and outmaneuver the government on its right flank.
Peter MacKay spokesman Dan Dugas has already suggested that no extension is in the cards. Iggy should also make his position known. Let's hope this isn't one of those cases where he decides to try and outmaneuver the government on its right flank.
Dear Jon...,
Michael Ignatieff figures out a way to link himself to Adscam
Posted: December 11, 2008, 8:12 AM by Jonathan Kay
Jonathan Kay
All the details on Ezra Levant's must-read blog here.
...under certain circumstances, linking to defamatory material is also defamatory.
Now, google-cache results take about a day to appear, so we won't know for awhile if Jonathon Kay found a stinking fish on Full Comment this morning and disappeared it in a panic, or whether he is simply trying to keep Ezra at least a few links distant.
Posted: December 11, 2008, 8:12 AM by Jonathan Kay
Jonathan Kay
All the details on Ezra Levant's must-read blog here.
...under certain circumstances, linking to defamatory material is also defamatory.
Now, google-cache results take about a day to appear, so we won't know for awhile if Jonathon Kay found a stinking fish on Full Comment this morning and disappeared it in a panic, or whether he is simply trying to keep Ezra at least a few links distant.
Free Dominion Bits And Bites
Connie says:
Today we were served with the following Motion. We are to appear in Court on January 22nd where Richard Warman will attempt to compell us to reveal the identities of the eight Free Dominion John Does (information we don't even have). He is also asking for us to have to pay for the cost of the Motion (probably around $10,000)."
The motion is here. The pseuds Warman is trying to identify post as: klinxx, SaskBigPicture, Droid1963, conscience, Faramir, Peter O'Donnell, Padraigh, and HR-101.
Meanwhile, the legal bills continue to mount.
Today we were served with the following Motion. We are to appear in Court on January 22nd where Richard Warman will attempt to compell us to reveal the identities of the eight Free Dominion John Does (information we don't even have). He is also asking for us to have to pay for the cost of the Motion (probably around $10,000)."
The motion is here. The pseuds Warman is trying to identify post as: klinxx, SaskBigPicture, Droid1963, conscience, Faramir, Peter O'Donnell, Padraigh, and HR-101.
Meanwhile, the legal bills continue to mount.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Playing Chess
Coyne:
And as the Liberals cannot possibly face an election at this time — Ignatieff has reportedly been brutally frank about this in caucus — far the greater likelihood is that the budget will pass.
Unless… Unless the Tories can find some way to make it impossible for the Liberals to accept it. They have to be careful: they don’t want to lose the public. But suppose they were to spend the next several weeks advertising their willingness to work with the opposition — especially the Liberals. And suppose they were to take on board many of the opposition demands: a massive bailout for Big Auto. Billions more in infrastructure spending, complete with “shovels in the ground” photo-ops. A feel-good meeting with the premiers in mid-January, ending in some sort of agreement to “work together” on the economy. All wrapped up in a budget whose every second word is “stimulus.” And now suppose, having given the Liberals just about everything they could ask for, they also include the party financing proposal.
So the Liberals pass the budget and wait for legislation on party financing to be introduced, as it must be. They let the legislation through the first couple of readings, promising to make it better in committee, working with the other opposition parties which combined have a majority on said committee.
The bill then dies, or is returned to Parliament as some kind of ghastly horror the government cannot possibly support.
Check, Mr. Harper.
And as the Liberals cannot possibly face an election at this time — Ignatieff has reportedly been brutally frank about this in caucus — far the greater likelihood is that the budget will pass.
Unless… Unless the Tories can find some way to make it impossible for the Liberals to accept it. They have to be careful: they don’t want to lose the public. But suppose they were to spend the next several weeks advertising their willingness to work with the opposition — especially the Liberals. And suppose they were to take on board many of the opposition demands: a massive bailout for Big Auto. Billions more in infrastructure spending, complete with “shovels in the ground” photo-ops. A feel-good meeting with the premiers in mid-January, ending in some sort of agreement to “work together” on the economy. All wrapped up in a budget whose every second word is “stimulus.” And now suppose, having given the Liberals just about everything they could ask for, they also include the party financing proposal.
So the Liberals pass the budget and wait for legislation on party financing to be introduced, as it must be. They let the legislation through the first couple of readings, promising to make it better in committee, working with the other opposition parties which combined have a majority on said committee.
The bill then dies, or is returned to Parliament as some kind of ghastly horror the government cannot possibly support.
Check, Mr. Harper.
Support Warchild...And Rock!
A reminder that there are more important things to worry about than Canadian politics came the other day when Warchild Canada's information package arrived in my mailbox.
Warchild is an NGO that focuses on providing assistance to children in areas of conflict and post-conflict--for instance, on helping former child soldiers to reintegrate into society. There are many good reasons to support their efforts, some of which can be found here, but the thing that caught my attention was the fact that they are auctioning off a trip to New York City to see The Kings of Leon play Madison Square Gardens tomorrow night.
The Kings of Leon, along with My Morning Jacket and The Drive By Truckers, have been one of the driving forces behind the Southern Rock revival of the past decade or so. Here's the lads doing "Red Morning Light" from their very first album.
Warning! Some very serious hair here! If you find that a turnoff, or if it reminds you of things gone with your youth, avert your eyes!
Warchild is an NGO that focuses on providing assistance to children in areas of conflict and post-conflict--for instance, on helping former child soldiers to reintegrate into society. There are many good reasons to support their efforts, some of which can be found here, but the thing that caught my attention was the fact that they are auctioning off a trip to New York City to see The Kings of Leon play Madison Square Gardens tomorrow night.
The Kings of Leon, along with My Morning Jacket and The Drive By Truckers, have been one of the driving forces behind the Southern Rock revival of the past decade or so. Here's the lads doing "Red Morning Light" from their very first album.
Warning! Some very serious hair here! If you find that a turnoff, or if it reminds you of things gone with your youth, avert your eyes!
File Under: Politics Is Weird And Scuzzy
Did Liberals hijack the federal Green Party in Mississauga?
This is, I suppose, pretty "inside baseball" type stuff, and no names are given so everything remains a bit cryptic. The money passage:
In 2007 the Green Party of Canada in Mississauga Streetsville (MS GPC) was infiltrated by a group of people who not only were not Green but had one stated objective – to embarrass Wajid Khan. With sufficient numbers and the same old sleazy back room crap that the liberal party is always doing (check out their current leadership “issues”) they managed to get elected. Their agenda was to take over the electoral district association, and highjack the money the GPC Ottawa sent to the local EDA.
Apparently, the Lib infiltrators have been cleaned out and Mississauga's Green Party is back to being purely green. I guess that coalition didn't turn out too well either.
A good example of why I avoid riding-level politics.
This is, I suppose, pretty "inside baseball" type stuff, and no names are given so everything remains a bit cryptic. The money passage:
In 2007 the Green Party of Canada in Mississauga Streetsville (MS GPC) was infiltrated by a group of people who not only were not Green but had one stated objective – to embarrass Wajid Khan. With sufficient numbers and the same old sleazy back room crap that the liberal party is always doing (check out their current leadership “issues”) they managed to get elected. Their agenda was to take over the electoral district association, and highjack the money the GPC Ottawa sent to the local EDA.
Apparently, the Lib infiltrators have been cleaned out and Mississauga's Green Party is back to being purely green. I guess that coalition didn't turn out too well either.
A good example of why I avoid riding-level politics.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
When The Choice is Between Liver And Meatloaf
...your best option is to choose quickly and eat fast. Bob Rae did the right thing today.
Hopefully the May meeting goes forward in a different guise, and the party passes a series of democratic reforms like no more delegated conventions and one Member one Vote for the next leadership campaign.
Hopefully the May meeting goes forward in a different guise, and the party passes a series of democratic reforms like no more delegated conventions and one Member one Vote for the next leadership campaign.
New Western Separatist Organization Consists Of One Guy!
David Crutcher! That's it! And a computer. And maybe a coffee table! Even if you don't agree with the WBTA's politics, give 'em a call. Dave must be terribly lonely.h/t Buckets.
A Strategy Based On Hope Is Doomed
Stephen Le Drew, him of bow-tie & beanie fame, gives the Federal Liberals some very bad advice in this morning's National Post.
Even in taking his leave, Stephane Dion can't get it straight. By stating that the party needs a leader before the Commons resumes at the end of January, he is effectively rejecting the benefits of a considered leadership debate, while robbing tens of thousands of Liberals of their voice in choosing their own leader.
In other words, the party should continue its leisurely amble towards a May convention and appoint a neutral and essentially pointless interim leader in the meantime. But wait! The party doesn't operate in a vacuum. What if Stephen Harper's Tories throw something really nasty into their January budget? LeDrew announces the Party's surrender in advance:
In response, some Liberals contend that the party needs a permanent leader to run in the election that surely will befall us before the Liberal convention in Vancouver slated for May. But anyone who says that the Liberals should vote down the government has rocks in his head.
The Liberal party has no money, precious few new ideas (I am being generous here), an embarrassing leader and the least voter-support in its history. It desperately needs to rebuild before it can expect any respect from Canadians.
Yes but, again, what if Stephen Harper is true to form, and decides a January budget is a terrific time to break the opposition once and for all? Maybe he'll move once again to eliminate subsidies for federal political parties? That polled pretty well. LeDrew's answer?
...I suggest that trigger-happy MPs wait to see the next budget before they huff and puff and try to blow Harper's house down. Hopefully he will have learned his lesson, and deliver a first-class economic plan for Canada.
Ah, Hope! And Prayer, perhaps! The Liberal Party of Canada should kind of drift aimlessly through the next six months relying on the kindness of the Federal Conservatives!
Look, I have never actually joined the LPC, though I have occasionally donated to the cause. I generally only offer them my free and unsolicited advice. So my opinion shouldn't count for much. But I'll say it again: Get It Done By January! If this can be arranged through some kind of on-line/phone "consultation" so be it. If they have to lock Bob Rae in a closet for two months while Michael Ignaetieff is anointed in some smoke-filled backroom, that's fine too. But remember, as Stephen Janke points out, this is a party that can't afford a working digital camera and is helpless when the auto-focus on the old one they DO own breaks down.
And these people want to organize a virtual convention during the Xmas season? Pretty elaborate for a gang that would have trouble finding the fly on its pants.
And the "grass roots", those people who got behind a back-room deal to topple the current government, are insisting upon "democracy" for themselves? Such a sense of entitlement! They are demanding silver paper when all they can afford, and all they deserve, is cheese.
The "grass roots" ought to be thinking less of what the Party owes them then what it owes that segment of the Canadian population that votes Liberal because they seem the only reasonable alternative to the Canadian Right. And what the party owes us is a minimal display of competence, not the sight of 60,000+ thought vacuums diddling about in the name of their rights for six months while the nation goes into decline.
Update: Rae does the right thing.
Even in taking his leave, Stephane Dion can't get it straight. By stating that the party needs a leader before the Commons resumes at the end of January, he is effectively rejecting the benefits of a considered leadership debate, while robbing tens of thousands of Liberals of their voice in choosing their own leader.
In other words, the party should continue its leisurely amble towards a May convention and appoint a neutral and essentially pointless interim leader in the meantime. But wait! The party doesn't operate in a vacuum. What if Stephen Harper's Tories throw something really nasty into their January budget? LeDrew announces the Party's surrender in advance:
In response, some Liberals contend that the party needs a permanent leader to run in the election that surely will befall us before the Liberal convention in Vancouver slated for May. But anyone who says that the Liberals should vote down the government has rocks in his head.
The Liberal party has no money, precious few new ideas (I am being generous here), an embarrassing leader and the least voter-support in its history. It desperately needs to rebuild before it can expect any respect from Canadians.
Yes but, again, what if Stephen Harper is true to form, and decides a January budget is a terrific time to break the opposition once and for all? Maybe he'll move once again to eliminate subsidies for federal political parties? That polled pretty well. LeDrew's answer?
...I suggest that trigger-happy MPs wait to see the next budget before they huff and puff and try to blow Harper's house down. Hopefully he will have learned his lesson, and deliver a first-class economic plan for Canada.
Ah, Hope! And Prayer, perhaps! The Liberal Party of Canada should kind of drift aimlessly through the next six months relying on the kindness of the Federal Conservatives!
Look, I have never actually joined the LPC, though I have occasionally donated to the cause. I generally only offer them my free and unsolicited advice. So my opinion shouldn't count for much. But I'll say it again: Get It Done By January! If this can be arranged through some kind of on-line/phone "consultation" so be it. If they have to lock Bob Rae in a closet for two months while Michael Ignaetieff is anointed in some smoke-filled backroom, that's fine too. But remember, as Stephen Janke points out, this is a party that can't afford a working digital camera and is helpless when the auto-focus on the old one they DO own breaks down.
And these people want to organize a virtual convention during the Xmas season? Pretty elaborate for a gang that would have trouble finding the fly on its pants.
And the "grass roots", those people who got behind a back-room deal to topple the current government, are insisting upon "democracy" for themselves? Such a sense of entitlement! They are demanding silver paper when all they can afford, and all they deserve, is cheese.
The "grass roots" ought to be thinking less of what the Party owes them then what it owes that segment of the Canadian population that votes Liberal because they seem the only reasonable alternative to the Canadian Right. And what the party owes us is a minimal display of competence, not the sight of 60,000+ thought vacuums diddling about in the name of their rights for six months while the nation goes into decline.
Update: Rae does the right thing.
Ontario Land Owners Protest Flops
Fewer than a dozen tractors and other machines clogged traffic for a few hours in front of the Parliament Buildings before they left about mid-morning.
Spending time berating the OLA is, I suppose, like pulling the wings off flies, but one of their people has made vague threats against me in the past, so let me just briefly note their ghastly and abject failure.
Spending time berating the OLA is, I suppose, like pulling the wings off flies, but one of their people has made vague threats against me in the past, so let me just briefly note their ghastly and abject failure.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Dozens Of Anti-Coalition Protesters Annoy Ottawanians!
The rural separatists of the Ontario Land Owner's Association have landed in downtown Ottawa with their tractors, slowing traffic and generally being a nuisance.
No word on arrests, but it isn't uncommon that the police throw a few of these guys in jail overnight.
No word on gun play or beatings either.
No word on arrests, but it isn't uncommon that the police throw a few of these guys in jail overnight.
No word on gun play or beatings either.
Good News On Electric Vehicles
Low-speed vehicles such as the ZENN electric car are finally going to be allowed on Ontario roads.
Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said yesterday such city commuter vehicles would be roadworthy – once equipped with additional safety features. Low-speed vehicles 'are a new kind of vehicle and it will take a new set of standards to allow them to be safely driven on Ontario roads,' he said."
The top speed on these things is only about 40K, so obviously they are not highway ready. But if you live downtown in one of the large Metropolises like T.O. or Montreal (where they are already in use), that is usually about all you need (and all you can manage, given the traffic). I can see The City of Toronto itself making use of these things--they already employ a small fleet of smart cars.
Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said yesterday such city commuter vehicles would be roadworthy – once equipped with additional safety features. Low-speed vehicles 'are a new kind of vehicle and it will take a new set of standards to allow them to be safely driven on Ontario roads,' he said."
The top speed on these things is only about 40K, so obviously they are not highway ready. But if you live downtown in one of the large Metropolises like T.O. or Montreal (where they are already in use), that is usually about all you need (and all you can manage, given the traffic). I can see The City of Toronto itself making use of these things--they already employ a small fleet of smart cars.
The company website can be found here, a good Western Standard piece on Zenn cars can be found here.
Coming From The Coalition's Chief Salesman, There Is A Certain Irony To This
But the Rae camp says that choosing a leader behind closed doors is not the right move for the Liberal party.
Although, to give Mr. Rae credit, he has been a fine team player ever since becoming a Liberal and I suspect, esp. if LeBlanc pulls out of the leadership race today, that he will do the right thing.
Although, to give Mr. Rae credit, he has been a fine team player ever since becoming a Liberal and I suspect, esp. if LeBlanc pulls out of the leadership race today, that he will do the right thing.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Not A Bad Idea?
In Winnipeg to pitch his support for the Liberal-NDP coalition as a viable alternative to the Harper government, Rae responded to a question from his audience about whether a new Liberal leader could be in place by next month.
“Well, I would support that if we could do one-person, one-vote,” said the MPfor Toronto Centre. “If the party said, ‘We need to find an alternative quickly — can we just simply let the members of the party vote on who the leader should be?’ I would accept that. And I would accept the results
Of course, this would leave open the possibility of Torys joining the party en masse to skew the vote in one direction or another. That is what happened when David Orchard ran for the PC leadership. Hundreds of unsympathetic types (like me) paid the $10 membership feet and voted for Orchard, sending the race to an expensive and embarrassing run-off (eventually won by Joe Clark).
But there must be away to short-circuit that possibility, if it is seen as undesirable.
“Well, I would support that if we could do one-person, one-vote,” said the MPfor Toronto Centre. “If the party said, ‘We need to find an alternative quickly — can we just simply let the members of the party vote on who the leader should be?’ I would accept that. And I would accept the results
Of course, this would leave open the possibility of Torys joining the party en masse to skew the vote in one direction or another. That is what happened when David Orchard ran for the PC leadership. Hundreds of unsympathetic types (like me) paid the $10 membership feet and voted for Orchard, sending the race to an expensive and embarrassing run-off (eventually won by Joe Clark).
But there must be away to short-circuit that possibility, if it is seen as undesirable.
Add Up The Figures
...for all these pro- and anti-coalition rallies together and you still don't match the total of May 2008's Global Marijuana March, which saw 20,000 participants.
God bless Canada.
God bless Canada.
A Coalition If Necessary, But Not Necessarily A Coalition
The Tories are shifting bodies around in advance of their auto-sector bailout package:
Newmarket-Aurora MP Lois Brown has been named vice-chairperson of the Conservative Party's auto caucus.
The committee is responsible for meeting with representatives of the Canadian auto industry and bringing forward recommendations to Industry Minister Tony Clement.
So my question is: if, as many people seem to be suggesting, the Tory's January budget contains something substantial in the way of an auto-sector bailout and general stimulus package (and none of the economic update's poison pills), where does that leave The Coalition?
My personal opinion is that it will have served its purpose, and should at that time be abandoned. What would its ongoing rationale be? Merely to take power away from the Conservatives? Such a strategy may well lead to electoral disaster down the road, esp. if the government falls in, say, mid-Febraury and the GG decides that enough time has passed for another election to be a preferable option to coalition rule.
No. It is far better for the opposition parties to let the government of the day implement the opposition agenda. That is what this is about, right? What policies are operative, not who gets to put them in place.
Newmarket-Aurora MP Lois Brown has been named vice-chairperson of the Conservative Party's auto caucus.
The committee is responsible for meeting with representatives of the Canadian auto industry and bringing forward recommendations to Industry Minister Tony Clement.
So my question is: if, as many people seem to be suggesting, the Tory's January budget contains something substantial in the way of an auto-sector bailout and general stimulus package (and none of the economic update's poison pills), where does that leave The Coalition?
My personal opinion is that it will have served its purpose, and should at that time be abandoned. What would its ongoing rationale be? Merely to take power away from the Conservatives? Such a strategy may well lead to electoral disaster down the road, esp. if the government falls in, say, mid-Febraury and the GG decides that enough time has passed for another election to be a preferable option to coalition rule.
No. It is far better for the opposition parties to let the government of the day implement the opposition agenda. That is what this is about, right? What policies are operative, not who gets to put them in place.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Ezra On Separatism: Then And Now
Now.
Then:
Levant favoured Quebec separatism and a yes vote during the 1995 Quebec referendum in a Calgary Sun column titled "10 Reasons to Hope for a Yes Victory"[4] Among his 10 reasons were Levant's views that the departure of Quebec from Canadian confederation would lead to the elimination of bilingualism and multiculturalism, that it would give the Canadian government the "fortitude" to say no to "other special interest groups" such as First Nations and environmentalists; it would end corruption in Parliament which Levant blamed on Quebec politicians; and would clear the way for Preston Manning to become Prime Minister of Canada.[5]
In 1996, Levant wrote a column saying that if the federal Liberals were re-elected, Alberta could separate from Canada making it "free from Quebec's demands."[5]
We are at war with Eastasia. We've always been at war with Eastasia.
Meanwhile, it looks like the surge in Tory support was a temporary "rally 'round the flag" effect, and already starting to fade.
Then:
Levant favoured Quebec separatism and a yes vote during the 1995 Quebec referendum in a Calgary Sun column titled "10 Reasons to Hope for a Yes Victory"[4] Among his 10 reasons were Levant's views that the departure of Quebec from Canadian confederation would lead to the elimination of bilingualism and multiculturalism, that it would give the Canadian government the "fortitude" to say no to "other special interest groups" such as First Nations and environmentalists; it would end corruption in Parliament which Levant blamed on Quebec politicians; and would clear the way for Preston Manning to become Prime Minister of Canada.[5]
In 1996, Levant wrote a column saying that if the federal Liberals were re-elected, Alberta could separate from Canada making it "free from Quebec's demands."[5]
We are at war with Eastasia. We've always been at war with Eastasia.
Meanwhile, it looks like the surge in Tory support was a temporary "rally 'round the flag" effect, and already starting to fade.
Something Zerby Notes
...but which I missed: Harper fails to recant cuts to pay equity.
And a point that did not get alot of play elsewhere in the MSM. Interesting who the Torys think its safe to screw over.
And a point that did not get alot of play elsewhere in the MSM. Interesting who the Torys think its safe to screw over.
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