Confessions of a Shiftless Mind

Heh… Before I get to the meat of this post, I want to point out a bit of amusement from Blogette - during her liveblog of the vote yesterday she had this to say, “…And here’s Gurmant ‘I Would Do Anything For Love, But I Won’t Do That’ Grewal!” Most amusing.

Stephen Harper has a thankless job. Everyone second guesses him. The media demonizes him. His own party attacks him. Despite everything he has done for this country, (I am thinking of his efforts during the separation referendum and the Clarity Act’s origin with him), he is the fall guy. Even amongst the blogosphere, calls for his head have begun - I can only imagine what is being said in the halls of the Loyal Opposition in Ottawa. The Captain’s Quarters make a call for him to step down. I disagree. I think that is the biggest problem with Conservatives in Canada right now - they are too quick to discard leadership. Use him, if he makes a misstep, turf him and get someone better. As long as the Conservatives have a rotating leadership without consistency, they will get nowhere. Fear of the unknown is what is keeping Canada voting Liberal. They see history, consistency. I would argue consistent mismanagement and a history of bungles, but hey. I am not Joe Canadian. They look at the Conservatives, and they see leader after leader held up, vilified as the spooky unknown, and then discarded. Problem is, as long as there is new leadership there will be fears of what he stands for. The longer a guy is in the public eye the more Canadians get to know him and the less scary they seem to be. One day they become a tradition, a rock to be relied upon because they are always there. That day has not yet come, but it is coming. If the Conservatives throw off Harper and elect another leader I will put money down right now the Liberals “allow” a non-confidence vote within 6 months of the new leader’s election. They want a new Conservative leader. They want someone unused to the spotlight. They want someone new they can make into the scary unknown factor that wants to tear this nation apart. The longer Harper stays in office as leader, the less they can claim he is scary and has a hidden agenda.

I am not the only one who thinks it would be a massive mistake to discard Harper. Canadianna has an insightful piece today that talks about how Conservatism’s biggest enemy today is within. It is bad enough that the press is hopelessly biased against us, and the Liberals, well we expect them to badmouth us at every turn. But the infighting that happens amongst Conservatives is beyond the pale. She is right in pointing out that in the Liberal Party there is room for all - for power-hungry unethical monsters all the way down to principled people of conscience. They may not agree, but they don’t stab their leader in the back (until the leader is a billion years old and actually looks like he is almost ready to step aside, then the knives of succession come out, don’t they Mr. Martin?) With Conservatives, we are all to happy to call for our leader’s head and echo the cry of the media, agreeing with our enemies. Ridiculous.

The fact is, Stephen Harper is human. He is still the best chance we have got. Especially in the growing threat of separatism, when the call to an election comes, and it WILL come, Stephen Harper can lead the charge, if he is allowed to run on his strengths - his record of saving Canada, his fiscal responsibility, his ethics and his desire to make a better Canada that includes Quebec. I agree that the time has come for Conservatives to build a real platform and communicate it to the public. The time has come to let the backbenchers beat at the government, and use the leadership team to begin enunciating a platform that will save this nation - that starts with justice and ends with unity.

Some couldn’t make sense of Mr. Harper’s response to Mr. Martin’s post-vote call for a return to cooperation and decorum. I thought it made perfect sense. His caucus speech also hit the nail on the head. He wants to move his party forward. He wants to make clear a vision for Canada. Inviting the media into the caucus is exactly the kind of openness that will endear him to Canadians and dispel forever the “hidden agenda” myth. Given the hostility of the media in general, I think the CPC needs to start blowing election money right now, in educating the public on what it really stands for. Canadians need to know before the next non-Confidence vote, what they will be getting from a Conservative government. They need to know what will make them different. Get to work, boys.

I am actually really embarrassed this morning. Yesterday, I bore witness to the fallibility of a man who voted to support the most disgusting corruption ever to besmirch the Canadian landscape. It angered me. I sought solace in the Psalms. It worked - kind of. I became less angry, but more depressed. The whole evening I sank into a funk of the darkest kind. I wanted to sleep. I couldn’t sleep. I ended up staying up until 11pm (which sucks because I work at 6am and need to be up at 5am). All because of my MP. My MP who SAYS he was voting the wishes of his constituents, but in fact spouted the exact lines that Gurmant Grewal’s tape indicates what the Liberals wanted him to say. He says he was guided by polls of his constituents who don’t want an election. However, the poll was conducted on his behalf by CTV, known to support the Liberals. The phrasing of the question resulted in answers which weren’t pertinent to the question Cadman wanted answered, but I can only surmise he either didn’t understand or chose to ignore that fact.

The question facing his constituents was not “Do you like the Liberal Budget as it stands” or “Do you want to go to the polls in June to elect government again”. It was, “Do you believe the Liberal government needs to be held accountable to the public for supporting mafia MPs, handing out judicial appointments to Liberal campaign volunteers, and driving Quebec away from Canada by embezzling money earmarked for promoting unity in Quebec into Liberal Party coffers to finance re-election campaigns?” To that could be added, “Do you also want to hold the government accountable for offering bribes to opposition members to stay away from voting or to join their cabinet?” Mr. Cadman surely must know that his constituents would have said yes to such a question, which is what those votes yesterday were really about. So, then the question becomes, what was said to him by Mr. Martin that convinced him that he should prop up such corruption?

I think I’ll ask him. I am going to send a link to this blog and see if he responds.

It is in times like this that the only place to turn for justice is to the Almighty. Fellow bloggers, I point you to Psalm 37 in the wake of the Liberals’ success at keeping their corrupt and illegitimate government in place for one more week. A short commentary will intersperse the verses.

1 ^[a] Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;

² for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.

³ Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:

⁶ He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.

We need patience at a time like this. They will succeed at their wicked schemes sometimes. They have today - conspiring and plotting and bribing everyone they could.

⁸ Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.

A wise consideration. In spite of the anger that is natural to feel in the face of such a mockery of ethics and morals in our nation’s leadership, we must not sink to their level or encourage others to.

⁹ For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

God knows - when they are tossed out of office, those who stood fast and did not return evil for evil, they will be lifted up.

¹⁰ A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.

¹¹ But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy great peace.

¹² The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;

¹³ but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.

¹⁵ But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶ Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;

A comfort in the face of the two faces of our “government for the little guy” - in Stronach and Martin, two billionaire business owners. I am sure they caredeeply for Joe Taxpayer or Ralph the Homeless Guy.

¹⁷ for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.

¹⁸ The days of the blameless are known to the LORD,
and their inheritance will endure forever.

¹⁹ In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

²⁰ But the wicked will perish:
The LORD’s enemies will be like the beauty of the fields,
they will vanish—vanish like smoke.

²¹ The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;

An interesting dichotomy - with al lthe spending authorized by this budget passed today, it is clear the Liberals are borrowing and have no interest in repaying. They will spend our money but no, they will not reduce taxes. Canadians don’t want to pay less taxes, do we?

It reminds me of the fact that to this day, the money that Canadians gave, out of their own pockets, to be matched by our federal government for the aid of the Tsunami victims, HAS YET TO BE GIVEN. We give generously, but unwisely, to the untrustworthy government who only wishes to borrow, and never repay.

²² those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be cut off.

²³ If the LORD delights in a man’s way,
he makes his steps firm;

²⁴ though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

Stephen Harper, I think we all know, has stumbled of late. He has not made perfect moves. Maybe he could have done something to keep Stronach on side for one more day. Maybe there was something else he could have done to sway public opinion (though clearly Paul Martin couldn’t care a whit what public opinion is - he can just throw money at it and get it back). But he is still standing today. He will finish the task set before him.

²⁵ I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.

²⁶ They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be blessed.

²⁷ Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.

²⁸ For the LORD loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
They will be protected forever,
but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off;

For those of you who would read into all this cutting off, no, I am not saying we should be the ones to cut off the Liberals. Maybe in the ballot box, but that is it. God will see their undoing on His terms, in His manner, and all we need to do is watch.

²⁹ the righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is just.

Keep it up, Mr. Harper.

³¹ The law of his God is in his heart;
his feet do not slip.

³² The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
seeking their very lives;

Indeed, he seeks to buy their lives for his caucus. They lie in wait to offer them the world, a throne, anything to support their evil lordship.

³³ but the LORD will not leave them in their power
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.

³⁴ Wait for the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

Now that I can wait for. That assurance is sorely needed right now.

³⁵ I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,

³⁶ but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.

³⁷ Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
there is a future ^[b] for the man of peace.

³⁸ But all sinners will be destroyed;
the future ^[c] of the wicked will be cut off.

³⁹ The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

⁴⁰ The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.

Resting in the wisdom of this Psalm is calming to the heart. I know I sorely needed to read this. I hope you enjoyed it too.

I am not sure why I am doing this.

I actually kind of agree with the author of this piece, Ike Awgu, when he says the Conservative Party is done. Something stirred in me again, when he started talking about how Harper engineered an “unholy alliance” with separatists. This sounds like standard Liberal Party Line stuff. I have heard it many times before in many other articles in newspapers and other major new media, but I want to take a bash at this dim view of Harper working with Gilles Duceppe.

First, there is a big difference between an alliance and agreeing on the same thing. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is true no matter what political stripe you are, and the pragmatic politician knows this. Harper and Duceppe are both solid politicians - Duceppe knows what a key role Harper played in the separation referendum, and what a staunch federalist he is. He also knows they diametrically opposed to each other on social issues. Yet, he knows that working with Harper to bring down the government will help his party run the Liberals out of Quebec. He has his eyes on the prize, and as long as the legislation to be voted on does not cause them to disagree, they will vote together. This is not an alliance. This is coincidental voting.

It is bizarre that anyone would have a problem with this. Do these same “unholy alliance” people criticize Winston Churchill for working with Josef Stalin to bring down Nazi Germany? No question untold hardship and suffering was visited on the people of Eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain, but I don’t think anyone disagrees with the fact that it would have been MUCH WORSE had Nazis continued to dominate Europe.

Harper I am sure is aware of another truth - the latest surge in separatism is not based on actual nationalism or a sense that Quebec would be better off with Canada. It also was not fomented by Gilles Duceppe. It was started, encouraged, and finally whipped into a conflagration by one party: the Liberals. It has happened because the former finance minister was complicit at the very least, and at worst actively involved in dumping money into Quebec to discourage separatism and launder money back into the Liberal Party coffers from the government’s general revenue. Quebec doesn’t want to leave Canada. Quebec wants to leave the Liberals.

The Bloc Quebecois is no longer, and has not been for a while, a separatist party. It is a regional party. It is still a one issue party, but its cause is not the secession of Quebec from Canada - its cause is the promoting of Quebec’s interest at the federal level. Quebeckers feel they are best served by a party that has theirs and only their best interests at heart. They can identify with Harper because in some respects, he has the same view for the West. The West, like Quebec, feels disenfranchised. The West, like Quebec, feels that the Liberals don’t really care about them (and they are right).

So, we have two men, who have sympathies for regionalism, working together - not for the death of Canada, but for the rebirth of Canada. They both know that the force that is driving this nation apart is a corrupt Liberal Party. This party is pitting region against region, keeping them all fighting with each other, so they don’t have time to fight them. And it has worked - until now. That is why the Liberals’ kid gloves have come off and now they are using every single resource they have, legal and illegal to stymie what has finally become an alliance of regions against a central government who is ripping off everyone and bribing them with their own money.

They both want to drive the Liberals from power, because given the chance they WILL do something radical and extreme to most Canadians - they will make this nation a better place. They will heal the wounds that divide the regions. They will yes, likely weaken central control in Ottawa, but Canada will remain, and in better shape than ever. How much better off will we be without a billion dollars vanishing into Human Resources? How much better off will we be without hundreds of millions of dollars being laundered into Liberal coffers? How much better off will we be without billions of dollars blown on a gun registry? How much better off will we be with a reformed justice system that actually punishes criminals? How much better off will we be with judges who did not get appointed because they volunteered for a Liberal candidate’s campaign?

I would love to hear how the nation wouldn’t be better with a coalition of Conservatives and Bloc running it.

Dear Mr. Cadman,

One more time I want to implore you please do not vote to support this obviously corrupt Liberal government. As a member of your constituency, I must insist that you give the Canadian public a chance to judge Mr. Martin and his MPs for the atrocious things they are doing to our government and our nation.

The budget is a pretext that Martin has forced upon you and the other parties, to avoid responsibility for all the things he has done or permitted. He could have been fair and allowed a vote on something else. He could have had this budget passed weeks ago before it was manipulated in an effort to buy support from the NDP, and still had the goodwill of the Conservative party. He chose to set you up like this.

With the events of recent days, it has become more clear than ever that Mr. Martin represents the most corrupt, power-hungry Prime Minister that has ever darkened Ottawa. He has handed out judicial appointments to volunteers on his campaigns. He has bought MPs like Belinda Stronach who has proven to have as few scruples as he. He has continued in the face of this to deny that he is efforting even more MPs like your constituency neighbours, the Grewals to join. This is ridiculous. I can only conclude by the polling numbers you quoted to CanWest Global, that most of your constituents are not aware of what is really going on in Ottawa right now. I am, as I deeply care about where this country is going, where many of my fellow constituents do not really care, and only see the bother of having to put up with political ads and voting more often than absolutely necessary.

Again, please recognize that a poll asking if constituents want to go to the polls or not is not the question that should be asked. the question that should be asked is, “Do you think that the Liberals should be held accountable for the breaches in public trust that have come to light as a result of the Sponsorship Scandal and via their response to clear non-confidence in the house?” The answer I am sure you would find, would be a resounding Yes!

Yours Respectfully,

Shane Edwards

So now a local MP whom I have actually met has gone to the media with offers made to himself and his wife from the Liberals. Mr. and Mrs. Grewal say they have a tape which contains proof of Liberals tying to get them out of hte vote picture.

The tape is of Ujjal Dosanjh, Health Minister and ex-BC Premier for the NDP, saying that they would like the Grewals to abstain from voting in the coming confidence votes in return for “future considerations”. He also suggests that he can make some accusations from Volpe that the Grewals helped some people immigrate for money go away. Further, the tape makes mention that 3 or 4 other Conservatives have been made offers as well.

Of course, Dosanjh denies it all. the Liberals deny it all. They claim the Grewals approached THEM about crossing the floor. I don’t believe that for a second. Further, I am mystified in light of the Stronach crossing, that the Liberals are even bothering to deny this at all! I mean, come on! We know they are doing it! We have proof - Stronach actually bought what they were selling!

And I won’t even go into how much stock I put in Ujjal Dosanjh’s integrity. He was a minister under the scandal plagued administration of Glen Clark in BC then took over leadership just in time to see his party lambasted so badly, they resembled closely the Progressive Conservatives under Kim Campbell. He stews on that for a year or so then signs up as a Liberal - the same party his opponent, Gordon Campbell represented, to walk into a cabinet position under Martin. One more turncoat, one more rookie MP turncoat to get a plum cabinet post while the die-hard Liberal backbenchers who sweated it out under Chretien get passed over some more.

I wonder why we don’t see open rebellion yet under Martin… probably because they are all too busy saving their own hides to attack their leader.

Hmm… in that regard, Martin has done one thing right. When he had a firm grip on power, his caucus became fractious. However, since the CPC went on the offensive about bringing down the party, those restless Liberals managed to caulk all the leaky seams in the Good Ship Liberal Party. As long as the storm is lashing, they’ll hold fast. When the storm subsides, she’ll start leaking again.

Too bad the storm can’t just crack open the hull and force this fractious crew to go to the polls.

My take: Good. The Liberals won. Better than the NDP winning.

The seat split: don’t care. The Liberals won with a clear enough majority that we won’t have to worry about the odd byelection.

Green Party Leader Carr failed to get elected: HA HA! Wonder if she will run again?

My candidate, Brenzinger failed to get re-elected: D’oh! And worse: the NDP Ralston got in! My wife met him when he came door-knocking early in the campaign and told me he was a lawyer who stumbled all over himself and didn’t sound very confident. How did he get elected? Clearly it must be about the leader, not the stiff running in the riding.

Secondly, the DRBC dragged Brenzinger down - too fringe a party to take advantage of her incumbency.

Daniel Igali: Good. I didn’t want to see him get used by the Liberals as a pony show.

Mary Polak: HA! Joke’s on all those twits who hate her for standing up for parents as a member of the Surrey School Board! Let me explain something to all those who spewed vitriol at her since that whole thing with the books started. We elect people who represent their constituency! Her constituency as a School Board Trustee was the parents. The parents don’t want homosexuality-normalizing propaganda foisted on their impressionable 5 YEAR OLDS! We can teach our kids to love and respect all people without those books thank you very much! Because she understood this and stood up for her constituents, against a bunch of thugs and bullies who want to cram political correctness down everyone’s throats and coerce the world into applauding their every move, she got elected. The people of Langley know they are getting a politican who actually plans to represent THEM not some lobby group’s agenda.

Lastly, Mr. Campbell: DO NOT take this re-election as a license to privatize all the precious resources of this province and sell them all to the highest American bidder. We re-elected your party because you have done a passable job of allowing us to take advantage of our positioning on the pacific rim, of our bountiful natural resources, and of our supernatural natural beauty. Continue in moderation and you will continue to be re-elected. Protect what is BC’s, preserve it for the next generation and you will be applauded as a great leader, not the drunken fool you managed to show us after one year in office.

“On a personal level Stronach, a moderate, is probably a better fit with
the Liberals…”

M.K.Braaten posted this article out of the Toronto Star. The above statement concerns me, because of the implication. The implication is that moderates reside in the Liberal Party, and in reciprocal fashion, the extremists reside in the Conservative party.

Funny how language changes isn’t it? At one time, “conservative” meant moderate. It meants keeping things relatively status quo. It meant traditionalism, tried-and-true. “Liberal” was once synonymous with radical, with change, with moving boundaries, with stretching to limits and beyond. With living on the edge, with extreme choices. Now they have successfully flipped.

Or have they?

I mean, in the good old days, government was small. People were free to do what they wanted, police enforced laws and criminals went to jail. Last time I checked, the Conservative party was for smaller government, stronger sentences, and less invasion into personal privacy and lives of citizens. You would think it would be easy to sell this to the public.

However, I am becoming concerned that the Conservatives are losing their direction. They seem to be losing focus completely. Now, they are morphing into what I can only describe as “uncorrupt Liberals”. But people won’t buy that.

I won’t buy that. I don’t want to vote for a party who is just not corrupt - mainly because neither I nor anyone else really believes that an entire party can be free from corruption. It is all about degrees. I want an alternative. I want a party that stands for something.

At least the Bloc is clear about what it stands for: separatism and Quebec. The Liberals don’t have to stand for anything because they have the power. But the Conservatives, who want to supplant the Liberals - they MUST stand for SOMETHING or Canadians will have no reason to change.

I can’t believe it. My righteous indignation towards Ontarian voters is finally starting to ebb. I thought they just couldn’t see what the Conservatives stand for. Maybe it is me that is blind. Maybe I am the one with the wool pulled over my eyes, trying to see that the CPC still has its roots in the highly principled Reform Party, or the slightly less principled Alliance Party. Only now am I beginning to see that the CPC is no longer grounded by those firm roots, and is simply adrift, like the Liberals on the sea of voters’ apathy. If they can’t put down some roots and stand for something I may not even be able to muster the fortitude to vote for them.

I sure as heck won’t vote Liberal. Or NDP. And I am not sure about the CPC. What does that leave me with as a Western Canadian?

Local interests. Time to form the Bloc Occidental.

I am a PROPHET!

AMAZING!

Belinda Stronach has crossed the floor! She is now a Liberal Cabinet Minister!

I posted this weeks ago, calling her a Liberal plant! I was right!

This is mind-blowing. I never really considered that my joke had any substance… it was fed by the typical conspiracy delusions… but there were too many coincidences… she is from a major corporation like Martin, she is very socially liberal, she is an Eastern urbanite… and now she turns coat, flip-flops and abandons all her principles for power. It is almost like she is a young, female Paul Martin!

Didn’t she just run for leadership of the Conservatives a few months ago? And now she is a LIBERAL Cabinet minister! Disgusting!

Whee! I get to go vote today!

Here’s hoping the Libs get back in… this is the same hope that hopes to see a thief get elected instead of a murderer… not that I think that Carole James is a murderer. She isn’t, but her party has done its best to kill all that is good in this province, and it would be a cold day in Ecuador when I wish that party back into power. The Libs are crooks, but they haven’t tried destroying the province yet, and they have proven they do on occasion listen to the people. If they use this election as a license to privatize BC Hydro though… I think they will graduate to murderers.

Did I say that? Well, I can at least caveat that I won’t be electing one… my riding features the incumbent Elayne Benzinger, who abandoned the Liberals in a fit of ethics. Now she has hooked up with the fledgling Democratic Reform Party, whose leader was shunned from the leadership debates. I am happy to support her incumbency, and send someone not a Liberal or NDP to the legislature.

Sadly, DRBC are not running high profile candidates in every riding. Heck, I don’t know if they are running candidates in every riding. They have to start somewhere… and heck. If Elayne gets in and a couple of her buddies get there too… then they’ll be miles ahead of the Green Party who seem to get into the leadership debates yet have never EVER elected one representative!

You know, can I just say I love living in a province where all major media are owned by Canwest Global? Really! I do! It makes for such fair, balanced, reliable news!