The – 777.68 Point Plunge
by matttbastard
Bailout compromise bill fails. Dow subsequently plummets by a record figure (nine-eleven-shmine-eleven). TSX also plummets by a record figure, throwing a wild card onto the Canadian election table. All this capped off a day in which global markets took a major league ass-whipping (most of which, it should be noted, occurred before the bailout flame-out).
To quote Paul Krugman (who, in turn, quotes himself)
So what we now have is non-functional government in the face of a major crisis, because Congress includes a quorum of crazies and nobody trusts the White House an inch.
As a friend said last night, we’ve become a banana republic with nukes.
Heck of a motherfucking job, kiddies.
Not that I’m fully convinced, contra certain quarters I normally find myself agreeing with more often than not, that it was imperative to pass this bill right fucking now (an ambivalence further cultivated by the knowledge that the much-ballyhooed $700 billion figure was arbitrarily yanked out of some Treasury Department flunky’s ass because they “just wanted to choose a really large number” to put the fear of smoking guns and mushroom clouds into everyone’s heads). Nor is it at all apparent that Paulson’s preferred solution to the credit crisis was the only viable one (see this list of alternative proposals not currently on the table, h/t Sarah J via tweet).
But if this:
really is the primary reason House Republicans chidlishly chose to flip the bird to Democratic and Republican House Leaders (not to mention Secretary Paulson, President Bush, and John “Coalition Builder” McCain), then each and every one of the GOP dissenters up for reelection in November deserves to be unceremoniously turfed from office for being a bunch of petty, shallow, self-absorbed drama-queens apparently more concerned with partisan preening than the economic health of the nation (if not the world).
Speaking of petty, shallow, self-absorbed drama queens and partisan preening:
From the minute John McCain suspended his campaign and arrived in Washington to address this crisis, he was attacked by the Democratic leadership: Senators Obama and Reid, Speaker Pelosi and others. Their partisan attacks were an effort to gain political advantage during a national economic crisis. By doing so, they put at risk the homes, livelihoods and savings of millions of American families.
Barack Obama failed to lead, phoned it in, attacked John McCain, and refused to even say if he supported the final bill.
Just before the vote, when the outcome was still in doubt, Speaker Pelosi gave a strongly worded partisan speech and poisoned the outcome.
This bill failed because Barack Obama and the Democrats put politics ahead of country.
No, Senator McCain, this bill failed because you, someone who has applied to become leader of the fucking free world, couldn’t whip your own goddamn party (the GOP, aka the party of fiscal responsibility, ideas and utter fucking bullshit) into line, you puerile sack of monkey shit. You demonstratively “suspended” your campaign, snatched the ball out of Pelosi, Paulson and Bush’s hands, started to do an endzone celebration on the 20 yard line and quite spectacularly fumbled it before crossing the goal.
As Marc Ambinder observed:
Two thirds of…Republicans voted for its defeat…after a weekend of telephone call diplomacy from McCain.
Nancy Pelosi may have given a partisan speech, but she was able to get most of her Democrats on board….
Mother fuck ‘em and John Wayne.
More on Sarah Palin and Book-Banning
by matttbastard
The Nation has just published a very informative investigative piece by Michelle Goldberg, author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, further exploring the connections between Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin and the Christian right. The entire article is worth reading, but I wanted to highlight the following passage, which sheds more light on a now-infamous alleged incident from 1997 involving Palin and the Wasilla Public Library:
Much has been made of Palin’s gestures toward book-banning as mayor. To understand what happened, it’s useful to realize that the Mat-Su Valley was in the middle of a roiling controversy over a book by [Howard Bess, a local retired liberal Baptist minister], titled Pastor, I Am Gay. Bess, 80, is deeply respected by the Valley’s small progressive community. Educated at Northwestern’s Garrett Biblical Institute — now called the Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary — he comes from a Baptist tradition committed to church-state separation. In 1980 he left his church in Santa Barbara, California, to become pastor of Anchorage First American Baptist. Over the years Bess developed an intense concern about gay rights, and he went out of his way to welcome gay people into his Anchorage church. After he had served seven years at First Baptist, the board of the church asked him to lower his profile on the issue. Unwilling to do so, he resigned, took early retirement and ended up moving to Palmer to pastor a tiny liberal congregation, the Church of the Covenant, which he did without pay.Bess published Pastor, I Am Gay in 1995. It recounts his experiences ministering to gay men and lesbians, calls for the church to take a stand against discrimination and even draws parallels between the experience of gay people and that of Jesus. “They are despised and rejected,” he wrote. “They suffer and are acquainted with infirmity. They are rejected by a perversion of justice. Is it possible that the will of the Lord will prosper through them?”Local conservatives, including at Wasilla Assembly of God, mobilized against the book. Christian bookstores as well as secular retailers refused to sell it. Bess donated two copies to the Wasilla Public Library, but they vanished from the shelves, so he donated more. The atmosphere toward Bess was toxic; a 1997 cartoon in the Frontiersman showed a slobbering, doll-clutching pedophile approaching his church, whose sign said, Wasilla Church of the Covenant. Howard Bess, Pastor. All Sinners Welcome! Bible Interpretations to Suit Your “Lifestyle.”Most reports have said that, when asking about banning books, Palin never mentioned any specific titles, but the presence of Pastor, I Am Gay in the library was, at the time, a matter of fierce contention. “I’m as sure that that book was at issue with Sarah Palin as I am that I’m talking to you right now,” said Bess.
Providential coincidence, or small-town cheap homophobic conspiracy? Stay tuned, true believers.
Related: Fareed Zakaria dons his Captain Obvious pajamas, declaring Palin to be “utterly unqualified to be vice president”; has the bar on Palin been set so low that it’s entirely possible for her to ‘win’ Thursday’s VP debate?
I Heart Conservative Ethics (Almost as Much as Conservatives Heart Uppity Women)
by matttbastard
A now-infamously short-lived Conservative candidate may be facing a REAL shit-creek legal situation (sans paddle, of course).
Rosamund Luke, purportedly a member of R.E.A.L. women and until a week ago Conservative candidate for the Halifax riding, may be facing a criminal investigation regarding the disappearance of funds allocated to her [organization] by Status of Women Canada, under the New™ guidelines established by the Harper government.
Ms Luke was the executive director of an organization called All Women’s Empowerment and Development Association, the beneficiary of $142,700 federal grant last March from Status of Women Canada. The funding was meant to fund a 12-month pilot project to integrate low-income immigrant women into Nova Scotia’s small business community. About $130,000. is missing, according to the two remaining board members who fired Ms Luke. The association, whose goal was to bring economic independence to immigrant women, provided financial help to only seven women. Seven women.
That total does not include Ms Luke, who may have been quite well served by her turn as director of the organization. Transparency and accountability, it’s the Conservative way of doing business.
Heh. Indeed.
(PS–read the whole damn thing)
Related: NDP MP Peter Stoffer’s letter to Auditor General Shelia Fraser formally requesting an investigation into the circumstances of how the grant was awarded:
Tuesday 23 September 2008
Sheila Fraser, FCA
Auditor General of CanadaOffice of the Auditor General of Canada
240 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G6Dear Ms Fraser:
I am writing to you to formally request an investigation by your office into a $142,700 grant by Status of Women Canada to a group calling itself the All Women’s Empowerment and Development Association (AWEDA).
I’m confident you are aware of recent media coverage concerning the Halifax-based organization as well as the controversy concerning its executive director Rosamond Luke and her political activities on behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Most recently, today’s Halifax Chronicle Herald reports deeply worrying details about the decision by AWEDA’s board of directors to remove Ms. Luke from her position “citing accounting irregularities”.
The department’s Grant and Contribution disclosure record states that the $142,700 grant was awarded on March 2008. It also says that the project it is purposed to be in support of as follows: “This 12 month pilot project is designed to enable and integrate low-income immigrant women in Nova Scotia society through entrepreneurship, self-employment and micro enterprise projects.”
The very same Chronicle Herald article states that the doors of the program, opened near the Armdale Rotary, have now been closed – only six months into the 12 month pilot project.
I am personally supportive of the mission of the grant, and am now grievously worried that public funds approved by parliament for one purpose may have been used for a very different one. This is why I am hoping your office will take appropriate measures to ensure that this was not the case.
I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.
Sincerely,
Peter Stoffer, MP
Sackville—Eastern Shore
The Grits Go There
by matttbastard
Liberals call out Conservatives on Bernier-Couillard scandal, Uncle Steve goes on the defensive:
The Liberal Party called on members of the Harper government today to divulge any information in their possession on the Bernier-Couillard affair to the RCMP.
While the RCMP refused to comment on its investigation, Liberal candidate Bob Rae said that people with information on the matter should not wait for the Mounties to come to their doors.
“The RCMP is investigating this with the seriousness it deserves. In contrast, the Harper government has shown an appalling lack of judgment on this whole affair. It has no choice but to fully co-operate with the RCMP now,” Mr. Rae said in an early morning statement.
The Liberal Party was picking up on a report in The Globe and Mail that the RCMP are pursuing the politically charged investigation in the midst of the federal election campaign.
[...]
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said he knows nothing about the investigation, but he nonetheless added that members of his government are not the target of the probe. Trying to contain any political fallout, a bristling Mr. Harper returned at the end of a news conference to a question from a Globe reporter who asked whether it would be appropriate for the RCMP to interview Mr. Bernier during the election campaign.
[...]
“I want to make it absolutely clear, because I do not want this story distorted: There is no suggestion that the RCMP is investigating Minister Bernier. Period. Quite frankly, any question that tries to suggest otherwise is misleading and inaccurate,” Mr. Harper said.
[...]
“Let’s be very clear: Mr. Bernier and nobody in this government is under investigation by the RCMP. The RCMP, we understand from stories, may be investigating some private individuals, but frankly I do not know if that’s true and I do not know the details,” he said.
As they say, developing.
Related: RCMP actively probes Couillard affair, patronage allegations surface: The Globe and Mail.
She goes away
by matttbastard
Just When You Thought PETA Had Run Out of Misogynist Publicity Stunts…
by matttbastard
Once again, PETA makes me want to call up Beck and say ‘hey, fuck MTV–HERE’S some real freebase inspiration for ya!”
This morning PETA sent a letter to Ben and Jerry’s asking them to replace cow’s milk with human breast milk. PETA argues that breast milk is better for the health of Ben and Jerry’s customers, but they don’t take into consideration that mothers may prefer to reserve their milk for their infants.
Look, I realize this is but a modest proposal on PETA’s part. But even Jon Swift (no, not that one) would be hard-pressed to avoid doing some serious armchair psychoanalysis of whichever fluff-drunk puppy-worshipper came up with this latest epic misogynistic FAIL.
Jill nailed it earlier this year:
Animal liberation theory does intersect with feminist theory, and our cultural understanding of animals and food (and animals as food, and women-as-meat) is heavily gendered. But PETA is promoting animal rights at the expense of women’s rights — and that’s not only simplistic, but it’s bad for everyone involved.
Signed. On.
Naomi Klein: “The bomb has yet to detonate”
by matttbastard
Naomi Klein discusses last week’s chaos on Wall Street, and how Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s proposed $700 billion bail-out plan fits the ‘disaster capitalism’ model.
(Video courtesy The Nation)
Greenwald: Right-Wing Hypocrisy is “healthy”
by matttbastard
After surveying some of the right-wing opposition to the $700 billion Paulson bail-out (and acidly noting that such sentiments from these quarters are unfortunately “vital for having any meaningful chance to stop [the Paulson plan]” thanks to the sorry record during the Bush years of craven Democrats in Congress), Glenn Greenwald explains how the sharp, self-interested reversals on display are actually indicative of democracy in action:
The blatant hypocrisy here, while extreme, craven and obvious, is also healthy. Hypocrisy of this sort is actually a vital part of how checks and balances are supposed to work. It is expected that political factions, when in charge of the government, will seek to obtain greater power for themselves, and the check against that is that the “opposition party” will battle and resist — not necessarily out of ideology or principle but due to raw power considerations and self-interest. That is what has been so tragically missing from our political process for the last eight years: while the GOP sought greater and greater government power, Democrats acquiesced almost completely when they weren’t complicitly enabling it. While the Executive was off the charts in terms of the power it seized, the Congress was off the charts in its passivity and eagerness to relinquish its Constitutionally assigned powers to the Bush White House. That’s what has caused the extreme imbalance, with a bloated Republican Party and virtually unlimited presidential power: the failure of Democrats and the Congress to serve as a check on any of that. As their newfound contempt for unlimited power makes conclusively clear, the executive-power-worshipping Republicans of the last eight years — if there is an Obama presidency — will quickly re-discover their limited government power “principles” and won’t be nearly as accommodating.
Related: Jim Johnson on how bipartisanship poses a threat to a healthy US democracy (h/t Crooked Timber):
In terms of consequences, why should we endorse bi-partisanship? That is a fundamentally anti-democratic response. Here I am persuaded by argument by political theorists who, following Joseph Schumpeter (whose conception of democracy is, despite common caricatures, neither a ‘realist’ nor ‘minimalist’), insist that robust competition is crucial to a healthy democracy. For instance, Ian Shapiro* suggests that competition has two salutary effects: (i) it allows voters to throw out incumbents (known more appropriately as ‘the bastards’) and (ii) it pressures the opposition to solicit as wide a range of constituencies as they are able. Given these effects, Shapiro suggests quite pointedly:
If competition for power is the lifeblood of democracy, then the search for bi-partisan consensus … is really anticompetitive collusion in restraint of democracy. Why is it that people do not challenge legislation that has bi-partisan backing, or other forms of bi-partisan agreement on these grounds? …
… Among the crucial empirical observations about partisan polarization in the U.S. is that it reflects the economic bifurcation (in terms of wealth and income mal-distribution) among the population. Because the poor participate at relatively low levels, and because many recent immigrants remain unnaturalized (hence disenfranchised), the constituency for a real alternative to right-wing policies remains politically inchoate. The solution to political polarization is to attack economic inequality, to resist anti-immigration policies, and so forth. That might, in fact, require Democrats to stop their headlong rush to mimic Republicans and prompt them to seek to forge broader and deeper alliances between constituencies that do not now see one another as allies. But that would require the Dems to be political rather than play the bi-partisan game. What we need is more robust competition.
That sonic boom you heard was Johnson’s point swooping over David Broder’s shiny pate.
Update: Greenwald pwns the mother of all shameless partisan hacks, “Captain” Ed Morrissey.
“These trans women make easy, almost socially sanctioned, scapegoats for a litany of issues that they are largely unconnected to and not responsible for.”
by matttbastard
Wendy Babcock, Morgan Page, and Rebecca Hammond have an article in this months issue of FAB Magazine on the Homewood-Maitland Safety Association and its controversial efforts to force transgender sex workers out of the neighbourhood. Although the article isn’t available online, Babcock has posted the text at her blog, the Prostitution in Canada Journal.
A sample:
Homewood and Maitland isn’t the first stroll in Toronto to come under pressure as a consequence of gentrification – so what’s the big deal if this is a sad, but seemingly routine, social process? Homewood and Maitland is unique in that it has historically been known as the trans stroll, making it one of the few safer spots for trans sex workers. Johns here know what they are getting, as one sex worker explained, “in other neighbourhoods the johns don’t know what they’re getting, and they are likely to freak out and assault us.” As working conditions deteriorate thanks to the HMSA, trans women have started working untested areas where they are likely subject to increasing violent attacks.
These trans women make easy, almost socially sanctioned, scapegoats for a litany of issues that they are largely unconnected to and not responsible for. The streets are quiet, save for a few rowdy drunk college kids and the sounds of traffic wafting down from Wellesley. You know, the kind of night soundscape one comes to expect in downtown Toronto. Other residents of the neighbourhood have expressed their dismay to us. “Just tell me what I can do to help the sex workers,” one man said to us. The HMSA is quick to dismiss these other neighbours as unimportant, either because they live on the higher floors of the condos or their opinion goes against HMSA morals.
As they say, read the whole damn thing.
Eve Ensler: Security and insecurity
by matttbastard
Playwright Eve Ensler (The Vagina Monologues) on the paradox of ‘security’.
A Sober Assessment of Canada’s Disregard for Social Injustice
by matttbastard
Even though Stephen Harper has pledged to pull out Canadian combat troops from Afghanistan in 2011, the ongoing economic consequences of Canada’s Afghan policy are still being felt domestically by Canada’s First Nations communities, says Assembly of First Nations national Chief Phil Fontaine.
Mr. Fontaine, wading into the federal election campaign, called on all political parties to build on the June 11 residential schools apology and work toward a reconciliation with native people. That reconciliation will require what he called a “Kelowna-plus” solution, referring to the accord reached three years ago by the previous Liberal government that promised $5-billion to raise the standard of living of aboriginal people to that of other Canadians by 2015. After they were elected, the Conservatives dismissed Kelowna as a flawed press release.
“There’s been $22-billion expended on the Afghan war, and so what is there for first nations people?” Mr. Fontaine asked. “The response we’re looking for from each of the parties is next steps in regards to the eradication of first nations poverty.”
[...]
Mr. Fontaine said the absence of any discussion of native issues in the campaign for the Oct. 14 election is a disservice to all Canadians, and urged the political parties to address those issues in their platforms.
“First nations poverty is the single most important social justice issue in the country and we would expect that each of the parties would do the responsible thing, and that is to engage Canadians,” he said.
There are 27,000 native children in state care, 40 communities without schools, 100 communities under boil-water advisories and serious concerns about housing and health care for people living on reserves, Mr. Fontaine said.
$22 Billion. That kind of cash would sure go a long way to help alleviate crippling levels of poverty among Canada’s First Nations peoples. Of course, all (hollow) apologies aside, one could argue that the Conservative government’s true sentiments with regards to our Aboriginal citizens may have been laid bare earlier this week by an aide to Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon, who, according to the Globe, was caught on tape telling a group of native protesters in Cannon’s riding that a meeting with Cannon could be arranged “if you behave and you’re sober.” No word on whether the aide was wearing a sweater vest at the time, which, in my estimation, would have at least put a kinder, gentler veneer on this latest expression of an all-too-familiar (and disturbingly casual) racism that lurks below the surface of so-called ‘civil society’ in Canada.
I hate memes…
by matttbastard
…but I love music (and lists). So I’ll make an exception in this case. Meme originator James Bow explains:
Politics is an important part of our lives, and it plays a big part in defining who we are and how we see the world, but it isn’t the only part of our lives, and it doesn’t play the biggest part in defining how we respond to the world.
So, with that in mind, I’d like to ask every political blogger in the Canadian blogosphere to stop thinking about politics a moment, and think about rock music.
I’m serious. I am compiling a list of songs for an iTunes playlist which I am calling “Rock Essentials”. These are songs that I’ve arbitrarily decided are important to the history of rock and roll. You may not own the albums, but whenever you hear the single, you recognize it immediately and smile, and possibly say “rock on”.
So, tell me: what would you say are your top five most essential rock songs for an iTunes playlist? Or top ten. Or top fifteen. Take a moment to list our choices and explain them. Then link back here and leave me a comment pointing to your post. Let’s see what your choices are.
My 15 picks in no particular order (and in YouTube format) are below the fold:
A few more numbers to consider
by matttbastard
Graham Johnston writes in comments:
Stephen Harper’s Conservative government proposes reducing Canada’s greenhouse gases and air pollution by 20 percent of 2006 levels by 2020. By 2015 he claims the anticipated benefit to Canadian citizens will be that 1,200 fewer citizens will die from air pollution and there will be 1,260 fewer hospital admissions and emergency room visits. Sounds impressive.
In mid-August, 2008 the Canadian Medical Association released a comprehensive report on air quality in Canada that found, in part, that more than 21,000 people will die prematurely in Canada this year from the effects of air pollution. Some 2,500 of them (us!) will die because of “acute, short-term exposure” and of that number, 25 will be under the age of 19 years.
Further, in 2008 there will be over 9,000 hospital visits, 30,000 emergency department visits and 620,000 doctor’s office visits due to air pollution.
The CMA estimates that by 2031, almost 90,000 Canadians will have died from the acute short-term effects of air pollution. The number of deaths, due to long-term exposure, will be over 700,000 – the population of Quebec City. The economic costs of air pollution in 2008 alone will top $8 billion. By 2031, they will have accumulated to over $250 billion.
Any politician who would turn a blind eye to such a public health crisis while allocating billions of dollars to military spending to protect the health and security of citizens of another country deserves our contempt. Either Harper is out of touch with the reality of the air pollution crisis in Canada, or he just doesn’t give a damn about the health and welfare of Canadians. Either way, he should be sent packing on Election Day. Newfoundland’s ABC mantra of “Anything But Conservative” is beginning to resonate.
Understanding Islamic Leadership – Irshad Manji
by matttbastard
ForaTV:
Muslim-Canadian author and commentator Irshad Manji explains clerical authority in Islam, and how the religion’s lack of a unified organizational system could open the door to reform.
Click here for full video.
The Numbers: Week One
by matttbastard
For Immediate Release
September 15, 2008Harper’s Index – Week One
Number of campaign events that Stephen Harper has held so far that have been open to members of the public: 0
Number of campaign events that Stéphane Dion has held so far that have been open to members of the public: 18 (including two town halls)
Number of times Jason Kenney has been seen in public since the puffin incident: 0
Total savings a Canadian family could receive from Mr. Harper’s two-cent-per-litre diesel tax cut if it fully “trickles down” to consumers and is not absorbed by suppliers or transporters: $15 annually or about 25 cents per week.
Number of Conservative campaign events that used unwitting new and expectant mothers as human props: 1
Number of apologies Mr. Harper has had to issue so far for gaffes by his staff: 2
Number of female party leaders Mr. Harper has tried to exclude from the leader’s debate: 1
Number of times the RCMP has been used to physically shield Mr. Harper from questions: 1 (2 if you count This Hour Has 22 Minutes)
-30-
Contact:
Liberal Party of Canada Press Office
613-783-8888
h/t Antonia @ BnR
Reverse Momentum?
by matttbastard
Earlier this week, Andrew Coyne introduced a lengthy article on the “cult of personality” surrounding Stephen Harper thusly:
On the Conservative party website, it’s all about “Harper Leadership 08.” Tory campaign ads show us Sweater Steve, shyly revealing a fondness for veterans, immigrants and his kids. Party message-trackers hammer home the point at every turn: this election is all about “leadership.” Or as an early campaign slogan has it: “Strong leadership on your side.”
But, as noted in Saturday’s Calgary Herald, it appears the preferred Tory narrative may have been interrupted by a contrarian electorate:
As the federal political leaders wrap up their first full week of campaigning this weekend, a new poll indicates their performances during the early days may have caused them more harm than good.
The Ipsos Reid poll, conducted for Canwest News Service and Global Television between Sept. 9 and 11, shows Canadians’ impressions of the leaders slipped instead of strengthened, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper had the worst week of them all.
Thirty-six per cent said their impression of Harper had “worsened” since the start of the campaign on Sept. 7, compared with 32 per cent for his main opponent, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion.
[...]
“For a campaign that’s supposed to be about leadership, this one’s heading in the wrong direction,” said Darrell Bricker, president and CEO_of Ipsos Reid.
[...]
“The prime minister believed that his perceived leadership strengths on the big issues that were facing the country would be enough, and they still may be. But at this stage of the game, this doesn’t seem to be an election about leadership,” said Bricker. “To the extent they are talking about leadership, it’s about gaffes, gotchas, slips of the lips either by the principles or their staff, which is a bad campaign for anybody trying to campaign on ideas.”
Perhaps Uncle Steve meant to say Canadians were more cynical these days, rather than ‘conservative’ (hey, honest mistake–both words start with ‘C’).
Breaking NOOZ–Canada is No Longer a Soviet Satellite State!
by matttbastard
This just in–lauding his commitment to “strengthen the military and cut taxes” and crediting him with the restoration of Canada’s “international prestige by demonstrating political courage on Afghanistan”, the reactionary, right wing Wall Street Journal editorial page gleefully anticipates the reelection of reactionary right winger cuddly, sweater-clad change-agent Stephen Harper.
In other n00z, bears: still defecating in forest areas.
Shock. Ing.
Sean Hannity: I’m Funnier If You Are Drunk
by matttbastard
In the interest of science, I decided to conduct a little experiment involving me, Hannity, and a case of Stella (ZOMG imported liquid elitism!) Based on preliminary results, I gotta tell ya, it don’t look good for Sean (and, by default, conservative ‘humourists’ everywhere).
Maybe hard liquor fed intravenously is the difference maker.
Stupid is as Stupid Does (Whatever the Hell That Means)
by matttbastard
“I’m not the only winner today — everybody wins.”
Yes, Liz, everybody wins. See you at the debate.
h/t Leftdog
Update 09/11: Since the GPC has apparently tried to SLAPP Leftdog in a grammatically incoherent fashion (all your slander are belong to us!), and in light of transplants’ comment, I thought it best to include a link to the full quote in proper context. Judge for yourselves. Bottom line: If anyone feels I should remove the imbedded video, I shall do so.
Regardless, I regret any unintentionally slanderous implications.
Elizabeth May Gets a Spot in the Debate
by matttbastard
(Image: ItzaFineDay, Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license)
So, now that the Green teapot tempest has finally subsided, does this mean we’re going to stop letting Uncle Steve and his merry band of puffin-pooping political strategists go all Rick Davis on the Canadian electoral landscape and get back to, y’know, those pesky issues?
Right, I forgot–this election is all about power grabs who can rock a sweater or cast a fishing lure with more fauxcenticity.
We’re doomed.
Elizabeth May on the Sidelines
by matttbastard
For most of the day on Monday, the front page of Progressive Bloggers was absolutely dominated by one topic: the decision rendered by the consortium of Canadian broadcasters to deny Green Party leader Elizabeth May a spot in the national leadership debate. The consortium, a coalition of 5 Canadian broadcasters that controls participation in the debate, claims that despite the Greens having reached the bar set last election (having a sitting MP, controversial former Liberal candidate, Blair Wilson, in Parliament), 3 of the 4 other parties have threatened to pull out of the debate if May is allowed to participate. The Globe quotes NDP spokesperson Brad Lavigne as stating “[The NDP] said we would not accept the invitation to participate because the Greens did not have an elected [emphasis mine] member of Parliament and that Ms. May had endorsed [Liberal leader Stephane] Dion as prime minister”.
The Conservatives offered a similar line of spin: May is running in Nova Scotia (specifically, in star cabinet minister Peter MacKay’s riding) unopposed by a Liberal candidate, and, according to the Globe, “could throw her support to [the Liberals] at the end of the campaign.” Indeed, as noted by the Globe, May has already raise some eyebrows by sending out a mass email in which she pledged support to a Liberal candidate running against Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. Regardless, the Greens are, obviously, fuming at what they see as the latest round of Calvinball on the part of Canada’s broadcast gatekeepers, with May calling yesterday’s announcement “anti-democratic, closed door, backroom decision making” while astutely pointing out that the other national party leaders and broadcast executives involved “are all men”–a sharp jab at the blatant disparity in gender on display among the principles involved, optics that may play more of a factor in today’s post-Clinton/Palin political landscape than in recent electoral contests.
Yours truly has in the past been critical of May and the Greens’ own arguably ‘anti-democratic’ maneuvers to gain a foothold in Parliament, be it by courting Wilson or via friendship arrangements made with Dion and the Liberals. With that said, the other national leaders (including Stephane Dion, who, despite his party’s claim of support for the Greens’ inclusion, said yesterday that “I would like her to be there, but I will not participate if Stephen Harper is not there”–not exactly a ringing endorsement for “fairness”) are betraying obvious fear of what may be the wild card party of the 2008 election campaign. Support for the Green Party has been steadily increasing in key ridings, and could provoke a split on the left (and, thanks to the Greens’ classical liberal economic platform, potentially bleed Conservative votes in environmentally-conscious BC) if the party can successfully court Canadian voters beyond the Greens’ standard constituency.
As former Liberal strategist Scott Reid observes, “[i]f [May] successfully assembles a coalition that adds disaffected voters to her environmentalist basse, she could become a green Ross Perot–stealing support from others, altering the campaign’s core narrative and unpredictably affecting the result.” May claims that she doesn’t care who Canadians vote for, as long as they vote, but it goes without saying that she is going to fight to get as many votes cast her way; it makes sense, then, that the 4 other party leaders want to limit May’s national exposure as much as possible. However, by placing May and her party front and centre in what has fast become the first media firestorm of the 2008 election campaign, the scheme seems to have backfired spectacularly.
Whatever happens, it seems apparent that Elizabeth May has emerged as a serious political player, and, come October 14th, may indeed prove to be, in the words of Reid, “the most dangerous woman in Canada.”
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LabourStart
- Chile: Outsourced Chilean Copper Workers '21st Century Slave Labour'
- Egypt: Union movement finds its own strength; workers are now crafting a new network to secure workplace rights
- Australia: World's richest woman makes more profits by off-shoring Australian jobs
- Korea (North): Amnesty report: 200,000 prisoners in Kim's Gulag
- Cambodia: Security guards clash with workers at factories that supply Levi’s, Gap and H&M
Mention of “hope” = shot
Obama’s “Now, listen…” = shot