86 Replies to “What A Difference A Day Makes”

  1. “Pink Panther Svend Robinson sent packing back to the gay bathouses and Jewelry auctions.”
    I heard the kleptophobes kept Svend Robbingsome from winning. Will the discrimination and hate never end?

  2. Terminators: The Rise of the Extremes
    Steve Janke at Angry in the Great White North has two posts which illustrate a process Americans are all too familiar with. After the Canadian Conservatives won at the elections Janke was watching the post-election speech of Jack Layton of the left of center NDP and this is what Janke saw:
    Listening to Jack Layton’s speech, I witnessed what I thought was the low point of the night, and it made me nervous. Jack Layton of the NDP thanked each of his opponents in turn: Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois, Paul Martin of the Liberals, and of course, Stephen Harper of the Conservatives. But while the mention of names of Duceppe and Martin were met with polite applause, a chorus of boos greeted Stephen Harper. Jack Layton didn’t miss a beat, or scold his supporters, but carried on with a congratulatory message.
    I worry that in Canada, the potential exists for what has happened in the US — the fight between the Left and the Right will become intensely personal, at least for the Left. George W Bush is hated on a very personal level by Americans who have never met the man. Is Stephen Harper in for the same sort of treatment, hated for committing the crime of being a conservative?
    Later Janke quoted some of the reaction in the left of center Canadian blogosphere to the Conservative victory.
    Lets poke a stick at the neocons, turn over rocks, force the wingnuts into the open, expose their rabid face, and force them to eat each other. But right now, lets just flame the media. These lazy, mediocre, right-wing bastards let Harper get away with his dishonest stealth campaign. Let him fool a lot of Canadians. Almost cost us our country. Lets make sure they can never do that again. It�s payback time.
    As for gays and lesbians and their friends, our war begins today. Lets make this Harperian interlude a mere blip in Canadian history. Before we smash them once and for all.
    Commentary
    In a certain mental universe the poll victory of Stephen Harper is not one particular outcome in a long series of elections, a process in which sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. It’s the northern equivalent of the US Presidential election of 2000. Those who think along those lines do not simply want to win the next election but demonize the enemy and smash them; just as some want to end the reign of Halliburton and BushChimpHitler and establish a progressive hegemony forever.
    While this mentality is confined to a few, this minority by its militance often sets the agenda. Marc Cooper, hardly a right wing person, has a long article on how Pacifica Radio set about marginalizing itself. He writes as a person trying to warn a major left-wing institution not to continue its headlong rush off a cliff fully realizing that his good intentions will only be repaid with vilification.
    Everything in me screams to NOT write this posting. It�s just not worth the pain such endeavors normally evoke. When I�ve done it before, I�ve been slandered, muddied, slashed, booed down, accused of everything short of being Jack Abramoff�s secret lover. I�ve even been accused of having a hand in the death of Chilean President Salvador Allende, who I had the privilege of working for before the 1973 coup. But here goes, anyway. I can�t help myself: … > more
    http://www.fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/
    http://marccooper.com/the-squandering-of-pacifica-radio/

  3. Preston? Nope. Not strong enough when it comes to international affairs.
    Brian Mulroney, however, would make a hell of a lot more sense. He’s on good terms with the Bush family, most Americans recognize him and the post is prestigious enough that an ex-PM would be plausible. (Hey, if Ed Schreyer can run for the House again, why not?)

  4. Believe me, Bush very much wants to Harper to succeed. If Harper is genuine (which he is) and honest (which he is) and demonstrates his capacity for loyalty to their mutually understood goals and dilemmas (which he can), he will have enormous power in Washington and a huge amount of influence with George Bush.
    Bush appreciates the kind of man that Harper is, and if Harper makes the right choices Canada can once again have the power in Washington that Mulroney had with Reagan. It all comes down to trust and friendship.

  5. Preston for Ethics Commish – now there is a natural fit!
    As for Ambassador to the US – Lew MacKenzie isa perfect choice.
    Ambassador to UN – Peter Kent? Brian Mulroney?

  6. Maybe it’s “gun shy” ( as much as I hate to use that term) or maybe playing devil’s advocate, but I think harper has to consider his choices very carefully. To up and give Manning a high profilr position right now would give all the opposition an excuse to yell “patronage”. Whether it were true or not. The buzzards will be circling looking for anything that could be spun negativley. I’m not saying the CPC has to walk on egg shells but they better have a good answer for all the questions that you know will be coming. I always thought that was one of Bush’s biggest downfalls. He sometimes didn’t have an answer that made sense and he isn’t that good off the cuff.

  7. Hi Kate
    Hot off the wire:
    URGENT-Liberal-Leadership-Manley
    INDEX: Politics
    OTTAWA — Former deputy prime minister John Manley won’t seek the Liberal leadership.
    Manley sent a letter late Wednesday night to friends and supporters, informing them he won’t be a contender in the race to succeed Paul Martin.
    Martin announced his plan to step aside after leading the Liberals to defeat in Monday’s federal election.
    (BN)
    —
    Nice to have met you Monday night at Carol’s celebration party.
    …Dave

  8. “Bush appreciates the kind of man that Harper is, and if Harper makes the right choices Canada can once again have the power in Washington that Mulroney had with Reagan. It all comes down to trust and friendship.”
    First of all, what the heck does that mean, “Bush appreciates the kind of man that Harper is”? How do you know that? Second, you mistake a fundamental shift in US policy since the fall of the Soviet Union: the US, under Clinton (i.e. it’s not a partisan thing) and moreso under Bush are willing, prepared and desirous of going it alone as the sole superpower. They need us less and less, not because of our waning power and influence, but because they have grown in singular power. No amount of trust or friendship is going to get us any amount more influence if the US (or more accurately, the big US lobbyists) determine that it is not in their own interest.
    It’s a different political world from when Mulroney was there. Sure, a better relationship might help on the edges, but fundamentally the US does what it wants. Everyone else is window dressing. Look at Iraq or BMD or even something like intellectual property laws. And this is coming from someone who is decidedly pro-American in general, it’s not an anti-American rant. Friendship and trust is important, but it is not just earned by playing nice and having a round or two of golf.
    In my experience, fair but very tough negotiation earns more respect among Americans and I believe that is the case with government as well.
    So Manning would be an abismal choice. What role has he ever had but critic?
    Mulroney would be great, but why on earth would he ever do that? Just recovering from major illness, making more money and having more influence and more fun than he ever has as a corporate dealmaker, entering into his twilight years. To say nothing about his ego which would never take having to answer to a Prime Minister.
    Reynolds for a good loyalist, if he wants it, but I don’t know what kind of credentials he has.
    The problem with all of these suggestions is that they are all politicians and we forget that McKenna was a rarity as a politician appointed to the position. Martin just wanted him and potential leadership discussions as far away as possible. But McKenna, had he not been tripped up and stripped down by his boss, has actually done a great job. Someone like him, and sure conservative if you want, would be a good addition to any relationship re-building.
    TB
    Cerberus

  9. Mulroney? Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa… you kidder! After what Brian did while in office… I’ve seen people spit nails at the mention of his name, all these yrs later.Nope… I don’t think Harper needs the headache that’d come with Mulroney. Preston I think would be a great senator. Possibly a good choice for ambass.Presto is good at the infrastructure thing. As was mentioned earlier, Deb Gray would be terrific! She’s got sand 🙂 Dunno if Kimmi would want to go back into politics. She wasn’t around long enuff to be “tainted” in the Mulroney debacle. BM was responsible for the forming of Reform.
    Speaking of which… did anyone hear Anna-Maria Tremonte this aft with Presto? I know she’s NOT uninformed, nor is she stupid. She intro’d the interview by linking Mulroney to the present conservatives. I was bloody livid!!! Personally I think she meant to do it, she’s not uninformed. It was a “chuckman-esque” moment. Thankfully Presto corrected her on-air 🙂 saying “… I don’t know who did your research AMT, but it’s wrong. Mulroney was the reason we formed the Reform party…” She did ask Presto if he was in line for Ambass job but he said no he wasn’t and it was up to the govt to appoint someone. Presto did very well. He gave a very informed interview on the Cons as they are now, and what needs to be done etc. Was very good to hear him again 🙂

  10. An American suggestion: How about Don Cherry as Ambassador to the US?
    (Just a bit of comic relief… 🙂

  12. Monday nights election is a result of the vision of Preston Manning. this is a slow process of the recovery of individual rights over the oligarchy of eastern canada. the status quo ruled from the intersection of sussex drive and bay street has been penetrated and wounded. not annialated but wounded.
    the rights of the majority, the rights and beliefs of the rural Canadians will finally be recognized over the gaggle of lawyers, activists and subsidized insiders.
    REFORM.
    oh yes ,FREE THE WEST.

  13. Besides the fact that many many many Conservatives would NOT be happy with appointing Brian Mulroney anything, he has been very ill and I doubt he is in a condition to accept any post. It’s one thing to seek his advice in an informal way on administrative matters, seeing as how he *has* been prime minister, quite another for him to be officially involved in the new government. From Reagan’s win until his own death, Richard Nixon gave a lot of behind-the-scenes advice to key Republicans on administrative matters, but he was only starting to be “rehabilitated” around 1992, just before his death. Whatever Mulroney did or did not do, he’d certainly do well to stay way behind the scenes, and as I said I believe his health demands it.

  14. Shook his son’s hand? I was watching the photo op and thought that was weird…like the do you love Canada thing.
    Did your father shake your hand goodbye at school? What about with your own kids now?
    I grew up on army bases and before I’d jump out of the truck, there’d be some tough guy advice or we ‘d trade punches or I’d get a headlock. But a handshake…that’s what a principal or chaplain would do.
    For my own kids it was always “love ya”
    Also, I always thought it’s pretty strange that border guards wear bulletproof vests but don’t carry guns.

  15. Y’know. Preston Manning as ambassador to the US just resonates. He has the necessary skill set and intellectual prowess for the job. I’ll also second Lew Mackenzie to the UN. How about giving ol’ Joe Clark a plum diplomatic posting. Say, Uzbekistan?

  16. You want to normalize US relations? Get a career diplomat. Not a former politician. Especially not a former leader who is not used to taking and following orders from Ottawa.
    TB
    Cerberus

  17. Hand shake. A recognition that the children did not want to be embarassed by their father kissing them in public with the cameras rolling.
    Pure and simple. Media want to rake and poke. They had plenty to rake and poke over with lib scandals, corruption, theivery, et al.
    IF they had really wanted to do their jobs they would have been asking why our border guards are not armed and why RCMP detachments were moved from the border. They would have been asking that a long time ago. Something REALLY important to rake and poke over. But they’d rather try and pick apart the most decent looking family to hit Ottawa in many a year.

  19. What’s funny is the media seems to be fully onboard with arming the border guards; I guess they’re too busy fantasizing the amazing return of the Liberals to power after a quicky 3-month time out while they get a new leader.
    dufusi
    Snooker “Beaker” ROFLMAO

  20. I don’t know what the media thought of the hand shake…I never thought it’d be (or was) raked and poked… I was just saying what I thought from my life.
    Also, there may have been a lot of decent looking families to hit Ottawa this year, who think they’re pretty damn good too.
    As far as “a recognition that the children did not want to be embarassed by their father kissing them in public with the cameras rolling”…give me and his kids a break…he was using his kids in a photo op for pete’s sake.

  21. Preston for US ambassador, hmm … interesting. But what about Preston for UN ambassador … can you say REEFOOOORM.

  22. steve, you moron. You obviously missed the multiple “group hugs” when Harper returned from campaigning that were flashed across the country.
    Do you not get that some people are actually private? i.e. they do not wear their hearts on their sleeves for the world to see? Do you have children? Can you imagine explaining to them, Tuesday morning, that Cop #1 & #2 will follow them around… forever (to a child) because of Daddy’s job? And that photographers #1-100 will ALSO probably follow them around because of Daddy’s job? Do you not “get” that this photo-opp was pre-negotiated with THE KIDS?
    dufus.

  23. PS: My daughter doesn’t do “Mom” initiated hugs anymore in public & hasn’t since about age 8. She will initiate public hugs, but I am not allowed to.
    It’s a kid thing.

  25. If Peter Harder, currently Deputy Minister at Foreign Affairs, does not become Clerk of the Privy Council, he is a sure fire bet to be named Ambassador to the USA. The other candidate in my mind is Jim Judd, head of CSIS. I’d bet money on one of those two guys. Both are eminently qualified.
    If you insist on a politician, think of someone like Ron Atkey.

  26. “First of all, what the heck does that mean, “Bush appreciates the kind of man that Harper is”? How do you know that?”
    TB, I guess I should have said, “in my view, Bush appreciates the kind of man that Harper is.”
    Look, I don’t have a crystal ball, but I grew up in the same town as George and Laura Bush — Midland, Texas. While George was in Alamo Junior High (Laura was at Lamar), I was at Austin Junior High. That doesn’t give me soothsayer insight into George Bush’s mind, but I’m telling you that Midland was a small town with one high school, in a very remote west Texas location, and people there understood each other.
    Then I’ve followed Bush’s career as our governor and seen him in the White House. In many respects he is really very much a west Texas guy.
    You’ll notice that we conservatives bitched at him relentlessly to get rid of Harriet Meirs’ nomination. However, he hung on to her nomination for a long time simply because she was his friend and had been loyal to him and had earned his respect. You will recall that he has been loyal to a friendship with Vladimir Putin partly on the basis that he “looked into his soul,” and he has refused to turn on Putin on the basis of this friendship.
    For a long time the United States has had to put up with acrimonious and duplicitous leadership at the top of Canada’s government. Now you have a prime minister who very probably would not have voted against the US in the UN. You have a prime minister that is on record as being pro-American. You have a prime minister who is not going to be freaked out because someone wants to say a prayer. You have a prime minister who apparently has integrity.
    If Bush and Harper get along well enough, Bush really is the kind of leader that can receive a telephone call from Harper asking him, “George, what the hell is going on?” And if their relationship is good enough, they will be able to personally work out any differences.
    Your comments reflect something in Canadians I have puzzled over for quite a while. You don’t seem to understand that when Americans look at Canadians they see people who could be their sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, and so forth. Not strange and exotic foreign peoples whose motives are obscure and whose way of life is different.
    If you have the right men at the top, it really will be quite possible to deal with substantive issues with a measure of trust and friendship. This of course is all simply my opinion.

  27. Your comments reflect something in Canadians I have puzzled over for quite a while. You don’t seem to understand that when Americans look at Canadians they see people who could be their sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, and so forth. Not strange and exotic foreign peoples whose motives are obscure and whose way of life is different.
    There’s a lot of us that do understand that and feel the same way. Only the irrelevant left have a problem with that view. And they’re…well…irrelevant.

  28. Forget Dallaire for anything. I couldn’t half-finish his book because of all the sickening Quebecois-as-victim crap.
    He’s perfect Lib material, not Tory!

  29. The NORAD treaty should be renewed shortly (details already negotiated under the Liberals) with a major marine expansion of its mandate.
    Ottawa Citizen, Jan. 26:
    http://server09.densan.ca/archivenews/060126/cit/060126ab.htm
    “For the first time, it [the new agreement] will expand Norad’s jurisdiction to the high seas, allowing the naval forces of both countries to share maritime surveillance in their territorial waters on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and funnel that back to its headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
    The Norad treaty was set to expire in May and is usually renewed every five years, but senior government officials in Canada and the United States say the treaty will be renewed in perpetuity this time.
    A signing ceremony could be held anytime before that, as early as March or April.
    It would provide added significance to any first meeting between Mr. Harper and Mr. Bush, giving it a greater sense of purpose, with a substantive announcement.
    The treaty-signing would give Mr. Harper a tangible reason to visit Washington without appearing too cosy and it would set the tone for rebuilding frayed Canada-U.S. relations by affirming one of the key features of that relationship, a continental defence partnership formed at the height of the Cold War that has become even more relevant in the post 9/11-era.”
    Mark
    Ottawa

  30. Update: Anew day has dawned in Canada for freedom. >>
    Fugitive Belgian family set to come out of hiding
    By TOM VAN DUSEN, OTTAWA SUN
    SARSFIELD — After two weeks in seclusion — discounting regular visits from the news media — the Van Hauve family from Belgium will re-emerge tomorrow under the protection of the Ontario Landowners Association.
    OLA president Randy Hillier said farm worker Michel Van Hauve, his wife and his son will be returned to their home here at about 10:30 a.m. The OLA is the umbrella organization for the Lanark Landowners Association and its affiliates.
    Several association members will be on hand to provide protection should Immigration Canada try to implement a deportation order it was prevented from carrying out Jan. 12 when the Van Hauves were spirited away from their farm.
    They’ve been kept at an undisclosed location ever since, Hillier said, adding the objective now is to cut through the “entangled mass of red tape” surrounding the family and resolve its dilemma.
    Late last year, the Van Hauves were served with a deportation order because of Michel’s 26-year-old shoplifting conviction and other legal difficulties back in Belgium.
    SEEKING EXTENSION
    The family and its supporters are seeking a 120-day stay of deportation, enough time to sort out the complications.
    To date, the family has racked up about $20,000 in legal bills trying to clear up the matter and win permission to remain in Canada. An account has been set up to receive donations, Hillier said.
    “The Canadian bureaucracy still confounds the reasonable mind with contradictions of exclusion orders, deportation orders and extensions of time for documentation,” he said.
    tom.vandusen@ott.sunpub.com
    http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2006/01/26/1411927-sun.html
    more:
    January, 2006 – Front Page – Eastern Ontario AgriNews – agrinews.ca
    The militant Ontario Landowners Association has waded into the case of a Belgian
    farm family threatened with deportation by the federal government, …
    http://www.agrinewsinteractive.com/ – 18k – 24 Jan 2006 –

  31. Breaking News –
    Max2, you don’t have to worry about the polarization of two left – right parties in Canada. With my ear to the ground in Alberta on the centre-right movement, I was privy to discussions today involving folks who want to start a new federal party – The “Pissed Off Party”, or POP. There would be a Quebec wing – the Q-POP, and the Rest of Canada wing – the POP-ROC.
    These folks think there’s enough time before the next election to field candidates. On the issues… for example, what’s their position on health care – “They’re P****d off”. On the gun registry, “Just p****d off”. What’s their answer to these problems. “Don’t know yet, too p****d off to think about it till after they’re elected.”
    They’re in discussions about having the Independent MP from Quebec as their leader. Mind you – they’re not in discussions with the Independent MP… they’re in discussions between themselves.
    I expressed a concern that I don’t like to swear, so saying their name bothers me. Well, they thought that only the Q – ROC of voting age would actually have to say the full name, because they’re distinct, and have language police who could enforce it. The POP – ROC could just use the acronyms.
    I’m worried because they talked about using a pseudonym to do their media releases and blogging, maybe like the name of an Alberta centre-right political type who shares the same name as an American Hollywood scream screen queen and an American Math Whiz.
    I might be making this up…then again, maybe not.
    Leftie humour… bring it on!

  33. Wonder what the reaction would be if a border guards house, or the custom station where they worked was on fire, and the fire departments said, sorry, we can’t come, it is too dangerous, and went home and hid.

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