Opening Doors For The Literacy-Challenged

'Opening Doors for the Literacy-Challenged'

An ironic title for a blogger who supports a government bent on slashing programs to help the 'Literacy Challenged':

The Palliser Regional Library Board was deeply distressed by, what is in our view as citizens and business people, the short-sighted cut of $17.7 million from the federal literacy funding programs. Although, as a regional library, it may be viewed that we have a vested interest in "reading" and "literacy", our concerns extend much further.

Misguided Catholic Kathy Shaidle's post, however, raises an interesting question with this assertion:

Personally, I don't get "talking points" from the government.

Fair enough: If I were on the CPC team responsible for messaging, Shaidle is one of the last people to whom I'd e-mail my talking points.

That said, I wonder if Kate and the rest of the Blogging Tories team would be willing to assert that they have never received a communication from Conservative MPs, staff, strategists or party workers suggesting they might blog about this or that issue.

Shaidle calls the supposed implication by the reporter ridiculous: is it, really?

The CP has also been reporting as FACT that Mackay's comments were "sexist".

Is the Canadian Press a criminal organization?

CP prints: "But in recent weeks, the [blogging tories] sites have run the same media talking points as those issued by senior officials in [Prime Minister Stephen Harper's] government."

Gosh, I don't ever remember--do you?--the MSM uncriticially running the same talking points as those issued by senior officials in the Liberal Government? What a novel thought. How perfidious of the blogging tories. In fact, how dare they?

The MSM can't see the forest through the trees. Something they've done for years--act as the main cheerleaders and policy promoters of the governing Party--is a concept they simply cannot conceive of ever doing. But even if they do recognize their collusion in getting out Librano talking points, that's OK, because both they and the Librano$ are in a different class from the CPC and the great unwashed who support them: They're enlightened and we're wrong.

It seems that there's no arrogance like liberal arrogance, based on nothing but narcissistic bombast and pie-in-the-sky Utopianism.

'Makes you want to yell at them: "GROW UP! GET REAL! STUFF IT!"

The Canadian Press has always been biased against conservative thinking...We don't want to waste tax money everything.Bad conservatives.

The little article with "And they have mounted fierce public-relations campaigns against government programs that later wound up being axed or downsized, including the Court Challenges Program -- a fund that paid for legal challenges that won new rights for women, minorities, the disabled, and gays and lesbians since the 1970s" was clearly an attempt to make it appear that Bloggingtories is responsible for cutting CCP's funding.

Nice try, but we're not a bunch uneducated racist pigs that don't care about human rights. Most of us just don't like our tax dollars going to such wasted government tripe all the time. Like most political stripes, we have our fringe, but most are just decent people that want to live happy lives.

"And they have mounted fierce public-relations campaigns against government programs that later wound up being axed or downsized, including...."
CBC, maybe.
Let's prove it to them. Now repeat after me, ten times: severe reduction in CBC funding, severe reduction in CBC funding...

gellen: I prefer to substitute 'total' for 'severe'.

Were these actually, by definition, 'public relations campaigns'? No.

The blogs are discussion sites; did the blog owners or commentors actually move the comments out of the blog into the greater media, to mount an actual campaign? Were public officials approached by the blog owners and commenters? No. But, as is correct within a democracy, various government systems were discussed by the population - and that included blogs promoting the 'other side' which blogged to retain these programs.

Furthermore, what would have been wrong with an actual campaign? Are the people of a society supposed to be silent, never discuss, never debate, never object or promote their own governance?

It's interesting to note that one cannot contact CP writers directly by email.
Same thing at CPAC.
I have written emails to the sparse email addresses provided on their sites regarding that issue, to both outlets, with absolutely no response
Considering CP feeds stories across the nation to other outlets and CPAC has talking heads, it seems to me they are very sensitive to internet access directly to the individuals involved.
They (CP stories) write about Harper's "Alberta Firewall" incessantly yet they have their own KGB style firewall around their writers.
CP and CPAC should get the writers and talking heads frigging email addresses on their web sites so the blogging community can help enlighten whenever they stray as Christina at the CBC did !!
My message to CP and CPAC respectively is "Tear down that wall!"

Marvel at the unbearable liberality of this Liberal lobbyist/grant writer; this website should be sanctioned by all. Why, it's another Pravda/Tass/CBC. ...-

En farncais: L'etat, c'est the Liberal Party of Canada, naturally. ...-

"There is a real opportunity for the Liberal party to once again assume the mantra of being the natural federalist option in Quebec." ...-
TDH website

The Manning Centre states that it is a "supporter" of the Blogging Tories, seemingly contradicting reports that the BTs are merely an independent little blogroll. Perhaps a Blogging Tory can clear the air on this issue once and for all:

Precisely what is the nature of the "support" given to the Blogging Tories by the Manning Centre ?

From the Manning Centre website:

Projects

Some of the Manning Centre projects:

Issue Campaigns

* Support for Fireweed Democracy Project campaign to address the democratic deficit. www.fireweeddemocracyproject.ca

* Support for a Democratic Reform Roundtable in Mont-Tremblant (April 6-9, 2006). www.fireweeddemocracyproject.ca

* Support for "Blogging Tories" initiative.www.bloggingtories.ca

www.manningcentre.ca/whatwedo/currenprojects

I got a real kick out of the not-so-subtle implication that blogging tories have the power to control the direction of the country. I wish...

The MSM is running scared because people are enjoying blogs more than their propaganda sheets...the MSM has a bias which they try to hide, while the bias on a blog is obvious and upfront. I started my blog because I was sick of reading incorrect, unresearched, unsubstantiated statements, in other words outright lies, about an issue near to my heart.

Bloggers are their own masters. MSMers have many masters - publishers, advertisers, politicians, etc.

Bloggers are free. MSMers are not.

Well, back to my fierce PR campaign...

The liberals of TO desperately need a literacy program, as it is evident in the comments they post here and at the G&M that they are very limited in their knowledge of the english language, especially the use of nouns and adjetives, and how to write a paragraph. They also need a program to develop thinking skills, and a dictionary to look up the meaning of hyprocrisy and honest. As an example, one poster wrote that just because Iggy was out of canada for 30 years did not mean he could not be a good leader or PM. Now that there will be a by-election in London, Ont, that poster is saying that the former London mayor, running as a conservative, is unfit because she left canada to work in the USA for a few years. Reading all the comments, and the hate for our PM, I truly wonder if there is something in the water in TO, or are they brainwashed in school. What is the rate of mental illness in Toronto, it has to be the highest in Canada. After these people learn how to read and write, their next project should be a history lesson liberal promises broken, and what the responsibilities of the PM and MPs. Calling 2 by-elections you expect to lose takes guts, but will give those constituents a voice and a chance to decide what is best for their riding. Don't expect our PM to come with a cheque book to buy the election.

The Manning Centre states that it is a "supporter" of the Blogging Tories, seemingly contradicting reports that the BTs are merely an independent little blogroll. Perhaps a Blogging Tory can clear the air on this issue once and for all:

Precisely what is the nature of the "support" given to the Blogging Tories by the Manning Centre ?

Posted by: Bob at October 24, 2006 10:48 AM

Wow Bob you're a master sleuth.

You have us, we give up. We thought that we hide the fact that we are conservative minded bloggers(insert sarcasm).

FYI

http://www.liblogs.ca/about.php

Liblogs says: Liblogs is a group of bloggers who are members of the Liberal Party of Canada. Our group has no official affiliation with the Party and we are in no way spokespeople for the party.

Liberals affiliated with Liberals what a shocking revelation.

Seriously, we're just a bunch of people who happen to share similar views on things. i.e. conservative views. And we don't all agree everything all the time. We even want people like Garth Turner on our blog.

The litraly challenged dose that mean the idiots who cant read the constitution? like quite a few of our politicians and the mindless zombies that come out of these rotten schools?

Mary T..you are exactly right, the Torontonians have been brainwashed for many years with massive Liberal doses of propaganda.As an adult student, i would fight with my teachers in University on issues of partisanship.There was zero taught on conservative philosophies..other than to denigrate them and deny that they have validity in "modern" Canada..

Only they, the left, had the answers and were never wrong..After having delayed my Education by a stint in the army, i came back as a mature student amongst younger folks at the U of T...they didn't buy into the statist line as much as they were living it..they had always been taught right from the beginning that this leftist philosophy was the control against what others of lesser stature were measured by.It was heresy to even suggest that there may be another alternative.

It was mutual admiration amongst profs and students.The faculty spun the tale and the students lapped it up as so much cream, a self evident truth..

So let's see, the same news organization who has reflexively reiterated Liberal talking points for so long that those talking points have become not only the reporters' world view, but also, by assertion, Canada's, accuse grass-roots, amateur citizen-bloggers who oppose the Natural Ruling tribe of being a little too, you know, tight with the government. Worse yet, they're a threat to the disabled.

The tone of the Top News story is that those who support this government aren't the real Canadians, we're the threat to Canadians. They've finally come out and said it: we're the other, we're "them". Parse the opening line: "Consersvatives are not only supporting Peter MacKay -- a handful of them are going even further in comparing Belinda Stronach to a dog."

Note how ribald jokes of a few bloggers magically morph into "them" -- Conservatives. Note how support for MacKay is presented as a self-evident flaw, through the phrasing that "not only" are Conservatives supporting MacKay, a "handful of them" are doing something *even worse*.

Question: Do you think CTV's website would post a Top News Story focused on the contents of a few Lib-friendly blogs, that begins: "Liberals are not only supporting Ignatieff's 'war crime' statement, a handful of them are going even further in comparing Jews to..." etc?

Well, we know they wouldn't. That would be a blatant, specious slur on all Liberal voters, wouldn't it? And more to the point, why would they do that? It wouldn't be credible journalism, would it?

So why is it credible journalism when the target is the opponents of the Liberals? Hint: think "remora".

I don't get why it would be a problem if "Blogging Tories" is running a public relations campaign for the Government. Presumably people running conservative blogs are, well, conservative. You know this when you read their arguments. Who cares if they are fed topics from the Government? Why would they argue for something they do not agree with? And why would the reader's necessarily agree with it? However, it's equally possible that Government members read the blogs, see which issues appear to resonate with their base, and run with them. Of course, I didn't see that in this CP story, and this, of course, is the real problem. Since the media rarely tell an unbiased story, some readers resort to other sources to get a fuller picture and sometimes they like what they find out.

Iggy has just promised that the day after winning the leadership he will appoint a woman to head up a task force to find, train and fund, women to run in the next election, to close the gender gap.
Do we really need more BSs in the HofC. How about more Hedy Frys, Libby Davis, or Sheila Copps. He can try all he wants, but the majority of women voters will not vote for someone just because the are women. Funny, also today, there is a lot of talk about why Harpers program is not getting passed. Seems much of it is held up in committees and the liberals wont let it out, and then the senate is holding up stuff. Also talk that the Bloc is wanting an election, by a liberal, and saying no one want an election. What is behind all this. Also Newman made a comment-is it possible Harper will pull the plug if this continues. Harper just gave a great answer to Graham, blaming the senate for all their obstruction, and listing all the changes the senators want to make. I found my card for BS, it has a mean bulldog on it, with the verse saying, somedays all dogs have to be hung out to dry. Merry Christmas. Very appropriate I think.

Things that make me go humm? How much money is the Conservative government paying all you commentators at this site? How many $$ do they send Kate? Does the MSM do their 'knitting of words' for free?
Blogging is free - maybe the people of Canada want to be free of the albatross (" msm Liberano$/Dipper speak') hanging around our necks, making our lives a 'bird in a cage' hell on earth. Maybe we can think for ourselves - this scares the 'elitists' to the very core of their bank accounts. The stinking, rotton carcus of the dead weight of left wing 'know nothing' 'group speak' is being shattered by citizens, like Kate, who speak for themselves - for free. People are poking holes in the 'Canadian Value(less)' msm and they are "concerned" - the looking glass shatters. The msm is not the 'fairest' of us all.