Rex reminds the incestuous class why nobody cares;
Both parties — both — seem sublimely uninhibited when it comes to walking around, suspending or flouting parliamentary (or other) conventions when political advantage is at stake. And both, in large and small matters — from the squawks of Question Period to the unfailing partisan intemperance of most parliamentary committees — seem to have little to zero regard for “Parliament’s reputation” when a Parliament is actually in session.
I had thought the feeling of nausea that washed over me at the news was one of disgust. I now realize it was vertigo. The bottom has fallen out of Canadian politics. There are, quite literally, no rules any more, no boundaries, no limits. We are staring into an abyss, where everything is permissible.
.... in 2005.
Good article by Rex.
"The prime minister occasioned, by every account, a totally unnecessary election, just because it was tactically convenient."
Say, didn't we have an election that broke the CPC's election law in fall 2008 for the same reason?
Oh yeah, unlike the Libranos, the CPC screwed that one up.
> They dance with half-truths when it serves their purpose, launch reckless attacks on the first hint of scandal, play act to the cameras in and out of the House, manoeuvre and scheme and work the ropes at every opportunity
Why, they are lawyers, what did you expect, Rex?
Lawyers, car and real estate salesmen are regarded with contempt for a reason.
If Canada is a body, legacy of PET is its metastasizing tumor. The snakeman should have been buried in a garbage bag on a dump, upside down and half way. As long as Canada regards PET as prominent politician, all hope is lost - I mean it.
It's him who obviously accepted either bribe or threat from comblock and agreed to turn Canada into a gun at USA's temple by corrupting the people and importing troublemakers (while carefully selecting those, who hate us and each other).
Thanks so much for this. Looking at National Newswatch the last couple of days and its sheer volume of traffic on Proroguegate, I was on the verge of taking it the least bit seriously. Isn't Coyne a stitch? His vapourings indicate an almost sexual hysteria.
Oh, boy, Canada - where things don't have to make sense.
In front of me on the desktop are two FOI responses received from two federal ministries. First one is dated about 1 month prior than the 2nd.
The first one says that Ministry #1 does not have relevant information and suggest that Ministry 2 is the best suited to answer the question..
The second one says that Ministry #2 consulted with Ministry #1 and the later is interested in answering the question.
Now the $10 question is: who is going to refund my $5 for asking Ministry #2 and who is going to pay $5 for asking Ministry #1 again?
How much more incompetent can federal government get? I am enthusiastic, as I know that there is no limit to incompetence.
As Rex and Andrew point out and as poll after poll shows; Canadians often rate Politicians at the very bottom - even below used care salesmen. And that they view Parliament as a disgusting circus.
Yet, surprisingly, media polls show that half of Canadians believe the Politicians and would go along with Parliament trampling on our lifestyles in order to please the Gore-Fraud.
Could the media be cooking their books also? Ya think?
Hardboiled: the election law specifically did not include minority situations. It recognized that the parties not in power have special leverage in a minority situation - they have sword of Damocles that they can use to trigger an election whenever they want. The law allows the party in power to have a similar power so as to offset it. Thus it is a parliamentary form of MAD.
There's your first mistake. I haven't "looked" at National Newswatch in months.
Can't get my knickers twisted over this.
A budget's comin in March.
Maybe an election too.
Do ya think?
Monte Solberg is a very reasonable man and writes some very good articles ;
"For instance, a big media priority is to get to the bottom of the allegations regarding Taliban prisoners. The government on the other hand believes it's a waste of time and money and a bizarre witch hunt of the very ministers and bureaucrats who, seeing deficiencies in the old prisoner transfer system, strengthened it. Whatever might have happened in an isolated case, the Conservatives argue that they dramatically improved the inadequate system inherited from the Liberals." ......
"Without prorogation, the Liberals would still have a majority of committee seats in the Senate even though they would have fewer seats overall. That would be a terribly anti-democratic situation on at least two levels and should be an outrage to the media if saving democracy was their real concern. That's a big if, however. "
Liberal Iffy’s Depression & Anger Workshop* now open “after the country exited a recession,”.
Iffy’s Exit is looming (nice MSM word, eh?).
…-
“TSX continues New Year’s gains”
(TORedStar)
“Bank of Canada Poll Has Near-Record Sales Optimism
Bloomberg – Greg Quinn – 2 hours ago
Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) — Canadian businesses reported near- record optimism about their future sales and continued easing of credit conditions after the country exited a recession, according to surveys published by the central bank.
Bank of Canada: Business Sees More Hiring/Investment Spending Market News International
Business, employment conditions improving; loans more readily available, Bank … CANOE”
…-
*Liberal Iffy’s Depression & Anger Workshop* now open.
“*Liberal ads aim to tap public anger
Toronto Star – Susan Delacourt”
Now now Kate, I use National Newswatch to show my children what their faces look like when they throw a hissy fit. One look at Don Martin or Kady Omalley and they instantly come out of it! The angry faced "pundits" as they call themselves are overpayed on borrowed dollars, angry faced lefties, and they provide a great teaching tool in how NOT to be. Watching Leonard Asper squirm while his over leveraged bloated social engineering blimp plummets to earth is great fun as is watching the red ink pile up at the Red Star/ Grope and Fail CCCBC and CTV. Just think what Rodger Ailes could command if he put himself on the market, a man who hires smart women and men, balances the view out by letting the angry lefties usually hang themselves nightly on the network, and most at Fox give massivly to charities. Carry on Andrew, or should that be "Benedict Coyne", all you Turdeauites are great teaching tools and extremely amusing in your public stupidity, global warming anyone.
I stopped paying attention to National Newswatch after they studiously avoiding mentioning anything to do with Climategate.
I suspect that the main reason why so much attention is focused on the Afghan prisoner issue is that the MSM doesn't see much else out there worth reporting on, given their obvious biases.
As far as the opposition parties go, given that the Harper government's spending spree continues largely unabated, they don't see a whole lot else that would warrant criticism in their eyes. Hence the obsession with Afghan prisoners.
National Newswatch: By Liberals, For Liberals.
Andrew Coyn's remarks "There are, quite literally, no rules any more, no boundaries, no limits."
No duh, Andrew. There have -never- been any boundaries or limits to Canadian government. They can pass anything at all and its legal. They can take your house, your car, your guns, your food, and your left kidney, at whim. Pass a bill, it is done.
I remind the trolls that it was the LIBERALS who established in law the fact that Canadians do not have the right to property. They did it by stealing the money owed to the survivors of incapacitated veterans. They ripped off sick old women for millions and millions of dollars because it was convenient, and because they could. And the MSM let them get away with it Scott free.
Tax cut now. Defund them all.
National and international politics is a refuge for criminals, sociopaths, megalomaniacs, monopolists and sundry other human predators and parasites.
The few who do enter this arena with the naive belif they can make change or reform systemic corruption are either assimilated into the sleazt or become jaded and leave Ottawa broken shells.
The wisest among us who would make the kind of principled leaders and statesmen equitable open populist democratic statecraft demands, do not even entertain ideas of entering political life as the constant confrontation with greed,ego,malice and stupidity are sure to scar the soul of even the most righteous person.
We have lived in a devolved form of limited democracy, where warring kleptocratic factions reign, ever since the Deifenbaker days. Coyne just now finds the political atmosphere too unprincipled for his liking? _ he must have a high tolerance for sleaze.
Where are you then, Bill? I thought I could find the likes of you at the range, but even there I found some pretty sleazy and shady characters.
"There's your first mistake. I haven't "looked" at National Newswatch in months."
Posted by: Kate at January 11, 2010 12:31 PM
As far as I know, the principals of the National Newswatch have never identified themselves on the site.
I suspect they are joined at the hip to one or more Canadian media conglomerate, simply pimping their leftist cousins agenda on the internet.
And insofar as proroguing of parliament and the Afghany detainee issues are concerned, they are currently both MSM driven.
CanWest Global and Globemedia(CTV) are particularly obsessed.
Canadians are not well served by the leftist Canadian MSM herd mentality.
Rex is a realist, Coyne is an optimist. Coyne actually believes that rules will be followed by politicians. So, when politicians fail to meet expectations, he is genuinely shocked and appalled...again. I doubt that Rex, like the majority of adults over 30, is ever shocked by politicians behaving badly.
CTV is airing Ignatieff's speech to students right now. What struck mne is that he went on and on about all of the problems the country will face in the future and then he said "I have the answers to some of the problems but we are not here to talk about solutions."
So, his cross country university tour is to talk about problems with no solutions???? But, complain that the Conservatives had no solutions?
How very Liberal. Nothing has changed.
But, he says HE has the answers to some of the problems but he is not going to talk about them. If he really had answers do you think he might provide some insight into the next budget process as the PM has invited all parties to do?
Nope. Good politics, Liberal style, is to freak out young people and incite them about the problems and then blame Conservtives for not having solutions???
How very Kim Campbell of him - a cross country tour is not the time for a politician to provide any answers to problems or talk policy???
i have lost all respect for Andrew Coyne and Macleans Magazine. Pauls Wells was encouraging Bloggers to start a face book to encourage Canadians to BOO our Prime Minister at the Olympic Games. I shudder to think what his next suggestion would be ? Coyne and Wells encourage the Harper Haters and then laugh about how smart they are. The only people the MSM care about in Canada is themselves.They have passed the point of no return. Disgusting!!!
Liberal Iffy resets the Separatist Coalition with a vow to continue attacking Canada and her Armed Forces.
>>> “Mr. Ignatieff said Liberals will return to Ottawa in two weeks, where he hopes to work with the opposition on continuing hearings on the detainee issue, as well as do some pre-budget consultations.”
…-
“Ignatieff would use, not ‘abuse’, prorogue power”
“Mr. Ignatieff said there is a legitimate time to shut down Parliament when a government has gone through its legislative program, and it’s time to “reset.”
That’s what the Conservatives have said delaying the return of Parliament to March 3 rather than Jan. 25 is about – refreshing their agenda and moving on to the next phase of their economic action plan.”
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9014757.html
Andrew Coyne; "The bottom has fallen out of Canadian politics. There are, quite literally, no rules any more, no boundaries, no limits. We are staring into an abyss, where everything is permissible."
To my great disdane and contempt (and I am probably not alone here) you could replace Canadian politics with American politics and come to the very same conclusion.
Arrrrggggg me mates, come the ides of march we must gather at the riverfront pub and talk a lil treason and sedition.
,
Encouraging people to BOO the elected leader of a country at an international event, attended by many countries that would imprison protesters and would regard such actions at an Olympics as an act of treason? Not a good thing to do and something that the mushy headed would think would be a good joke and something that Jack Layton would approve of. When I think of how many people voted for Trudeau because he smoked pot, it's a frightening thing.
Sick of hearing endlessly about the numbers on the anti-prorogation facebook group. Can't we get the numbers up on the "Canadians Who Don't Really Care the Parliament has been Prorogued" Facebook group?
http://tinyurl.com/ycg25t5
Notice that MSM has never reported that according to the rules he must prorogue parliment in order to rearrange the Senate. That's the real reason MSM and the left are frothing at the mouth in anger, they shall lose senate majority.
A great read here: http://www.ottawasun.com/comment/columnists/monte_solberg/2010/01/11/12415536-sun.html
Coyne is becoming a Canadian Andrew Sullivan - obsessive and hysterical.
ww, how about Canadians who are happy as hell its prorogued, think keeping it shut 'till March isn't nearly long enough, and won't be happy until parliament sits for two weeks a year total?
Or stands rather, we need to take their chairs away. IMHO there'd be a lot less shenanigans if they had to do it all standing up. Far too comfy leaning back in the lounge-y chairs, you ax me.
like the majority of adults over 30, is ever shocked by politicians behaving badly.
Posted by: LC Bennett at January 11, 2010 1:41 PM
I am with Coyne on this. I simply expect the idealism of high office and honesty out of these clowns.
We can nudge and wink all we want, but at the bottom of it - wtf ever happened to honesty, character, and true leadership.
Leadership is not lying to voters to retain power anymore than it is stuffing envelopes with cash to buy riding associations.
I never trust any MSM writers - Andrew Coyne is know to have turned to the dark left wing nut side, in the past, when he thought it might be good for his own welfare. Someone in the Power Corps outfit has told all the msm that they must tar and feather the Conservatives because Unca Mo is squawking for CDN $$ in China.
Andrew Coyne joined the likes of Don Martin and the Liberal mouth pieces along time ago.It usually doesn't take more than a paragraph to see which way Coyne leans.If I want Coynes opinion I'll just turn on the CBC,they all speak the same language.
Geez they weren't due back til Jan 25 and then break for the Olympics so exactly how much time is being lost anyway. Perhaps the MSM is worried that PMSH will suddenly have an epiphany and not bail out Canwest and all the rest of them when they fail. Will he rediscover his economist/conservative roots and just say no? We shall see.
I made the error of going to look at nnw now I gotta scrub my 'puter clean of all the liberano infestations. It was like going to the cbc. YUK!!!
hardboiled, like you, I wish that the CPC were more conservative or better yet more Reform. I wish that all politicians had "honesty, character, and true leadership". I wish that journalists weren't out of touch spinmeisters. But in the words of Grandpa Gustafson (Grumpy old Men 1995): Well you can wish in one hand and crap in the other, and see which gets filled first.
hardboiled, like you, I wish that the CPC were more conservative or better yet more Reform. I wish that all politicians had "honesty, character, and true leadership". I wish that journalists weren't out of touch spinmeisters. But in the words of Grandpa Gustafson (Grumpy old Men 1995): Well you can wish in one hand and crap in the other, and see which gets filled first.
:-)
I'll do that the next time a politician comes knocking at my door and wants to shake hands.
Coyne is a self described "Classic Liberal" .....
In his mind he thinks this means that everything before PET (may he rot in hell) was all just sunshine and lolipops...
Of course he is wrong about both things ... he is not a classical liberal ... he is a typical PET era liberal.... as full of himself as any of them and holding a deep seated disdain for Canadians who do not agree with his view.
We have a government which is not all that we wish but Coyne would have us return to something that never existed except in his rose tinted wishful dreams. Remember it is largely because of guys like Andy Coyne that we got the Turdeau era... enablers of your enemy are just as much your enemy as people who outright declair their hatred.
I read Coyne's 2005 article and he is talking about Belinda Stronach's migration to the Liberal party while the Liberals were trying to get their budget passed. The Liberals were avoiding a budget vote while trying to raid the opposition benches for more votes. I'm having difficulty figuring out why Coyne is deserving of all of the bashing he's getting here.
I enjoyed reading other peoples veiws on this non-subject, and i am as disgusted with the MSM as I've ever been, but of course not surprised in any way by the MSM doing the dirty work on behalf of their masters in the Liberal/Separatist alliance. A sleazeball like Andrew Coyne feigning outrage is down right laughable. The MSM is just doing what they always do, manufacturing scandal where none exists in the ridiculous hope that it might give their comrades in the Liberal/Separatist alliance a boost in the polls. When it comes to the Conservative Government, and the PM, the MSM agenda is constant and incessant negativity. The Liberal/Separatist alliance war-room cranks out some phony "scandal" and the MSM salivates and then dutifully propagates whatever red-herring these A-holes are selling. Nauseating to be sure, but nothing new.
I guess all the emotion about this is 'fun'.
Prorogue is a move that is legal.
Used by many a previous government.
Libranos are behind the 8-ball and frustrated.
Checkmate is so annoying. . . eh?
Harper and the team are running things well.
No need for panic. Questions will still be there to answer when the house resumes.
Don't let Liberal ads get anyone exited...yawn.
It could be worse. What if it were an amateur rogue?
Zeppo ............ you probably have not read much of Coynes more recent ... ahem .... work.
So let me get this straight.
Iggy says he's not against prorgation, just the guy that last used it?
But I digress.
He wants his caucus to come to Ottawa for public liberal caucus meetings disguised as committee meetings and the like at the end of Jan.
They will be there to stand in front of the protesters to tell them that prorogation is a bad thing, but he won't do anything to limit its use.
Now after a month after that, Parliament will resume after the Olympics have come and gone and other news comes up on the radar.
At the beginning of March, the talk will turn to a budget showdown and whether Iggy has the onions to bring down the government, or manipulate his caucus to avoid an election, he'll also have to come up with a reason why in short order as the Throne speech will be on the 3rd and the budget is tabled the next day.
There are so many possible options for Harper and very few available to Iggy.
Aaron: "Where are you then, Bill? I thought I could find the likes of you at the range, but even there I found some pretty sleazy and shady characters."
Maybe you're at the wrong range.
Also forgot to mention that in the heat of the moment, Iggy might be overcome with the urge to potificate before an offered microphone before Donolo can prep him first.
The other factor is that while Iggy's handlers are trying to come up with some way to keep from proping up the government and avoid an election, Jack and Gilles will be out of the gate first to say they will not be supporting the government, leaving Iggy in the lurch having to find a figleaf to cover his position after he finds it.
No one should be beholden to any political party. Ideology it isn't healthy for your state of mind and prevents genuine political change from happening.
---hardboiled, like you, I wish that the CPC were more conservative or better yet more Reform. I wish that all politicians had "honesty, character, and true leadership". I wish that journalists weren't out of touch spinmeisters. But in the words of Grandpa Gustafson (Grumpy old Men 1995): Well you can wish in one hand and crap in the other, and see which gets filled first.
Posted by: LC Bennett at January 11, 2010 5:19 PM ---
Sums up my thoughts and as a bonus made me lurch with laughter lingering back to so many memorable lines from "Grumpy old Men"
I read somewhere that Parliament has been prorogued 103 times before this time.
No one should be beholden to any political party.
Posted by: Aizlynne at January 11, 2010 11:01 PM
Best point of all.
Funny though - Coyne has always presented base fiscal conservatism. The frothing at the mouth partisans in here are frauds and statist losers.
Pay fealty to your party leaders, cowards.
That's your opinion hardboiled,like A-holes,everybody has one.Just because you think Coyne presents base fiscal conservatism does not make it so,fool.Oh,by the way you are an idiot lefty,stop trying to pass yourself off as a CON.