Comments on: Hey Sarah Palin

By: Lesley

Lesley — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 06:56:00 +0000

Oh hey, I’m familiar with the atrociousness of factory farming and the blind eye the government turns, but the USDA actually has higher standards now than Canada. Our government has eliminated mad cow inspection altogether (too many cows were testing positive) and Harper’s told the food industry he trusts them to ensure our food is safe. He did this during a week where 15 people had died from tainted meat supplied by Maple Leaf Foods. Even the food manufacturers association told him this was a bad idea and advised him to reverse it. He refused.

While the USDA pays lip service to food inspection in your country, it actually has a higher standard in place on the books than Canada.

By: thingwarbler

thingwarbler — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 00:38:43 +0000

“[…]deregulated food inspection […] Not even Bush has gone this far.” Uhm, yes of course he has. See here for more. Though, to be fair, he was simply following up on Bill Clinton’s atrocious record of appeasing the industry with dire consequences for US consumers (Jack-in-the-Box ring a bell?)

By: Lesley

Lesley — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:58:27 +0000

This comment stuns me. I can only assume you’re not a Canadian or, if you are, that you’re a Conservative.

Or maybe you’ve been asleep for the past ten years and at least the last two.

Recently, Harper deregulated food inspection (during a tainted meat scandal no less.) Not even Bush has gone this far.

Harper is a graduate of the Leo Strauss ideological school, he is a secessionist (he put in writing in a national newspaper his support for Alberta separating), he believes in deep integration with the United States, he plans to privatize as much government as possible (it’s already happening) and he is backed by Brian Mulroney and the Bush crowd. For you to suggest that he is “to the left” of the US Democrats suggests you are grossly uninformed.

By: gd4bd

gd4bd — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:52:05 +0000

Great job! I thought this was terrific.

By: Lesley

Lesley — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:25:49 +0000

Btw, to add to my previous comment, neocons ruled Ontario for a period of time too. Google “Mike Harris” and “Walkerton” to visit that mess.

By: Lesley

Lesley — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:18:36 +0000

Yeah, this gets mentioned a lot and frequently translates into Kudos to Steve for admitting he was wrong about Iraq. His admission is more strategic on his part than anything else. This is election season and he’s courting votes. Canadians are overwhelmingly opposed to the war in Iraq and the majority of Canadians opposed the invasion in 2003. In 2003, Harper was ruthless in condemning Chretien for not supporting Bush. He accused the Liberals of America-bashing, of being on the side of bin Laden, of putting our economy at risk, of risking losing our friendship with America. He even went so far as to suggest that the Liberals (and Canadians who opposed the war) were demonstrating a lack of sympathy for the victims of 9/11.

Smart Canadians won’t forget this bullshit.

I don’t believe for a second that Harper believes he was wrong; he’s courting votes. Harper is a scumbag and believe me, if he’d been in power in 2003, Canada would be in the thick of the Iraq war and our boys wouldn’t be coming home any time soon.

P.S. Harper and Karl Rove are good friends. What does that tell you?

By: Lesley

Lesley — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:10:11 +0000

Neocons - the fundamentalist Christian variety - have been in power in Canada since 2006. The Conservative Party won the last election because ad-scam - the theft of millions of tax dollars by the Liberal Party - destroyed the reputation of the Liberal Party. Canadians have not forgiven or forgotten the corruption that occurred at the executive level of the Party. By the end of their tenure in parliament the Liberals had become enormously arrogant. For many years they operated a centralized secretive government (much like the one Harper’s running now). The Party alienated everyone who’d ever supported them. Absolute power corrupted the party and they’re paying for it now.

If ad-scam had never happened, if the Liberals had retained some measure of humility, they would likely be in power now.

The second reason the Liberals are tanking in the polls has to do with their leadership choice. Stephane Dion lacks charisma, and appears meek, dull and awkward in front of the cameras. The fact that English is not his first language and he has difficulty communicating comfortably in English only adds to his problems. Chretien - the former Liberal Prime Minister - also had difficulties with English but he is firey and passionate and something of a street fighter. (Too bad he turned out to be a crook.) Prior to ad-scam Canadians admired him and defended him against attacks on his disability and garbled communication. He was particularly admired for standing up to George Bush and speaking out against the Iraq invasion in 2003, which wasn’t easy to do at the time given the support Bush had from England and Australia.

The Liberals were idiots for picking Dion to lead. More than ever they need a charismatic leader, one who can outwit, outsmart and outshine Steven Harper in public. Dion is a kind, intelligent, highly educated and conscientious individual. He just has the wrong personality and the cutthroats in the Liberal Party are lining up to slaughter him past this election.

The Liberal Party of Canada has another problem. It has shifted to the far right of centre in policy. The Liberals single-handedly decimated public health care by reducing transfer payments to the provinces over many years. They quietly hoped this would encourage support for privatizing health care and it has (i.e. the more the public system is trammelled, the more the public are persuaded that privatization might be the way to go). Harper is merely continuing where they left off. Under their reign Canada saw increasing poverty and homelessness. I despise the Liberals for axing social programs even more than I do for their criminal behaviour.

The Liberals also increased foreign ownership of Canadian companies and began deep integration talks with George Bush. I will not be voting Liberal in this election and may never vote for them again.

The problem is the liberal vote is split three ways: among the Liberal Party, the Green Party, and the NDP. The NDP has a good chance of becoming the opposition in parliament. I will be voting NDP this time.

The Greens are urging Canadians to vote for anyone who can defeat the Conservatives. If the Liberals had a hope in hell of defeating the Cons I’d swallow my bile and vote for them, but they are so far behind there’s no point anymore.

By: fauxmaxbaer

fauxmaxbaer — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:26:56 +0000

I see Harper did admit that the invasion of Iraq might not have been a great idea. It seemed to take a bit of arm twisting, though

By: prudencerussell

prudencerussell — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:12:04 +0000

washington-post
Seeded by Prudence
Former GOP senator calls Palin a ‘cocky wacko’

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Former Rhode Island Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee has called vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin a ‘cocky wacko’ and said her selection as John McCain’s running mate has energized supporters of Democrat Barack Obama.

HEY SARAH PALIN…YOU MAY CALL ME PRUDENCE
DID SHE WINK AT YOU OR DID SHE WINK AT ME? OR DID SHE WINK AT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE LIKE SAYING, YOU BELIEVE ME DON’T YAH?
GIVE MORE POWER TO THE VICE PRESIDENCY? HAVE CONTROL OVER THE SENATE HOUSE? WHERE IN HER KAKAMEME MIND CAN SHE EVER THOUGHT OF THIS AS POSSIBLE? THIS WOMAN CAN’T WAIT TO HAVE HER HANDS ON THE REIN…THEN RUN MY COUNTRY DOWN THE GROUND….SCARY

By: balzar

balzar — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:31:34 +0000

Canada is cool. I for one have not noticed a bunch of change under Harper,I am sure that over time we would feel an effect, right now tho, not so much. Even under Harper Canada is way to the left of the Democrats, and of course even more so the Republicans.