Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Why, yes, I was right again, thanks very much.


Your loyal opposition inaction:

OTTAWA -- Despite a chorus of bad publicity over the Maxime Bernier affair, the Conservative government waltzed through a series of confidence votes Monday.

Rows of Liberal benches remained vacant in a series of votes on controversial immigration reforms that are part of a larger budget-implementation bill.

All opposition parties have excoriated the Conservatives for the immigration changes, but the Liberals continued their months-long practice of abstaining on key votes.

The Liberals were taunted and laughed at by their opponents as only a handful of their members showed up for a set of 114-83 votes that took the legislation one step closer to becoming law.

The Liberal Party ... leaderless, rudderless, utterly adrift ... who could possibly have guessed? Oh, right.

At this point, I don't think we need to imagine what Canada would look like if the CPoC ever won a majority. If you catch my drift.

6 comments:

Red Tory said...

Oh, right... I forgot, now is a PERFECT time for an election. Sorry, but this sort of facile criticism really serves no purpose at all. Easy to take cheap shots from the peanut gallery, but I don't see you offering much in terms of a constructive, realistic alternative to the present situation. What result would an election now be most likely to produce? I really expect better of you than this sort of flatulence.

Lindsay Stewart said...

um, red... if there is a permanent and sustained lack of opposition to the government, there is no need for an election as the cons can push their agenda forward with a virtual majority. the abdication of responsibility on the part of the liberals is a guarantee that even when there is an election, the voters will return the cons to power, perhaps even with an actual majority. as awful as the bastards are, at least they show up for work. issue after fucking issue, the liberals have clutched pearls, pissed their collective pants and rolled over. and it isn't just on confidence votes.

dion has done exactly nothing to rebuild confidence in the federal liberals. he is their mulroney. under his lack of leadership, harper has been enjoying carte blanche to run roughshod over this nation's institutions, traditions and politics. the liberals are so ineffectual that they can't move a poll point, even as the cons are wallowing in scandal after scandal. if you want a perfect time for an election, it will be when ever stephen harper decides to call one. because the liberals will all be fucking hiding under their linens.

thwap said...

If the Liberals cannot even imagine that they have a program that Canadians can support, then they'd best do something about that.

This is the Liberal Party of Canada we're talking about. It's not as if they never have a prayer going into elections in Canada.

But they can't consistently condemn the CPC and their policies as dangerous and disgusting and then allow them to do everything they want.

They certainly can't expect support from Canadians after abdicating their responsibilities so blatantly, so cravenly.

"Easy to take cheap shots from the peanut gallery, but I don't see you offering much in terms of a constructive, realistic alternative to the present situation.

...

I really expect better of you than this sort of flatulence.
"

You know who else isn't offering much in terms of constructive, realisitic alternatives? The f'n Liberals. Mostly because, some sane positions on social policy aside, they're not substantively different from the Cons about environmental catastrophe, imperialism and neo-liberalism.

I don't expect more than such flatulence from you though, because in spite of all your many qualities, you're a Liberal supporter, stuck in daydreams about the mid-20th century party that was compelled to lean left by the times, and no amount of harsh reality is going to convince you that this isn't a party of opportunists who serve elite power above everything else.

Red Tory said...

PSA — Unfortunately, while they may have reservations about the man, the majority of Canadians seem to think Harper is doing a reasonable job as PM and feel that the country is on the “right track” — at least according to polls (until recently this was in the 65% range and has only recently dipped somewhat below that mark). That doesn’t exactly present the Liberals with a favourable electoral climate. As for day-to-day opposition, you know as well as I do that much of the Conservatives’ anemic legislative agenda has been constructed in such a way that voting against it would precipitate an election. Charging head-first into almost certain doom may have a certain flamboyant allure, it’s not exactly good politics.

For the time being, I think most people are in sort of a holding pattern when it comes to federal politics… they’ve got more important, or at least more immediately pressing things on their minds such as the skyrocketing price of gas, soaring food prices and whether a full-blown recession is going to materialize. So far, the Canadian economy has been weathering the storm without too much damage… we’re still in fairly good shape by most accounts. This is another compelling factor that militates against prompting an election. Do people want to change horses in midstream?

mikmik said...

I don't care, I just want this pathetic sell-out of a government to be brought down. Harper is making a mockery of what Canada stands for, and the snivelling wimp liberals give new definition to the word impotent.

They could hammer the PCs over the idiocies and screwups that occur with increasing frequency, but Dion is such a fucking two-faced slime when it comes to 'opposing' the Cons. If he is so outraged at the magnitude of Harper's bad judgement, and the utter contempt the cabinet shows for truth and accountability then he should put his money where his mouth is.

It has been sickening watching the Dems in the U.S. become doormats to the Republicans and now we watch our official oppisition display the backbone of a worm.

The fibs had Bob Rae to choose from, and they picked a Frenchman. It is the same old fucking shit - getting and keeping power. I want someone that cares about Canada, not a bunch of pussies that whine about egregious injustice then crawl under the blankets and hide.

Red Tory said...

Thawp — The Liberals’ lack of a coherent policy platform is an ongoing source of consternation and frustration to me. My Liberal friends basically tell me to shut the hell up and be patient. Fine. When the time comes for a decision at the polls and Canadians can’t figure out what exactly the party stands for anymore, I suppose I’ll have the grim satisfaction of informing them that “I told you so.”

Also, just for the record, I’m not as you imagine “stuck in daydreams about the mid-20th century party…” but appreciate them on a pragmatic basis as a “lesser evil” that’s not in fact all that terribly different from the Conservatives in many respects.