Intelligence

Measures of intelligence should pertain to achievements, and Stephen Harper has achieved much, including our current diplomatic morass, but also the fraying of Canadian social fabric, the devaluation of knowledge, the devaluation of the very idea of the commons, the substitution of the Competitiveness Council for parliamentary democracy, and the severe degradation of the mechanisms of environmental protection. This speaks to an intelligent and dynamic persona, but a being devoid of the restraint and perception that would allow him to work in the interests of a broader constituency, a man blinded by his ideological and religious dogma to the point where he is unlikely to take steps to avoid apocalyptic destruction because he sees it as the fulfillment of biblical destiny.
Lest we reserve too much of our scorn for the Harperite tribe, let us remember that it was Jean Chrétien who signed and implemented NAFTA, despite a campaign promise to end Free Trade, and who got together with Bush and Fox in Waco to initiate the SPP. And leave us not forget New Democrats who governed in Ontario and BC as though they were centrist parties and who constantly strove to curry favour with business interests.
There is shame enough for all political parties, but a goodly slice of the pie needs to be set aside for all of us who have say by and enabled the hard right turn that society took around 1980 to continue, to accelerate and to deepen the precarious nature of life on the planet. Otherwise, I couldn't concur more heartily with Mr. Deak's analysis.

say? by

...stood by...
Apologies, I guess I'm striving to hit a Harper-like note in my discourse.

It is not his fault

Great article and as always a great comment from Ed Deak.

I start to realize now that it is not Harper's fault that he got into power.

Every single person in this country who voted conservative or did not vote or did not vote strategically helped this lunatic, idiot into power. The big majority of people in this country are sheep and unable to stand up for what is right. It is so evident in the votes this guy got.

And you can blame it on the voting system I don' care. How do you explain then that Quebec got rid off the PQ and the whole province turned orange? What if strategic voting is what made this happen? Quebec is the only province in this country with guts and the only province that will stand united. I yet to see another province in my 20 years here to stand united and stand for what is right and what serves the greater good.

If Canada goes down - it already started - on the international stage we can only blame ourselves because we chose the government we did.

And as the saying goes - you deserve your government. It is a true reflection of the society today in this country. Just makes me want to puke.

The problem is not really

The problem is not really Harper, but our universities, where the criminal garbage he and his predecessors, including Chretien, have been and are forcing on Canada, and the world, is being taught as the "science of economics", at the scientific level of Hitler's racial theories and Stalin's "dialectics".

As long as this destructive fraud is permitted to go on unabated and unquestioned, with the products of this planned miseducation misadvising governments and the public, there's no hope in hell for any improvements.

Any economic system that is permitted to account liabilities as benefits, as we now have with the GDP and "growth" figures, propagandizing "competitiveness" that increases real costs and collectivizes the economy in the hands of am international ruling sector, is a crime wave, designed to defraud and legalize destruction and impoverishment, growing every day, while our so called "economists" are demanding more of the same.

Of course, the public, especially the young, are well supplied with toys to divert their attention from the enslavement they're headed for.

I started my first manufacturing business in Vancouver in 1957 with a $500. bankloan, something like $5,000 in today's terms and was employing a half dozen, or more, skilled tradesmen within weeks, all receiving decent wages.

Bought our first house in 1966 for about $6,500 with $500 down and $45/mo. Tore it down in 1974 and built a new one for a material investment of $15,000.

All this would be impossible today, with the country's wealth flowing to China and India, so their new millionaries can bring back the money from Canadian pockets, to buy up the country with, called "wealth creating foreign investment" by politicians and so called "economists".

And now Harper wants another phony "free trade" with India, to sell off the country faster.

What do they have these idiots for brains and where do they wear them?

Ed Deak.

In yesterday's news...

'Stephen Harper says Conservative values are Canadian values.'

Mind control at work. Anti-diversity initiative 10% complete. Talking points updated. All units report success or else.

Meanwhile in Australia the

Meanwhile in Australia the Government down there is doing the opposite. Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Ruud is flying all over the world making contacts with foreign Governments. His nick-name is 'Kevin 747' cuz he's more away than at home. Reason; Australia wants to get on the UN's Security Council and then it'll be easier to have a say on international matters like; refugee problems for example. Are you paying attention Steve?

Canada's foreign policy

Our political ability to influence the Harpocracy on matters foreign is limited by his majority in the House and all the pontification of Layton as the leader of the opposition will be disregarded. Perhaps we need a Canadian Spring and do what now appears to be the only action possible and go out onto the streets when some of the more obvious of our basic freedoms are threatened. It would be appropriate for us Pensioners to take the lead for a couple of reasons. There are now so many of us and secondly it will look really bad in the Dailies if the RCMP or other police forces beat us up on the streets.

Whose Global Interest to Serve?

"Sometime between 2005 and today, Stephen Harper made a decision: Canada didn't need to be a global player in the world of diplomacy." Taleeb Noormohamed.

Well, there is no doubt that ', and previous Liberal and complicit "by silence" NDP foreign policy is failing Canada, was this above statement by Taleeb even partially correct, I would praise this policy. The reality is that Harper and "the other parties" have been engaged globally, largely as a kiss ass handmaiden to US Empire policy... which is what we are really paying for.

And as for failing to win a seat on the Security Council, where it could better serve the Western Imperial interest, this was probably to our good fortune in fact. The UN is largely an instrument of this Empire interest in any case, reflected in the wars it endorses and condemns, its soft on Israeli fascism blind eye, and finally, and most dramatically in recent times, on who this UN/ The Hague global diplomacy decides to charge for war crimes... and which war crimes over many, many years, at least from the time of Vietnam, and perhaps Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it chooses to ignore and fails to charge. And the silence is deafening. Former President Bush, for example, should be in the dock right now, for the crime of the Iraq War AND Guantanamo torture.

No, the reality is, in this current time of failing globalized capitalism and western imperialism's also failing but desperate militarism and playing global policeman on its own behalf, it would be better if for a time we did disengage globally... and get our own "finally independent" economic and political house in order. The current politics and ruling class serving "democratic" institutions of the country are long overdue for such a major internal housecleaning. For until this occurs, we WILL continue to fail to be engaged internationally as an "independent" and therefore, in my view, legitimate player, and be but what we are in fact, another bootlick player for US and larger Western Empire interests, so destroying the global economy and wrecking bloodshed everywhere we go.

good article

I too like many other Canadians were thankful that our government in the past cared about the rest of the world, not just a few countries, but the entire world. When the US wouldn't recognize China, Canada did. When the US and the UK wouldn't support an embargo against South Africa's apartheid policies of murder and violence, Canada did.

I am not, however, in favour of policies that link aid to whatever business opportunities may befall Canadian based corporations...which usually means for the country in need of aid, wealth extraction. IMF policies already do enough damage to countries in need.

I am also not sorry that Canada was refused a seat at the UN Security Council. For the most part, this "council" of security is anything but a "security" council.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany are the world's six largest arms dealers. The US, China, Russian Federation, UK and France hyper-fuel the flames of conflict. Without their arms industry and supply chains would the massacres, murder, death, life long injuries in the Sudan and Congo been as extensive as they were and still are?

Either directly or indirectly these countries are part of the world's insecurity.

Would a Harper appointee to the UN Security Council make any difference? What separates Canadian foreign policy from the top arms dealers that run the security council at the UN?

Members of the UN were correct in snubbing Canada and until sanity returns to our election system, where 40% of the popular vote trumps the wishes of 60% of the voters, the world is better off preventing any aspect of Harper influence on the world.

The mad mad mad world of theo-con Harper is not infinite nor inevitable. Harper exists as PM only because of clever manipulation of a flawed election system.

Like the author I too am saddened by the direction Harper is taking Canada in terms of foreign policy. If Harper and Bairds view of the world is different than mine or the authors then it is our duty to voice our vision, concerns and empathy with those who not only share these with us but with those who don't.

it is a small world after all

Harper is in power because of Canadians and it is something many will soon enough deeply regret. It is what you get in Canada lots of immigrants casting their votes like the Chinese speculators who have been buying up Canada's real estate driving up the prices so many Canadians can't afford a home. Speculation is what caused the housing bubble in the US and is going to do the same here. You got to love those Chinese and how enterprising they are as country pays Ministers millions while working children to death so country can get jobs from Canada and other parts of the world because how can any country compete with all that slave labor?

Israel

"No one argues that Israel must be able to exist in safety and security."

Except the entire Arab world.

How do you negotiate with someone who won't acknowledge your right to exist.

I applaud PM Harper for his principled support for the only democracy in the Middle East, where its citizens, Jews, Christians AND Muslims, can protest without getting gunned down by the thug in charge.

principled and democratic

Now your making a joke as Canadians only wish as Harper's lack of principles hit closer to home especially when it comes to the global market place. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/13/china-s-workers-strike-back.html
Down, down the Canadian economy goes and Canadians sure know how to pick them, not!

And Sooke jsut explained the ...

...attitude which will never create peace in the Middle East. Those Arabs who get beaten down, whose land was taken back in 1949 just can't understand western democracy? We are surprised?

Israel Is Illegitimate... An Artificial Creation.

"Except the entire Arab world.
How do you negotiate with someone who won't acknowledge your right to exist." Sooke.

I was going to respond to this myself, in fact making the case that Israel is an "illegitimate" State, created out of the genocide of the people of Palestine, known as their Nakbah, and with the theft of their homeland... as atonement for the crimes of Nazi Germany and many other States of the "Western World" against the Jews. But I see there is no need. Skywalker has succinctly and well made the case ahead of me.

You are wrong, Sooke. It is NOT ONLY the Arabs who think the Zionist Jewish State of Israel is illegitimate, and that it would not exist at all, in fact, without the military, political and economic assistance of US and larger Western Imperialism. And that this is true is being increasingly recognized and understood around the world, including many more "objective" quarters within this country.

Time is running out for Zionist fascism, represented by the State of Israel. Even its main defender, the US Empire is growing weary and, economically and militarily bankrupt under the strain. The Arab peoples have but to endure awhile longer, and to continue to build their resistance against Western imperial interferences upon their territories.

As we speak, beginning in Tunisia and spreading throughout the Arab world, the worm is turning in the tumultuous events of an Arab Spring. Washington and the other capitals of the world that serve it, are scared crapless, and don't know which way to turn. If one is missing this, one is missing the critical element in a new dynamic at work in the entire world.

What about climate change?

Harper's greatest international failure, without question, is allowing Canada's total collapse on the climate change issue, moving from a Kyoto signatory to a policy of outright denial. We are a laughing stock in Europe, and now considered one of the most backwards countries on earth in terms of energy policy. Unfortunate that this does not earn a mention here.

Well said again, Ed!

But perhaps Harper is being toned down a bit:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/in-apparent-reversal-on-mideast-baird-backs-obamas-1967-border-proposal/article2044054/

Oops! Did Obama threaten to put the boots to Harper?

Very few lenses, only two frames

"Because of the Conservative government's ideological approach to aid, Harper's own cause célèbre -- maternal and child health -- has been compromised because many of the organizations carrying out work in this area also provide safe abortions -- something Harper opposes."

Of the girls we've put through secondary school in East Africa, about 20% (possibly many more) were raped. Two I know of who got pregnant, one in a gang rape, the other by an extended family member, got safe abortions.

Discussing this even among those who work for Christian aid organizations, such as World Vision, they say it was wrong and adoption was the way to go. So out of touch with reality. So many orphaned children.

Giving birth, those girls would be blamed and kicked out of their meager family homes, ostracised and unwelcome in their communities. Chances are both mother and baby would die.

Until the entire scenario of poverty and patriarchy changes there and elsewhere, it is criminal to prevent safe abortion for such girls, rather than the opposite that Harper and his blinkered Christian supporters espouse.

The same thing applies to Harper's narrow support of the Israeli govt., for the benefit of those who are waiting for the second coming of Christ in the Holy land.

Science, evidence, facts; these mean little to those with a very conservative frame. Just eliminate any and all dissent.

The frame of Voodoo economics is very similar, again, it is very narrow and dissent is not discussed but ridiculed.

In both frames, climate change, nah. A free (oil rich) middle east, nah. We've got what we want and don't want to see change that we can't control. Be afraid of any other changes. Cognitive dissonance anyone? The lenses are very foggy.

Intelligence is insufficient

Harpo is quite intelligent, especially the way he and his cronies have manipulated the lines of power in this country. Ethical, maybe not, although given his perspective of what is correct or not, he probably believes that he's right in being right.

But even intelligent people get locked into ideologies that reduce their intelligence capabilities and ultimately do them a disservice. Note Hitler's belief that he could win the war in 1943-44. Ego surely gets in the way.

In the big global, imperial chess game, Harpo would like to be the white king, sees himself as a bishop or rook, but is actually a pawn on the periphery. Too bad all of Canada may well be sacrificed in this game.

Paradoxically enough,

everybody who writes in response to this article seems to think it slams Harper as a lackey to corporate interests. Actually, there are two separate gripes, namely that Harper is not sitting on the fence in the Arab-Israeli conflict, but has taken a clear stand in being pro-Israel. People who elected him knew for a certainty where he stood on this, so they must agree. Chew on that.

Secondly, he is being slammed for not supporting Canadian investors in foreign countries, notably Africa. It is actually interesting to me, for I have long believed that when Gates and Bono and other such named people tried to hammer on the collective Canadian conscience regarding African aid, they were really serving entities like Nike et al, who have vested interest in maintaining a healthy work-force there. So, Harper does not go in that direction. I believe also there, he has read his constituents very well.

For people in distress in obscure places, his message seems to be: Vacation in your own country, and this kind of thing won't happen to you! well it won't. And again, people elected him, well knowing that he stood for this ingrained redneck-ism.

Why don't we concern ourselves with what framework we can put opposition into, that will give it some mileage with the electorate, and how we can support this next time - which is not so far away. Let's discuss what we're all FOR. This would be more productive than to keep picking at the carcass that was THIS election. Let's get a good brainstorm going with no looking back and no acrimonious recriminations, particularly not slamming the electorate for being 'sheep'. If you don't think of the electorate as always being right, you don't think democratically.

About "Thinking Democratically"...

"If you don't think of the electorate as always being right, you don't think democratically." Dorothy.

First, there are a lot of elements that go into so-called "democracy", that both shape and manipulate it and public opinion, depending on the particular socio-economic and class context of a particular society, and level of human and social and economic development. And understanding this is not to say that one consequentially does not "think democratically", only scientifically.

For example, Hitler was "democratically", within the context of the bourgeois-democratic Weimar Republic of the time, elected to power in Germany. Was the electorate "right" in this choice? Clearly, in the light of the events thereafter and history , they were not.

Clearly, "the people" can, in fact, behave like sheep, and make "wrong" choices. The ruling class can no less behave like sheep, and do, within their own class context. And one can say this, and still have no alternative but to accept the result of even a seriously flawed "democratic process."

But you are correct. There is little point, save with the benefit of considerable hindsight, such as I've indicated above, rubbing the public nose in their naiveté, even when it is the fact.

But let's be clear Dorothy... which is not what we are talking about here. In fact, the "majority" Conservative government was secured on the result of a "minority" of the electorate, first of participation and of even the votes cast... in a clearly "seriously flawed" democratic process. Some 60% of the public, in further fact, voted against a Conservative government.

Clearly, something smells rotten in Denmark here... as the saying goes. And one needs to understand, say that, and be prepared to draw the proper political conclusion about it. In short, the Conservative fascists secured their governing position NOT as a consequence of the failure of the public, either their understanding and or choice. It was but "the absence" of a "real democracy" that facilitated and foisted this "minority choice" as a government on the "majority" of Canadians. And to ignore this is to mindlessly submit to the manipulation of the facts.

This needs to be corrected. More, democracy needs to be transformed and extended into the institutions and enterprises of the economy, so that democratic public control of the working public, over the "wealth resources" generated there, can no longer be used to produce such sham democratic results... and there is adequate public financing of a more diversity based political result, rather than such as this ruling class manipulated one that is a travesty perpetrated against a real democratic result.

Even your skillful naiveté Dorothy, will not change the facts... only your own and some others "perception choices".

Let's be clear indeed.

"Hitler was "democratically", within the context of the bourgeois-democratic Weimar Republic of the time, elected to power in Germany. Was the electorate "right" in this choice? Clearly, in the light of the events thereafter and history , they were not."

It's too bad things went the way they did. But the fundamental idea stands. In the moment the German electorate chose Hitler for their leader, based on what information they had, being moved by what perceptions they harbored, they made the right choice. People in power can be wrong in making judgment calls. People in business can make wrong managerial decisions. But the ability of the people collectively, to make the right choice in an election, the belief in and respect for that ability, is the very foundation of democracy. My problem with your interpretation is: where would you draw the line? Would you, at some point, argue that oligarchy or even dictatorship is 'better' than the unwise meanderings of the 'misguided' electorate? Would you give them three tries to do it right, and then usurp their right to choose, seeing they turned out to be 'wrong'?

In my mind, you can slam the winners for being deceptive. You can slam the losers for not presenting their case better. You can slam people like the Greens, who throw their weight around for no gain, other than finally one lousy pathetic seat after endless ruin to everyone over and over. You can slam many things and people, but never the electorate. Screw the Science. It has no place there other than as a slow-working poison that serves to dilute the moral issues and accountability. Want to talk Science? Then advocate for the electoral system used in Denmark! It is scientifically guaranteed to provide proportional representation with an accuracy in the high nineties, and that country enjoys a sustained election participation of well over 80% of eligible voters. But guess what? the option to consider it was never on the table in any of the searches for a better system. Does your science perhaps tell you here, that somebody or somebodies don't really want a change for the better?

Dorothy Plays It Safe... and Conventional.

Again Dorothy, you continue to refuse to acknowledge the overarching facts... firstly:

"Voter turnout for Monday's election exceeded 2008's dismal electoral participation -- but not by much.
Preliminary results show that more than 14.5 million eligible Canadians cast ballots this year, or 61.4 per cent."

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20110503/voter-turnout-110503/20110503?s_name=election2011

In short, some 40% of Canadians were not moved to vote for ANY of the parties... for whatever reasons.

Secondly, of those who actually did vote (I wrote-in vote "NONE OF THE ABOVE" on my ballot.) less than 40% voted for a Conservative government, while 60% plus voted against it, this latter a clear "majority".

Such a result, that still results in a majority of seats and the government going to the Conservatives, represents a seriously flawed democracy, all regionalist arguments considered. They were clearly not the governing choice of the overwhelming majority of Canadians... of whatever regions.

Hence, in my view, whatever the skewed electoral rules and laws, and privileged class arrangement that allowed for such a government to nonetheless take power, is not/need not be a result "the majority" of Canadians need feel honour bound to accept or submit to. This democracy is broken and needs to be fixed, radically, before we feel such a sense of responsibility for the government outcomes it produces. Indeed, we are responsible for resisting the imposition of such a fundamentally "undemocratic" result upon "majority" selves.

I appreciate that you have a much more apologists perspective on the status quo than I, Dorothy, but if you want to address this issue, you really must not ignore, and address the central argument that is put against you... not skate around the safer ice at the edge of the pond. Screw up your courage and timid intellect and get to it, woman. :-)

I'm with the young page girl in the House of Parliament, who was so disgusted by the election outcome, she held up a sign reading
"STOP HARPER". Her courage and principledness were admirable, for which she paid with the loss of her job. And she was correct. We do need to STOP HARPER... and the economic, political and electoral system that has allowed for and sanctioned this outcome.

RESIST! BUILD THE RESISTANCE! Overwhelm the Dorothy Goody Two Shoes of this country! :-)

"Do you fear your country turning on you?"

Yes, regarding the indisputable courage of Ms. DePape and the sleazy attempt to paint her as a security risk...well, now we know who all those prisons are for ....and that they are clearly not intended for those held in Contempt of Parliament.

In that regard...this is kinda interesting...and even 'somewhat' on topic. ;-) I remember reading Marvel comics as a kid by flashlight, snuggled in my sleeping bag in an over-cozy tent along with a number of other nine-year-old night bandits after a summer evening spent raiding cherry trees and raspberries bushes. We were little scallywags....but highly endearing ones, I'm sure. ;-)

Anyway, to cut to the chase, a guy named Bill Everett invented Marvel comics’ first anti-hero in 1939, a character who in his timely story-line ultimately united with the Allied Forces to conquer fascism’s march across Europe during World War II.

Now in 2011 in one of those serendipitous but strangely true twists:

Quote:

"When news of Canada’s federal election hit Marvel comics headquarters in New York, a group of employees interrupted work on an important deadline to do a happy dance. “We jumped for joy, literally!” laughs graphic novelist Fred Van Lente via phone from Manhattan. “It was as if we’d won the lottery.” As luck would have it, Van Lente, his co-writer Greg Pak and illustrator Dale Eaglesham were just putting the finishing touches on the relaunch of their latest comic book, Alpha Flight, due out in June. The Flight, as it’s called on many fan sites, is a team of Canuck superheroes defending truth, justice and the Canadian way. Created in 1983 by John Byrne, Alpha Flight ceased publication in 2005. Van Lente and Pak’s prequel to the first issue—which landed on comic book stands this week—focuses on Byrne’s original nine-member team of caped and bodysuited crusaders. What’s different is who they’re up against: namely an enemy Van Lente calls “their most horrific villain of all time — the Canadian government.”

In fact, the plot Van Lente and his crew boiled up—months before Stephen Harper, Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff were waging their own epic battles—includes our nation going through some serious political unrest post-election. The prequel begins weeks after an extreme right-wing majority takes over the country and Vancouver is completely destroyed. After a series of events unfolds, Alpha Flight, a government-hired group of freedom fighters, are suddenly deemed enemies of the state for not toeing the line.

“It’s so perfect,” explains Van Lente. “Our actual tag line is: ‘Do you fear your country turning on you?’ It is definitely an art-imitating-life moment if you look at what is going on today. As American writers, we do take liberties, of course,” Van Lente says, jokingly. “Despite Alpha Flight’s best efforts, the Canadian government goes fascist and chaos ensues.” End of quote.

Of mice and elephants

One basic truth that dominates Canadian foreign policy since the founding of this country is that what really matters is the relationship with the US.

If you look at a map of Canada you may get the misleading impression that this is a large and powerful country. In fact it is a mouse compared to its elephant neighbor that virtually surrounds it. One shift of the elephant could squash Canada - the US is the only possible country that could invade and occupy Canada, or destroy it's economy with a few phone calls. And there is absolutely nothing Canada could do.

Harper, like past PM's knows this... and for all estimations he's loved in Washington. So in that sense he's doing a good job for a mouse - keeping it's elephant neighbor very pleased with us.