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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The simple truth about coalitions shouldn't be this scary

All over the news by now, of course: Iggy says if Harper doesn't win a majority and can't command the confidence of the House of Commons, he'd consult with the other parties and attempt to form a government himself.

All straightforward, normal and entirely within the bounds of parliamentary convention. This is Grade 10 civics, people. Your mandate to govern comes from Parliament. You can't command the confidence of Parliament, you don't have a mandate. Simple.

In what world is this an anti-democratic power grab? On what planet is this a scandal? Anybody want to guess?

That's right, it's on Planet Harper. Cue the shrieking and the flying-monkey attack. It's Ignatieff showing that his ambition to be Prime Minister trumps everything else. It's Ignatieff and Layton and Duceppe conspiring to defeat the democratic will of the Canadian people, yargle bargle bleghh. This from the guy who prorogued Parliament when he thought he was going to lose a confidence vote.

Now watch the corporate media follow the new shiny object. That's right, it's the Zombie Coalition Meme. Honestly, who gives a shit whether it's a formal coalition or an informal understanding that the Liberals, NDP, Bloc and/or Greens will work together to pass legislation and allow Parliament to function? But that's what the conversation will be all about. Can't wait to see what the meat puppets at Fox News North do with this one.

In the meantime, turns out his chief mouthpiece was interfering with the Montreal Port Authority's attempt to appoint a new president. Dmitri Soudas, the Globe says, was lobbying the authority's board to appoint a particular candidate. And two cabinet ministers had to speak up and tell him to back off.

Smears, distortion, lies, hypocrisy, their own crapaganda channel, and sleazy attempts to muscle an arms-length agency. Just another day at the office for the toxic Harper gang. Treating Canadians with contempt, poisoning the national discourse, and working to lower our expectations of our government and of ourselves.

Stephen Harper: too dangerous to govern.

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3 comments:

  1. Now watch the corporate media follow the new shiny object.

    And there it is. The wingnuts crank up the phony outrage and the pundits take it seriously instead of recognizing it for what it is: phony. So they channel it into the media and other people think: Hmmm, maybe there is something serious going on here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "What we have is the House of Commons. The House of Commons, the bastion of the Prime Minister's power, the body that selects the Prime Minister, is an elected body."
    - El Harpo to the Council for National Policy
    1997

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great blog! So true and a half!

    ReplyDelete

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