The lineup at the polling station this morning

All the way around the gym at the local high school, out the door and round the corner.

Had to wait half an hour to vote. Maybe some of the people there got robo-calls directing them to the wrong place or something.

Tell us again how nobody wanted this election, Steve?

Don't go 'way mad, buddy. Just go away.



Related posts:

• The night before the election: what we can expect
• Election, final week: All right, all right. A small measure of hope
• Poll results, wishful thinking and realism

Coyne posts the best tweet of the election

... and in the process, delivers an unanswerable indictment of the depths to which public discourse has been allowed to sink.

Related posts:

• Let's hear from a couple of Sun News Network fans
• @SueAnnLevy in her own words
• Elizabeth May excluded? What Coyne said
• More Sun readers speak ...
• Let's hear from another Sun reader ...

Election, final week: All right, all right. A small measure of hope

Leavened, as always, by a heapin' helpin' of caution.

The polls, to the extent that they can be relied upon, continue to show a surge in the support for the NDP, to the consternation of both the traditional parties. Bay Street, apparently, is shitting its drawers. And the gutter press is all but disappearing up its own ass in a desperate attempt to make a smear stick.

"Find new ways to protect Parliament?" WTF?

I'm sorry, dear Globe editorialists, your lips are moving and there are sounds coming out, but I can't understand what you're saying.

Stephen Harper's government has done more to damage Parliament and hamper its functions than any other government in Canadian history.

Misrepresenting and distorting the simple truth about parliamentary conventions.

Issuing instruction manuals for sabotaging the work of parliamentary committees.

Withholding information from Parliament and spinning the demand for it as partisan gaming.

Proroguing for spurious and contrived reasons.

Time and space simply don't permit me to go into the detail this requires, but with this editorial the Globe has demonstrated where its loyalties truly lie.

Related posts:

• Don't know who won the debates, but that's a short-term question
• Cue the whining about the left-wing media
• Are stories unflattering to Harper being pulled from corporate-media websites?

Some necessary truths about parliamentary convention

Really, it's not fair that pogge does most of the heavy lifting while I just swoop in, package his hard work with some off-the-cuff snark and then sit back and watch, but then who ever said life was fair?

Steady on, progressive friends

That EKOS poll, thrilling as it is, may well turn out to be an anomaly. Sure, the corporate media love the momentary drama, but at the end of the day they'll do their duty and ensure that only the blue and the red –i.e., the two parties owned by Bay Street and/or the oil patch – are seen as "realistic" options. It's how they roll.

If there's truly an NDP surge, it may well turn out to be little more than today's Shiny Object.

Again, our priority has to be denying Harper his majority. That's got to be obvious by now, unless you like living in corporatist theocracies where ignorance, stupidity and belligerence are celebrated as civic virtues.

In that light, it doesn't really matter whether the Liberals or the NDP finish second; the acid test will be whether they can work with the Bloc to ensure that Harper, once held to a minority, does not secure the confidence of the House. Another Harper government is something this country may not survive.

Related posts:

• Wow. Just ... wow.
• To my dear Liberal and NDP friends ...
• When Liberals and New Democrats snipe at each other, who wins?
• Eye on the ball, comrades

Let's hear from a couple of Sun News Network fans

Because really, it's not fair of me to single out Sun readers.

Especially now that there's a TV network for them.

To my dear Liberal and NDP friends ...

I've said it before, but in light of yesterday's developments – new attack ads, revised communication strategy and so forth – it bears repeating.

Can we keep our eyes on the ball, comrades? We must, above all else, deny Harper his majority.

Harper reveals his character, yet again

Once again, a guy who can't work and play well with others.

No plans to compromise, because they're not going to let me have my way.

And for good measure, he throws in a little misdirection and BS about a "mandate from the people." Didn't William McCormack try something like that a few years ago? Screw the law, I'm standing on faux-populist demagoguery.

Once again: the mandate to govern depends on earning the confidence of Parliament. Full stop. Party affiliations are irrelevant.

Stephen Harper: your one-stop source for petulant bullshit.

Sent from my mobile device

Another election meme: #progressivemajority

Worthwhile suggestion on the Tweeter from @Falsum.

Really, isn't everyone thoroughly sick by now of the Harpobots' coalition fearmongering? It's time to kneecap this cynical strategy of falsehood, distortion and misdirection once and for all.

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.

Rise up against the toxic Harper effect: whatever it takes

As I said yesterday, credit where it's due.

Props to Iggy's speechwriters for the Rise Up reference to Harper's slow poisoning of our body politic. And because it's not the Parachute Club, but from a Springsteen tune ...



In deference to the Boss. I'm all about the equal-opportunity Rise Up references.

Related posts:

• Meme for the week: Harper – too dangerous to govern
• Suzanne Trepanier on what Harper's boys did to Remy Beauregard
• What's worse? The lies, or the insult to our intelligence?

An election message from conssayyes and #Harperslegacyofshame

Well. The Dammit Janet folks are on a roll today.

Via the Tweeter, a must-see video from conssayyes. If you're indifferent about this election, if you're not sure how to vote, or if you're not even that motivated to vote at all, watch this.

Best #elxn41 poster so far (shamelessly stolen from Fern Hill)

Comrade Fyrnova makes another heroic contribution to the organs of revolutionary consciousness-raising.

A marvellous and accessible demonstration of the Harper Regime's counter-revolutionary tendencies. For this, we can overlook our comrade's occasionally regrettable enthusiasm for purges and even allow the occasional show trial.

Related posts:

• Shamelessly stolen from Far and Wide
• Shit Harper Did #FTW
• The latest video from Enough Harper

Our F-35 fighter jets won't have engines

And people say they're wasting our tax dollars! Don't you just feel stupid now?

Canada's F-35s: Engines not included, says the Ottawa Citizen.

And think about what a great recruiting tool they'll be! They can sit there and look shiny, they can be towed anywhere they're needed, and just think of the money we'll save on maintenance! A little brass polish, a couple of cases of Armor-All, and we're good.

What magicians these Conservatives are, and what sly foxes!

The Harper Goverment^TM: keeping its eye on the ball and getting value for our money. And making sure our brave men and women in uniform aren't going into harm's way.

I'm sorry, was someone saying something about competent government? Well, if by "competent" you mean "unable to take a step in any direction without tripping over their own dicks," then yes. This list off the top of pogge's head comes to mind ...

Related posts:

• Nobody could possibly be this dumb ... 
• The Harper Government's tipping point
• Supporting the troops, my ass

Early call for Election Meme-O-the-Week: voter suppression

Of course, that's just my opinion. But in the absence of a knockout blow during the debates, and with all respect to Helena Guergis and her opera teacher, the most telling storyline from this week has got to be the junior Karl Rove wannabes in Guelph.

Shit Harper Did #FTW

Have I mentioned that I love love love love love these guys?

ShitHarperDid.com. Best thing to happen to democracy since the Vote Mob.



Keep it up, you crazy kids!

Related posts:

• The latest video from Enough Harper
• @MargaretAtwood buries another one
• Come on, now. Harper's no chicken

The latest video from Enough Harper

Not commenting on last night's debates or on the effectiveness of Canada's opposition parties here. Just another element in this corner's non-partisan approach to getting rid of Stephen Harper.

Don't know who won the debates, but that's a short-term question

... although the partisan spin machines are, no doubt, going full-tilt boogie right about now. Who can blame them, really. It's how the game is played, and it's what they're paid for.

Regardless of how this spins out, however, the long-term prospects for the health of Canadian democracy and civil society aren't promising. It's probably safe to assume that we won't see any serious discussion of meaningful electoral reform, for instance. Nor will there be any revisiting of the international bureaucratic / corporate structures we've been locked into. Reinvestment in the social safety net? Don't think so. A truce in the class war? An acknowledgement that it's legitimate for government to act for the common good? Well, you see where I'm going.

What @pogge said

Don't know whether I've done one of these before, and if not, I don't know why not.

Anyway, I had the same WTF reaction when I saw the Radwanski suggestion that the Harpobots have provided "mostly competent government," but it's late and I don't have the energy to list all the ways in which they've provided anything but.

And then I saw: pogge's already done it for me. What a decent chap.

Go read it here.