A note from Sheenagh McMahon

The gutsy woman who got in John Baird's face yesterday has a message for us.

Follow the links. It's worth your time.

She's also very graciously allowed me to reproduce her e-mail messages to me. I can only stand back and applaud. While I wank on about citizenship and civic engagement from behind a keyboard, this lady's actually walking the walk. (h/t CuriosityCat)

Why electoral reform needs to be a central issue

There's good reason to be afraid – be very afraid – of a Harper majority. I'll defer to more eloquent and more experienced observers on that, because I'm not sure I can add anything to what they've already said.

But it does suggest a need for more focus on electoral reform. Indeed, electoral reform needs to be a priority for anyone who believes in genuine democratic governance, regardless of where you land on the political spectrum.

Cue the whining about the left-wing media

Not a good week for the Harper Machine, so, in keeping with the Rove playbook, watch for the complaints about media bias. I can practically hear the clutch grinding as they switch gears from swaggering bullies to whining victims.

This hot-oil massage from The Star should figure prominently.

Come on, now. Harper's no chicken

Stephen Harper is campaigning in a bubble.

He can't face audiences that haven't been pre-screened.

Are stories unflattering to Harper being pulled from corporate-media websites?

The Sixth Estate, Dawg's Blog, Lorne at PAID and Dammit Janet (twice) have flagged this. If it's true, it just underlines what many of us have been saying about the Harper Regime's aggressively totalitarian character.

Really, doesn't the prospect of large media organizations engaging in self-censorship raise a few red flags? Isn't anyone just a little disturbed at the prospect of instant rewriting of history?

#Elxn41, first week in review: Harper's character flaws exposed

First lap.

So what's the dominant storyline to emerge from Week One? In my respectful submission, it's got to be the limits of the Harper machine's message control, and his petulant reaction to its failure.

Keeping up with the Joneses

It just never lets up, does it.

By now we've all read about the massacre at the UN offices in Mazar-i-Sharif. And when you're looking for an arsonist, you can usually start with the guy holding the matches and the gasoline can.