@MargaretAtwood buries another one

Seriously. This is why Margaret Atwood is, well, Margaret Atwood, and the rest of us just wish we could be.

I suppose it would be bad form to wear such a button without actually getting turfed by the #HarperGestapo, wouldn't it.

The Harper Machine's priorities

Rounding up students who have pics of themselves with Iggy on their Facebook pages: Priority One. Bring the Mounties in if necessary.

Making sure high-ranking officials with access to sensitive information don't have long criminal records and multiple fraud convictions: meh. Whatever.

And don't forget to blame your staff when it blows up in your face.

... although, it could get stiff competition from ...

... Harper himself:

"I didn't know the guy was a crook!"

Uh, yeah. Sure, Steve. Sure.

(If you think hard enough, you can just about imagine Jean Chretien using the same tone of voice:

"I never said we would get rid of the GST!")

Our new meme for the week: Harper's Gestapo

Ok, maybe it's hyperbole, but so what? These bastards play dirty. No point in playing nice with them. Time to kick 'em in the nads.

So tonight we have several accounts of hired muscle going through the audience at a Harper party rally in London, rounding up perceived Enemies of the State and tossing them out. Probably making lists of names and faces for later, too, when the time comes to assign said enemies for re-education.

CBC and its 'left-wing bias'

CBC newscast this morning features an item by Hannah Thibedeau, condescendingly dismissing a Jack Layton campaign event because it didn't feature anything new.

Everything he said, the report goes, has been part of NDP campaigns before. The clear implication is that no one really needs to take it too seriously - it's old, it hasn't caught on, nothing to see here, move along.

Uh-huh. Um ... folks? Just because an idea's been floated on previous occasions doesn't mean it's a bad idea. The fact that it doesn't fit into a lazy, ideologically circumscribed "two-way race" narrative is something else entirely.

Sent from my mobile device

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.