Sunday, September 25, 2011

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Cargo cult conservatives

John Cole thinks conservatives have become cargo cults:
How do you have a sensible policy debate with people who reject basic facts? It’s like trying to debate members of a cargo cult- the modern GOP carry the crosses but have no idea what it means to be christian. They talk about free markets, but have no understanding of economics. Just say deregulate and tax cuts a lot, and MAGIC WILL HAPPEN. Evolution? LIES! Climate change? LIES! Modern Medicine and vaccines? LIES! KEEP GOVERNMENT OUT OF MY MEDICARE! That scooter just magically showed up from the scooter store, like a coca cola bottle from heaven!
The cargo cult analogy is closer than many of us are comfortable admitting, and our media has decided to just cover their eyes and pretend that it’s just two sides of the same coin. It’s crazy.
UPDATE: And I notice Rick Perry is proving the adage that it's better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Pfffft!

Hubris already? Colour me unsurprised!
MacKay:
Defence Minister Peter MacKay used one of only three search-and-rescue helicopters available in Newfoundland to transport him from a vacation spot last year, CTV News has learned.
Dechert
In an apparent attempt to dodge reporters, Dechert on Wednesday arrived for the daily question period through a loading dock entrance at the back of the Centre Block. He was dropped off by someone driving a minivan.
Flaherty:
Parliament Hill was buzzing Tuesday over news that Ottawa hired management consulting firm Deloitte Inc. to advise the cabinet and senior officials on how to erase the federal deficit by 2014-15. The Aug. 15 contract is worth up to $19.8-million. Because it only runs until March 31, its cost works out to about $90,000 a day.
The session is three whole days old.
And here's the guy they all once thought would do such a great job on setting a Conservative agenda for Toronto:
Mayor Rob Ford has talked the talk on the need for budget cuts. He declined to walk the walk when he had the opportunity on Tuesday morning.
In a significant concession to public opposition and to queasy council allies, Ford voted at the end of a 20-hour executive committee meeting to reject some proposed cuts and to put off decisions on almost all of the others to the 2012 budget process, which begins in November and ends in mid-January.
So after a lot of people went through a lot of misery, in the end Ford deflated like a pricked balloon.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Exceptionalism



Sometimes I find if very hard to understand Americans.
Why wouldn't they take this man's death seriously? Do they really believe that "you can just go to the emergency room" to get healthcare? Are they so terribly afraid of giving something "free" to supposedly "undeserving" people -- blacks, latinos, poor people -- that they won't set up their own health care system so it can care for their own citizens?
I hear a lot of chat about American exceptionalism -- well, I certainly hope so. I hope this callous attitude is not the norm among civilized nations.
They should be ashamed of themselves.

UPDATE: From Roy:
Forget the Gettysburg Address, forget even "Tear down this wall"; the progress of the modern Republican Party is the progress from "You lie!" to "Let him die!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Your lying eyes

Alison has posted a brilliant Colbert Report video about the 9/ll conspiracy theory.
Basically, we have always been at war with East Asia.

Update: corrected -- thanks, Purple, I hadn't read Alison's reference correctly.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Shooting themselves in the foot?

If the NDP pick Brian Topp for their new leader, a man who has never run for public office, are they shooting themselves in the foot?
Well... yesterday he compared himself to Brian Mulroney.
Yes, that will be a winning message, won't it.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Friday, September 09, 2011

Sorry

Echo seems to be eating my comments tonight -- hopefully it will fix itself by tomorrow.

911 stories

I dreaded the media approach to the tenth anniversary of 9/11 because in 2001 it took me weeks to stop seeing the towers fall every time I closed my eyes.
And I am now getting increasingly snitty about how we mis-remember that day -- I read about "seeing the first tower hit" when there was actually no real-time coverage at all of that terrible moment -- videos of the first hit were accidental, and were not found and broadcast until hours or days later. Even the TV coverage I saw of the second hit was from across the river, so it wasn't very clear at first what had happened.
And I am also now getting increasingly worried about how our politicians continue to use the attack as an excuse to abuse our civil rights and drive a religious wedge between east and west.
But, in spite of all that, there are some amazing stories now being told about courage, fortitude and sacrifice on that day:
F-16 pilot was ready to give her life on Sept. 11



Sunday, September 04, 2011

Saturday, September 03, 2011

Unprecedented?

The Toronto Police Board has taken the "unprecedented" step of refusing to promote nine officers who had removed their name tags during the G20 protests in June of 2010.
Well, arresting and jailing a thousand Canadians without cause was unprecedented, too.
Tit for tat.
Go here for the photos from the G20 Justice website showing Toronto police without name badges.

Thursday, September 01, 2011