Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Star Letter

I have a letter to the editor in today's Toronto Star -- based on a blog posting I did yesterday.

13 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:19 PM

    So, what's your point? This Johnnie hit me first garbage is just that - garbage.

    Grow up - it's 2008 and Harper is a bully - but with no class.

    I don't like bullies in the school yard or in the childish Harper caucus.....and you shouldn't either.

    God, you people always play the victim card - poor us, poor me....pathetic

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:29 PM

    How exactly is Mr. Harper a bully?
    Because he doesn't kow-tow to the media and the Liberal way of doing things?
    Because he doesn't jump through hoops to satisfy the special interest groups?
    How can he be a bully in Parliament? It is a minority.
    Unfortunately many pundits can not tell the difference between a bully (Chretien)and a man with a strong will and convictions. (Harper)
    I was not a fan of Mr. Chretien, but he did have a strong will that he was able to impose on Parliament. His tactics were bully-like, which was unnecessary since he had a majority. It was just his nature.
    Having said all that...thank you Mr. Chretien for election finance reform!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12:34 PM

    Glad you have enough public recognition to say what so many of us have been thinking. It's priceless to watch the Liberals get so up in arms over Harper using the word "screw" (an informal word, not a curse as Travers suggested) when their party has a long history of truly nasty behavior.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thats funny. We play the victim card. Isn't that the progressive mantra. Everyone's a victim and they all need tax money and the nanny state to solve their problems. I guess you loved trudeau and chretien who were truly bullies and helped destroy the fabric of the nation.
    Good letter Gerry!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous12:57 PM

    To Anonymous. AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous1:06 PM

    "So, what's your point?"

    Let me spell it out for you.

    1. In terms of profanity, what Harper said was Ivory soap mild compared to your Liberal demi-gods. I've heard worse language at boy scout meetings. There is no scandal here except that you Libs have made it one for political gains.

    2. A bully? Do you even know the meaning of the word? Do we now in this politically correct climate have to extend the definition of the word to include somebody using the word 'screw'?

    3. The Liberals have neither in the past acted squeaky clean(Trudeau and Chretien as pointed out in the article) nor do they currently. I've watched question period and your side would win no gold stars for good behaviour. Prove to use you're fair-minded and balanced and not a partisan hack. Post the links where you've visited Liberal blogs and criticised them for their behaviour.

    4 i·ro·ny - incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs. This had to be the case, right? Your words were actually ironic, right? Otherwise, calling someone a bully then in the same breath calling him 'no class' and 'childish' while telling someone else to 'grow up' would make you either a hypocrite or a moron.

    5. You're not a hypocrite or a moron, right?

    6. Rhetorical question - a question, often used by public speakers and debaters, that either does not require an answer or for which the speaker intends to provide his or her own answer.

    See point 5 above.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bob Rae, speaking on Mike Duffy about a year and half ago, said this (approximately) of the Conservatives:

    "These guys play hardball all the time. That's all they know. They throw the ball at your head at every opportunity."

    That is about the right characterization of what Harper has been doing, since the Throne Speech of last Fall. Before that, Harper was more inclined to reach compromises, (eg with the BLOC to get the 2007 Budget passed). But since Dion revealeed his weakness (not ready to fight an election), Harper has quite rightly taken advantage of him.

    Look, the Opps can spin what Harper is doing anyway they want. In my mind, there are more pros than cons to Harper's approach.
    Certainly, the CPC base is enjoying the show, and we count way more than the the likes of Travers.

    As Ted Morton said during his leadership bid for the PCs here in Alberta: "We should listen to our Conservative friends, and not our Liberal enemies".

    Harper is doing that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous2:09 PM

    Anon. 12:19

    perhaps Dion shouldn't offer himself as such a target for the tough politics Harper's playing?

    Then again, as Iggy has suggested, Dion just didn't get it done when he had the chance.

    Harper's comments were exactly what the hard-working stiff understands.

    Can't take the heat? Get out of the fire.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:33 PM

    Loved your letter - you must have read my mind! After all the crap Liberals have pulled over the years, and all the faux scandals which have been manufactured of late (is there some little Liberal in a back room whose primary function is dirty tricks??), it is too funny to hear the kvetching from these crybabies!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous6:55 PM

    One thing for sure PMSH and his party were the ones to vote for the CRIME BILL and ANTI-TERRORIST ACT, AGE OF CONSENT and other bills which concern canadians and military.
    The liberals never bother to rise to vote for any of those bills apparently the criminals and terrorists worth more than our lives our country and our troops.
    No,the prime minister is not a bully but a concern people who cares and would take the heat from the media knowing that they probably have the same brain waves as the liberals.
    If the liberals were treated the same way as the media treat this PMSH- the liberals would run away and hide. COWARDS.

    The PMSH has no media to his name yet he manages to get things done.
    The reason why many people are not convinced about the PM, is because the MSM do their damnest to manipulate the people.
    Apparently the media praise the liberals for lying stealing corrupting the country taking our money for their own personal use without returning our money and yet they are all over the prime minister for lowering the debt, GST, giving us back our money, attending to the military that were left abandoned neglected by the liberals for years.
    The list goes on and on.
    Paul Martin , Jean Chretien and other liberal members still owe us money unfortunately the MSM are too chichen or afraid to ask

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous7:32 PM

    So according to the LPC spin Prime Minister Harper is a bully. Well I for one would prefer Mr Harper's bully tactics rather than Paul (Mr Dithers ) Martin of Stephane Dion as the nutty professor.

    Lets look at PMSH accomplishments:
    1. brought in the accountability act which gave media and opposition parties more access to what the government is doing.
    2. Brought in an extension to the Afghanistan war after all party debate in Parliament, The LPC under the big J C & Mr Dithers did not debate afghanistan or Iraq in Parliament, they just committed our
    Canadian Forces without debate.
    3. Enacted tougher crime laws to protect victims and punish the criminals, libs want to coddle them.
    4. Introduced fixed election dates to avoid elections ad nauseum just because a party has a majority government.
    5. tried to introduce Senate reform to make the Parliamentary Country club more accountable to the tax payers.
    6. Paid down the largest amount against the national debt of any political party.

    Lets get Prime Minister Harper relected in the next election with a majority government & reduce the Libs to 4th party status equal to NDP.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous8:17 PM

    Another dictionary definition of bullying:
    Chretien on Beaudouin
    http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=398946

    ReplyDelete
  13. ... Perhaps, the definition of a bully is someone who hopes that others will like them better, if they sufficiently belittle others- which is the cynical Mr. Harper's election strategy.

    ReplyDelete