Andrew Coyne has an excellent analysis of what's going on with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party.
Key quote: He (Harper) has made the Conservatives into legitimate contenders for power, in short, at the expense of conservatism. In its place he offers . . . himself."
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Andrew is pretty hard on Steve. Although, his piece is excellent and he makes it sounds like someone [Harper] has built up some serious political capital and not used it on anything worthwhile?
Could this mean that we are destined, as Canadians, to dive into constitutional debates a year or so after the election?
Or will he keep guiding the ship steadily ahead until the time comes to face another Liberal opposition leader?
I'm thinking it's the latter but what do i know.
I do agree with his analysis of what it means when people say Harper is a strong leader. However, to say he has abandoned his principles for power is a bit of a stretch. I would argue that power corrupts immediately, and policy agendas in Canada are thereby determined by the polls. I think the political reality is that Harper does want to implement some true conservatism (economic of course because he's socially liberal) but he has his hands tied because he's still trying to gain the public's trust.
The problem is the Canadian electorate for the most part is pretty stupid (lizzy may not have been to bright to say it but she's right). And not stupid in the sense that they're mentally dim-witted, but just don't care enough about national policy to have much more of an opinion than what they see from Liberal press releases demonizing Harper.
Also the MSM hasn't exactly done much to save him from this caricature; and let's face it, he's probably not as bad a guy as is propagated.
I think that when Harper reaches his comfort zone we'll see real change.
Which would make the inevitable fall, when it happens, less of a problem for his party unless it's a Mulroneyesque meltdown.
With apologies to John Cougar Mellencamp ...
Jack and Dion
by JC Kelan
Little ditty about Jack and Dion
A kid from Quebec et un gar de Lyon
Jacky wanna be a Kyoto star
Dion, debutante in a hybrid car
Suckin’ on tofu dogs, watchin the CBC
Dion sittin on Jacky’s lap
Dreams a grit minority
Jacky say, “Hey Dion,
I’ll help you get rid of Steve,
then I’ll sit in your cabinet,
let me do what I please”
Chorus:
Oh yeah, life goes on
Long after the thrill of voting is gone
Oh yeah, say life goes on,
Long after the hope of winning is gone, they walk on
Jacky sits back and reflects for a moment
Dion scratches his head and does his best Howard Dean
“Well you know, Dion, Liz’ll be a problem”
Dion says, “Jack, she’s already on my team”
Chorus:
Oh yeah, life goes on
Long after the thrill of voting is gone
Oh yeah, say life goes on,
Long after the hope of leadin” is gone, they walk on
Steve’s gonna rock, Steve’s gonna roll
Let the “Green Shift” pull him up in the polls
Hold onto power as long as he can
Change come around real soon
Steve’s got a majority plan
Chorus:
Oh yeah, life goes on
Long after the thrill of voting is gone
Oh yeah, say life goes on,
Long after all the dreamin’ is gone, they walk on
Little ditty ‘bout Jack and Dion
two Lefties gettin’ whupped by the neo-con.
A good analysis by Coyne if simple in the extreme. Mind you I still think that Mr. Coyne doesn't have the stripes to wax eloquently on what a conservative should be or not be. (real conservative)
Good song. Jack & Dion! LOL!
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