Sunday, August 16, 2009

Murphy nails it

Rex Murphy had a good piece in the Globe and Mail yesterday on how the Liberals and Conservatives are mirror images of each other.

About Prime Minister Harper, Murphy writes:

"Stephen Harper, despite the image he bears of being a dogmatic, ideologically fired conservative, is as Liberal as Liberal can be when it matters most. Whether it's a bailout for the auto companies or a blissful embrace of the return to deficit financing, Mr. Harper is as flexible as the most pliant Liberal. The stimulus funds that are being dispersed these days – for those of us with long memories – have all the focus of those programs the Liberals used to scatter across the land to build tiny bridges over dried-up streams or paint the larger rocks in village playgrounds. They also did a lot for graveyard upkeep, a forgivable piety perhaps, but not one that should be confused with an industrial strategy for those above ground."

Read the rest.

8 comments:

colsts said...

How incredibly one dimensional you guys are. Tell me, did the Liberals vote with the Conservatives on recognizing private property rights? Do the Conservatives have the tyranny of social justice written into their constitution? Do the Liberals support the Conservative tax breaks? Do the Liberals support the decoupling of federal-provincial responsibilities? Can Gerry Nicholls look passed the dollar sign on the end of his nose for once in his life?

Jeff said...

Gerry, speaking as a Conservative volunteer who has invested hundreds of hours to promote the party and my local MP, I wince when I see your posts on Blogging Tories. Perhaps you provide a clarion call to conservative purity; I don't know.

What our party now in government is trying to do reminds me of an engineering friend who used to design phone handsets. In university, he saw himself designing totally from scratch; in reality, he was always modifying an existing model.

Colsts raises some good points. I'm still trying to figure out your angle. Do you genuinely believe that the PM has the freedom to exercise a more conservative agenda, and you are the modern day equivalent of the Old Testament prophets calling the PM to choose courage over accommation? Or does the fact he has to modify an existing model provide you with an opportunity to play the gadfly and sell your book?

Either way, please keep it up. It's easy for us partisans to lose our true north. And perhaps herein is a difference between Conservatives and Liberals: I'm not satisfied just having power; if we can't put conservative principles into practice, what's the point?

But I do see good things happening. I see capable ministers in charge of their portfolios, free trade agreements being signed and even more being negotiated, tax reductions and the tax-free savings accounts, and more accomplishments that Sandy at Crux is tracking for us.

The deficit spending is tough to take, but when the PM had the chance he did put something like $38 billion towards our debt. I'm willing to cut him the slack he needs. And I suspect other partisan volunteers are as well. I'm wondering if the critics are not among those of us who are the feet on the ground.

Blame Crash said...

I had to laugh when I read your comment "mirror images of each other".
Do you really expect any one with common sense to buy in to the disingenuous guff you're peddling?

jckirlan said...

I have come to realise that Gerry is an agent provacateur for the Libs, nothing but his own personal fifth column in the Conservative party.
In the words of Oliver Cromwell" You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing lately. You shall give this place to better men!...Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"

Gerry Nicholls said...

Hey why are you all upset with me, I was just quoting Rex Murphy!!

Anonymous said...

Don't bother Gerry, they're too dumb to see that the real point-expansion of liberty-has been missed and will continue to be by the CPC. They are like so many goonish hockey fans cheering for team Blue because they're captain appeals to their sentiments more the Red team's captain.

treb said...

And another anonymous Liberal coward makes a comment from his ass.All you deficit talkers like REX Murphy never mention the reason that the Conservatives are deficit spending.WERE IN A RECESSION MURPHY..In the good times PM Harper was paying down our debt.Get your story straight MURPHY before daring to compare a Conservative to a corrupt Liberal.Like all or most of the Liberal MSM,they now want people to think there is no difference between deficit spending during a recession and deficit spending during Liberal good times (adscam times,,HRDC times,,brown envelope times) REX MURPHY for gods sake retire and get back on your medication.

Anonymous said...

Wow, look at how the "Harperites" are crying now!

I like their "reasoning" though: When the Libs squander money, it's corruption. When the Conservatives squander money it's for the glorious cause of rescuing our economy from certain peril.

The simple fact is a true fiscal conservative should understand the ruinous nature of Keynesian economics and allow for the self-corrective nature of the economy.

Unfortuntely "Treb", "Blamecarsh" and their ilk are too pie eyed over Harper to critcise his Liberal big government approach.

And they accuse Gerry of being a Lib. What a joke.

FLAVRFLAV