President Obama

I am not actively religious. I am not a Christian. I'm not even a monotheist. And all I can say is

THANK GOD!





Now, can we please do something about OUR government?!

The Real Story Tomorrow

When I was working at our campaign office on our election day, we heard complaints from a few people that they faced line-ups of half an hour to 45 minutes at their polling station. Most of those people got fed up and went home without casting a ballot.

I think of those people when I read stories coming out of the U.S. about people waiting in line for 3, 4, even six hours or more to vote in advance polls, and I am embarrassed. And humbled.



I have said it before: the most remarkable thing about the Obama campaign is not the man himself - it's the people and the movement he has inspired. In a country where voter turnout for the past forty years has averaged just under 53%, they are suddenly faced with the prospect of 60 or even 70 percent or more of eligible voters making their voices heard.

Those millions of dollars Obama has raised and spent don't come from business connections or corporate donors. They represent millions of individual people who have donated 5, 10, or 50 dollars, many of whom had never donated to a political campaign before. That high-tech website he's set up isn't just a political billboard - it is actually used by a significant percentage of voters to inform themselves about his policies, to discuss those policies with one another, to sign up to volunteer as door knockers or retrieve lists of phone numbers to call, and lately to report voter suppression tactics and advise voters of their rights.

All of this represents a level of political engagement that hasn't been seen in America since the 1960s.

And so, for me, the real story of the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign is not the election of the first African-American President. It is the re-awakening of the American electorate, and the potential rebirth of American democracy.

I am, of course, an optimist, and this all may well prove to be a passing fad. It remains to be seen whether or not this engagement will last beyond tomorrow's election, or beyond the inauguration of President Obama. But just imagine if it did! Imagine if all those millions of informed, aware, empowered voters really kept at it and demanded that their President and other representatives actually follow through on their promises, lest they be removed from power.

And what if these voters were to use their new found voice to demand even more? Like real, universal, publicly funded health care? Or the dismantling of the corporate/lobbyist machine that has run Washington for the past three decades or more? Or the end of America's reliance on all fossil fuels and not just those from unfriendly nations? Or an end to the use of America's military as a tool of conservative political and economic ideology? Or an end to child poverty?

Imagine.

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And now, on this election eve, a few words from Al Gore about democracy, from his book "The Assault on Reason":

“When the operations of a government are open to full examination by its citizens and subjected to vigorous discussion and debate, then the corrupt misuse of public power for private gain becomes more difficult to conceal. If the rule of reason is the standard by which every use of official power is evaluated, then even the most complex schemes to violate the public’s trust can be uncovered and policed by a well informed citizenry. Moreover, when ideas rise or fall according to merit, reason tends to drive us toward decisions that reflect the best available wisdom of the group as a whole.

But reason alone is not enough. There must be a public forum accessible to all within which individuals can communicate freely to illuminate unwise as well as illegitimate uses of power. Hannah Arendt, who wrote about totalitarianism in the twentieth century, emphasized the importance of the public realm to this process: "The only remedies against the misuse of public power by private individuals lie in the public realm itself, in the light which exhibits each deed enacted within its boundaries, in the very visibility to which it exposes all those who entered it".

If the forum is not fully open, then those who control access become gatekeepers. If they charge money in return for access, then those with more money have a greater ability to participate. Good ideas in the minds of men and women who cannot afford the price of admission to the public forum are then no longer available for consideration. When their opinions are blocked, the meritocracy of ideas that has always been the beating heart of democratic theory begins to suffer damage. The conversation of democracy then comes untethered from the rule of reason and can be manipulated.

That is exactly was has been happening in America. The replacement of an easily accessible, print-based marketplace of ideas with a restricted-access, television based realm has lead to a radical transformation of the nature and operation for the marketplace of ideas in the United States.

When only those who have wealth can afford to enter the principal forum in which the majority of the people receive their information, then those who can pay the price of admission automatically become more influential. Their opinions become more important then the opinions of others. The nation’s priorities then change".

And a few more from Cousin Teddy:

Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.

- Theodore Roosevelt, 1906

Time to Talk About NAFTA

With Barack Obama and the Democrats looking more and more likely to sweep the U.S. election on Tuesday (knock on wood), we are faced with the real possibility that they will follow through on their promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. They will, of course, be looking to gain further advantage for the U.S., and particularly for U.S. workers.

But what about Canada?

The fatal flaw in NAFTA, as in most other free trade agreements, is that it tends to favour corporate interests above all other considerations. One result of this has been the string of lawsuits filed under NAFTA's Chapter 11 over the past 15 years by transnational corporations against governments who presume to implement policies or pass regulations that interfere with their 'investors rights' (i.e. profits). While many of these suits have been brought against the U.S. and Mexican governments (with several aimed specifically at California), Canada has always been a favourite target because of our more stringent regulatory regime and our fondness for keeping things like health care out of private hands.

Two cases which have made the news recently illustrate the danger:

NAFTA-based suit threatens Canada's medicare
Suit seeks to open Canadian health care to privatizers

... a group of 200 private investors led by Arizona businessman Melvin J. Howard is planning to use the NAFTA national treatment mechanism to pry open Canadian medicare — often described by neoconservatives as “the last great uncracked oyster in the North American marketplace.”

Howard and his partners want to open a private surgical centre in B.C. similar to the Cambie Clinic owned by Dr. Brian Day, past-president of the Canadian Medical Association, but are facing what they call anti-American roadblocks in several municipalities.

And even more recently:

Quebec herbicide ban violates NAFTA, pesticide maker alleges

A company that makes the commonly used herbicide ingredient 2,4-D is challenging the Quebec government under the North American Free Trade Agreement for banning its product.

The Canadian unit of Dow AgroSciences alleges the prohibition of the weed killer is without any scientific basis and in violation of the trade agreement between Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Other NAFTA-based corporate lawsuits and trade actions against Canada have involved the Wheat Board, Canada Post, a ban on a toxic gasoline additive, (we lost that one), and perhaps most disturbing - repeated demands for commercial bulk water exports.

If Obama really is serious about re-negotiating NAFTA, we must demand that our government use the opportunity to protect the public interest and remove Chapter 11.

It won't fix everything that is wrong with NAFTA, but it's a start.

(cross-posted from Canada's World)

What Could These People Possibly Be Thinking?

Am I missing something?

I keep watching these Republican rallies - you know, the ones where McCain and/or Palin get those Joe the Plumbers and Cathy the Chiropractors all worked into a lather over the idea that Barack Obama wants to "spread the wealth"?

And I'm thinking... just who is it they think that wealth is going to be spread to, if not them? University professors? Community organizers?

I can only conclude that these people are all somehow convinced that, while they might be low or middle class NOW, someday they will all win the lottery or some reality TV show, and oh boy will they ever appreciate those capital gains tax deferments then!

You betcha.

Watch closely - this is us in another four to eight years.

There is a devastating and bloody evisceration of Sarah Palin in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone. It was written soon after her debut at the Republican National Convention and so fails to account for the bloom coming off that particular rose in recent days. But the language is delicious and the criticism of both her and the America that loves her - merciless.

I'll skip to the end:

...Sure, Barack Obama might be every bit as much a slick piece of imageering as Sarah Palin. The difference is in what the image represents. The Obama image represents tolerance, intelligence, education, patience with the notion of compromise and negotiation, and a willingness to stare ugly facts right in the face, all qualities we're actually going to need in government if we're going to get out of this huge mess we're in.

Here's what Sarah Palin represents: being a fat fucking pig who pins "Country First" buttons on his man titties and chants "U-S-A! U-S-A!" at the top of his lungs while his kids live off credit cards and Saudis buy up all the mortgages in Kansas.

The truly disgusting thing about Sarah Palin isn't that she's totally unqualified, or a religious zealot, or married to a secessionist, or unable to educate her own daughter about sex, or a fake conservative who raised taxes and horked up earmark millions every chance she got. No, the most disgusting thing about her is what she says about us: that you can ram us in the ass for eight solid years, and we'll not only thank you for your trouble, we'll sign you up for eight more years, if only you promise to stroke us in the right spot for a few hours around election time.

Democracy doesn't require a whole lot of work of its citizens, but it requires some: It requires taking a good look outside once in a while, and considering the bad news and what it might mean, and making the occasional tough choice, and soberly taking stock of what your real interests are.

This is a very different thing from shopping, which involves passively letting sitcoms melt your brain all day long and then jumping straight into the TV screen to buy a Southern Style Chicken Sandwich because the slob singing "I'm Lovin' It!" during the commercial break looks just like you. The joy of being a consumer is that it doesn't require thought, responsibility, self-awareness or shame: All you have to do is obey the first urge that gurgles up from your stomach. And then obey the next. And the next. And the next.

And when it comes time to vote, all you have to do is put your Country First — just like that lady on TV who reminds you of your cousin. U-S-A, baby. U-S-A! U-S-A!

I bring this to your attention, not to further mock Sarah Palin (and no, I haven't seen tonight's Vice-Presidential debate yet, although I did tape it), but to encourage you to see the pathetic mockery of the democratic process currently unfolding in the U.S. as the logical extrapolation of our own.

Read that excerpt again, and imagine for a moment that he is talking, not about the obviously superficial, celebrity-driven U.S. election, but about our own. Think about the fact that incidentals like policy and integrity have at long last become totally irrelevant in our current discourse, supplanted by telegenics and charisma and dog whistles, and whichever politician is best at convincing you that they're "just like you".

I'm sorry, but I don't want a Prime Minister who is "just like me". If I did, I'd run myself. I want someone who has a a broader perspective, with a better understanding of how government and economics work, and who is smarter than me (and I've got a pretty kick-ass IQ).

I don't give a rat's ass if you have a hunting license or a brood of kids or if you play piano or wear sweater vests. I want to know that you have great ideas, and a vision for this country that approximates mine, and a solid, practical plan for how to get us there.

I've said it before - if Stephane Dion, for all his intellect and ideals and bold, forward-looking vision turns out to be unelectable in this country simply because he has a heavy accent, it will say more about us than it does about him. Gods help us all.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

By now, most people following the meteoric rise of Republican superstar Sarah Palin have read the email written by Wasilla resident Anne Kilkenny and circulated amongst the blogging rabble in recent weeks days (my Gods, has it only been a few days?).

Now, many supporters of the Republican ticket have pointed out (and rightly so) that this is just one person saying these awful, awful things. One voice in the wilderness, when there are apparently millions thousands of Alaskans out there who think Sarah Palin is just the bee's knees.

Today, that one voice has grown to a somewhat soft-spoken chorus.

Alaskans Speak (In A Frightened Whisper): Palin Is “Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, And Mean”

“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.

“It was kind of disgusting,” Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the “lower 48” about life near the North Pole.

Then, almost with a sigh, she added, “But that’s just Alaska.”

It may well be. But really - a waitress? That's the sort of thing that someone with an agenda might say because, well, you can't really verify it. But then there's this.

Something else has a familiar Republican ring to it: Her tax policies, and a “refund surpluses but borrow for the future” attitude.

According to Kilkenny and others in Wasilla as well as Juneau, Palin reduced progressive property taxes for businesses while mayor and increased a regressive sales tax which even hits necessities such as food. The tax cuts she promoted in her St. Paul speech actually benefited large corporate property owners far more than they benefited residents. Indeed, Kilkenny insists that many Wasilla home owners actually saw their tax bill skyrocket to make up for the shortfall. Two other Wasillian’s with whom I spoke said property taxes on their modest, three bedroom homes rose during the Palin regime.

To an outsider, it would seem hard to do, but an oil-rich town with zero debt on the day she was inaugurated mayor was left saddled with $22 million of debt by the time she moved away to become governor – especially since nothing was spent on things such as improving the city’s infrastructure or building a much-needed sewage treatment plant.

And this:

En route to the governor’s igloo, Palin managed to land what Anne Kilkenny says is the plumb political appointment in the state: Chair of Alaska’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC), a $122,400 per year patronage slot with no real authority to do anything other than hold meetings. She took the job despite having no background in energy issues and, as it turned out, not liking the work.

“She hated the job,” an OGCC staff member who is not authorized to speak with the news media told me. “She hated the hours and she hated what little work there was to do. But she couldn’t figure out a way to get out of the thing without offending Gov. Murkowski” and the state Republican Party regulars, some of whom were pissed off they didn’t get appointed.

But ever the opportunist, Palin quickly concocted a way. First, she waged a campaign with the local news media claiming that the position was overpaid and should be abolished – despite the fact that she lobbied Murkowski hard to get it. Then, mounting what she saw as a white horse, Palin raised a cloud of dust by resigning from the OGCC and riding away with an undeserved reputation as a “reformer.”

And this one I found particularly amusing:

“The GOP is kind of like organized crime up here,” an insurance agent in Anchorage who knows the Palin family, explained. “It’s corrupt and arrogant. They’re all rich because they do private sweetheart deals with the oil companies, and they can destroy anyone. And they will, if they have to.”

“Once Palin became mayor,” he continued, “She became part of that inner circle.”

And... well, it just kinda goes on and on.

The thing is, having seen her on television and hearing her speak and based entirely on my entirely subjective but usually reliable first impression, I have absolutely no problem believing any of this.

We all wait with bated breath for the chorus to become a deafening roar from the 49th state. At which point the wags may well be vindicated when Sarah Palin suddenly drops from the race citing a "family crisis" or "personal issues".

Otherwise... well hey, at least Alaskans would be rid of her.

(oh, and a big H/T to my S/O, who always finds me cool stuff like this:)

Learning From the Master

Today's debate appears to be about "should the Liberals should go negative?" in the upcoming election, and if so to what degree. I'm sitting here watching Barack Obama speak in Pennsylvania, and I think I've found the answer.

To me, Obama is striking exactly the right balance between strong criticism of Bush/McCain and presenting specific, positive solutions. He calls out McCain and Palin for lying about him wanting to raise taxes, and points out that his plan would actually reduce taxes for 95% of Americans. He mocks McCain's health care advisor for suggesting that all those 'uninsured' aren't really uninsured because they can just go to the ER - and then explains how he would help employers reduce insurance rates for their employees and allow average Americans to access the same type of plan members of Congress have.

This is the way to do it. Criticize the policy, not the man, then present a clear alternative. Left, right, keep your gloves up, stay on your toes.

Or you could just go with the sweater vest and kittens approach.

The Green Shift Shift, Sarah Palin... and Kitties!

I was thrilled to hear that Stephane Dion and the Liberals have listened to the legitimate concerns of farmers, fishers and truckers, and come up with a way to help them bear the costs of the Green Shift by giving them subsidies for equipment and technology to help them actually reduce their emissions. And all within the financial leeway already built into the Green Shift plan.

Win, win - right?

Pulease.

..................

I am getting seriously fed up with all the "You hate her because she has a vagina" crap coming out of the Republican Party. I got news for you guys - we hate her because she's a religious right-wingnut with a gun fetish and a propensity for using her powers for evil.

How about this. Every time someone criticizes Sarah Palin, let's apply a little test and ask ourselves, "Would [X] be an issue if she were a man?" Let's try it, shall we?

Would the fact that she's anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage be an issue if she were male? Of course it would!
The fact that she's being investigated for abuse of power? Oh yeah.
The fact that she tried to have a librarian fired for not removing 'offensive' books from the library? You betcha.
The fact that she's a supporter of abstinence-only education who now has an unwed pregnant teenaged daughter? Rightly or wrongly, yes. Absolutely.

Even this would still be funny if she were a man. Ok, maybe not quite as funny...



In fact, the only person who seems to be treating Palin any differently because she is a woman is John McCain. Because if she were a man, would McCain have even considered picking her? Uh...

Oh, and check out the shenanigans on Wikipedia today:



Heh.

....................

And just for fun, here's my cat Max watching a YouTube video called "The Kittens discover the crack under the door":

The Speech, McCain's Veep, and... oh yeah, Canada

I had to work last night, so not only did I miss Garth's 'Volunteer Appreciation Pizza Party' (grr!), I missed The Big Speech in Denver and had to watch it online. Which was no easy task given that MSNBC's link was either broken or badly overwhelmed, and CNN's feed is choppy and just sucks. Thank you, CTV!

Here's one of my many favourite parts:

"I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer, and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values.

And that's to be expected, because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters.

If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things.

And you know what? It's worked before, because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me; it's about you."

I think I said that already...

_________________________

Ever since Obama picked an old white guy for his running mate, I've been joking that McCain will have to pick a young black guy now.

I almost got it right...



You've GOT to be kidding. Does McCain honestly believe that there are really that many disaffected Hillarites out there just waiting to cast their vote for anyone in a tangerine pants suit? Apparently so.

[oh, gods - some Republican pundit just implied that Big Joe Biden might be forced to tone it down and be less of a "bully" if you put him in a room with a woman. Borf.]

Of course it's not ALL about her gender. Perish the thought. She's not just fiscally conservative - she's rabidly pro-life, she's an avid member of the NRA, and she's strongly in favour of the death penalty. [Edit: Missed one - she's also a Creationist.]

Mmmm... red meat for the base...

Here are a few choice quotes from the woman who probably has a better than even chance of becoming president if McCain wins:

As for the prospect of her being vice president, Palin told Kudlow that she could not answer the question of whether she wanted the job “until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day. I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here….”

About the birth of her son with Down' syndrome when she was 44:

"When we first heard, it was kind of confusing,"

"Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up world you live in down there on Earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome."

And on the death penalty:

During one debate before the primary, Palin said she was in favor of capital punishment in especially heinous cases such as the murder of a child. "My goodness, hang 'em up, yeah,” she said.

Oh, yes - and she has a degree in communications and journalism. I look forward to reading her blog.

______________________

Back in the REAL race, Harper is now trying to paint Dion as a lefty:

"He is certainly the Liberal leader who's taken his party furthest to the left, at least since [former prime minister] Pierre Trudeau"

I certainly hope so! In fact, I think the Liberals should be running that quote in big, bold letters in Toronto, Vancouver, and every riding where left-wing Liberals are tempted to vote NDP, thinking that Dion is just another Paul Martin.

Obama VP Watch

Today's the day Obama will announce his pick for Vice President. I'm on the email notification list. I'm rooting for Bill Richardson. Just because... I dunno. I like Bill.

That is all.

UPDATE: Stoopid media - they leaked it early! Hmph. Well, Biden's cool. He's old, he's got that foreign policy thing going for him, and he's the guy who said this.

Obama vs. McCain as Word Clouds

The Boston Globe ran a very cool thing a week or so ago. They ran Obama's campaign blog and McCain's campaign blog through Wordle (a nifty tool that makes very pretty word clouds from any blog) and compared the results.

The number one word on Obama's blog is, of course, Obama, followed by campaign, senator, change, hope, donate, etc.

The number one word on McCain's blog... is also Obama. And the one word I couldn't find in either word cloud? McCain.

How interesting.



Go try it on your favourite blog - it's fun! I ran Garth Turner's and came up with this:



I couldn't find any Conservative candidate blogs to compare it to, but I did run Stephen Taylor's and... oh, THERE'S McCain!

Dear America: Congratulations on your Upcoming Divorce!

Dear America,

We, your friends and family, are all thrilled to bits that you're finally dumping that asshole you married seven and a half years ago.

I know, we probably should have said something before. Believe me, we wanted to because honestly - we always thought he was a moron. Some of us tried to drop some subtle hints, but by then you were so gaga over the guy that there was just no talking to you.

The trouble is, we've heard that your ex has been sniffing around again, and that part of you has actually been considering getting back together with that son of a bitch. I find that hard to believe, but I have to tell you that if it's true then there really is no hope for you at all.

I know, I know. He says he's changed. He says he's a different man. He tells you he loves you, and promises to shower you with gifts and make all your problems go away and to never, ever hurt you or your kids ever again.

You cannot possibly be that stupid. You know he's lying, right? You know that as soon as he's back in your house that it's just going to be the same old shit all over again, right? Just because he's comfortable and familiar, or reminds you of your dad, or whatever the hell the appeal is, is no excuse for you to keep going back for more abuse again and again.

Please. I know you're torn, but you just can't put us all through this again. Just dump the chump for good and try to put it all behind you.

With love and respect,

The World

(P.S. - We all really like that new guy you've been seeing. I think he'll be good for you.)

Thursday Round-up: Tasers, Tasteless Comments, and the 10-Province Strategy

Again I've been busy busy with real life distractions, so in lieu of a real blog post, here's someone else's that struck me as making a great deal of sense:

Lessons the Canadian Left SHOULD be Learning from Barack Obama

In early 2006, nearly five years to the day after the inauguration of George W. Bush, Canada got Stephen Harper. Like Bush, Harper claims to hail from a western land of oil, cattle, and “cowboys”. Like Bush, Harper is effectively an Easterner (he was born and lived in Toronto for quite some time, not unlike Bush’s residencies in Connecticut and Maine) and, like Bush for America, Harper has little to no regard for the Canadian people. Time and again he’s pandered to demographics perceived as necessary for re-election (Quebec as a case in point) and eschewed useful policy in favor of popular strawmen (what have your GST savings done for you lately?). Like Bush, he took Canada’s multi-billion dollar surplus and whittled it away to nearly nothing on ineffective tax cuts and extravagant military expenditures, leaving the Canadian Arctic unprotected and subject to possible invasion in the meantime. He is dangerous for Canada and Canadian ideals alike, and he absolutely has to go.

But who else does Canada have to vote for? Stéphane Dion ignored the recent security breach, a perfect opportunity for a successful federal election, with the reasoning that ‘the plan for the election is in the fall.’ Besides which, he has failed to bring any pressing issues into the limelight, opting instead, like the Liberals he most recently succeeded, to attempt not to offend anybody. Jack Layton is rich in idealism but poor in strategy; he has a committed army of diehards in Toronto, but they can never seem to expand effectively beyond Toronto. Besides which, in Ontario, the NDP is still marred by the disaster of Bob Rae’s government, and has yet to make adequate strides to shed the image of the party from FIFTEEN YEARS AGO in favor of a renewed and able leadership, even though Bob Rae is not even a member of the NDP anymore.

These are similar to the issues which faced forlorn American liberals four years ago, which have now, to the shock and surprise of the world, seemingly been overcome. In a clean fell swoop, Barack Obama challenged popular perception and proved that with a winning combination, democracy can overwhelm corruption. His strategy has been multipronged and aggressive, qualities Canadian liberals desperately need.

There's more. Much more. Well worth a thorough read.

_____________________________

Pity poor petite Pierre Poilievre. Just when it looked like Steve could trust him to open his mouth and spout nothing but the most refined iteration of the Conservative Party Line, he goes and puts his foot in it:

Conservative MP says sorry for 'hurtful' remarks

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre has apologized for saying Canada's Aboriginals need to learn the value of hard work more than they need compensation for abuse suffered in residential schools.

Poilievre made the comments during a radio interview Wednesday, just hours before Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for abuse Aboriginal children endured in once-mandatory residential schools.

..."Now along with this apology comes another $4 billion in compensation for those who partook in the residential schools over those years,'' said Poilievre, in a clip circulated by the Liberal Opposition, of which members called for his resignation.

..."Now, you know, some of us are starting to ask: 'Are we really getting value for all of this money, and is more money really going to solve the problem?'

"My view is that we need to engender the values of hard work and independence and self reliance. That's the solution in the long run -- more money will not solve it."

Honestly, I think Steve is just going to have to start installing little speakers inside the mouths of his minions so he can just speak directly through them without any of them actually having to fire any neurons.

Screw you, Pierre. Not. Sorry. Enough.

_______________________

And speaking of the party line, it looks like yet another independent quasi-judicial body is getting a good talking to, this time from Stockwell Day.

Government delays Taser report

OTTAWA -- A final report on the RCMP's use of Tasers, scheduled to be released today, was cancelled at the last minute at the request of Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.

Paul Kennedy, chair of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, was supposed to hold a noon news conference to release the report. However, he was asked to hold off until Mr. Day, who is currently in Japan, has a chance to discuss with him the findings of the report.

Discuss? Discuss what, exactly? Gee, Stock, you wouldn't be trying to... influence the wording of the report, would you? Hmm?

Pokemon McCain Battle

In honour of Barack Obama's victory, the final word on electability:



Screw you, Terry McAuliffe!

(h/t to sickbastard)

This is the End

After a bruising, exhilarating and unprecedented six months of Democratic primaries and caucuses, our neighbours to the south have finally run out of states. And despite what Terry McAuliffe is saying right now, it looks like sanity will prevail in Hillaryland and she will concede and move on rather than burn the party to the ground in her naked quest for power.

I feel kind of sorry for Clinton's supporters. Watching them weep and scream and tear their clothing in grief after the DNC's decision on Michigan and Florida, it seems to me that the Clinton campaign has done them a great disservice. They set up Hillary Clinton as a historic figure who represented the only hope for America to see a woman in the Whitehouse (thus casting their opponents as misogynists), and have worked her supporters into a frenzy based on a series of politically expedient lies.

They tell them that Clinton is leading the popular vote, even though that is both untrue and irrelevant. They go from supporting the exclusion of Michigan and Florida's delegates to invoking the nightmare of 2000 by painting the voters in those states as disenfranchised victims of a rigged system. And week after week, long after it became obvious that Obama was going to be the nominee, they continued to string these people along with the false hope that somehow Clinton could still win IF ONLY life was fair and wishes were horses and they all continued to support her to the bitter, bitter end.

Even now, as Clinton campaign workers are being told to get their affairs in order and donors and supporters are being called to New York for an important speech by Clinton - EVEN NOW her campaign chairman is calling up CNN to vigorously deny that Clinton plans to concede tonight and admit that the race is over.

Most of us can see this for what it is: a calculated, strategic effort to appear to go down fighting while positioning one's candidate for the best possible spot in the Obama administration. But to those poor women at the DNC meeting (and they were all women as far as I could tell), this all appears to be a sincere effort by Clinton to claim her rightful place in history despite all she has suffered at the hands of the male-dominated party establishment.

They sincerely believe everything the Clinton campaign has been telling them, even though Clinton obviously doesn't believe it herself.

They say that Democrats fall in love while Republicans fall in line, and to a large extent this sort of passion is one of the great strengths of the Democratic Party. But to continue to lie to these people, to continue to breed false hope and righteous fury among one's ardent supporters while using their dreams and passions as a political tool is not only damaging to the party - it's downright cruel.

Stop it. Stop it now.

And in other, non-Bernier related news...

Believe it or not, other things are going on in the universe. Like this:

Signs point to PMO in NAFTA leak

OTTAWA–Fingers are pointing at Conservatives close to Stephen Harper for leaking a diplomatic memo that badly embarrassed Barack Obama and put Canada's vital cross-border interests at risk. Multiple sources say the Canadian note questioning the Democrat frontrunner's public promise to reopen NAFTA was leaked from the Prime Minister's Office to a Republican contact before it made American headline news.

Their claims come days after an internal probe threw up its hands at finding the source. Contradicting Friday's inconclusive report, they claim the controversial memo was slipped to the son of Wisconsin Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner. Frank Sensenbrenner is well connected to Harper's inner circle and, at Ottawa's insistence, was briefly on contract with Canada's Washington embassy to work on congressional relations.

Contacted yesterday morning, Frank Sensenbrenner did not seem surprised and agreed to an afternoon interview. But he did not call at the agreed time and did not respond to repeated emails.

Imagine that.

Coincidentally, I've been reading a book about another conservative administration with major control issues, a hate-on for the media, and a penchant for sabotaging other people's presidential primaries. Hmm...
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UPDATE: The Star has a follow-up today on the PMO link to NAFTA-gate and how Sensenbrenner came to be Harper's inside guy in the Canadian embassy in Washington. This one has the potential to become huge.

Yesterday, Liberal critic MP Navdeep Bains (Mississauga-Brampton South) called for Lynch to appear before Parliament's foreign affairs committee, to explain why the investigation turned up so little, reports the Star's Richard Brennan.

"He needs to come before the committee and explain why he limited the scope of the investigation, why it still cost so much money ... why it was so easy for a reporter over the weekend to verify some of the concerns that were raised in the report," Bains said.

Indeed.

UPDATE UPDATE: As further evidence that this story is about to become large, I just got a visit from someone at Foreign Affairs who is apparently spending their afternoon doing a Google search for "nafta-gate sensenbrenner". I'm guessing someone is... concerned.

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And back in Bernier-land:

The last word and prize for the Best Bernier PhotoChop and runner up for Best Bernier Headline of the day goes to... A Creative Revolution for 'Weekend at Bernier's'.

She Did Not 'Mis-speak'

I almost believed it.

Despite my initial disgust at Hillary Clinton's comments about the RFK assassination and the subsequent piling-on from all quarters, I was almost ready to believe that it was all just an unfortunate choice of words. That she only meant to illustrate that the nomination process going undecided into June was nothing unusual, and that she only mentioned Bobby because she had the Kennedys 'much on her mind' because of Ted Kennedy's recent diagnosis.

Upon further reflection, I can think of at least two significant reasons why this explanation is utter bullshit.

The first is that while she may have had Sen. Kennedy's brain tumour in her thoughts when she referenced the assassination this time, what exactly was she thinking the first time she did it two and a half months ago?

The second has to do with her equation of the current contest with the '92 and '68 campaigns. In 1992, hubby Bill did face a little more of a fight than he had bargained for in Jerry Brown, and yes, things were officially undecided until June because there was one big prize left to the end - California.

In reality, Bill had it all pretty much sewn up by early April, but still, you can understand why she would make that particular comparison.

The equation of the current primaries with 1968, on the other hand, is so ludicrous that one can only assume that it was a conscious attempt to raise the spectre of political assassination.

Yes, the California primary was held in early June of 1968. What she neglects to mention is that primary season didn't even start until March back then, which means that RFK had been campaigning for less than three months when he was killed. Besides which, party primaries back then were an entirely different affair. They weren't at all binding, and only thirteen states even participated that year.

It's not even comparing apples and oranges - it's more like comparing apples with Hillary's left shoe.

Hillary Clinton is not a stupid woman, and she is of an age that I can guarantee she has some very clear memories of that year and that campaign. So while I cannot believe that she is actually staying in the race in case "something bad" happens to Obama, I also don't believe that it never occurred to her to plant that seed in the minds of the voters.

Olbermann, as always, gets it right.

Bush Succumbs to Godwin's Law

"Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along... We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American Senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

Apparently the spectacle of a sitting U.S. President pulling a reductio ad Hitlerum against a political foe while in Israel was too much for Joe Biden, who completely lost it when contacted by phone about the remark:

“This is bullshit, this is malarkey. This is outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, to sit in the Knesset ... and make this kind of ridiculous statement... He is the guy who has weakened us,” he said. “He has increased the number of terrorists in the world. It is his policies that have produced this vulnerability that the U.S. has. It’s his [own] intelligence community [that] has pointed this out, not me.”

Other prominent Democrats (ok, pretty much all of them) were only slightly less colourful in their language as they piled on to defend Obama against the President's smear.

(BTW, yeah, I know - I'm posting a lot about U.S. politics. Sorry, but I'm finding the sight of America slowly returning to sanity after almost three decades of institutional neo-conservatism to be far more fascinating than watching our own sad excuse of a parliament as they fidget in their seats anxiously waiting for summer break to start.)

(Oh look - California's getting same-sex marriage!)

Oh, and by the way... Holy Shit! Edwards!!

Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy joy!!!
(sorry, I had to do my happy dance)



That was very classy. The man gets up in front of hundreds (thousands?) of screaming Obama fans, and the first thing he does is spend a good five minutes praising ...Hillary Clinton.

The crowd actually booed the first time he mentioned her name, but he stuck with it and was so obviously sincere that by the end he had them on side. He talked about their friendship, and the beliefs and values he and Clinton shared. He talked about her determination and her commitment to healthcare, to workers, and to a whole raft of other issues near and dear to his heart. Hell, by the time he got to Obama I was half convinced that he'd changed his mind and was actually endorsing Clinton.

I've always been impressed with John Edwards, and after seeing him tonight I'm convinced that he would make the best possible running mate for Obama. This may, in fact, be what's going on here - which would have all sorts of implications as o motives, timing, etc., but in general I think it would be a huge positive.

Edwards has all of Clinton's strengths, none of her weaknesses, and I suspect he would be far more willing to work with Obama instead of trying to horn in on his limelight. Plus he said something tonight that set him apart from Obama, Clinton, and everyone else in this race:

He said that Americans need to end their dependence on oil.

Not "foreign oil". ALL oil.

Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have our dream team. Now if we could only generate that kind of passion and enthusiasm and political engagement on THIS side of the border.



(Edit: video added 11:20 p.m.)

Sobering Thoughts from Appalachia

In the heat of the ObamaMania over at DailyKos comes this singularly beautiful post from a native Appalachian pleading with her fellow Democrats for understanding and inclusion for West Virginia and Kentucky. Some samples:

Is West Virginia Welcome in Your Democratic Party?

Over the last week or so, I've heard a lot of kossacks writing off West Virginia, making fun of West Virginia, and even saying West Virginia doesn't matter. Some have painted all of Appalachia as racist homophobes who will never change. Some even said that Obama is in mortal danger there. Some have suggested that we revert to Clinton-style "states that matter" campaigning, leaving West Virginia and Kentucky behind altogether.

Well, progress hasn't left us behind, and I hope that progressives won't either.

And...

I've seen a lot of frustration expressed lately about what many kossacks consider to be willfully ignorant people. Some of you believe that information is as readily available to everyone as it is to you. Some of you believe that the cost of accessing available information is the same for everyone as it is for you. I've even seen comments from people exclaiming, "But golly gee, everyone has access to the Intertoobs!" I guess some of you have never heard of the digital divide.

Not everyone has access to the Internet. There is a huge gap between the have and have-nots when it comes to Internet access, and the divide is down economic lines. I hate to point out the obvious, but Appalachia ain't exactly well-to-do.

Among those who have access to the Internet, there is also a skills divide. In order to use the Internet effectively, you must have not just a minimum level of technical competency but also a minimum level of information competency.

A person can learn to use a web browser and an email client and still not have the information competencies needed to obtain and process information from reliable sources on the Internet. This is why substantial numbers of people get most of their online political information from the chain emails that the rest of us filter into the Trash folder.

And...

These are not willfully ignorant people. These are hardworking Americans who are doing the best they can with the hand they were dealt. These are people who are proud to put a union bumper sticker on their car. They hear the word solidarity, and they think brotherhood, not commie bastard. These people bled for progress. If they are ignorant now, it's because we left them behind. If we believe in the 50 state strategy, then it's time for us to stop leaving these people behind.

Progress happens in the most unexpected places.

My best friend's little sister was the first person to "come out" at my hometown high school. Before her bravery, gay and lesbian kids were afraid to come out for fear of violence against them. I am so proud of her. She opened the door for so many other kids in that little Christian town. The same town that only started having proms in the 80s because dancing is a sin now has gay and lesbian students attending prom as same-sex couples. She and her high school sweetheart were the first. Against all odds, against everyone's best advice, she prevailed in our small-minded little town.

There`s more.

I can`t help thinking about my own attitudes towards Americans in general, and that the one quality I value the most is tolerance. As in not just `putting up with`, but as in `making an effort to understand their point of view even if I disagree, and try to inform and influence from a position of mutual respect`.

Point taken. Thank you.

And I can`t help thinking about Bobby Kennedy, and how he brought this region into the conscience of America. And about his son and how he is continuing the fight against King Coal and mountaintop coal removal.

So while the ObamaManiacs are talking respectfully to the residents of Appalachia, they might want to point out that mountaintop coal removal is a largely automated process that is responsible for a sharp decline in coal mining jobs - not to mention the TOTAL ENVIRONMENTAL DEVASTATION involved - and that Obama is the only one on record even coming close to opposing it.

Ok, so it`s too late for West Virginia. There`s still Kentucky.