Monday, May 05, 2014

The Making Of A Banana Republic



Michael Harris doesn't mince words. Canada, he writes, is at a watershed moment:

What’s it going to be: a modern democracy or a Steve’s banana republic of the north?

The train wreck of the Harper government continues to roll down the mountainside, crushing body after body, yet no one utters the right word. Allow me. Canada is a dictatorship in the making.

Harper's spat with the Chief Justice is only his latest attempt to quell all opposition:

Steve likes people docile. He appears to have tamed a lot of the realm. He kicks, the subjects cringe. He kicks some more, they slip into the woods of indifference. They are so disconnected that they no longer hear the screams of the other kickees: Linda Keen, Bill Casey, Kevin Page, Marc Mayrand, even Sheila Fraser — and now, and now, Beverley McLachlin, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.

And, even though there are several ministers who are supposed to be in charge of government departments, the prime minister runs a one man show:

Look at all the portfolios and offices now held by Steve.
  • The proclamation for the upcoming National Day of Honour, commemorating the end of a war in Afghanistan that should never have begun, was announced by Governor-General Harper. Governor-General Harper will also receive the last military flag from Kandahar, while David Johnson watches.
  • Commander-in-Chief Harper will have the spotlight at the National Day of Honour ceremonies; the real generals who commanded troops in Afghanistan were not invited because they do not like blue Kool-Aid.
  • Speaker of the House of Commons Harper ruled that it was perfectly okay to keep information from the opposition because they were not real MPs anyway.
  • Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Harper has declared that the appointment of Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court was completely in order — despite his 6-1 rejection by that other interventionist-court.
  • Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Harper declared that Quebec was a “nation”, though the matter was never discussed in cabinet, nor for that matter, passed on to the pretend intergovernmental affairs minister back then, Michael Chong … and on and on.

Canada is supposed to be a parliamentary democracy. But Mr. Harper is doing his best to change that model. And, so far, he is succeeding. From democracy to banana republic -- that's Harper's real objective.



8 comments:

thwap said...

those commentators at "ipolitics" are a pretty uninspiring lot.

That "maryanne" especially, appears to be a shit-head with very limited abilities.

Owen Gray said...

Well, thwap, I've always felt that those who comment on this blog are an intelligent lot.

Anonymous said...

Harper is a fascist and a dictator, he is no Conservative, what-so-ever. Trying to get through to people, is an exercise in futility.

Canada is Harper's Thousand Year Fourth Reich. Why citizens don't see through the monster Harper? Beats the hell out of me?

In Harper's earlier political days, he hung around with some very shady characters.

Owen Gray said...

He still hangs around with some shady characters, Anon.

Toby said...

thwap said... "those commentators at "ipolitics" are a pretty uninspiring lot.

That "maryanne" especially, appears to be a shit-head with very limited abilities."

Is she a Conservative Party plant? Any relation to
Democratic Reform Minister Pierre Poilievre? The stubborn refusal to believe anything bad about Steven Harper is stunning.

Owen Gray said...

She and her ilk are the people Harper proudly refers to as his base, Toby.

the salamander said...

.. we're in the dark era of institutional grooming here in Canada eh .. and the perpetrator of the incremental but constant assault on Canada is The Harper Party.. Of course that includes our current Harper Government, the mealy offspring of His Party..

The grooming is perpetrated on laws, electorate, media, society, Parliament, individuals, advocacy.. its creeping, its constant and in the case of domestic spying its incredibly creepy.

The line where institutional grooming becomes fascism is blurry.. and that's part of the tactic we see being unveiled.. Once people, the actual target of grooming have become desensitized.. they are ready to accept the next stage of assault.

Go back to the prorogues.. listen to the hysterical statements from John Baird.. look at how suddenly Harper bent then broke the rules and howled that it was for the good of the country..

Like a carper bagger without any morality, he and his mob decided they could sell Canadians on smallpox blankets to keep them warm..

Owen Gray said...

"Smallpox blankets to keep them warm." A fitting analogy, salamander.

Harper turns everything on its head. The disease becomes the cure.