It's beginning to look like taxes -- whose tax cuts are best -- will be the central theme of the next election. But, Lawrence Martin writes, if the central theme is integrity, the Harperites will be toast:
So let’s say an audit is being done on you or your organization and that the audit could land you in deep trouble. It could possibly lead to criminal charges. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just order up changes to the audit? How about having the offending paragraphs deleted?But even if you could, you wouldn’t want to take the risk. If you got caught, you would be in worse trouble, your credibility and integrity shattered.Which brings us to the Prime Minister’s Office. If we are to believe the evidence, this is in fact what top officials in the highest office in the land did in handling the Senate expenses’ controversy. They took an extreme risk and are now getting caught. As for impact on integrity, time will tell and will probably spell hell.
Moreover, the Harperite propensity for telling lies is well documented:
In terms of breach of the public trust, falsifying audits ranks high. The Harper Tories have been caught at it before. There was a case involving former cabinet minister Bev Oda altering a document for CIDA funding. In another they went so far as to distort a report by former auditor-general Sheila Fraser. They used her words to make it look like she was crediting their party with prudent financial management when in fact she was crediting the Liberals.
Which suggests that they will continue to tell lies as long as they can get away with them. And, unless integrity becomes a central focus of the next election, they will continue to lie -- as they continue to destroy this country's democratic institutions.
8 comments:
Owen forget about Canada, look what has happened at a global scale through the same devices that Harper has brought to Canada.
He works for the oligarchs, Steve -- while he masquerades as a champion of the little man.
I suspect integrity is more important to non Cons voters whereas tax cuts are more important to current Cons voters. The Cons voters who value integrity (perhaps like Joe Clark) had likely already abandoned the Harper Party long ago.
One of my neighbours, a Cons voter, was very mad that Hudak had honestly stated that he would cut 100K jobs if elected. Thought he should have kept his mouth shut until after winning the election. This is the guy who criticized McGuinty for lying to Ontarians.
He also had no problems with Harper lying about his promise to reduce federal jobs only through attrition.
Frank Graves of EKOS was correct. Cons and non Cons voters do appear to have very different values.
Your observation about a clash of values is, I suspect, spot on, Anon.
The problem is going to be getting the Non-Con voters organized enough to defeat the Harperites.
"The Reptilian Brain. The archipallium or primitive (reptilian) brain, or "Basal Brian", called by MacLean the "R-complex", includes the brain stem and the cerebellum, is the oldest brain. It consists of the structures of the brain stem - medulla, pons, cerebellum, mesencephalon, the oldest basal nuclei - the globus pallidus and the olfactory bulbs. In animals such as Palaeos com reptiles, the brain stem and cerebellum dominate. For this reason it is commonly referred to as the "reptilian brain". It has the same type of archaic behavioural programs as snakes and lizards. It is rigid, obsessive, compulsive, ritualistic and paranoid, it is "filled with ancestral memories". It keeps repeating the same behaviours over and over again, never learning from past mistakes..."
Sounds like Harper to me.
"The old mammalian brain residing in the limbic system is concerned with emotions and instincts, feeding, fighting, fleeing, and sexual behaviour. As MacLean observes, everything in this emotional system is either "agreeable or disagreeable". Survival depends on avoidance of pain and repetition of pleasure."
As an addendum the mammalian brain holds emotion such as loving your children spouse or others the reptilian does not have that capacity.
Now the third brain at the top of our skulls consists of two hemispheres one is responsible for rational thought processes the other for what is referred to as intuition. Non linear and hard to understand sometimes called 'the sub-conscious'...
So now I know Harper is not insane but he is operating from his reptilian brain coupled with the thinking rational side of the left brain neo-cortex. He ignores his mammalian brain which gives warmth and kindness and ignores his left brain [the intuitive side]. So therefore my conclusion he is "unbalanced" that is the scientific reason he seem so odd to the rest of us.
We need to use all four parts of our brains in balance. We also need to use all four of our bodies in balance the physical the mental the emotional and the spiritual. Spiritual does not mean you have to do the religious dogma dance...
Quotes from:
http://www.kheper.net/topics/intelligence/MacLean.htm
Related articles:
http://www.whatonearthishappening.com/part-1-the-solution/65-the-triune-brain
http://www.livescience.com/29365-human-brain.html
Cheers,
Mogs Moglio
An interesting observation, Mogs. Perhaps that's why Harper appears to be a blast from the past.
He ignores his mammalian brain which gives warmth and kindness and ignores his left brain [the intuitive side].
Should have been written as:
He ignores his mammalian brain which gives warmth and kindness and ignores his right brain [the intuitive side].
Um typo and not spell checking no not with the computer but with my brain. Right brain = intuitive...
Duh,
Mogs
I'm human...
As are we all, Mogs.
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