Monday, August 17, 2015

Their World Is Changing



Harper Conservatives used to suffer from galloping certitude. They believed that they were paragons of virtue. Michael Harris writes:

Conservatives like to think they occupy the moral high-ground. There is the greenhorn Trudeau, the ideologically obsessed Mulcair, and somewhere on Mount Olympus, taking it all in with august superiority, are the transcendent Harper Conservatives.

But now, thanks in large part to the Duffy trial, the Conservatives now reside in the basement apartment of Canadian politics, exposed for their lying, cheating, and stunning abuses of power. And in any legitimate political system, that will have consequences.

It's getting really difficult to believe that the Harperites are the Party of Virtue. Nigel Wright may quote St. Mathew. But somehow it doesn't ring true:

My personal favourite was his claim to retroactive altruism, including a biblical reference to how one goes about playing the Good Samaritan. He gave the money to Duffy because he walked straight out of the Book of Matthew as a man living his faith. Yes, Nigel, the expurgated edition of Matthew 6 that goes something like this: “Let not the Left know what the Wright is doing, so that your giving will be in secret.”

A key part of the Cons’ narrative has always been that Wright forked over $90,000 to Duffy to spare Canadian taxpayers the expense. Where was that public-spirited concern when Wright was ready to use taxpayer-subsidized funds, $32,000 plus legal expenses, from the Conservative Party Fund, to make his Duffy problem go away?

Gifts -- real ones -- don't come with strings attached:

Wright’s depiction of that $90,000 cheque as a “gift” is patently absurd. Gifts don’t come with the advice to take it or face the consequences. The ‘or else’ in this case was frying Duffy in a Senate report, as opposed to going easy on him if he played ball with the PMO. The trouble is, Duffy didn’t think that he owed the money and still doesn’t. What’s more, neither Stephen Harper or Nigel Wright apparently did either. But judge for yourself: does this sound like a man grateful for the “gift” Wright kept insisting he accept?

Mr. Harper keeps repeating he knew nothing about what was going on -- although lots of other people did. His "media line" that Wright and Duffy kept everyone else out of the loop has been sunk. He and his followers may continue to insist they they are the Party of Virtue. But their world is changing.



8 comments:

Unknown said...

If Harper had any virtue Owen, he would have resigned by now .He continues to lie and evade and thinks regardless of him being corrupt and Canadians knowing he is corrupt, that he still has the right to lead.

Owen Gray said...

It's MUS -- Master of the Universe Syndrome, Pam. The man believes that he will ultimately triumph. That's why he continues to insist that only Wright and Duffy were involved in the mess in front of the court.

Mogs Moglio said...

Here is a shining example of harper's choices and the harper-cons themselves:

"Patrick Brazeau

The disgraced Tory senator seems to be approaching rock bottom. After making headlines for taking a job at an Ottawa strip club to make ends meet during his suspension from the Red Chamber, the 39-year-old is in the news again following his arrest on domestic assault and cocaine possession charges. Brazeau, who was already awaiting trial on assault and sexual assault charges from 2013, has been released on $5,000 bail, and ordered to enter a drug and alcohol addiction treatment centre. Link:

http://www.macleans.ca/news/newsmakers-121/

Owen Gray said...

And he claims that he has nothing to do with the mess in the Senate, Mogs.

Mogs Moglio said...

Here is an example of his excesses look at the 'harper-convoy' for 15 minutes in a Legion Hall in Fredericton. Mi'kmaq people singing to assert rights to unceded First Nations sovereign lands and territory were kept out of sight. So much for harper's commitment to FN in Canada.

https://youtu.be/_KEVe6q0gZI

Owen Gray said...

I've read the story about the veterans, Mogs. The man is living in his own world.

ron wilton said...

The 'new' harpercon spin.

"I reject the premise of your questions and I disagree with your rendition of the facts."

Owen Gray said...

"Rendition of the facts." Facts have always been fudgable for Harper, Ron. And words mean what he says they mean.