I'm sure key members of the Harper government read Lawrence Martin's stuff. I'm also sure they are not impressed. The trouble is that Martin sees through these folks -- and he has since the beginning. This morning he writes about who lost the War on Terror:
Ten years on, we are still presented with the insanity that sees a ragtag collection of terrorist twirps, pissants or whatever you want to call them holding hostage the world’s greatest military power. Washington got sucked right into their trap, colossally overspending on defence and driving the treasury into dire debt; starting a war with a non-guilty party on the basis of bogus information at an appalling cost of almost 5,000 American lives; building a surveillance state that erodes if not ravages once-cherished American freedoms. In the war on terror, is there any doubt who the loser has been?
But rather than taking the lesson to heart, the Harperites now intend to up the terror ante. Rather than dialing back the police state, they intend to expand it:
On the question of surveillance and reduced civil liberties, the latest Ottawa measure is what is termed “lawful access” legislation. This will compel Internet service providers to disclose customer information to authorities without a court order. In other words – blunter words – law enforcement agencies will have a freer hand in spying on the private lives of Canadians.
What Matrin knows is that the Harperites are not really focused on the economy. The Prime Minister's talents as an economist are underwhelming. They are not focused on military might. The government may wish to turn back the clock to when the term "Royal" was part of the naval and the air command. But Canadian military strength will not cause any country to reverse course.
The goal has always been power -- winning it and exercising it. It's about filling a vacuum at the core of a frustrated, mean spirited and paranoid group of MPs.
It has been a long, sad journey since the days of Robert Stanfield. Now Canadian Conservatives fall foolishly in line behind George W. Bush -- or perhaps behind his new Texas reincarnation, Rick Perry.
2 comments:
Indeed, but the level of human foolishness knows no bounds and it has always been a relatively simple matter to recuit people in their own oppression. And so it continues.
And do it continues, Kirby. In the end, we get the government we deserve.
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