For anyone who has been paying attention, it's been evident for a long time that Stephen Harper is a phony. There has always been a chasm between what he says and what he does. The Duffy-Wright Affair has once again illustrated that chasm. Michael Harris writes that Harper is no conservative:
Stephen Harper has forgotten that real conservatives care about values lived, not values espoused. They detest dishonesty, sleaziness and abuse of office. All three of those traits drip from the PMO/Senate scandal like poison from a boil. Before scurrying away to an insignificant Perrier-fest in Peru, the prime minister failed to drain that abscess.
Harper defines conservatism as blind loyalty -- to him. He does not, however, display any sense of loyalty to his underlings.
Consider the prime minister’s ride down the slippery pole of changing stories. When the Mike and Nigel story first broke, the PM’s chief of staff was practically canonized — you know, a saintly friend paying back improperly-claimed taxpayers’ money that a semi-penitent Conservative senator could not repay himself. Why, Pierre Poilievre himself said it. So it had to be true, right?
Then Dubious Duffy morphed into Bad Duffy when he contradicted Nigel Wright’s version of that $90,000 cheque. Out of caucus he went. Next, when it became obvious the St. Nigel story was coming across as bogus stigmata, the PM’s “full support” turned into blaming his former chief-of-staff. It was all Nigel’s fault now and the PM knew absolutely nothing about anything.
Harper has played Canada's real conservatives for fools -- and he has done it for a long time. The backbench should do some thinking. When things got tough, Harper left them to shoulder the burden. If they continue to do that, they truly are fools.
6 comments:
Harper exhibits the traits of one or more well-established personality disorders. That comes through when he's caught out by scandals from his own PMO. There's utterly no remorse on his part, no apology. Instead he blames others.
Norman Spector, Mulroney's former chief of staff, claims there is no possibility whatsoever that a chief of staff would do the things Wright supposedly did behind a prime minister's back. Not a chance.
Stephen Harper is not a Conservative. His place on the political spectrum sits far right on the authoritarian side past anything that could be considered conservative.
I agree, Mound. He's moved well past policy and into pathology. If the folks who like to call themselves conservatives are wise, they'll give him his walking papers.
The terrible thing about people who have pathologies such as psychopathy, Owen and Mound, is that they tend to inflict so much damage, moral, psychological, and even physical, on those around them. I quite frankly couldn't think of anything more chilling that I have heard from Harper than his recent Peruvian announcement of having gone through a range of emotions (anger, sorry, frustration) upon hearing of Wright's 'betray.' It was like hearing a textbook recitations of emotional states that were unknown to the speaker.
Canadians of all political stripes have been done grievous injury by Stephen Harper and his regime.
I think Mound has a point, Lorne. We're dealing with a prime minister who has at least a couple of personality disorders.
Harper isn't the first to have personality problems. Macdonald had his; and King was a strange bird.
But Harper is genuinely dangerous.
For quite some time I have struggled to understand not only the psychopathy of politicians, but of their supporters.
Harper CONTINUES to have supporters, in the face of (what to me) is overwhelming evidence that he is quite probably Canada's worst Prime Minister EVER. And that's going some.
THIS helps me understand exactly who the CPC is, and what motivates their supporters.
Thanks for the online book, Old Guy. It looks like interesting reading.
Authoritarians are driven -- as Joseph Conrad noted over a century ago -- by the hollowness at their core.
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