Haroon Siddiqui writes that, in the end, buffoonery won't bring Rob Ford and Stephen Harper down. Eventually, the truth that they are not who they say they are will catch up with them:
Both play the outsider.
Harper of Etobicoke, pretending to be a Calgarian, says he “didn’t go to Ottawa to join private clubs or become part of some elite.” He’s there only to take on the civil servants, “the courts,” the “union bosses,” the media, etc.
Ford, a fellow-Etobian, is “watching every dime” at City Hall, taking on lazy unionized workers and the media “maggots.” But his claim of having saved $1 billion is a fraud — as explained by the Star’s Daniel Dale, “Deconstructing Ford’s fiscal record,” Nov. 9. It’s a must-read for citizens. Ford promised not to cut services or raise taxes but did both — cut $73 million of services, raised user fees and property taxes — 2.2 per cent in 2012 and another 2 per cent this year, and yet another $1,000 per household for the subway extension to Scarborough. He promised not to dip into reserve funds or the annual surpluses but did.
Both men say they believe in law and order -- for other people:
Ford and Harper are law-and-order men. But Ford breaks the law, and how! Harper breaks his law on fixed Election Day. Both show no respect for the institutions that keep the rule of law, the police and the courts.
And both men have made a career of stoking public resentment:
Both whip up outsider rage, what Nietzsche called risentimento, the suspicion of the not very successful against the successful, “the elite.” Ford is “fightin’ for the little guy,” Harper for “the unsung heroes — the cab drivers, the small business owners, the farmers, the office workers.”
The problem is that, time and again, what they say is at odds with what they do.The facts have caught up with Ford. My bet is that they will eventually catch up with Harper.
8 comments:
Nobody gets away with this garbage forever, Owen. That said, Harper does have his eyes set on another term as prime minister.
Harper still has the opposition cowed at the risk of advocating meaningful policy after the policy pistol whipping he gave Dion. They'll have a hell of a time winning if they won't go big on policy.
And they'll get nowhere by climbing aboard the corporatist bandwagon, Mound -- because nobody does that schtick better than Harper.
.. Harper is running for the cliffs.. his big buffalo jump may be coming fast..
Duffy put Harper on his knees for a day or two.. and he sleezed to his feet.. as usual.. but now, the Michael Sona Affair could knock him out of the ring ..
A little nasty RCMP pressure here, a stray 'clear fact' there, a running & scared PMO 'plumber' over yonder.. and it all unravels lickedy split
Imagine Jenni Byrne deposed by the RCMP ...
Or Stephen Lecce or Ray Novak or Nigel ..
Or Peter Kent comes clean.. or a turncoat steps forward..
It's interesting that the Robocall business and the RCMP investigation are coming together at the same time, salamander. And both are focused on the PMO.
The chickens are coming home to roost.
Harper is a Dictator from his, Northern Foundation days of 1989.
There is nothing that Harper doesn't do, to save his own miserable hide. Such as sending Hamilton along with the six witnesses. Cutting the throats of his Senate, to save his own neck. He was not any of those witnesses Lawyer. He was there for the purpose of intimidation. Harper did not want any spilled beans.
As for the RCMP, read about them in BC?
Once an evil Dictator gets control of a country? You can kiss your country good-bye. Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini, had very similar personalities. All of them were control freaks too.
Harper will be, just another Ford. It is very easy to see why, Harper is a good friend of Fords. They are both belligerent and refuse to resign, even though they are despised.
Canada will need to become another Syria, to get rid of Harper.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that, Anon.
You gotta love those guys. they provide more entertainment than anyone else in Canada.
Not much will bring down Ford. He is in his position and until the voters remove him, nothing is going to change. what may bring down harper is the lovely picture you have of him and Ford. Pictures such as this one continues to remind the public of who and what Harper actually is.
Actually Duffy will remove Harper from office, perhaps with a little help from Wallin. Am so looking forward to the book.
And the book, e.a.f. will become a standard reference for historians writing about the Harper years.
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