Yesterday, Peter MacKay renewed his attack on Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin. Andrew Coyne writes:
Watching the Harper government stumble from one needless controversy to another — picking fights, settling scores, demeaning institutions and individuals alike in the pursuit of no discernible principle or even political gain — one has had the distinct impression of a government, and a Prime Minister, spinning out of control.
But with the Prime Minister’s astonishing personal attack last week on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Beverley McLachlin, the meltdown has reached Lindsay Lohanesque proportions. Nothing in the long catalogue of Stephen Harper’s bad-tempered outbursts has seemed quite so extravagantly reckless, if only because it was so calculated.
And that's the point. It's not accidental. It's calculated -- as everything Mr. Harper does is calculated. He is incapable of acknowledging opposition to his agenda. Those who oppose him, he destroys -- or tries to destroy
As Caesar said of Cassius, such men are dangerous. And Coyne agrees:
As I say, we’ve never seen anything quite like this, not even from this Prime Minister. Which raises the question: at what point do Conservatives of goodwill become concerned about the long-term damage being done to their party’s reputation under its present leadership? Differences over policy come and go, but this kind of behaviour, left unchallenged, will lead many people to conclude that the institutions of government cannot be safely entrusted to them.
Indeed, this prime minister is out of control.
23 comments:
Harper's manifest unfitness for office should now be obvious to all but his most inveterate devotees, Owen. Like Rob Ford in Toronto, he 'governs' with absolutely no concern about the terrible damage he has inflicted on our system.
I really can't grasp this ersatz controversy. Even the account given by Harper shows the CJ did nothing inappropriate. In the very worst of the American Republican tradition they're trying to make a scandal out of whole cloth.
I'm hearing that some in Ottawa think Harper might call a snap election after the summer holiday in hope of catching the opposition unprepared.
Late to the party, Andrew. It's been clear for quite some time now that there are no "....Conservatives of goodwill" in the federal arena. If there were one of them would have stood up to be counted by now.
There are none. The entire party and caucus is populated by deceitful, cowardly, crooks and liars who are doing their level best to destroy democracy in Canada.
But who cares? It's spring.
If the strategy is to whip up the irrational vote, Mound, I doubt that it would be enough to power him to a majority.
You have to wonder if -- as they used to say in the American South -- the boy's cheese has slipped off his cracker.
And that is truly what is tragic, Dana. Harper has destroyed what used to be a great political institution.
Harper, like Ford, has passed the point of no return, Lorne. And thirty days of rehab will not set up back on the right path.
Great points all, Owen. Harper continues to show a willful ignorance of the law (must be the great legal advice he is receiving!) over an event that as Mound says, is not what he (or Airshow) says it is.
To compound matters, just listen to his "chicken hawk" comments about the Ukraine. He continues to act like the cold war hasn't ended, making inflammatory comments that over-simplify a complex issue. Afghanistan again?
I rather think that displaying contempt for the people's representatives is a bigger deal than going after an appointed Supreme Court justice.
But this controversy does seem particularly ridiculous because it's so contrived. There's no reason for it.
It's like MoS said; He's inventing a scandal out of whole cloth.
My word verification is "artificers wank."
The mystery, Asking, is how a man who claims to be an economist can be so completely unrestrained by facts.
But then, his economics pays no attention to facts, either.
It's the 21st century equivalent of witch burning, thwap.
.. just more of the 'you won't recognize Canada' promise being delivered by the mail clerk from Toronto & sundry
I keep seeing it as institutional grooming .. persistent attempts to blur reality & democracy, de-sensitize & assault the citizenry & electorate.. a la Republican tactics
Two dim & stark realities jump out at me..
One, that mr Harper is pulling all the puppet strings
Two, that he's incompetent, isolated & unaware
Neither are acceptable to me as a Canadian
He's either filled his rats nest caucus with whipped ignorant puppet cowards under his control or with despicable ignorant cowards he's lost control of..
What if this is just a diversion of Harper's? What else is he plotting behind our backs? Why did this take months for Harper to attack Chief Justice?
Or, is this just Harper rabid to be supreme dictator of Canada? Harper is an extreme, paranoid control freak. And/or is, Harper actually losing it?
Perhaps it's both, salamander. And -- like the Sorcerer's Apprentice -- he's now awash in his own waste.
It's been well documented that Harper is a control freak, Anon. But it would be supremely ironic -- and just -- if he lost control.
Problem is people actually believe the con-spin of the facts because they are to lazy to check the facts themselves. This is what Harper is best at engineering doublespeak of lies that translate into mob mentality as truths from on high.
Goebbels proved that even the worst lies could be delivered to the masses and swallowed as truths, then defended by the masses as well. The republicans in the US practice this black magic and the Harper cons practice this same black magic here in Canada.
What remains to be seen is if the few that are left voting (as the majority have dropped out) are of the alive and thinking homo sapiens and reject Harper and his unbelievable pack of lies; or brain dead and swallow Harpers deceitful bull.
Me I've sold all my cows so I have no use for Harpers bull now.
Dana-
Brent Rathgeber?
Salamander-
It most definitely is grooming-
they use that m.o. a lot, even
with their own.
And luring, and coaching,
so sad to say.
It's something watching them
either,
devour or abandon each other
at the drop of a hat
for self and/or party.
This is a good one, Owen.
They all are.
Harper and MacKay's attacks on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada clearly demonstrates how unfit they are for office and how clearly they don't understand seperation of various arms of government. There was always the sense they didn't care, but now the Conservatives are so out of control, we are coming closer and closer to a Putin style of government. If you disagree, we will get rid of you.
You know something is really wrong when Andrew Coyne is expressing his dissatisfaction with this. it will be funny when Harper and his helmsman target Andrew Coyne for expressing his opinions. Oh, well we get what we vote for.
No one in caucus is going to stand up and go sit as an independant, they want their jobs too much. As long as they put their personal income before the good of Canada, they have no business sitting in the House of Commons. they too are unfit.
Greetings Mr. Mound!
Hope you're having a great spring,
and, miss reading you.
Harper knows that his continued success depends on keeping the majority away from the polls, Mogs. That's what the Fair Elections Act is all about.
And that's why the next election will be all about turnout.
You can still catch the occasional guest post by Mound over at Politics and Its Discontents, Loving It.
Harper wouldn't be where he is if his caucus had just a smidgin of courage, e.a.f.
You know Owen one of the real reasons Harper is going after the Chief Justice is besides that she does her job impartially as she should and will not bend to his ill will; there is a huge amount of litigation coming the Harper governments way because of its use of omnibus bills. It has already started:
http://thetyee.ca/News/2014/05/06/Trans-Mountain-Participation-Challenge/
"The National Energy Board faces another major motion alleging that it has violated the freedom of expression of Canadians by restricting participation in the Kinder Morgan hearings on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.
Launched by ForestEthics Advocacy Association and more than half-a-dozen private citizens, the motion challenges amendments to the National Energy Board Act made by the Harper government in 2012 in the omnibus Bill C-38. That bill limited participants in board public hearings to those "directly affected" by the project." and
"If today's motion to the National Energy Board fails, the applicants will take their case to the Federal Court of Appeal."
Allot of challenges are going to end up in the Supreme Court of Canada, therefore the Harper government is on a witch hunt so it can remove and replace judges it knows will be impartial and not rule in favor of the Harper government just because Stevie wants it that way.
He is about to cull the courts and replace real judges with his patsy's is my hunch. This way he can be sure the legal challenges coming to his omnibus monkey business bills will not make him have rewrite his dictums. This is because once he has stacked the court his will is law unchallengeable.
I agree, Mogs. Harper knows by now that a lot of his legislation will be found unconstitional. But the Chief Justice is only one judge. There are nine altogether -- and the majority of them are his appointees.
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