Stephen Harper's public career has been filled with betrayals. He added another one last week. Brent Rathgeber writes:
Wildrose Leader Brian Jean was in the crowd for this year’s riding association BBQ — feeling less than festive, no doubt. Patrons were expecting Harper merely to announce that he was resigning as their MP. Instead, he enthusiastically and unequivocally endorsed Jason Kenney for the leadership of the PC Party of Alberta — instantly turning a social gathering into a campaign event.
It’s important to remember just how unusual an action this was for the former prime minister. When Harper was running things, Conservative MPs were expressly discouraged from wading into provincial politics. When the Harperites were in power, PMO staffers frequently reminded caucus members that, as the federal government, “we” had to deal with the people in power at the provincial level, no matter what party “they” represented.
But with the PCs out of power in Alberta and the CPC in Opposition in Ottawa, the rules seem to have changed. Either that, or the MP for Calgary Heritage assumes the rules that applied to his caucus don’t apply to him. They don’t apply to interim CPC leader Rona Ambrose either; she also endorsed Kenney, as Harper encouraged all CPC members in Alberta to join Kenney’s campaign to lead the PC Party into oblivion.
Harper always maintained that he made the rules -- and he could break them. But Alberta's Progressive Conservatives and Wild Rosies are not happy:
You’ve already heard about the pushback in the PC camp. Progressive PCs such as MLA Sandra Jensen and former MLAs Thomas Lukaszuk and Dave Quest are openly questioning whether Kenney’s vision clashes with the PC party’s platform.
What you haven’t heard is how Harper’s endorsement is going over with the Wildrose crowd. Many Wildrose supporters were stunned by it, and by Harper’s decision to publicly snub Jean.
Mr. Harper has always believed that leading a political party implied kingship by Divine Right. He has provided yet another illustration of who he is.
Image: mapleleaks.com
8 comments:
.. as the bombast continues to the South - ie the Donald experiment..
up here in Canada we get Tony Clement .. 'I am your leader' ..
and the delusional Jason Kenney.. now blessed by the pope of Alberttawa
.. the once powerful deceiver of Canada.. Stephen the Harper
a truly creepy westerner carpetbagger via Etobicoke & Leaside Ontariario ..
Of the four .. only th Trump can say he's no professional politician
the other three are in dire straits re having a shred of real world reality
Their unicorn world is full of colored popcorn, fluff, noyz.. and lots o pomp
OK .. lots o pimping comes with the pomp.. plenty o pulled pork there.. plenty
Presumably, the bitter retreat to Calgary is complete..
Harper, like Kenney & Clement still on the taxpayer dole of course
We have no idea how many of the minions to these millionaire political animals
are paid, rewarded, sheltered or offed to provincial farm teams..
Many of the tired fired or controversial minions are rewarded instantly
& others have to migrate, hide or go hang with their 'families' ..
I expect Ray Novak & Stephen Lecce to surface as 'war room' Kenney thuggies
yet still service their overlord Harper.. as will Arthur Hamilton, Jenni Byrne et al
..all embracing the fetid breath and extreme Right toxicity of Harper clingons
such as Ken Boessenkool, Tom Flanagan et al ..
Whither the secret weapon Loreen th Lovely.. nobody knows but John Baird mebbe
Odd that.. that the family values ex PM not see with his wife since the election
But the 'reality' - Owen - is these folks operate outside 'reality' ..
They can lie daily, have make believe family lives, get paid..
have miraculous 'blind trusts' turn them into millionaires
and at any moment lecture and hector real Canadians on Ethics, Environment
Economy, Religion, Military Arms Exports..
or how the earth is but 6,000 years old ..
I believe it was Karl Rove who suggested that they "make their own reality," salamander. They are truly a delusional bunch -- the primary delusion being that these lifetime politicians are anti-politicians.
My only question is why anyone gives a s**t about anything Harper says or does.... but then the Cons always were an insular lot!
People who engage in group think like to believe that great minds think alike, Rural. What group think yields most of the time is the opposite of that proposition: fools never differ.
Attributed by Ron Suskind in 2004 to a "senior George W. Bush aide":
"[W]hen we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors ... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."
The arrogance behind that statement is simply astounding, John.
It's going to take years before the stink comes off the Tories. Harper may not have transformed Canada as he once dreamed he would but he has certainly spread a contagion into the Conservative ranks. Ibbitson today ponders whether Conservatives are now setting their sights on reclaiming power provincially to rebuild their base instead of squandering their energy and resources on their dim federal prospects. The focus, naturally, is on Ontario but today's story in The Star has the Wynne Liberals climbing back in the polls, narrowing the PC margin.
The Tories are going to be stuck until they learn what Dwight Eisenhower knew, Mound: "Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him."
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