After cataloguing the numerous attempts to subvert democracy during the Harper regime, a dismayed Lawrence Martin concludes his column in this morning's Globe and Mail with the following observation:
At the same time, many other voices are raised in protest. But they don’t get enough traction. The dogs bark and the caravan – the mockery of democracy – moves on.
Allan Gregg has also catalogued the abuses; but, Martin writes:
It seems Mr. Harper has concluded that he can continually get away with in-your-face provocations. The media and the opposition parties, he reasons, will move on; at some point, everything becomes old news. Although the latest poll shows Mr. Harper with just a 35-per-cent approval rating (while Barack Obama, with a dismal economy, gets 50 per cent), he may be right. People have short memories.
The truth is that Stephen Harper has nothing but contempt for the citizens of this country -- even (and perhaps most especially) for the ones who elected them. Dan Gardiner recently wrote that Harper thinks we're morons. The proof of that claim is in the new omnibus bill which is coming down the pike. As has been the case for the last six years, he got away with it once -- proroguing parliament, misleading parliament, accusing the opposition of doing exactly as he did -- and so he does it again.
Martin's dismay is understandable. Perhaps we are morons.
