But Harper's choice of reading material has disturbed even some of his own party members.
The senior Tory recounted being told Harper had "read and mastered" the biography and leadership style of Russia's Communist dictator Josef Stalin, and said the prime minister has adopted some of the same tactics.
"He plays people off against one another, he attempts to inspire fear rather than respect, he is unpredictable and he is 100 per cent focused on eliminating the opposition," the senior Conservative explained...
"You can either say he's a good leader and decisive or you can say he's a bully, but it amounts to the same thing," he said. "He knows what he wants to do and he makes people do it, or tells them that if you don't like it then vote against it, or lump it, and that's fair enough."
Quite the contradiction for a man who's Reform roots suggest a grassroots, representative approach to government. Emulating a totalitarian, repressive leadership style should be quite alarming, but hardly surprising, given the record to date. Harper is a bully, that demands rigid compliance from surrogates and shows a complete paranoia on message control. Free media is scorned and manipulated to be mere propaganda faciliators.
The Stalin angle might help explain Harper's unprecedented obsession with obtaining a majority. Unchecked power is the ultimate goal, and only when this condition is achieved will we see the true character revealed. Policy is a means to an end, not a moral discussion, but one that gets its impetus from a lust for power. It really is staggering that the man who leads a democratic Canada has the same mentor as the likes of Saddam Hussein.
23 comments:
"He plays people off against one another, he attempts to inspire fear rather than respect, he is unpredictable and he is 100 per cent focused on eliminating the opposition." Gee, it reminds me of Mike Harris government years. Same guys behind the throne.
Dumb, but when the election was on I read a psychic prediction that a "dictator" would win the election. I guess that happened.
But it wasn't the psychic prediction that convinced me. It was his personality, control freakiness, paranoia and reclusiveness that convinced me.
Richard Nixon and Hitler had the same personality traits.
I'm very curious who the "senior Tory" referred to in the article is.
I had a long post here, then I realized:
what am I doing? let them stay the course, it worked so well for them in the recent provincial bi-election.
So, good job, carry on.
Good strategy Wilson. You see last time, the real Harper had been kept hidden. Trying to expose him was perhaps a fool's errand.
This time around, he's doing the work for us. So we'd appreciate you remaining quiet.
As far as the by-election goes, I whole heartedly agree that what the Liberal's did was wrong. Smear campaigns, in my opinion, should be out of bounds. This is not the same however.
Mr. Harper with each passing day is showing us who he is now, what his agenda is now. Citing it at face value, is simply giving Canadians the facts.
knb
''Smear campaigns, in my opinion, should be out of bounds. This is not the same however.''
Oh really? I look forward to Libs taking this show on the road.
I knew Joseph Stalin and Harper is no Joseph Stalin.
(maybe Moe or Sylvester)
The Tories did very well in that by-election didn't they?
Yes of course! I should have known, Stalin sent millions of people to their deaths either by starvation or by his death squads.
Just like Stephen Harper!
Oops.. guess not.
Actually, Stephen Harper's leadership style is more similar to Trudeau and Chretien than anyone else.
I think Jan has it right with the Mike Harris reference.
Quite the contradiction for a man who's Reform roots suggest a grassroots, representative approach to government.
Steve, on it's face it would seem so, but I think if you combine Harper's admiration of the leadership style of Stalin, with his 'Leo Strauss' ideology...you get a clear picture of the man and how he manipulates.
Thank you for the article, I think you just cleared something up for me and I can only imagine that there is much more to be found.
Olaf, as I read the article, the senior Tory is Hugh Segal.
Southernontarioan, that is precisely the shallow response that leads discussions nowhere.
The article speaks to 'style', not action.
knb
I actually thought Kennedy nailed it, when he referred to this government as a "marketing campaign".
The Senior Tory is one of the washed up Mulroney hags probably ticked-off at being sidelined.
Burney (now the Chair of Canwest - hence the recent Mulroney asskissing by their papers), Norquay, Segal, ... any one of them could have been the source. My bet is on Norquay.
These morons reduced the once mighty Progressive Conservative party to such a joke that David Orchard very nearly took it over.
Who cares what they have to say?
Thaks for this, good find. I have linked to it on my blog.
Smear campaign? Huh? This is relayed by a Tory not a Liberal, so the Liberals don't have to smear. The truth about Harper is good enough.
Harper is enamoured by Bush/Cheney/Stalin - hmmmm.
Harper's mentor is Tom Flanagan...hmmm.
This boy is trouble.
As to a "smear campaign", important to remember this was reported by the RIGHT-WING media.
Steve, what it means to the ubiquitous anonymi when a Conservative or a Conservative supporter or a right wing publication criticises Harper is that that person or organization or publication was never a true Conservative to begin with and can be slagged and fragged at will.
As Harper grows into the job and becomes more confident that he's protected we'll be treated to the sight of various arms and wings of the great Conservative coalition tearing the flesh from one another.
True enough Dana. I had a similar thought earlier. All these 'defend Harper at any cost' poster's, really illustrate the fault line in the party.
I suppose there are a few out there who believe this is the same old Tory party, but more and more I'm realising that the die-hard defenders, were never a part of that tradition.
knb... its a joke for the first thing.
And secondly, comparing anyone's 'style' of governing to Stalin is overkill. Its like say.. comparing Jesus to Karla Homolka. (or vice versa)
As I said in my latter comments Harper's style is more similar to Trudeau and Chretien. All had a serious dislike of media and were extremely focused in their missions.
Why do you insist on trying to link Harper to Stalin? Because Stalin was an evil dictator who killed millions. You hope to 'inspire fear rather than respect' in voters and are 'focused on eliminating' the Tories.
Its a classic smear tactic.
Hey SouthOnt... no one here initiated the link between Steverino and Joe S. It came out of a CanWest article, you know, the media monopoly that insisted all its papers run a Conservative endorsement near election day?! Oh and the quote about Harpor's book knowledge of Stalin? It came from a fellow Tory's mouth. Perhaps you better redefine your idea of smear. We're just enriching the already rich allegory.
SouthernOntarioan (sic) does demonstrate my previous point quite succinctly however.
The senior Tory recounted being told Harper had "read and mastered" the biography and leadership style of Russia's Communist dictator Josef Stalin, and said the prime minister has adopted some of the same tactics.
"He plays people off against one another, he attempts to inspire fear rather than respect, he is unpredictable and he is 100 per cent focused on eliminating the opposition," the senior Conservative explained...
Southernontarioan...read the first line here. It was a senior Tory who cited the comparison, not I. Within the context of his statement, I agree that there is a comparison to be made.
As to the Trudeau and Chretien comparison, fair enough on the media issue, perhaps, but less so for Chretien and yes, both were focussed on their mission, (though I'd use the term agenda), but they did not persue it through fear tactic's, nor by encouraging division of Canadians as we have seen this PM do.
BTW, the "Tories" nationally have been eliminated. I relate that term to the Progressive Conservatives, not the current incarnation. I've never heard Harper refer to himself or the party as the Tories.
Just curious, prior to the merger, were you a Reform member or PC?
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