Thursday, August 20, 2009

Bang On

This has to be one of the more insightful descriptions of the Harper government and their philosophy. Potential Liberal candidate Daniel Veniez :
“The Conservative party and its leader are permanently angry,” he goes on. “That’s an ingrained part of who they are and what they represent. On a visceral level, they remain a protest party and have turned themselves into a protest government. They manage by negatives and are genetically incapable of inspiring hope or thinking big. They attack, assassinate character, tell lies, lower the bar on public discourse, and engage in tactical and divisive wedge politics and governance. The tone, strategy, and culture for this government are established by Harper, a cheap-shot artist and cynic of the highest order.”

The best part, it's just so true.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yep, that about nails it. It's exactly why I find them so undesirable as a government. I started engaging you, Steve, after I had studied it a bit. But I can honestly say I observed them with an open mind to the possibility of being persuaded at first, and they failed horribly. The arrogant pettiness just never fades.

Steve V said...

I've said this before, but their entire inspiration comes from what they reject, rather than any uplifting, underlying philosophy. The really hard part to understand, Harper finally got the keys to the car and he still conducts himself like some embattled bit player. From a partisan perspective, I'm so glad that Harper has never understood that a sense of statesmanship and positive vision is all that holds him back.

KC said...

They attack, assassinate character, tell lies, lower the bar on public discourse, and engage in tactical and divisive wedge politics and governance. The tone, strategy, and culture for this government are established by Harper, a cheap-shot artist and cynic of the highest order.

When I was a Liberal looking out I may have bought that these tendencies are unique to the Conservatives but in retrospect and looking from the outside things looks quite different.

Steve V said...

Not unique, but there's no question on DEGREE. I say this as somebody that didn't vote Liberal when you did, so I get the analogy.

KC said...

Really Steve? Remind me which party spent weeks harping on Lisa Raitt for calling an isotope shortage "sexy"? Which party released the "soldiers on the streets with guns" ads? Which party has disingenously trying to pin the deficit and recession on Harper (all the while demanding more spending)?

From where I'm sitting the Liberals are acting exactly like the Conservatives circa 2003-2006--blaming everything under the sun on the government, dwelling on minor gaffes, and using the greatest hyperbole to paint the government as incompetent and unethical. Its really quite sad.

Anonymous said...

"From a partisan perspective, I'm so glad that Harper has never understood that a sense of statesmanship and positive vision is all that holds him back."

That is why Harper will go in history as a mediocre PM, in the
Arthur Meighen-RB Bennett mode. A wrecking crew which tosses the furniture overboard in order to keep the Tory ship afloat. Pretty soon the boat will sink and the Canadian voters will cheer.

Could the Cons become more ideological a la Mulroney or Harris. Two minorities and so little accomplishment have damaged the Conservative brand somewhat. All you get is the same Western alienation-Social Credit message. "You don't have to like us to vote for us."

Steve V said...

KC

Apparently you can't distinguish between opposition and government. Of course the Libs are seizing on everything, that's what oppositions do throughout the world. However, when you look at how these characters act in GOVERNMENT, it's a disgrace that we've never seen in terms of magnitude and prevalance in everything they do. I say this as someone who didn't vote for the "guns in the street" party, that was embarrassing. We can play back and forth with examples, I'm quite confident if you put all yours on one end, me on another, yours will look like a mole hile compared to mine. Bottomline.

foottothefire said...

Thanks for this Steve.
Great post!

foototothefire said...

and that ain't all.
have a look at the DETAIL surrounding the firing of Veniez. It captures a corrupt, crooked, thieving Harper government in action...
http://www.nationalpost.com/related/topics/story.html?id=1745206&p=1

Anonymous said...

Oh too funny KC - what about the Harperites in opposition "harping" on pizza lunches. Yup, so much so that Rahim Jaffer took a group (by taxpayer paid plane) to Toronto to see if they could eat a pizza lunch for less.