68 Canadian Border Guards Fired In The Last 6 Years

This story comes to us via La Presse (French). Here are the highlights.

Picture from Super Troopers.
Not CBSA training video.

• An off-duty border guard inappropriately flirts with a hotel desk clerk and later in the night, reappears in front of her completely naked.
• One border guard fondled a woman before allowing her to see a detained man in a cell.
• One female agent flirted "outrageously" with a police officer and was both hostile and intoxicated on either alcohol or drugs.
• Ever leave a fully loaded gun in a hotel room with the safety off after you check out? One CBSA guard did.
• Death threats towards a colleague? Check.
• "Jokingly" wave a toy gun at a traveler and pull the trigger. The exploding powder's sound makes it funny apparently because the traveler thinks he's going to die.
• Using CBSA computers and email to set-up "intimate encounters".
• One agent assaults another when he's denied free sampling of the cocaine that they're smuggling for organized crime.
• That last one makes the border guard acting as a marijuana mule for organized crime seem downright decent...
• Agent Jasbir Grewal, in BC, was helping import cocaine to Canada and export marijuana to the US.

The story closes out by mentioning that the CBSA has around 15,000 agents and most conduct themselves in a professional manner. I'd echo that sentiment but I'm not all that enthusiastic with increasing that number. Also, the calls from the US that Canada increase its security of the border and share a "common defense perimeter and intelligence" should be met with a polite Canadian middle-finger.  

Hack Pundit Of The Week: Terence Corcoran

Terence Corcoran is a personification of the newspaper industry. I mean that in the most insulting and derogatory way possible. Old newspaper media, as a business, has failed to adapt to the digital age. When bloggers are able to give you firsthand accounts of events in real time, a daily will print press releases the next day. There are great journalists out there but investigative reporting in Canada is disappearing. In order to deal with decreasing readerships and advertising sales, news staffs have been cut while content has shrunk. Quality has suffered as a result.  If you woke up today after spending 20 years in a time capsule, the papers would be unrecognizable if it weren't for the logos. Regardless of the efforts of NADbank to put the best spin on it, the industry is hemorrhaging money. As Warren Buffett has pointed out, if newspapers didn't already exist today, no one would bother to invent them.

Why so glum, Terence?

Terence Corcoran is a vestige of the era when print media reigned supreme. He belongs to this rare breed of creature - soon to be extinct - called the newspaper columnist. As a man that is nearing 70 years of age, he is paid quite handsomely by the National Post to opine about the world that has passed him by.

And so it is that we are treated to the latest installment in his decrepit deliberations.

Allow me to summarize his column: The eG8 took place where government heads and net neutrality supporters argued about the internet. Toronto had its MESH conference which also talks about the internet. Corcoran concludes that there's not much new here and he's heard it all before. The activists are wannabe naive idealist revolutionaries and Sarkozy is Lil' Napoleon.

He obviously attended neither conference and his opinion comes from generic news reports. He mentions - however briefly - snippets of arguments about net neutrality and copyright laws.

Here's a fraction of what he didn't tell you:

• Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg argued against government regulation of the internet.
• The Internet is responsible for approximately 20 percent of economic growth for the 13 countries included in a McKinsey Global Institute study, and an estimated 2.9 percent of total worldwide GDP.
• Small businesses that use the Internet make far more money than those that do not. Traditional companies, as opposed to entirely Internet-based businesses, benefit the most from the Internet. And countries that invest highly in Internet infrastructure reap the biggest benefits from the online boom.
• Internet-related consumption and expenditure in the G8 nations is now bigger than agriculture or energy.
• John Perry Barlow speaking up for creativity amidst the business establishment
• The MESH Conference costs $639+HST per attendee for discussions on social media...

It goes without saying that Corcoran finishes with the least valuable opinion uttered from the MESH conference:

Don Tapscott, who has a knack for cashing in on passing bandwagons, declared the eG8 a disaster and hailed the Internet in revolutionary terms. "Without the Internet, and the social media in particular, the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt would simply have never occurred."

The Financial Post's Jameson Berkow reported on a session where media experts reviewed "the myth of the social media revolution." One media expert noted that "The Arab uprisings were not as spontaneous as everyone has been led to believe." She added that "The Egyptian organizers had been planning if for years, they even went to Europe to train."

Perhaps some people need to remember that people fomented revolution long before the Internet.

Sigh. Terence Corcoran believes Tapscott, who's been publishing books about technology and business since 1984, is arguing that posting twitter messages and changing their Facebook status lead to the revolutions in the Middle-East. No Terence, that's not what he's arguing. And for you to suggest that he is, makes you look all the more foolish.

PBS's Frontline describes it clearly in its documentary "Revolution in Cairo" (not available on the web in Canada due to "restrictions" unless you know your way around internet proxy settings or willing to search youtube) featuring the April 6th Youth Movement. The group learned non-violent tactics in Eastern Europe and coordinated through social media to avoid the authorities and organize a movement. The internet and social media was vital in spreading the word about their plans. If you're somewhat unconvinced about the centrality of social media's role in the Jasmine Revolution, watch the documentary and then read Andrew Sullivan's article. No doubts will remain.

Maybe the vital role of social media during the Arab Spring WAS mentioned at the MESH Conference, maybe it wasn't... you wouldn't know from reading Ol' Terence though.

It's appropriate that this hack pundit finishes his article relying on another Post reporter for information about a topic that's out of his depth. Reading Corcoran leaves you less informed than you were when you first started reading his column. He is just one of the many reasons why the newspaper industry is dying.


Clay Shirky: The Twitter Revolution

The 10 Best Progressive Posts of the Week

In no particular order:

-Art Threat points us towards the excellent documentary Budrus.
-Buckdog provides "clarity" on the NDP's position vis-à-vis a possible Quebec referendum (factchecker)
-Bill Longstaff gives dap to Sheila Fraser.
-Because only Montreal Simon can make us laughing while upset: his outlook on Canada and Israel.
-Dammit Janet! talks about the role of our military.
-Alberta Diary has a great article about the Alberta's Progressive Conservative's inaction regarding STDs
-They Call Me "Mr. Sinister" has some real talk about John Ibbitson's terrible column
-Dawg's Blawg has a disturbing story about police brutality.
-Creekside disturbs us even more with a story on police oversight.
-Orwell's Bastard rants about the G8/G20 Blue Code of Silence.

Save Us Conrad Black!

If anyone deserves to be ridiculed and lampooned, it's Conrad Black. Consequently, I present to you my humble critique of his asinine and idiotic column.

A World of Financial Ruin

The present U.S. administration, building, certainly on unpromising leavings from its predecessor, has shuffled from one delayed reaction placebo to another to anesthetize financial markets with a sequence of consciousness-lowering deferrals. First we were waiting for the Simpson-Bowles debt commission, which held any actual attention to the problem at bay for nearly two years. It reported quite sensibly and sank like lead weight, but without a ripple.

Conrad Black: as imaginative
as derivative pop art

The Simpson-Bowles plan was sensible only if happened to be very very rich. As economist Paul Krugman noted, "it redistributes income upward: the bottom 80 percent of families would pay higher taxes than they did in the Clinton years, while the top 20 percent — and especially the top 5 percent — would pay less." So thank you for reminding us once again why the financial crisis is being used by the elites as a tool to reinforce the idea that the middle-class should take on a greater share of the tax burden.

The House Budget Committee chairman, Republican Paul Ryan, proposed a plan that only cut the deficit initially by a little over 10%, but cut very appreciably into future outlays and was at least something that could serve as an opening gambit. Barack Obama then pilloried the congressman on national television in strictures usually reserved for judicial or editorial condemnations of skinheads who steal the hearing aids and Zimmer frames of the elderly and the mittens of the new-born.

The Ryan Plan would "serve as an opening gambit" if it relied on numbers that weren't absurd. The Plan depends on reducing discretionary spending to levels last seen in the US in the late 1920s. That means destroying the social and economic progress of the New Deal and the Great Society. These advances must be abolished because Paul Ryan deems it necessary to lower taxes on corporations. So if Barack Obama lambasted Paul Ryan, he didn't do it loudly enough because Ryan is still squawking away about how great his Plan is for America.

When Barack Obama took office, the official normal money supply of the United States was about $1.1-trillion. The $3-trillion in federal budget deficits that have been run up since then have largely, technically, escaped the money supply, though accretions have almost doubled the official total, an unheard of rate of growth (about 40% annualized) in a hard-currency country. About 70% of this debt has been paid by the issuance of bonds to the central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve, a subsidiary of the United States government. Whatever the balance sheets say, this has produced the effect of a money-supply increase, which has brought pump-priming to a level of over-achievement not seen since Noah felt the compulsion to build an ark. And the annual trillion-dollar deluge is forecast to continue for a decade.

Scary stuff! Allow me to respond to your big numbers about deficits with a basic graph that everyone can understand.

So make a managerial decision Conrad: what should we eliminate first to reduce the debt?

Conrazzle Blazzle continues to berate Americans on their Health Care system. It's a mess, no doubt about it. But when he's advocating a plan that calls for tax cuts that transforms Medicare into a less-than-adequate voucher program, he's in no position to dictate policy to anyone. He follows that up with derision towards European countries and moronically paints all their precarious positions with the same broad stroke. He declares:

Meanwhile, the European Union is a water-logged vessel in a tempest, frantically bailing. In the six weeks since French finance minister Christine Lagarde last bravely proclaimed her personal fantasy that Greece would not default, the interest on Greek government notes has risen from 20% to 26%. Germany will not indefinitely remain so encumbered with guilt for the Third Reich that it will go on eating the costs of the false prospectus Goldman Sachs assisted Greece and others to file when they joined the Euro. The Germans have only tolerated it up to now because the strain Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and eventually others put on the European banking system and the Euro, keep the Euro in fairly close downward mode with the U.S. dollar, which assists German exports. What a splendid irony that Germany, reviled as the rampaging hun in olden time, is now being entreated by genuflecting masses of its former ungrateful subjects to occupy and dominate them again, at least economically.

Failure to understand global macroeconomics seems to be Conrad Black's forte. If you want to better understand the Eurozone crisis, I recommend checking out Planet Money and focusing on their podcasts regarding the Spanish banks. They detail how the economies of all these countries are all interwoven with one another and the domino effect of letting Ireland go bankrupt would lead Spain to default as well, taking with it the German banks that are heavily invested in their Spanish counterparts and which, in turn, would cause Germany to collapse. So don't fool yourself, German inaction would guarantee its own collapse. And if they "dominate" them with terms to loans they can't pay back, then the outcome is the same.

If there are signs of hope, the place we might look is Britain.

How did I know this was coming? David Cameron's austerity budget has a fan in Conrad of course!

The U.K. has never been a rich country and has not been a great manufacturing country for decades. But it has a better work ethic and political system than almost all of Europe and a better present government than most. 

Is that a fact? Seems like other nations, non Anglo nations even, are able to do just fine without following the lead of the great United Kingdom. Tell me why England is such a precious jewel, Conrad?

Strangely and endearingly, Queen Elizabeth's visit to Ireland last week was the greatest success of royal diplomacy since her parents' visit to the United States and Canada on the verge of war in 1939, if not her great grandfather Edward VII's visit to Paris in 1903 to seal the Entente Cordiale. When Britain can't lead as it often has, as recently as with Thatcher in the '80s, it still muddles through. The Queen appears to have dispersed a great deal of ancient bitterness, going back to Cromwell and beyond, in just a few days. The adaptability, durability and astuteness of the British should not be underestimated. Canada has inherited, refined and demonstrated some of those qualities, and has a North American work ethic and immense resources to boot.

This has nothing to do with decades of peace efforts between Catholics and Protestants. Nope. Turns out, all England had to do, according to Conrad Black, is send Queen Elizabeth with hat and purse in tow to resolve any and all disagreements that previously existed. Thank you for your insight.

And if you think Canada is in such great shape to lead the world, what do you make of this?

Manufacturing's share of employment in Canada (via StatsCan)

In the last decade, Canada finds itself in the position of being a natural resources supplier to the rest of the world. It's main client is the United States that Conrad Black berates as doomed to failure. If we look inwards, the Government of Canada has not worked with companies and unions to preserve those manufacturing jobs unlike in Germany. We find ourselves with an economy that is less and less diversified and much more susceptible to a commodities crash. So as he trumpets Canadian economic success, we're still in a very precarious state and would benefit greatly if government would work with small and medium-sized businesses to diversify our economy. It could limit the shocks to the economy in case of an economic downturn. But no, let's champion austerity measures during a recovery period and pat ourselves on the back instead.

Let's NOT Be Civil

There seems to be a very strong current within Canadian politics to "restore civility" within the House of Commons. This message was emphasized by Elizabeth May and the Green Party during the election. Jack Layton and even Pat Martin are wearing buttons with the message "Opto Civitas" or "I choose civility". This is a response to the bitter strife between parties that has existed since... well, forever in Parliament. Some would say this was especially bad during the minority governments of recent memory, but I would suggest they need better memories. Flashback to 1993 when the Liberals ruled over Canada. The Bloc Québécois was the Loyal Opposition and a few seconds into his first speech in the House of Commons, Lucien Bouchard's speech was interrupted by hecklers from both the Reformers and the Liberals. This was shortly after swearing an oath to uphold a more civil tone.

So the idea of "returning to a more civil discourse" is returning to state that never existed in the first place. So what is civility?

ci·vil·i·ty

1. Formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech.

2. Polite remarks used in formal conversation.

I dare say, old chap, I'm slightly miffed
that you're bankrupting the country

There's a difference between civility and being respectful. I don't recommend Pat Martin flick his pencil across the room in a committee session again nor do I recommend everyone adopt John Baird's behavior of barking at everyone at Question Period. Grown men and women should act their age. Respect belongs in the workplace whether it be in an office or the House of Commons.

But on the issues, I don't want civility. None at all! I want compelling intellectual and emotional arguments from the NDP as to why the Cons' policies are terribly flawed and dangerous. I want both passion and knowledge outlining in no uncertain terms the folly of the Tory policies. If that means embarrassing their budgetary waste, so be it! If it means lampooning their inaction of climate change, I'm all for it! If it means deriding their budget cuts as penny-wise but pound-foolish, allow no impediments!

If the Conservative governing majority is behaving as badly as the old Liberal governing majority, politeness is completely inappropriate! There is no reason to be polite to a government that uses funds to stage the G8/G20 summit to "spruce up" the riding of a minister more than an hour away with a gazebo. This waste results in a bridge not being repaired and roads not being repaved where it's actually needed. On social issues, should we be civil if Brad Trost  introduces a private member's abortion bill? Would a victim of incest asking for an abortion be civil towards the politician that would deny her that right? Absolutely not! And these are the people the NDP would be defending so I expect the same ardor from MPs in front of a partisan crowd displayed in the House of Commons.

So by all means, cut out the heckling, but when mismanagement and an attack on our values is underway, the last thing I want to hear is civility.

Stephen Harper's First Priority: Consolidating Power

Two news stories that have been reported but people have failed to link together are:

-Harper government moving to to end "per vote" subsidies.

-Internal battle within the Conservatives brewing over voting rules.

Key points about the first story is that this is only one of the three subsidies that is being removed. The other two are the subsidy of political contributions which are personal income tax credits and the electoral expense reimbursement. Who stands to lose the most from the removal of the "per vote" subsidy? The Bloc and the Liberals. The Bloc will now need to dig in the same pockets as those that give to the Parti Québécois. The Liberals will need to claw back and inspire a grassroots movement they haven't had in a long time.

The party that stands the most to gain is, predictably, the Conservatives. They have the largest base of financial support which will only be magnified by the continuation of the electoral expense reimbursement. The other parties will need to play catch-up.

"I don't know why they nicknamed me
"Shifty" in high school."

A few clarifications must be made to counter some of the Tory talking points. Firstly, the ideological stance of Conservatives claiming that taxpayers shouldn't be subsidizing political parties is factual incorrect as two subsidies will remain.

Secondly, the idea that taxpayers shouldn't be subsidizing parties they don't support is a deliberate distortion. Public money is made available to the parties in relation to their respective vote. Even if money is sent to a party you don't agree with, they did receive votes from other taxpayers and therefore are rewarded for those votes. Furthermore, it implies that a Canadian's ideological beliefs are static and won't change. I may not be ideologically aligned with the Green Party for example, but I welcome its voice into the debate. Fostering these ideas strengthens democracy and taxpayers can certainly get behind that.

The elimination of the subsidy would increase the financial lead that Conservatives have in campaign financing so it seems rather self-serving. Also, it would make a new party getting off the ground more difficult as the per vote subsidy is very convenient for smaller parties with broad appeal that just don't have the financial ability to put up a ground game in order to collect individual contributions. And this leads me to the second news item...

The reported in-fighting is relevant as the current Conservative Party is comprised of the old Progressive Conservatives and the Western-based Reformers. Very few people are under the illusion that the current Conservative Party of Canada is something other than the Reformers having cannibalized the Progressive Conservatives in order to benefit from its popular brand name instead of the widely reviled Reform brand.

The debate is in regards to whether each delegate gets a vote to decide a new party leader or whether each riding gets a vote. The former is favored by the old Reformers and the latter is preferred by the remnants of the Prog Cons. This was an issue that was settled when they initially merged into one party but now the delegate-rich Alberta ridings are looking to change it. This issue was widely considered a "deal-breaker" for the Prog Cons to unite the two parties.

Regardless of who wins this debate, one faction will be upset. The disappointed group will simply have to accept its bad fortune as a "Wildrose" federal party sprouting up to oppose the Conservative Party's failure to deliver on its promises (Senate reform, transfer payments, social conservative agenda) would be difficult to get off the ground. The same would be true if the old Prog Cons would try to reinvent themselves into a new party as a result of reneging on its promise. If the "per vote" subsidy remains, this would allow these new parties to get off the ground faster with just one election cycle but without it, the Conservatives are clearly trying to stave off any right-wing movement to pass them from the Right. 

Regardless of your political beliefs, it's clear that the per vote subsidy is the fairest of all the existing electoral subsidies. Its removal will diminish democracy both on the Right and the Left.

Hack Pundit Of The Week: Mark Bonokoski

I'm a little late in responding to this but I would argue that the stupidity emanating from Mark Bonokoski is just as pungent as it was last week. Bono, as his friends call him, has carried the stench of working for Sun Media for over 20 years. That's 20 years of working for the foul propaganda tabloid media organization. It's been 9 years that he's been sickening readers with his column in the Toronto Sun. Whatever higher brain functions he may have had at one time are long gone and what his scribblings are undeniably the ravings of a brain dead mustachioed right-wing zombie. The detritus he put forth on Sunday, May 15th is ample evidence of that.

No really, that's a good look for you.

Now as a Quebecer, I've come to expect the antagonism from those on the Right. Why should Quebec be exempt from their generalizations and distortions? His ire towards the Bloc Quebecois is not surprising and his desire to "cut the head off the separatist snake, to ensure it never again slithers into the federal rock pile" is not a sentiment that upsets me but the hammed alliteration and clichéd metaphor certainly both do.

The idea he put forward in his column could never be accused of coming from an ivory tower as it's clearly seeping from a ceramic throne. He floats this nugget of a suggestion: to amend the Canada Elections Act so that parties must run candidates in every riding and swear allegiance to Canada in order to obtain party status. Never mind the existing oath of allegiance which is already in place to which Bernard Landry added justifiably at its end "or the duration of the present constitutional order, which will hopefully change one day in a democratic fashion."

And that's the crux of it: democracy. Would the Reform Party have gotten off the ground if it were required to field candidates in every riding? Of course not. Yet he suggests that these rules be put in place so a movement like the Wildrose Party doesn't run candidates at the Federal level. If a Albertan voter would feel better represented by them, who is Mark Bonokoski to deny this perfectly justifiable exercise in democracy? What if the Wildrose Party were to branch out to other provinces much like the Reform Party did decades ago?

He then takes aim at candidates such as Ruth Ellen Brosseau and Michael Ignatieff for not living in the ridings they represented and demands that such practices be stopped. Who else didn't live in their riding? John A. Macdonald. That's right, the first Prime Minister of Canada didn't live in Victoria, BC and yet somehow, people managed to continue with their day to day lives.

It's clear that political partisanship is the source of his nauseating notions. Weakening democracy is championed by the Conservative Party of Canada's base. Very few of them voiced any displeasure at the clear patronage of the recent Senate appointments which was a major point of contention for the Cons as they rose to power. Instead, consolidating this newfound power and removing dissenting voices is foremost on their minds. That is to be expected when its cheerleaders are hack pundits like Mark Bonokoski who work in the cesspool called Sun Media .

American-Flavored Crazy: Rick Santorum

With Donald Trump having bowed out of consideration for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, we now have to turn elsewhere for our regular dose of American political insanity. Luckily, Rick Santorum is more than willing to supply large helpings of crazy to entertain us. Most Canadians wouldn't know Rick Santorum because he hasn't accomplished anything of note. What's marvelous about him is that he sees failure as a springboard for greater political heights. An apt description would be to call Tony Clement a poor-man's Rick Santorum.

Describing him as a social conservative doesn't quite do him justice. If social conservatives were lizards, Rick Santorum would be Godzilla. He's larger than life and just as destructive as the Tokyo Terror! His claim to fame though, is being ridiculed by sex-advice columnist Dan Savage. The reason he incurred the wrath of Savage were his comments relating to homosexuality which were as follows:

"If the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything."

Homosexuality being compared to bigamy, polygamy and incest. This was coming from, at the time, the third most influential Republican in the Senate. Dan Savage wrote an op-ed to the NY Times denouncing the comments as well as creating a contest for his readers to associate a new slang term with "santorum". The winning entry was this (please click this fantastic link! Graphic image and NSFW). With a website supporting this new definition, Savage's readers had for a long time managed to keep this webpage as the first entry you found when googling "Santorum".

Best family picture ever

Limiting Rick Santorum as the gay-bashing Republican would be a disservice to his idiocy. He was a strong proponent of teaching Intelligent Design in science class even after the court case of Kitzmiller vs Dover Area School District proved that it merely was a scheme to repackage religious dogma into the science classroom.

Did he have an opinion on the Roman Catholic sex-abuse scandal in Boston? Of course he did!

"It is startling that those in the media and academia appear most disturbed by this aberrant behavior, since they have zealously promoted moral relativism by sanctioning "private" moral matters such as alternative lifestyles. Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm."

Cultural liberalism was responsible for sexual abuse according to this man and this comes from a man who is aligned with the party trumpeting personal responsibility.

What about the victims of Hurricane Katrina? Those that were unable to leave the flooded area due to lack of means or opportunities. What could Rick Santorum have said about them?

"I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving."

Imposing penalties on those caught in a hurricane? What a santorum thing to say!

He also expressed outrage that not enough attention was being paid to the recent cache of weapons found in Iraq which he purported were weapons of mass destruction. What he failed to mention was that those weapons were simply hazardous waste that were useless for military use.

On the linguistic front, he proudly puts forth this childhood recollection:

"when I was a kid, I’d say you know, Dad, why don’t you teach me how to speak Italian so I can speak to my grandmother and communicate better with her. And he said because you’re an American, and he said because you need to learn English better. You don’t need to learn Italian."

Learning different languages is detrimental to children apparently. On the topic of torture, Rick Santorum is all for it and when he was rebuked by John McCain, he said the former POW and victim of torture "doesn't understand how enhanced interrogation works."

Does Rick Santorum have a legitimate shot at the Presidency? Of course not. But in the never-ending car pile-up that is American politics, you just can't look away. Rick Santorum continues that legacy of terrible candidates that are blissfully unaware they are unelectable. Oh, it should be pointed out that in his failed 2006 Senate race, he lost by nearly a 20% margin of 59% to 41%. He is in complete denial of reality but more importantly, provides us with American-flavored crazy.

The 10 Best Progressive Posts of the Week

In no particular order:

-Driving the Porcelain Bus has a story about O Canada being sung by William Shatner.
-The Galloping Beaver has the latest developments in the boondoggle that is the F-35 fighter jets.
-Alison at Dawg's Blawg raises some good questions about the Perimeter Security Intelligence.
-Montreal Simon entertains us with his take on the cabinet shuffle or Harper House of Horrors.
-Accidental Deliberations puts the Senate appointments in perspective.
-Impolitical musters up her opinions on the various cabinet ministers.
-A BCer in Toronto has a great story about his encounter with Liberal President Alf Apps.
-Buckdog points out that the Liberal Party's finances are in dire straits.
-Politics Respun argues for a second right-wing party.
-Alberta Diary contrasts Ruth Ellen Brosseau with Peter Goldring and Rob Anders.

And RIP Randy "Macho Man" Savage

Stephen Harper admits to trolling Andrew Coyne since 2006

In an story that is sure to shock many Canadians, Peter Mansbridge's new interview with Stephen Harper revealed that the primary focus of Canadian politicians since 2006 has been trolling Macleans magazine's national editor Andrew Coyne. Here is the interview.

Mansbridge: I'm joined with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Prime Minister, you've come under fire for naming three recently defeated Conservative candidates to the Senate as well as having the second largest cabinet in Canada's history after calling for austerity measures. How do you respond to this criticism?

Harper: Let's be clear, Peter. The job of a cabinet minister is a very tough and difficult one. To assume that a minister isn't working diligently for the Canadian people... well, that just isn't the case. I'm confident that providing greater autonomy and specific jurisdictions to your ministers will only work to improve our government. Furthermore, the nomination of these Senators was done within the scope of a Prime Minister's powers so there's nothing irregular about it. Might I add, all three senators are committed to Senate reform so Canadians will be well-served by these appointments.

Mansbridge: Andrew Coyne has criticized these appointments as cynical and go against the express will of the Canadian people.

Harper: [stifling laughter]

Mansbridge: ...He's also mentioned that Canada has the most bloated government in terms of ministries in all of Western Civilization.

Harper: I know! His twitter feed is hysterical! All morning on Wednesday, he would not stop complaining about the cabinet size! Kenney and I were howling with laughter!

Mansbridge: Mr. Prime Minister, I don't think I understand...

Harper: Let's be clear, Peter. Ever since I've been been in politics, I had to suffer the opinion of Andrew Coyne whether he was at the Financial Post, the Globe and Mail or Macleans magazine. He's simply insufferable with his idolizing of the Trudeau Liberals. So when I became Prime Minister in 2006, I thought that the limited power of a minority government would best be served by trolling Andrew Coyne full time.

Mansbridge: Wait. You're telling the Canadian people that your appointments, all the bills that were passed and defeated were an attempt to troll Andrew Coyne?

LOL Open Markets!

Harper: This wasn't just an attempt, Peter. This was successful! Look at all his columns and twitter feed. Mission accomplished! Let's be clear, as a minority government, we weren't going to get much accomplished so we focused on things we felt was most important to Canadians and trolling Andrew Coyne was something we got unanimous consent on from every other party.

Mansbridge: It wasn't just the Conservatives in on the joke?

Harper: Certainly not! Whether you're a Tory, Grit or Dipper, you've grown tired of Coyne's sermons. His patronizing annoys all Canadians and we stand united in our belief that Parliament works best when its resources are focused on trolling Andrew Coyne.

Mansbridge: What have been some specific troll-jobs that you're particularly proud of?

Harper: A tip of the hat has to go to Maxime Bernier and his lost document bit. And just when I thought Coyne was going to realize it's a practical joke, Julie Couillard comes out in that extremely revealing outfit that I was sure was going to give the gag away!

Mansbridge: Were you angry with Bernier?

Harper: If you were to say I hold animosity towards Maxime Bernier, well that just isn't the case. Sure, he almost blew our cover that we maintained for a number of years but the laughs he provided were well worth the risk.

Mansbridge: Do you think that the Conservatives were better at trolling than the other parties?

Harper: The Bloc Québécois probably topped us all but they didn't have to try very hard. Any budget request or motion they would make, he'd bite on all of them. All the other parties were at a disadvantage because of this and they'd clean up in our weekly "best troll job" office pools.

Mansbridge: Why are you admitting to this now?

Harper: I think that the joke was proving to be too big a distraction. A lot of our research budget was designated to trolling strategies. The ministry of Canadian Heritage was a front for a ministry of Trolling Andrew Coyne. Also, I think the Liberals were about to go too far.

Mansbridge: What do you mean?

Harper: Their whole interim Liberal leadership race is a troll job. It was really a fantastic idea but just too cruel. They are going to have debates between candidates vying for the interim leadership devolve into a shouting match until Bob Rae shouts above everyone else that "Only Andrew Coyne can lead the Liberals to the promise land!" Rae then gets a scepter and crown and asks Andrew Coyne to be the full time leader of the Liberal Party for perpetuity.

All the delegates bow to him and chant "Coyne! Coyne!" until the Queen of England throws open the double doors of the assembly room and light comes pouring in as she walks in. She tells Coyne that if he were capable of leading the Liberals back to a majority government, he'll be next in line for succession as King of England. At that point, Prince Wililam appears and says "It would only be fair."

Mansbridge: That seems very elaborate and twisted...

Harper: Now you understand why the Liberals could only come up with something like the Canadian Learning Passport as their platform. And that's been part of the problem, too. All parties were adopting legitimate policies only if they were guaranteed to troll Andrew Coyne. It was quite limiting to say the least.

Mansbridge: So trolling of Andrew Coyne is going to stop from this point forward?

Harper: I can't speak to the other parties but we promised an austerity budget and we'll deliver on one. We can't guarantee that we'll be able to remove all trolling of Andrew Coyne measures this year but we hope to be Coyne-trolling free by 2015.

Mansbridge: Thank you for your time Prime Minister and I'm sure this revelation will be of great comfort to all Canadians and, specifically, to Andrew Coyne.

Which dog breeds would these ministers be? Part II

As a follow up to the first expose on what dog breeds our Canadian ministers would be, let's take a look at some of other big dogs of the cabinet, shall we?

Trained to sniff out all crime
except Tory corruption

If ever there was a German shepherd in cabinet, Rob Nicholson would be it. The justice minister was born and bred to track down those that grow as few as six pot plants and put them in jail. Most people would consider those individuals as pot growers that want to use marijuana for themselves while avoiding to contribute to organized crime. Not this Littlest Hobo! If he catches a scent, there's no stopping him! And his protective instincts and high sociability will work in perfect concert with the Prime Minister to hide the costs of the government crime bills. But it's important to establish good discipline with a German Shepherd or else he'll complain about same-sex marriage non-stop. Having a firm hand is key for a German shepherd's master whether it's Stephen Harper or Karlheinz Schreiber.

I even get along
with the "Ethnic voters"!

Jason Kenney, the ever-fearless Scottish terrier, remains as the minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. Kenney was a good boy! A very good boy! Yes he was! Yes he was! His stubborn determination and high energy allowed the Conservatives to gain those very precious "ethnic votes" in the Greater Toronto Area. That's just like a Scottish terrier to work tirelessly on an issue like that to please his master, Stephen Harper. He even jumped through many hoops to keep former British MP George Galloway barred from speaking in Canada by branding him a supporter of a terrorist organization (Hamas) when he wanted to collect money for ambulances, medicine, and toys for the people of Gaza. And for being such an obedient dog, he was given the tasty treat of chairing the influential cabinet committee on operations. Such a good boy!

Can my friends get construction
contracts please? Pleeeeeease!

Christian Paradis, the new Industry minister, is a dead ringer for a dachshund. With a habit of whining, it's no surprise that this dachshund got a promotion from Natural Resources minister despite his office being responsible for blocking multiple access-to-information requests. Dachshunds have a nice coat of fur although its quality is in doubt. Paradis thought his "cashmere" fur coat he lost at a fundraiser organized by contractor Paul Sauvé was worth $5,400. His attempt to be compensated for that amount revealed that his coat was made of wool and cost him $600. Dachshunds aren't mathematicians so you can hardly blame him for rounding up to over 5K! Dachshunds are weary of unfamiliar people so it's no coincidence that, as minister, a great deal of his fundraisers included those in Quebec's construction industry whom he was intimately acquainted with during his time as Public Works minister. This untrained dachshund couldn't resist mixing his ministerial duties and fundraising campaign despite it being against the rules. He finally admitted to doing this with Joseph Broccolini.whose construction company benefited from two highly scrutinized contracts worth $650 million.

I can haz corporate tax cut?

Remaining as Finance minister is basset hound Jim Flaherty who embodies the "stability" that Stephen Harper craves so much. Basset hounds are notoriously lazy and slow moving. This explains why there has been no action on the high banking fees or high credit card interest rates despite the debt-to-income ratio being at a record high. As a hound, he loves to track down his prey slowly and his prey of choice is the corporate tax rate which will have gone from 21% to 15% by 2012 despite the ongoing deficits. The race to the bottom for corporate tax rates implies a belief in supply-side economics which is a profound misunderstanding of macroeconomics. Corporations are currently hoarding cash not because the tax rates are too high but because there's no demand for new products. As long as unemployment remains relatively high and is combined with a high debt ratio of Canadians, the economic recovery is at risk especially if it's combined with an austerity budget. But this little pooch would just sleep through a recession. But you'd think even the most stubborn basset hound would understand that contractionary budgets are contractionary.

Drooling comes naturally

Some dogs can't help but drool and some people can't help but be drooling idiots. That's why Tony Clement, the newly appointed President of the Treasure Board, is your prototypical boxer dog. As Health minister, this stubborn dog denounced Vancouver's "Insite" supervised injection site while the World Health Organization was praising it. But he didn't stop there! This drooling mutt questioned the ethics of health professionals who participated in the harm-reducing clinic which had doctors calling his remarks "repugnant". In the CPC, you fail upwards so he was promoted to minister of Industry in 2008. And when the government spent $1 billion for the G8 and G20 summit, it's no coincidence that a $100,000 gazebo was spent to "spruce up the area" which happened to be Tony Clement's riding. Strangely, our drooling minister couldn't account why a gazebo was built an hour's drive away from the actual summit. Boxers are actually bright but Tony Clement, not so much. So failing ever upwards, he will now have the responsibility to decide which government programs get cut and which ones are preserved. As is the case with boxers, this will get messy.

Which dog breeds would these ministers be?

In an effort to engage more Canadians with politics, I decided to appeal to politically disaffected Canadian dog lovers by comparing our newly appointed cabinet ministers with their corresponding dog breed. In so doing, dog lovers everywhere will be able to make sense of the loud barking of John Baird during Question Period and explain why Maxime Bernier is so gaffe-prone.

Stubborn, defiant with a
 "high prey drive"...and creepy hair 

But first, we must start with the top dog himself, the Prime Minister. Stephen Harper is unquestionably an Afghan Hound. This breed is aloof and dignified. If it were to give a stump speech, it would repeat the same thing without interest or variation. When this hound feels mistreated, it will develop a stubborn and defiant streak. Would it listen to requests? Possibly. But it would limit them to 5 per day in defiance to perceived bias. The Afghan Hound is not a very obedient either as it would likely stonewall and refuse to fetch documents showing the full costs of its crime bill. This breed also has a "high prey drive" and can prove dangerous to smaller animals. The animals at risk are often red-colored and named Stephane Dion or Michael Ignatieff.

(Because you don't know the rules!)

John Baird is Stephen Harper's guard dog. That's why the new Foreign Affairs minister is a perfect fit as an English Mastiff. It is distinguishable by its enormous size, massive head and angry temperament. This large animal is extremely stubborn but proves to be very loyal and protective of its master. When provoked, it will bark "Point of order!" over and over again until it intimidates all those in its territory. If challenged repeatedly, it will not listen to anyone and threaten to "go over the heads of the members of Parliament; go over the heads, frankly, of the Governor General; go right to the Canadian people." If something endangers its master, like the Kyoto Protocol, it will fight vigorously to keep it at bay.

(Have I been a bad dog again?)

Maxime Bernier, a natural beagle, is now cabinet minister of state for tourism and small business. Beagles are warm and affectionate but have a constant need for companionship. Beagles have the highest excitability rating of any dog and are easily distracted. This can lead to a beagle leaving confidential NATO briefing papers with his ex-puppy playmate in her doghouse without realizing it for over five weeks. However, when they find a scent, the beagle is not easily deterred from obtaining its goal. Sometimes, that can be a detriment as this dog might bark something undiplomatic such as demanding the dismissal of the governor of Kandahar. No matter how much training you give the beagle, he will ultimately do something silly.

(Can we prorogue Parliament
so we can play?)

Peter MacKay is a classic golden retriever. This dog is easy to handle, has exceptional tolerance, is highly obedient and therefore makes for an exceptional domesticated pet. This golden retriever even makes friends in dubious circumstances. However, the high sociability of this pet also means it's a poor guard dog and is out of his element when confronted with the Middle-East conflict even though he's minister of national defense. However, this pup's demeanor is difficult to dampen even when it's in charge of something morally reprehensible as the Canadian Afghan detainee abuse scandal. But this cheerful pooch does feel bad when he lacks companionship. If not properly loved, this doggie will have a heart that's a little banged up.

(Don't look at me with contempt.)

Bev Oda is that little pug you love to hate in her role as minister of International Cooperation. As a rule, pugs don't work very hard and are very laid-back. One of their favorite activities is lounging around in limousines to unwind.  While their little stature isn't imposing, they are very loyal guard dogs. Their defensive nature can get them in trouble especially when they obscure being responsible for rescinding the funds to the charitable organization Kairos purely for political reasons. This pug's yappy nature has led it to say contradicting stories, which contributed to the Conservatives being held in contempt of Parliament. A pug's handler needs to be attentive as you don't know what kind of trouble they'll get into!

Quebec Provincial Politics: is there a 5th party I can vote for?

The wonderful world of Quebec provincial politics is one that's so discouraging, I try my best to avoid it as it's as enjoyable as swimming in frigid waters. However, there have been some recent developments of note so let's all risk metaphorical hypothermia and dive right in, shall we?

We have the incumbent center-right Liberal Party led by Jean Charest. Three major issues have plagued the Liberals: the hot mess that was the Bastarache Inquiry, the hotter mess that was the poor performance of the Caisse de Depot and the hottest mess that was the natural gas exploration debacle. Charest is trying to redeem himself with his "Plan Nord" mining endeavor. There are stories circulating about how a good amount of jobs will be held by foreign workers and the low royalty taxes collected from the mining industry. There are also stories regarding the terrible conditions of Inuits in Northern Quebec but attributing that to Jean Charest would be insane. Still, Plan Nord is still seen as a positive as it combines economic development with large conservation efforts.

Possible campaign slogan:
"Not as bad as the other parties!"

So if the controversies of the Liberals have the population looking for alternatives, no one is especially enthusiastic about the Parti Québécois. Such is political life when unemployment remains fairly high and the opposition's focus is Quebec independence. While they have stances on various issues, their priority on sovereignty seems to miss the crucial point that elected officials aren't entrusted exclusively to manage our linguistic well-being but rather our taxes. While social engineering of Quebec sounds swell to some, many others would much prefer a more pragmatic approach. And the PQ's recrimination of the Liberals for keeping mining royalties too low is steeped in irony as the Liberals raised it from 12% to 16% from the previous PQ government. They may have a point but their credibility is shot on that issue.

Enter the recently devastated Action Démocratique du Québec. The ADQ was originally meant to be a 3rd option that focused on economic prosperity over the obsessions of linguistic rights. And every time you thought it was reasonable to vote for the ADQ, former leader Mario Dumont and his party would say something completely stupid and they'd sink in the polls. So now its leader is Gérard Deltell who never saw a privatization plan he didn't like or a union whose rights he didn't want to strip away. With the advent of Francois Legault creating the Coalition for the Future of Quebec, the ADQ has quietly flirted with him to form an alliance of sorts and have toned down their stances and moved closer to the center. Still, it's unsure if Legault and the ADQ would form a coalition. Right now, all that Legault has going for him is popularity and only speaking out on education and health care in any substantive manner. For Legault, the skittishness would be due to the right-wing base of the ADQ and it's only a matter of time that a militant candidate will contradict its leader with a moronic statement that will scare off potential voters.

Over on the left is Quebec Solidaire. Amir Khadir is a rare breed of politician in Quebec. People like him. Quebec Solidaire is a different matter. It's a political party that is a hodge-podge of democratic socialism, Quebec sovereigntism, Green politics, after-globalization and feminism. Most Quebecers aren't quite sure what to make of them. They might be able to raise their profile in the next election if their campaign is successful and can convey a coherent message to voters. If they break out a Quebec version of the Canadian Learning Passport, they might as well all start looking for professorships right now.

So with so much uncertainty, lots of people are looking towards Francois Legault's next move and determine if anything viable springs from it. The old parties are out of steam, the new parties are disorganized and none of them are able to appeal to Quebec's socially progressive yet economically centrist broad base of voters. And this is why Quebec provincial politics will leave you shivering uncontrollably.

The "Tough on Crime" Myth

Stephen Harper and the Conservatives claim to be "tough on crime". Often times in the election campaign, he accused Michael Ignatieff of being "soft on crime". Name-calling like that might evoke a response but it doesn't raise the level of awareness. Incarceration and criminal justice are both complex and emotional subjects. There is a lot to weigh when deciding on a policy for incarceration.

What crimes should result in incarceration? What length of time should a criminal be in jail? Should there be minimum sentences for all crimes? What conditions will the criminals have in these prisons? Will the prison sentences reflect justice or retribution? Will there be a serious effort put towards rehabilitation? What are the recidivism rates for the various crimes? When a criminal is released back into society, are we in greater danger then when he came in? These are only some of the questions we need to answer before we can claim to suggest a way forward with any type of reform.

Future Tory campaign headquarters?

It's therefore rather a disconsolate thought to realize that Stephen Harper's Conservatives hid a report that directly impacted one of their "tough on crime" bills in Parliament. The vote was in regards to the "faint hope" clause which first and second-degree murderers to request an early parole hearing after 15 years into their sentence. The Conservatives hid the taxpayer-funded report and were able to convince the Liberals to vote with them to repeal this clause. Had it been made public, the study would have brought to light  that "those granted reduced time under faint hope do better in the community than other offenders. Lower recidivism rates from faint hope offenders suggest that decisions to release early are based on fairly accurate assessments of an offender’s risk to reoffend."

This is an example of imposing ideology over good policy.

There are other examples that the Conservatives are leading Canadians in the wrong direction. The Toronto Star reported that researchers at the University of New Brunswick looked at over 50 recidivism studies and concluded that prison is simply a "school of crime". We are increasing our police force even though we have less volume and severity of crime in Canada. Even some conservative Americans are backing away from their punitive approach to dealing with crime. Studies have shown that outside of cocaine/crack abuse, criminality rates are fairly equivalent between Canada and the US but their massive prison industrial complex is a result of longer incarcerations which is, in consequence, one of the largest state expenditures.

The rehabilitative approach to dealing with criminals is a progressive idea put forward in an extreme way in Norway. They've implemented a "cushy prison" experiment and the results are surprising. The prison is an island called Bastoy and it's entirely run by the prisoners and the guards. It's also the cheapest to maintain and very green. "An extensive new study undertaken by researchers across all the Nordic countries reveals that the reoffending average across Europe is about 70-75 per cent. In Denmark, Sweden and Finland, the average is 30 per cent. In Norway it is 20 per cent. Thus Bastoy, at just 16 per cent, has the lowest reoffending rate in Europe."

These aren't just potheads and tax cheats. There are violent offenders in that prison. Now, there will always be a need for punitive prisons as some people are too damaged to reenter society but we know that a great precursor to crime is poverty, drug abuse and mental disorders. These things can be minimized with allocating fewer funds to mega-prisons and more funds to strengthening our social safety net. Many Norwegians believe that a prisoner's loss of freedom is punishment enough and that rehabilitation is a greater benefit than retribution.

Stopping criminality before it starts and cutting down on recidivism is being "tough on crime".  Progressives need to point to these real results and show exactly what kind of sham Conservatives are peddling when it comes to criminal justice.

Hack Pundit of the Week: Joseph Facal

Joseph Facal is extremely bitter about the defeat of his Bloc Québécois and Quebec's embrace of the NDP. His profound love of Quebec can only be matched by his disdain of its people. When the Bloc Québécois was gutted in the last federal election, the Journal de Montréal's columnist was left in a deep state of shock. This whole democracy thing is turning out to be a real bummer for this ardent sovereignist. With now 59 seats in Quebec (with the most recent recount of a hotly contested riding), the NDP was the party whose values best matched those of Quebecers. Many pundits have a real problem with this and not least of which is Joseph Facal whose title to his column, "L'insouciance", suggests that Quebec voters are careless at best and mindless at worst.

Société distincte méprisable

It's very traumatizing for him to contemplate that the socially and economically progressive NDP replaced the socially and economically progressive BQ. On issues that mattered the most for Quebecers, the NDP and the BQ were closely aligned with one another. But on the issue that mattered most for the BQ, Quebec sovereignty, the NDP and Quebecers both disagreed with them. So how is this surprising again?

What really upsets Facal are the newly elected MPs which he calls "poteaux" (signposts). He rails about their thin CVs. What he doesn't do however, is contrast them with the legislative records of the recently rejected BQ MPs.  It isn't a stretch of the imagination to say that most Quebecers aren't familiar with any BQ candidates outside of Gilles Duceppe. It's not because they don't care about them but rather their accomplishments are few and far between. They just weren't relevant in Parliament and this was more and more apparent to Quebecers over the years.

Voters do understand this: political parties in Canada have official platforms and any member of the caucus that strays from it will run into the party whip and be forced to adhere to party discipline. While you can debate the pros and cons of the system, this is a fact of Canadian politics. Also, a candidate may be extraordinarily accomplished but, if that party's platform and values are misaligned with your own, there really is no point in voting for them, is there? Everyone would prefer to have a superb candidate with great professional credentials but they'll settle for an honest candidate that will stand with the party when votes are being casts. The expectation is that the new MP will gain experience by working with the more seasoned politicians of his party.

Facal then condescends the readers by informing them that elections aren't simply a TV reality show where you can vote somebody off for superficial reasons. It takes a lot of gall to assume the worse of people because they didn't vote your way. To suggest mindlessness on the part of Quebecers is more revealing of Joseph Facal's psyche than it is of Quebec voters. A short glimpse at Ensight Canada's study would explain to him that "Quebecers believed [sovereignty] was more appropriately handled at the provincial level." Until then, Quebec will reengage with Canada through the NDP and reevaluate in four years.

But for Facal, this is unacceptable and compares Quebecers to careless homeowners that burned down their homes because they left their stove on when they left the house for the day. Such contemptuous insults is reminiscent of Stephen Harper's reference to the Atlantic provinces as having a "culture of defeat". And therein lies the irony: Joseph Facal, the hardline Quebec nationalist, has an attitude and respect for democracy similar to Stephen Harper.



And now for something completely different: the In-N-Out Burger chain has finally arrived in Texas to the delight of many. A Tory blogger agrees.

Right-Wingnut Blog Roundup of the Week!

Disclaimer: Not all Conservative bloggers are farcical twits. Some of them are thoughtful and I had to go through a good number of blogs to find this collection of deluded dunces. But if your goal is to look through my list and find an erudite Tory blogger, you won't find it here. So without further ado, here is your weekly roundup of right-wing weirdos.

Let's begin with the Queen of Right-Wingnuts: Kate McMillan at Small Dead Animals. The problem of illegal immigration in Denmark is an issue for the 5.5 million inhabitants of the Scandinavian country so accurate information to inform policy is vital. Take it away, Kate!

Via Gates of Vienna;

Denmark has suspended the Schengen treaty and re-introduced controls at its borders with Germany and Sweden. It was announced by the country’s Finance Minister, Claus Hjort Frederiksen. . .
[...]
The tensions in the euro zone should be more than a matter of academic interest for Britain and other non-euro nations. The Schengen agreement, which guarantees passport-free travel across the bulk of the EU, one of the cornerstones of the European project, is unravelling as France closes its border with Italy and more desperate immigrants pour in from North Africa.

This is scary stuff! Too bad none of it is true. "Gates of Vienna" is a blog that advertises Andrew Breitbart, the guy that produced a misleading and dishonest video of Shirley Sherrod to get her fired as well as a book about how Islam isn't a religion. So I'm just a tad skeptical about the veracity of that report. A google search on the subject of Danish border controls yields this Reuters article which outlines quite clearly that "the new controls at all of Denmark's borders will be within the scope of the Schengen agreement, the Finance Ministry said in a statement."

Kate's entire story is false but I'm sure it's just a simple mistake. I mean, who knew getting your information from Islamophobes would lead to inaccuracies?

Who wins the Cheryl Gallant Award?

Next up are the Halls of Macadamia! Nothing says moderation like a gun as your picture profile, huh? What is our favorite Neo-Conservative serving us up this time? Unwarranted scorn for police officers! Now, it's one thing to criticize police when they abuse their power as no one should be above the law. Here however, we have a report of a drive-by shooting in Toronto. Our angry Con decides that the matter-of-fact statement from police regarding a gunshot victim that "it doesn't seem like innocent bystanders" is deserving of contempt for the police officers that risk their lives to make our streets safe. He refers to those police officers as "the world-famous Inspector Clouseau Crime Unit". Someone has police issues...

Not spicy enough for you? Let's take a look at Big Blue Wave then. Your one-stop shop for homophobic, anti-choice and racial profiling propaganda!  The story that caught my eye was her comments on the story that of gay men have an increased chance of cancer. The comments from our blogger? "But it has nothing to do with homosexual behaviour. Not one bit. Nope. Ignore your common sense." Apparently, common sense in a Conservative's world is attributing the Wrath of God (TM) to every phenomena. Remember those crazy religious nuts that claimed that AIDS was God's punishment of gays? Those people vote Conservative. While not a bigoted party (although Cheryl Gallant is working tirelessly to change that), the CPC sure seems like the number one choice amongst bigots.

The real news points to higher smoking rates amongst gay men, the higher prevalence of AIDS to weaken the immune system but it's clear that no research has been done to explain it. Health Care insurance comes into the equation as this is an American study and the failure of being covered under a partner's health insurance plan is a real problem. When empathy, compassion and understanding would go a long way to saving lives, some people simply turn to the Wrath of God (TM) explanation whenever it justifies their ideology. I would bet that the Westboro Baptist Church has Big Blue Wave on its RSS feed...

It wouldn't be complete if we didn't throw-in a pinch of backwards thinking about women being barefoot and pregnant in kitchens now would it? So check out Stand Your Ground! In it, our intrepid blogger wails against the contraceptive pill. Is he raising the perfectly rational and reasonable point about the lack of improvements in reducing side-effects of the pill despite it being on the market for so long? Not at all! He just calls it "chemical trash" and that women "pollute the environment in which a child develops". Apparently the contraceptive pill is the only medication that has had any side-effects on individuals in the history of civilization. If your blood pressure medication has any side-effects, stop using it because we now know it to be chemical trash! Let me know how that turns out for you. In a world of hardcore Catholics determining social policy for the country, I hope you women are ready to be baby factories!

That does it for our first installment of Right-Wingnut Roundup. If you stumble across a particularly bizarre Conservative blog, please feel free to let me know!