Rex Murphy's point seems to be that, "well, yes Stephen Harper is a bit of a monster but so was Pierre Trudeau and Jean Chrétien."
I'm not crazy about that argument -- my own memory is that Jean Chrétien's government was less partisan than Stephen Harper's government (Jean Chrétien and Pierre Trudeau would appoint, for example, distinguished Conservatives to the bench). Regardless, at best Murphy's argument suggests the Conservatives have been corrupted by power and corrupted badly.
And that is a real problem, long term, for the Conservatives. They were elected in large part because they were (supposed to be) different and principled. In fact they turned out to have all of the Liberal flaws (and we had em, no question) and none of the competences (errh, deficit anyone?).
Rex Murphy: Lessons in civility — and hypocrisy — from the Liberal party http://natpo.st/towmGl
7 comments:
I'm not a big left/right person, I've voted as many times for both, but, as I look back over my 35 years of voting I've mainly been misled by Liberals. Wage/Price controls, Free Trade, GST are the main biggies, McGuintys photo op promising not to raise taxes was the real cherry. I've been disappointed by both partys but have been most proud to be Canadian when we've had a Liberal Prime Minister and the LPC has been at their best...ironic eh? Im starting to really like Harper and getting that proud feeling again, a feeling I had with Trudeau and an early Chretien. Thats as non partisan as it gets I think. I think most Canadians distrust both partys but will put up with it if the Leader is strong and has a vision. Not sure any of that makes sense, but, its as good a summary as I've got.
Makes good sense. Thanks for writing!
All as I know is that in the last few years much of the world has gone down a shit-hole (comment inspired by none other than the Great JT).Canada has not, at least not anywhere near as deep.
Ontario, may be the fly in the ointment and we know who is running that place.
Among the worst ideas in a century was the "greenshift". Even Libs now know that it would have been a disaster.(And I don't mean politically, I mean economically).
Many Libs pointed to
Europe as a model for their "progressive" policies. Frankly, that scares the hell out of most Canadians. Europe is a mess.
Poor old Rex...he cites the Somalia inquiry being cut off. Hmmm.
What?
Support the troops, Rex? All Harper supporters must recite that first,mustn't they?
Im starting to really like Harper and getting that proud feeling again, a feeling I had with Trudeau and an early Chretien.
What exactly has Harper done to make you feel "proud"?
All as I know is that in the last few years much of the world has gone down a shit-hole...Canada has not, at least not anywhere near as deep.
Because of policies set in place by the Liberals. Policies opposed by the Reform/CPC.
Paul, my sense is Anon was saying a leader with principles would attract support. I agree Harper has been a huge disappointment (well, actually he was as I expected but whatever) but Anon's point does make sense in context.
Anonymous touched on an important point that Liberal party supporters should examine.
The biggest problem with Liberals in these times, is Liberals.
The biggest strength the CPC has I would compare to ants and their Queen.
If ever Liberals decide to descend from their individually decided positions of superiority, I could possibly be of some help.
Tip toeing around the tulips isn't going to put fire in anyone's belly either..
To Anon, the current European financial issues differ from NA / USA mostly due to not having a Federal Reserve / Bernanke and many not wanting one. It's not a simplistic issue as you seem to think.
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