So today the Liberals began celebrating over a poll that puts them behind by 10 points. Yeah.
The poll was done by Forum Research. So what does Liberal campaign director Don Guy have to say about Forum Research?
“It’s more than passing strange for this poll and its release to reinforce the PCs desired false frame going into the summer. I, for one, am not buying what they are selling.”
“This will be a rewarding but tough campaign, and there will be times our opponents seek to distract and divide us. We must stay resolute in our focus and discipline,” wrote Guy, a top pollster.
Huh? Oh, I'm sorry....that's what Guy said about Forum Research a whole month ago, when they put out a poll saying we were *15* points ahead. I also found this post where another prominent Liberal bashes Forum Research for saying Rocco Rossi was in third place during the mayoral election. Hmmmm.
So I guess what we can conclude from this is that Forum Research is a gang of unprofessional hacks when they put out results saying the Liberals are going to die in October, and that Forum Research are the bestest, smartest, most perfectest pollsters ever when they....put out polling results that are incrementally less fatal.
Why all this doublethink? I guess it really must be hard for the Liberals being pushed to the fringes of society. The rejection of their extremist views by large segments of the population has led them to embrace radical conspiracy theories, like the idea that the right-wing media is conspiring against them and that Walkerton and Ipperwash were inside jobs. After all, 60% of Ontarians did not vote for Dalton McGuinty in 2007, so Liberal values cannot be Ontario values.
Now we have a Liberal Birther movement that is obsessed with Hudak's position on....well, birth.....and asks about his intentions once he becomes Premier. Or maybe they want to have Hudak release his records. Whatever. These Liberal ideologues need to examine the connection between their words and the actions of others, such as Ontario voters de-electing Liberals in large numbers.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Clap Your Hands And Believe
Somewhere between the Liberal death rally of last weekend, my encounter with Dalton's press drones of a few days ago, Dwight Duncan's broadside against right wing broadsheets, and writing my post on my buddy Jordan (who has taken to posting instances where the Ontario government has fined and punished companies who screw up), I had a sobering thought:
These Liberals actually believe the stuff they're saying.
I'd chalked it up to them putting on a brave face in public as they waited for the inevitable. I thought the attacks on the media were a desperate attempt to appear in control. With McGuinty's poll numbers bottoming out and almost a fifth of their caucus quitting, I thought their performance of the past few days was frightened casting about in an attempt to break Tim Hudak's stride. And to be sure, they are casting about.
But then I read that, far from hiding his face until election day, Dalton is going to take his case to Ontario voters. Again. And, even as his cabinet ministers jockey for position, they still take potshots at us. Like for example the community safety minister- the guy who's supposed to lead the attack on our prisoner proposal- who STILL won't confirm whether he's running or not. To say nothing of the Liberal War Room, where the partisan frenzy is approaching Charlie Sheen levels as, for what seems like the past month, they pound away on the abortion issue in an attempt to make all the bad news about Dalton and the polls go away.
Let me repeat a point I've made on this blog many times before: The Liberals today have no reason to exist other than to fight against the imagined evil posed by Conservatives. Whereas the Liberals were once the people who instituted the Canada Pension Plan, designed the flag, and created our health care system without any help from anybody, they are now the people who tell you that you need to hold your nose and vote for them to block a fictitious Conservative backdoor scheme to kill abortion. Or because some Conservative somewhere said something silly or wrong or offensive. Or because of jets and jails and if you get the grades you get to go or any other talking point that fails to address the underlying issue.
This shift occured because some time ago, a certain Liberal pulled a Barney the Dinosaur doll out of a gym bag on TV and everyone laughed, and everyone decided that that was the way to win elections. Not by doing anything substantive or putting forward a real plan, but by making everyone laugh at the other guy. Well, guess what: that routine has become....well, routine. The show must go on.
So let's be clear here: Our job in this election is not merely to defeat Dalton because he deserves it, not merely to elect a Tim Hudak government, not merely to get Ontario back on track. Our job is to drive a stake through the heart of the Liberal Party, in all its incarnations, forever and ever. And the only way we can do that is to win this election despite every Liberal attempt to find a quick fix or to scare voters with Mike Harris. If "Harris 2.0" can be Premier in Ontario despite all the Liberal attempts to brand him as pure evil, then why vote Liberal at all?
Not only do we have to win, we must defeat the Liberals so decisively that the truth of Canada's new political reality- namely, us on the right vs. Big Labour on the left- is etched into the nervous systems of everyone who calls themselves a Liberal today. They must be forced to accept that truth by outside means, because they will quite simply never accept it any other way. If we win a minority, then the Liberals will dismiss this Conservative victory, like all the other ones, as a fluke where 60% of Ontarians blah dee blah dee blah, and the Liberals are going to win the next election in a landslide because of reasons.
These half-crazed Liberals, who will do anything to keep from accepting their own irrelevance, will tell voters with a straight face that Dalton has run the best government ever. They are past any consideration of "principles." They are past any consideration of "policy." Those things may matter to you, the Principled Conservative who reads this blog, but to the people out there sifting through the smog generated by all parties, it is meaningless. What matters now is how doggedly the supporters of a party support the party. If the Liberals believe in their own propaganda more than we do, then the voters are going to be drawn to them.
So as I see it, the only way for us to seal this deal is to show these Liberals that we are utterly unmoved by their pleadings and that we are more serious about putting an end to Dalton than they are about staying in power. Assuming the voters hate Dalton too much or the NDP will surge or that there's no way that the Liberals can snatch this one isn't good enough.
In addition to outplaying these Liberals, we also have to out-believe them.
These Liberals actually believe the stuff they're saying.
I'd chalked it up to them putting on a brave face in public as they waited for the inevitable. I thought the attacks on the media were a desperate attempt to appear in control. With McGuinty's poll numbers bottoming out and almost a fifth of their caucus quitting, I thought their performance of the past few days was frightened casting about in an attempt to break Tim Hudak's stride. And to be sure, they are casting about.
But then I read that, far from hiding his face until election day, Dalton is going to take his case to Ontario voters. Again. And, even as his cabinet ministers jockey for position, they still take potshots at us. Like for example the community safety minister- the guy who's supposed to lead the attack on our prisoner proposal- who STILL won't confirm whether he's running or not. To say nothing of the Liberal War Room, where the partisan frenzy is approaching Charlie Sheen levels as, for what seems like the past month, they pound away on the abortion issue in an attempt to make all the bad news about Dalton and the polls go away.
Let me repeat a point I've made on this blog many times before: The Liberals today have no reason to exist other than to fight against the imagined evil posed by Conservatives. Whereas the Liberals were once the people who instituted the Canada Pension Plan, designed the flag, and created our health care system without any help from anybody, they are now the people who tell you that you need to hold your nose and vote for them to block a fictitious Conservative backdoor scheme to kill abortion. Or because some Conservative somewhere said something silly or wrong or offensive. Or because of jets and jails and if you get the grades you get to go or any other talking point that fails to address the underlying issue.
This shift occured because some time ago, a certain Liberal pulled a Barney the Dinosaur doll out of a gym bag on TV and everyone laughed, and everyone decided that that was the way to win elections. Not by doing anything substantive or putting forward a real plan, but by making everyone laugh at the other guy. Well, guess what: that routine has become....well, routine. The show must go on.
So let's be clear here: Our job in this election is not merely to defeat Dalton because he deserves it, not merely to elect a Tim Hudak government, not merely to get Ontario back on track. Our job is to drive a stake through the heart of the Liberal Party, in all its incarnations, forever and ever. And the only way we can do that is to win this election despite every Liberal attempt to find a quick fix or to scare voters with Mike Harris. If "Harris 2.0" can be Premier in Ontario despite all the Liberal attempts to brand him as pure evil, then why vote Liberal at all?
Not only do we have to win, we must defeat the Liberals so decisively that the truth of Canada's new political reality- namely, us on the right vs. Big Labour on the left- is etched into the nervous systems of everyone who calls themselves a Liberal today. They must be forced to accept that truth by outside means, because they will quite simply never accept it any other way. If we win a minority, then the Liberals will dismiss this Conservative victory, like all the other ones, as a fluke where 60% of Ontarians blah dee blah dee blah, and the Liberals are going to win the next election in a landslide because of reasons.
These half-crazed Liberals, who will do anything to keep from accepting their own irrelevance, will tell voters with a straight face that Dalton has run the best government ever. They are past any consideration of "principles." They are past any consideration of "policy." Those things may matter to you, the Principled Conservative who reads this blog, but to the people out there sifting through the smog generated by all parties, it is meaningless. What matters now is how doggedly the supporters of a party support the party. If the Liberals believe in their own propaganda more than we do, then the voters are going to be drawn to them.
So as I see it, the only way for us to seal this deal is to show these Liberals that we are utterly unmoved by their pleadings and that we are more serious about putting an end to Dalton than they are about staying in power. Assuming the voters hate Dalton too much or the NDP will surge or that there's no way that the Liberals can snatch this one isn't good enough.
In addition to outplaying these Liberals, we also have to out-believe them.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Me Vs. Dalton's Press Drones
I'm sure this isn't news to anyone, but Dalton has some pretty dumb people working in his media office.
One of the quickest ways to get these orcs to attack you is to challenge Dalton's utterly false claim that Ontario has somehow "added more jobs than the US and Canada combined." This grandiose claim is designed to make you, John Q. Uninformed Voter, say, "More jobs than Canada and the US combined?!?! Wow! That's great!"
I began with a fairly harmless tweet saying that Hudak's Small Business Bill of Rights, when implemented, will help remove the stranglehold on small businesses in our province. I also theorized that not making life impossible for small businesses would help create jobs.
At this point, the antennae of one of Dalton's media people (Jane Almeida, Brad Hammond, or Leslie O'Leary- hey guys!) twitched, and they replied with this nugget:
"@JustJoshinYa #Ontario created more jobs in June than CDN & US combined. Latest from Stats Can: http://bit.ly/1RrUb #onpoli"
Well, now we have another problem. StatsCan doesn't track US data, so how do I know we added more jobs than two countries combined? Obviously just a small oversight by three people who are paid very well to defend Dalton from meanies like me in the right-wing media. So I very nicely asked for some US data. And, finally, I got some:
"@JustJoshinYa http://1.usa.gov/Y7H1X the latest from the bureau of labour statistics in US. #onpoli"
Absolutely marvelous! Now I have Canadian and US data so I can say with certainty that the claim is crap because Dalton's drones are taking all the jobs added AND all the jobs lost for both countries in June, subtracting the jobs lost from the jobs gained, and comparing that number to the number of jobs gained in Ontario. In other words, they're comparing one data point to a lot of data points. Not only that, but how can you compare 13 million Ontarians to 300 million Americans?
One of the quickest ways to get these orcs to attack you is to challenge Dalton's utterly false claim that Ontario has somehow "added more jobs than the US and Canada combined." This grandiose claim is designed to make you, John Q. Uninformed Voter, say, "More jobs than Canada and the US combined?!?! Wow! That's great!"
I began with a fairly harmless tweet saying that Hudak's Small Business Bill of Rights, when implemented, will help remove the stranglehold on small businesses in our province. I also theorized that not making life impossible for small businesses would help create jobs.
At this point, the antennae of one of Dalton's media people (Jane Almeida, Brad Hammond, or Leslie O'Leary- hey guys!) twitched, and they replied with this nugget:
"@JustJoshinYa #Ontario leads N. America is job creation. In June Ont create more jobs than US & CDN combined. #onpoli"
You know what isn't in that statement? Any proof. So I asked for some. And what do you know? They actually replied:
"@JustJoshinYa #Ontario created more jobs in June than CDN & US combined. Latest from Stats Can: http://bit.ly/1RrUb #onpoli"
Well, now we have another problem. StatsCan doesn't track US data, so how do I know we added more jobs than two countries combined? Obviously just a small oversight by three people who are paid very well to defend Dalton from meanies like me in the right-wing media. So I very nicely asked for some US data. And, finally, I got some:
"@JustJoshinYa http://1.usa.gov/Y7H1X the latest from the bureau of labour statistics in US. #onpoli"
This is how Dalton's press people do their jobs. Hey, I have a poem too: "When the calendar says October 6/Dalton McGuinty can hit the bricks!"
Absolutely marvelous! Now I have Canadian and US data so I can say with certainty that the claim is crap because Dalton's drones are taking all the jobs added AND all the jobs lost for both countries in June, subtracting the jobs lost from the jobs gained, and comparing that number to the number of jobs gained in Ontario. In other words, they're comparing one data point to a lot of data points. Not only that, but how can you compare 13 million Ontarians to 300 million Americans?
Oddly enough, Dalton's people had no answer to that one.
P.S. If you're not doing so already, follow me at @JustJoshinYa! Clever handle, isn't it? ;)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Backward-Looking Liberals
The Liberals' red Kool-Aid fest this weekend in Richmond Hill went just as planned:
-They boasted about their plan which does not exist.
-They had closed door sessions talking about the challenges of how to win a third consecutive Liberal majority in this province, which they have never accomplished so I don't know how they would have come up with a list of challenges.
-They did some salsa dancing and tweeted about how cool they were.
-Dalton made a funny joke about flip flops as if he didn't write the book on flip flops and everybody laughed because they probably would have been executed if they didn't.
-The Liberal leadership soap opera continued when Dwight Duncan got the verbal equivalent of cement overshoes from Greg Sorbara.
-They launched a useless new website which nobody will go to and which the Liberals themselves will bury this week under an avalanche of press releases and talking points about Tim Hudak hating women because he doesn't support the long gun registry.
Oh....and yes, they told people that they were going to Move Ontario Forward Together. Except that isn't what they're doing at all. The Liberals are actually a pretty backward looking bunch of people.
You can see it in the way the Liberals obsess about a government that took power in 1995 and about a Premier who hasn't been Premier since 2002. Or take a look at their ultra-clever attack ads that are ripped off from a U.S. election from 1988. Dwight Duncan invoked the spectre of a vast right wing conspiracy, which hasn't been seen since 1998.
The Liberals picked a fight with pharmacists a few years ago, which was quite similar to how another Liberal government picked a fight with doctors in 1986. The Liberals tried to make abortion an election issue, and then justified it by saying it worked on Stockwell Day in 2000. Some people (OK, one Liberal blogger) think McGuinty is going to pull a Chretien, even though Chretien has been retired from active duty since 2003 and he has little role in the Liberal Party of the present.
The Liberals brought John Podesta, Bill Clinton's ex chief of staff to Ontario to promote McGuinty's green "plan". Using the environment to justify waste has been a staple of Liberal policy since the Stephane Dion days. The green energy plan in question was authored by George Smitherman, who lost the mayoral election last year despite considerable aid from Dalton, so now the Liberals apparently want a do-over. Smitherman would have been a favourite to replace Dalton, but Dalton now says he will stay on for four more years if he wins, which is similar to something another former Liberal leader said in the past.
The Liberals have a lot of political history, for sure. But because they can't get past it, they're going to control much less political geography in October.
-They boasted about their plan which does not exist.
-They had closed door sessions talking about the challenges of how to win a third consecutive Liberal majority in this province, which they have never accomplished so I don't know how they would have come up with a list of challenges.
-They did some salsa dancing and tweeted about how cool they were.
-Dalton made a funny joke about flip flops as if he didn't write the book on flip flops and everybody laughed because they probably would have been executed if they didn't.
-The Liberal leadership soap opera continued when Dwight Duncan got the verbal equivalent of cement overshoes from Greg Sorbara.
-They launched a useless new website which nobody will go to and which the Liberals themselves will bury this week under an avalanche of press releases and talking points about Tim Hudak hating women because he doesn't support the long gun registry.
Oh....and yes, they told people that they were going to Move Ontario Forward Together. Except that isn't what they're doing at all. The Liberals are actually a pretty backward looking bunch of people.
You can see it in the way the Liberals obsess about a government that took power in 1995 and about a Premier who hasn't been Premier since 2002. Or take a look at their ultra-clever attack ads that are ripped off from a U.S. election from 1988. Dwight Duncan invoked the spectre of a vast right wing conspiracy, which hasn't been seen since 1998.
The Liberals picked a fight with pharmacists a few years ago, which was quite similar to how another Liberal government picked a fight with doctors in 1986. The Liberals tried to make abortion an election issue, and then justified it by saying it worked on Stockwell Day in 2000. Some people (OK, one Liberal blogger) think McGuinty is going to pull a Chretien, even though Chretien has been retired from active duty since 2003 and he has little role in the Liberal Party of the present.
The Liberals brought John Podesta, Bill Clinton's ex chief of staff to Ontario to promote McGuinty's green "plan". Using the environment to justify waste has been a staple of Liberal policy since the Stephane Dion days. The green energy plan in question was authored by George Smitherman, who lost the mayoral election last year despite considerable aid from Dalton, so now the Liberals apparently want a do-over. Smitherman would have been a favourite to replace Dalton, but Dalton now says he will stay on for four more years if he wins, which is similar to something another former Liberal leader said in the past.
The Liberals have a lot of political history, for sure. But because they can't get past it, they're going to control much less political geography in October.
Friday, July 22, 2011
And Now For Something Completely Different.....
It may surprise you, my faithful readers, to learn that I have Liberal friends. And today, I'd like all of you to meet my friend Jordan Glass.
On a typical day, most of us get up, have breakfast, read the paper, drink coffee. Before you've done any of those things, Jordan has posted 12 glowing articles and 50 tweets glorifying Dalton McGuinty, bashing Rob Ford, attacking Harper, pumping up Bob Rae. An exemplar of Toronto Liberalism, Jordan is so commited to the cause of Liberal boosterism that he makes Dwight Duncan and Carolyn Bennett look like first time campaign volunteers.
Here are some quotes from Jordan in the past little while.
-"The reality is, I believe this is a response to Liberals - who are not left wing in the strictest sense of the term - are fed up with the notion that the media is somehow in our pocket when the media (including the Star) has been critical of this government since they took office."
-"I think this government has an amazing record - especially on the energy file"
-""
-"No risks on current government. Proof is in the numbers - not the media."
-"No Premier in Ontario's history has put Ontario first more than he [McGuinty] has."
-"I know the PC Party is the party of big spenders, but sometimes a government must be responsible."
-"But the PC lack of respect for democracy is not shocking."
All day, every day, Jordan posts this and more. Every announcement made by the Liberals gets top billing. Did you know McGuinty threw a bunch of money at a video game design company? Jordan is right there. Did you know the Liberals fined a company 50 K after a worker was injured? Doesn't slip by Jordan.
Jordan's the type of guy who'll say that, because Tim Hudak did an MA in the United States for 1 year, that he doesn't know if "Tim Hudak came back for him." Yes, of course I'm serious. Yesterday, I asked Jordan if the bad press the Liberals were having were entirely the result of Tory spin- that not one word of it was deserved. Jordan, without hesitation said, "Yes."
If every one of Dalton McGuinty's Liberals were as committed as Jordan, McGuinty would be 50 points ahead in the polls. But they aren't, and he isn't.
Did I mention Jordan does this all day for free?
Every PC Party member owes it to themselves to see the job this man does. He will make you try harder to beat Dalton McGuinty. Add him on Facebook. Follow him on Twitter.
Here are some quotes from Jordan in the past little while.
-"The reality is, I believe this is a response to Liberals - who are not left wing in the strictest sense of the term - are fed up with the notion that the media is somehow in our pocket when the media (including the Star) has been critical of this government since they took office."
-"I think this government has an amazing record - especially on the energy file"
-""
-"No risks on current government. Proof is in the numbers - not the media."
-"No Premier in Ontario's history has put Ontario first more than he [McGuinty] has."
-"I know the PC Party is the party of big spenders, but sometimes a government must be responsible."
-"But the PC lack of respect for democracy is not shocking."
All day, every day, Jordan posts this and more. Every announcement made by the Liberals gets top billing. Did you know McGuinty threw a bunch of money at a video game design company? Jordan is right there. Did you know the Liberals fined a company 50 K after a worker was injured? Doesn't slip by Jordan.
Jordan's the type of guy who'll say that, because Tim Hudak did an MA in the United States for 1 year, that he doesn't know if "Tim Hudak came back for him." Yes, of course I'm serious. Yesterday, I asked Jordan if the bad press the Liberals were having were entirely the result of Tory spin- that not one word of it was deserved. Jordan, without hesitation said, "Yes."
If every one of Dalton McGuinty's Liberals were as committed as Jordan, McGuinty would be 50 points ahead in the polls. But they aren't, and he isn't.
Did I mention Jordan does this all day for free?
Every PC Party member owes it to themselves to see the job this man does. He will make you try harder to beat Dalton McGuinty. Add him on Facebook. Follow him on Twitter.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Liberal Libels, Vol. 2
It's time for another edition of Liberal Libels, the portion of our show where we take apart Liberal dishonesty using not the usual talking points! Because you can't spell "Liberal" without "Libel"!
Prisoner Proposal
-How many people would be surprised to learn that Liberal MPP Jim Brownell thinks our prisoner work proposal is a fantastic idea? Because he does! There's even a sound clip on that link! Clicky clicky!
-Has Liberal Community Safety Minister Jim Bradley confirmed his intentions to run yet? Nope! And boy wouldn't it be awkward if Dalton's prison minister quit before he launched his all important Hail Mary attack on this issue.
-Did you know that we have voluntary prisoner work programs in this province? And that all we want to do is make them mandatory? So we didn't just pull this idea out of nowhere?
GPS for Pervs
-Have a read of this Macleans article that lays bare the holes in our sex offender registry as it currently stands. What's the big problem? Obsession with privacy. One bright spot? Mike Harris leading the way with Canada's first sex offender registry while federal Liberals dithered. We led then, and we're going to lead now.
-We already monitor other types of prisoners electronically. The Ministry website describes all sorts of things that are done when this technology goes wrong. So do these Liberals have any idea what they're talking about? Not really.
The Big A
-Let me post a list of pro-life Liberal MPP's, or MPP's who have given some indication that they are pro life.
Maria Van Bommel, Elgin Middlesex London. Mario Sergio, York West. (Sorry folks, he's running again.) Leona Dombrowsky, Prince Edward Hastings. Dwight Duncan, Windsor Tecumseh. (personally pro-life, folks!) Phil McNeely, Ottawa-Orleans. Khalil Ramal, London-Fanshawe. Lou Rinaldi, Northumberland Quinte West.
Dwight Duncan, hilariously, is "Personally opposed to abortion, but pro-choice." What does that mean, exactly? I think he needs to "clarify his position."
And there are the many, many others in Dalton's caucus who haven't told the people at the Life Coalition their intentions! Would that make them "gutless", then?
Prisoner Proposal
-How many people would be surprised to learn that Liberal MPP Jim Brownell thinks our prisoner work proposal is a fantastic idea? Because he does! There's even a sound clip on that link! Clicky clicky!
-Has Liberal Community Safety Minister Jim Bradley confirmed his intentions to run yet? Nope! And boy wouldn't it be awkward if Dalton's prison minister quit before he launched his all important Hail Mary attack on this issue.
-Did you know that we have voluntary prisoner work programs in this province? And that all we want to do is make them mandatory? So we didn't just pull this idea out of nowhere?
GPS for Pervs
-Have a read of this Macleans article that lays bare the holes in our sex offender registry as it currently stands. What's the big problem? Obsession with privacy. One bright spot? Mike Harris leading the way with Canada's first sex offender registry while federal Liberals dithered. We led then, and we're going to lead now.
-We already monitor other types of prisoners electronically. The Ministry website describes all sorts of things that are done when this technology goes wrong. So do these Liberals have any idea what they're talking about? Not really.
The Big A
-Let me post a list of pro-life Liberal MPP's, or MPP's who have given some indication that they are pro life.
Maria Van Bommel, Elgin Middlesex London. Mario Sergio, York West. (Sorry folks, he's running again.) Leona Dombrowsky, Prince Edward Hastings. Dwight Duncan, Windsor Tecumseh. (personally pro-life, folks!) Phil McNeely, Ottawa-Orleans. Khalil Ramal, London-Fanshawe. Lou Rinaldi, Northumberland Quinte West.
Dwight Duncan, hilariously, is "Personally opposed to abortion, but pro-choice." What does that mean, exactly? I think he needs to "clarify his position."
Much like Captain McBrea from WALL-E, Minister Duncan has a lot of trouble making his real intentions known.
And there are the many, many others in Dalton's caucus who haven't told the people at the Life Coalition their intentions! Would that make them "gutless", then?
Friday, July 15, 2011
One Sentence.....
.....about the Liberals deciding that the federal issue of Canada's abortion laws are now applicable to a provincial election. Here is that one sentence:
The Ontario Liberals do not, have not, have never, and will never actually care about any Conservative's stand on abortion, or same sex marriage, or human rights commissions, or whether there will be soldiers with guns in our streets, or faith based schools, or any of the other issues they suddenly rediscover interest in during the pre-election season, because they only care about these things insofar as they are a means to an end, and that end is getting themselves re-elected.
Thank you for your attention.
The Ontario Liberals do not, have not, have never, and will never actually care about any Conservative's stand on abortion, or same sex marriage, or human rights commissions, or whether there will be soldiers with guns in our streets, or faith based schools, or any of the other issues they suddenly rediscover interest in during the pre-election season, because they only care about these things insofar as they are a means to an end, and that end is getting themselves re-elected.
Thank you for your attention.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Priorities
Every so often, there comes a time when you really get to see where the Ontario Liberals' priorities are at. This is one of those times.
Today, carbon tax devotee Glen Murray confirmed what we all knew was coming and told people that the McGuinty government is going to raise taxes. Dalton McGuinty freaked and ordered Murray to retract his statement. That means that Dalton ordered Murray to retract....the truth?
Now, you probably heard about Murray's screwup, but you probably didn't know that 22 people have died of the deadly stomach bacteria, C. difficile, in Ontario recently. And you probably didn't know that Liberal MPP Kim Craitor considers the situation a disgrace. You probably didn't know about it because the McGuinty government has done a whole lot of nothing about the situation. Or about Craitor.
People dying? Sure, that's great. But whatever you do, don't tell the people you're going to raise taxes!
Today, carbon tax devotee Glen Murray confirmed what we all knew was coming and told people that the McGuinty government is going to raise taxes. Dalton McGuinty freaked and ordered Murray to retract his statement. That means that Dalton ordered Murray to retract....the truth?
Now, you probably heard about Murray's screwup, but you probably didn't know that 22 people have died of the deadly stomach bacteria, C. difficile, in Ontario recently. And you probably didn't know that Liberal MPP Kim Craitor considers the situation a disgrace. You probably didn't know about it because the McGuinty government has done a whole lot of nothing about the situation. Or about Craitor.
People dying? Sure, that's great. But whatever you do, don't tell the people you're going to raise taxes!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Create-Your-Own Liberal Scandal (For Fun And Profit)
Step 1: Find one (1) Embarassing Fact about a member of the PC Party. The Embarassing Fact can be a quote taken out of context, an indiscretion that is neither illegal nor all that shocking, or some misfortune befalling the person that could not be helped. Bonus points if the Embarassing Fact is true of many or all Liberals.
Step 2: Create press release full of distortions and inflammatory language. Tone of release must be one of barely controlled outrage. Give impression that PC Party is about to split down the middle or that world will end if PC Party elected. Describe events that did not happen. Append Embarassing Picture of Conservative in question to press release.
Step 3: Produce cheap website and lame video relating to scandal. Force staffers and interns to promote these items, possibly by appearing in public in cheap costumes. Make it clear to these staffers that their jobs are on the line if they refuse.
Step 4: Create false consensus by having Liberal-affiliated people comment and retweet items. Do not worry if these are the same 15 people every time. People are too dumb to realize something's up! Beat items into ground, not appearing desperate at all.
Step 5: Watch as polls remain unchanged.
Step 6: Repeat! Learn nothing from failure. Threaten that this is just the warm-up.
Step 2: Create press release full of distortions and inflammatory language. Tone of release must be one of barely controlled outrage. Give impression that PC Party is about to split down the middle or that world will end if PC Party elected. Describe events that did not happen. Append Embarassing Picture of Conservative in question to press release.
Step 3: Produce cheap website and lame video relating to scandal. Force staffers and interns to promote these items, possibly by appearing in public in cheap costumes. Make it clear to these staffers that their jobs are on the line if they refuse.
Step 4: Create false consensus by having Liberal-affiliated people comment and retweet items. Do not worry if these are the same 15 people every time. People are too dumb to realize something's up! Beat items into ground, not appearing desperate at all.
Step 5: Watch as polls remain unchanged.
Step 6: Repeat! Learn nothing from failure. Threaten that this is just the warm-up.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Just Curious.....
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Not All Stupid Ideas Are Good Ones
There is no way to be nice about this. Dalton McGuinty's latest video, paid for with $20,000 of union tithes, is a disgrace.
Yes, I posted the video here. You're not supposed to post videos from the other side, but this thing is so completely godawful that me posting it cannot possibly win Dalton any votes. If you don't believe me, just read the comments on the Star article. Or go to the Youtube link, where they have disabled comments. And you're all going to watch it. Everyone is going to see what these bastards blew 20 K on. YOU SHALL ALL KNOW MY PAIN.
Questions about this video abound, questions that should never have to be asked by people. Why is there an antique car in the video when the people there are supposed to be working at modern jobs? Why are the Hudak Health Care drivers wearing cowboy hats when the video is set in a warehouse parking lot?? Why do the healthcare workers appear well fed and well dressed if we're in the poverty stricken dustbowl here??? Why is it four minutes long with awkward stretches of silence???? What's with the sign for ice cream just randomly sitting there in the background at 0:43????? Why can't I unsee this horrible horrible video?????? Why did it cost $20,000 THAT COULD HAVE GONE TO HEALTH CARE?!?!?
At one point in this video, someone says, "Not all stupid ideas are good ones." If that ALONE doesn't turn this video into an internet meme on the level of I Can Haz Cheezburger then I'm losing all faith in the Internet. Here, I'll get things started:
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Yes, I posted the video here. You're not supposed to post videos from the other side, but this thing is so completely godawful that me posting it cannot possibly win Dalton any votes. If you don't believe me, just read the comments on the Star article. Or go to the Youtube link, where they have disabled comments. And you're all going to watch it. Everyone is going to see what these bastards blew 20 K on. YOU SHALL ALL KNOW MY PAIN.
Questions about this video abound, questions that should never have to be asked by people. Why is there an antique car in the video when the people there are supposed to be working at modern jobs? Why are the Hudak Health Care drivers wearing cowboy hats when the video is set in a warehouse parking lot?? Why do the healthcare workers appear well fed and well dressed if we're in the poverty stricken dustbowl here??? Why is it four minutes long with awkward stretches of silence???? What's with the sign for ice cream just randomly sitting there in the background at 0:43????? Why can't I unsee this horrible horrible video?????? Why did it cost $20,000 THAT COULD HAVE GONE TO HEALTH CARE?!?!?
At one point in this video, someone says, "Not all stupid ideas are good ones." If that ALONE doesn't turn this video into an internet meme on the level of I Can Haz Cheezburger then I'm losing all faith in the Internet. Here, I'll get things started:
It's an image macro. Funny. Ha ha ha ha. No. No, it still hurts. Damn you, Dalton.
If Ed Wood, Michael Bay, Uwe Boll, Tommy Wiseau, John Waters, and the guy who directed Silent Night Deadly Night 2 all got together and said "Let's make the worst movie ever", it'd probably look something like Dalton's OPSEU video. No, wait, I take it back. Whatever those directors would come up with would make them look like Christopher Nolan compared to this offal.
For the love of all that is good and decent in this world, do NOT vote for Dalton on October 6th. Do NOT allow this to go unpunished.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Place Your Bets
Longtime Liberal placeholder Tony Ruprecht became the latest MPP to bail on Dalton yesterday. Rather than gloat yet again about how the Liberal caucus is experiencing more turnovers than a grill at a pancake breakfast, I thought I'd talk about my picks on who's next to get while the getting is good. Naturally, Liberals nominated to run won't make this list.
Jean Marc Lalonde (Glengarry Prescott Russell)- I blogged about M. Lalonde's indecision a few months ago andhe still hasn't confirmed his intentions to run. When I did blog, some anonymous Liberal flipped out at me in the comments, giving me the distinct impression that I'd struck a nerve. A stalwart who survived the Liberal decimations of 1995 and 1999, Lalonde is rumoured to have his eye on the mayoralty of Clarence-Rockland. He's in his late 70's, hasn't done anything of note for Dalton in the longest time, and will face off against our fresh young candidate in GPR, Marilissa Gosselin, who brought a batallion of CPC interns with her for our first Blue Blitz. I can only say that there are certain advantages that become available to you when you are married to Fred DeLorey.
UPDATE: OK, Lalonde actually quit back in April! I heard absolutely nothing about this and there was barely any media coverage. My first blogging error in a year of blogging. Sorry, everyone!
Shafiq Qaadri (Etobicoke North) - How would you like to be the guy who may be facing off against Doug Ford, in the heart of Ford Country no less? This seat is still held federally by the Liberals, but Dr. Q is no Kirsty Duncan. Best known for making ridiculous comments to the effect that there are too many white people in the public service and his preference for promoting his book on the subject of male menopause over doing actual constit work, Dr. Q might want to cool his heels before he gets burned by an unexpected hot flash.
Mario Sergio (York West)- Like Ruprecht, Sergio represents a poorly defended "longtime Liberal seat" in the Toronto badlands that was captured federally by the NDP in May. Word on the street is that Toronto city councillor Maria Augimeri wants to duck out of an impending by-election by taking up Sergio's torch as a Liberal candidate. Problem: Augimeri is herself an NDPer, which would create a credibility crisis for Dalton of Sarah Thomson-esque proportions.
Jim Bradley (St. Catharines) - The only member of Dalton's cabinet not yet confirmed to run. We're delaying our nomination in St. Catharines for this very reason. Hey, do you see the pattern of longtime Liberal MPP's quitting here, because I sure do! Losing Bradley would be a huge blow to Dalton because Bradley is, after all, the Minister of Correctional Services, and it would be reeeally awkward if the guy responsible for prisons bailed right before Dalton launched an attack on our popular make prisoners work proposal.
Bob Delaney (Mississauga Streetsville) -According to the wags on electionprediction.org, Mr. Delaney is described as, "written-off by his own party during the last election", "running on fumes", "weak organization, limited financial support ", and has a propensity to be "Called to Order, by the Speaker of the House, for inappropriate language". His partner in jerkassity, Sandra Pupatello, quit a little while ago- why not make it 2 for 2?
David Caplan (Don Valley East)- Poor Dave still hasn't gotten over being dumped from cabinet over the eHealth mess. He's not exactly the person who should have taken the hit, but so what? Having grabbed this riding federally back in May, we're running Zipcars superstar Mike Lende.
Leeanna Pendergast (Kitchener Conestoga)- Against the backdrop of the 2007 disaster, Ms. Pendergast could only squeak out a win of less than 2,000 votes against PC candidate Michael Harris (no, not that one). We are making a bigtime bid for the city of Kitchener this time around, with superstar candidate Dave MacDonald ready to slug it out with John Milloy next door. Ms. Pendergast's noncommittal attitude in the face of heavy Conservative representation federally and a surging Tim Hudak PC Party doesn't inspire confidence.
Of the above, who do you think is next to say I Quit?
Jean Marc Lalonde (Glengarry Prescott Russell)- I blogged about M. Lalonde's indecision a few months ago and
UPDATE: OK, Lalonde actually quit back in April! I heard absolutely nothing about this and there was barely any media coverage. My first blogging error in a year of blogging. Sorry, everyone!
Shafiq Qaadri (Etobicoke North) - How would you like to be the guy who may be facing off against Doug Ford, in the heart of Ford Country no less? This seat is still held federally by the Liberals, but Dr. Q is no Kirsty Duncan. Best known for making ridiculous comments to the effect that there are too many white people in the public service and his preference for promoting his book on the subject of male menopause over doing actual constit work, Dr. Q might want to cool his heels before he gets burned by an unexpected hot flash.
Mario Sergio (York West)- Like Ruprecht, Sergio represents a poorly defended "longtime Liberal seat" in the Toronto badlands that was captured federally by the NDP in May. Word on the street is that Toronto city councillor Maria Augimeri wants to duck out of an impending by-election by taking up Sergio's torch as a Liberal candidate. Problem: Augimeri is herself an NDPer, which would create a credibility crisis for Dalton of Sarah Thomson-esque proportions.
Jim Bradley (St. Catharines) - The only member of Dalton's cabinet not yet confirmed to run. We're delaying our nomination in St. Catharines for this very reason. Hey, do you see the pattern of longtime Liberal MPP's quitting here, because I sure do! Losing Bradley would be a huge blow to Dalton because Bradley is, after all, the Minister of Correctional Services, and it would be reeeally awkward if the guy responsible for prisons bailed right before Dalton launched an attack on our popular make prisoners work proposal.
Bob Delaney (Mississauga Streetsville) -According to the wags on electionprediction.org, Mr. Delaney is described as, "written-off by his own party during the last election", "running on fumes", "weak organization, limited financial support ", and has a propensity to be "Called to Order, by the Speaker of the House, for inappropriate language". His partner in jerkassity, Sandra Pupatello, quit a little while ago- why not make it 2 for 2?
David Caplan (Don Valley East)- Poor Dave still hasn't gotten over being dumped from cabinet over the eHealth mess. He's not exactly the person who should have taken the hit, but so what? Having grabbed this riding federally back in May, we're running Zipcars superstar Mike Lende.
Leeanna Pendergast (Kitchener Conestoga)- Against the backdrop of the 2007 disaster, Ms. Pendergast could only squeak out a win of less than 2,000 votes against PC candidate Michael Harris (no, not that one). We are making a bigtime bid for the city of Kitchener this time around, with superstar candidate Dave MacDonald ready to slug it out with John Milloy next door. Ms. Pendergast's noncommittal attitude in the face of heavy Conservative representation federally and a surging Tim Hudak PC Party doesn't inspire confidence.
Of the above, who do you think is next to say I Quit?
Monday, July 4, 2011
Eastern Promises
A foreign company invested in a Canadian province, signing a sweetheart energy deal with a Liberal government under shadowy circumstances. It became an election issue, and the Liberals got booted from office in a big way. After the PC government took power, they discovered all sorts of horrific details relating to the deal that the Liberals tried to hide.
Sound familiar? Yes, but the province in this case was New Brunswick, the foreign power was Norway-based Umoe Solar, and the government was composed of Shawn Graham's Liberals.
The parallels are eerie. Shawn Graham gushed over how wonderful the deal would be and how many "green-collar jobs" it would create. The Tories said it was a bad idea, and predictably the Liberals whined that they should be given credit for trying. Now NB taxpayers are on the hook for 11 million bucks after Umoe got cold feet and backed out of the deal.
So....what kind of nasty surprises are hidden within your deal with Samsung, Dalton?
Sound familiar? Yes, but the province in this case was New Brunswick, the foreign power was Norway-based Umoe Solar, and the government was composed of Shawn Graham's Liberals.
The parallels are eerie. Shawn Graham gushed over how wonderful the deal would be and how many "green-collar jobs" it would create. The Tories said it was a bad idea, and predictably the Liberals whined that they should be given credit for trying. Now NB taxpayers are on the hook for 11 million bucks after Umoe got cold feet and backed out of the deal.
So....what kind of nasty surprises are hidden within your deal with Samsung, Dalton?
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Their Own Worst Enemies
I had been looking for an opportunity to do a post on how Liberals are the authors of their own misfortune, and that opportunity has arrived in a big way in the Globe and Mail, wherein Gerald Caplan goes completely Biblical on Conservatives at all levels:
It's a trifecta, folks. Harper the asbestos killer in Ottawa, Ford the city-wrecker in Toronto, and, come October 6, very likely Hudak the math-challenged in Ontario. Won’t we be in a pretty pickle then? What have ordinary people done to deserve this plague of right-wing Conservatives? Equally mysterious, why have so many ordinary folks supported them?
Mr. Caplan is confused. He doesn't understand why Conservatives have been doing so well lately. He doesn't see how people could vote for them. He thinks it's because we're fronts for big business who trick people into voting for us, since no sane person ever would otherwise. He doesn't stop to consider that maybe we are doing well because the other guys are doing really, really, badly.
Caplan is an NDPer who makes no secret of his man-crush on Jack Layton and organized labour. He's not the best spokesperson for Dalton and his Liberals. But then again, Liberals do like to condescend to NDPers by telling them that they are just "Liberals in a hurry", so I guess they're not that different. And what Dalton, Caplan, and every progressive everywhere has in common is the idea that they are in the right because they have good intentions. Whether they end up following through on those intentions is another matter.
What are Dalton McGuinty's signature achievements? What will he be known for when, inevitably, he has to stop being Premier? Sure, I know the Liberals have a laundry list of "achievements" they can pull out at any moment. But when we say that Dalton McGuinty is the Tax Man, people believe us. When we say you're paying more and getting less with Dalton McGuinty, people believe us.
People believe us not because we are a front for big corporations, but because Dalton and his group constantly tell us that they're moving Ontario forward, and when they don't actually do that, people stop believing Dalton and start believing us. They start thinking that maybe Dalton's taking them for granted.
Then you look at progressives at all levels of government, and progressives in other countries. What do they do? What are they known for? Well, right now lots of them are telling us, like Caplan is, that free market economics wrecked the planet and we need controlled economies and that will fix everything. But is controlling the economy fixing everything? Nope. Things are still tough. People are still having problems making ends meet. But instead of taking responsibility for the situation today, the progressives say that the conservatives screwed up so badly that things need to be controlled even more. Example: Whenever someone asks Dalton why the deficit is so high, he says it's because of Ernie Eves. He acts like he had nothing to do with the deficit.
Caplan has a problem with big corporations being too powerful. Who, then, has tried to bring the corporations under control? Not the progressives. Not Dalton, who's doing a huge deal with the Samsung corporation. Why isn't Caplan yelling about that?
Caplan again:
These circumstances should logically have led to demands for more social democratic values to reduce the chances of further bankers’ follies and to attack the problem of growing inequality.
Caplan's "logic" here is basically, "If not p, then q." If bankers screw up, we need to embrace social democratic values. Notwithstanding that this is not in any way logical, the idea that people would do something like completely lose faith in the system instead of demanding more social democratic values doesn't occur to Caplan.
We conservatives are willing to consider the possibility that the system doesn't work. We are willing to listen to and agree with people who feel like the system doesn't work. Liberals are not. Dalton McGuinty certainly isn't willing to consider the possibility that his vaunted list of achievements aren't actually helping people. If you tell Dalton the system isn't working in his Ontario, he'll attack you like he attacked Andre Marin or John Tory or pharmacists or the Toronto Star a few days ago.
So what do Liberals do instead of acknowledging their role in the system falling apart? Well, they try to distract people by talking about how bad the Conservatives are. They compile lists of awful things Conservatives said or did. They pull out stuffed toys on talk shows to mock beliefs held by some Conservatives. They write columns, like Caplan did, saying that what Conservatives believe in is totally false, makes no sense, and that all right thinking people should shun them. Then they act surprised when people get mad at them for doing that, or vote Conservative in spite of their little stunts.
I believe that these actions are performed by Liberals not to convince voters of anything, but to calm the Liberals' own doubts about their inability to give people everything they want. So: if Liberals don't believe their own propaganda, why should the voters?
It's a trifecta, folks. Harper the asbestos killer in Ottawa, Ford the city-wrecker in Toronto, and, come October 6, very likely Hudak the math-challenged in Ontario. Won’t we be in a pretty pickle then? What have ordinary people done to deserve this plague of right-wing Conservatives? Equally mysterious, why have so many ordinary folks supported them?
Mr. Caplan is confused. He doesn't understand why Conservatives have been doing so well lately. He doesn't see how people could vote for them. He thinks it's because we're fronts for big business who trick people into voting for us, since no sane person ever would otherwise. He doesn't stop to consider that maybe we are doing well because the other guys are doing really, really, badly.
Caplan is an NDPer who makes no secret of his man-crush on Jack Layton and organized labour. He's not the best spokesperson for Dalton and his Liberals. But then again, Liberals do like to condescend to NDPers by telling them that they are just "Liberals in a hurry", so I guess they're not that different. And what Dalton, Caplan, and every progressive everywhere has in common is the idea that they are in the right because they have good intentions. Whether they end up following through on those intentions is another matter.
What are Dalton McGuinty's signature achievements? What will he be known for when, inevitably, he has to stop being Premier? Sure, I know the Liberals have a laundry list of "achievements" they can pull out at any moment. But when we say that Dalton McGuinty is the Tax Man, people believe us. When we say you're paying more and getting less with Dalton McGuinty, people believe us.
People believe us not because we are a front for big corporations, but because Dalton and his group constantly tell us that they're moving Ontario forward, and when they don't actually do that, people stop believing Dalton and start believing us. They start thinking that maybe Dalton's taking them for granted.
Then you look at progressives at all levels of government, and progressives in other countries. What do they do? What are they known for? Well, right now lots of them are telling us, like Caplan is, that free market economics wrecked the planet and we need controlled economies and that will fix everything. But is controlling the economy fixing everything? Nope. Things are still tough. People are still having problems making ends meet. But instead of taking responsibility for the situation today, the progressives say that the conservatives screwed up so badly that things need to be controlled even more. Example: Whenever someone asks Dalton why the deficit is so high, he says it's because of Ernie Eves. He acts like he had nothing to do with the deficit.
Caplan has a problem with big corporations being too powerful. Who, then, has tried to bring the corporations under control? Not the progressives. Not Dalton, who's doing a huge deal with the Samsung corporation. Why isn't Caplan yelling about that?
Caplan again:
These circumstances should logically have led to demands for more social democratic values to reduce the chances of further bankers’ follies and to attack the problem of growing inequality.
Caplan's "logic" here is basically, "If not p, then q." If bankers screw up, we need to embrace social democratic values. Notwithstanding that this is not in any way logical, the idea that people would do something like completely lose faith in the system instead of demanding more social democratic values doesn't occur to Caplan.
We conservatives are willing to consider the possibility that the system doesn't work. We are willing to listen to and agree with people who feel like the system doesn't work. Liberals are not. Dalton McGuinty certainly isn't willing to consider the possibility that his vaunted list of achievements aren't actually helping people. If you tell Dalton the system isn't working in his Ontario, he'll attack you like he attacked Andre Marin or John Tory or pharmacists or the Toronto Star a few days ago.
So what do Liberals do instead of acknowledging their role in the system falling apart? Well, they try to distract people by talking about how bad the Conservatives are. They compile lists of awful things Conservatives said or did. They pull out stuffed toys on talk shows to mock beliefs held by some Conservatives. They write columns, like Caplan did, saying that what Conservatives believe in is totally false, makes no sense, and that all right thinking people should shun them. Then they act surprised when people get mad at them for doing that, or vote Conservative in spite of their little stunts.
I believe that these actions are performed by Liberals not to convince voters of anything, but to calm the Liberals' own doubts about their inability to give people everything they want. So: if Liberals don't believe their own propaganda, why should the voters?
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