Oh Bummer

Thank God it's over. Thank God that for at least the next few days, I don't have to listen to Canadian politicos derping on about an election taking place in the next country over, as opposed to what's going on up here.

Oh, and, uh, great job, Republicans! You were so, so close. You really gave it your everythings.

It would be foolish, absolutely stupid, to change anything. When Obama finishes wrecking stuff in 2016, you guys can just coast to victory doing the same old crap. Don't do one single thing differently!

Spare Change

I haven't been posting lately because my real job is very busy, and the U.S. election coverage has gotten so overwhelming, so completely in-your-face, that it hardly seems worth talking about Ontario politics. (We will get to the OLP race, and soon.)

However, I will comment on one aspect of the race that has become increasingly clear, and that is the fact that the entirety of Obama's appeal rests on the fact that he promises people a bright future that he has no intention of delivering, and that people know he is not capable of delivering. Both parties in this mutual delusion prefer this fantasy world to the real one, and believe in it so completely that the real world has ceased to exist.

And, critically, crucially important to sustaining this fantasy world is the collection of monsters under the bed that Obama would protect people from. Things like unfettered capitalism and deepening social inequality and narrow self interest.

The trouble is that Obama, and by extension, the Ontario Liberals, and all liberals, need these problems to sustain their delusions and as a result they cannot do anything about them, and they don't WANT to do anything about them.

Here is an article that talks about how anti-black racism has risen during the first four years of Obama's presidency. In the article we read that "When Obama won in 2008, pundits proclaimed a new “post-racist” America." Silly pundits. If we had a post-racist America, then journalists wouldn't be able to write articles where they wring their hands about racism in America, and Canadians wouldn't be able to read those articles and feel shocked about how America is torn by hatred and feel smug about how there is no racism in their own country and how everyone gets along perfectly up here, and how our elections aren't bought with big money, and all the rest of it.

Except, if you read the Saturday edition of the Star, you will find Martin Regg Cohn's article about how the Ontario Liberal leadership race is at this moment being bought by big money. But pay this no heed, for everyone knows that it is conservatives that further the interests of big money. The Liberals, like their hero Obama from whom they take direction, fancy themselves grand redistributors of wealth and enforcers of equality, fighters of racism and devotees of Justin Trudeau, who will end cynicism in politics by himself without any help from his daddy.

They are brave soldiers fighting the demons on the right and on the slightly-to-the-left, and they are always victorious because their cause is just and noble, and if they have a few corporations give a billion or two to their leadership race, well, it all balances out in the end.

If you ask a Liberal to answer for the shortcomings of their regime in Ontario, or for their ideological allies in Washington, they have a ready-made answer for you: "There is still more to do." Yes, of course there is. There always is. We can't, for example, really do anything about racism in America. And not because hatred is an emotion that people feel. That's the honest answer. What we can do, however, is "donate" $5 million of Ontario dollars towards a human rights museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that, not entirely coincidentally, may also never get built. And the principle is the same. There can be no questions asked about the money spent or whether things are getting a little excessive even though nobody doubts the intentions were good. $5 million is a small price to pay to sustain a delusion.

Because I just now wrote, "$5 million is a small price to pay to sustain a delusion," some Liberal somewhere will melt that down and make it into a quote that says I think human rights are "a delusion" should I ever choose to run for office, which I won't. They know that's not what I was saying. Doesn't matter. Obama attacks Romney for being out of touch with the common American, even though you would forgiven for thinking the common American had less of a problem with Romney being rich than with Obama being black if you believe the article I quoted at the top of this blogpost about racism in America. Obama is more out of touch with racist, racist Americans than Romney is! Uh uh. Nope. There I go thinking again. This doesn't require thought.

What if one day Obama got really pissed off about racism in America and decided to ban racism? No, really! Just straight up ban racism. Anyone who expresses racist sentiments should be forced to turn their property over to the government. That'll show 'em! That'll show those Tea Partiers who's boss! Ehhhh....nope. That's going too far. But why is it going too far? Why, if racism is such a problem that social scientists and journalists and Ontario Liberals and other useless people can make a living trying and failing to stop it, shouldn't we just ban it? We ban lots of stuff we don't like, like plastic bags for example. Why not racism? Why not jail terms and the death penalty for racism? Because if hate was banned then we couldn't fool people into thinking we're making progress in stopping people from feeling an emotion anymore, silly. It would be banned, and after you ban something and it continues to be a problem, what do you have left????

To truly understand how progressives really, really don't want to make any substantive progress fighting corporations and racism and all the stuff they complain about, you have to do what I do and talk to them and read what they write. You have to see the glee in their eyes when some ultramoron of a Republican goes and says that being raped is no excuse for having an abortion. Jackpot! Forget the wacko religious beliefs of Republicans who believe life is a miracle. A Republican, or Conservative, blowing it in public is a real miracle for a progressive! Hallelujah! And yea, at the second debate, verily, Mitt Romney said "Bring me binders full of women," and there was much rejoicing.

But aren't these Liberals supposed to be horrified by racism and sexism and the mixing of God and politics? Why is it so funny when these people say these awful things? Why the jokes? Is a woman wearing a giant binder for a Halloween costume supposed to be fighting sexism? Or is it supposed to be an ironic nod, a nod that says, "Yeah, we don't really care about this equality nonsense any more than you do, and this is just for lulz"?  Without Mitt Romney, what the hell would these people have worn for Halloween? Definitely not a sexy witch costume! We're fighting sexism here, not encouraging it!

I'm sure that those on the left would be shocked to learn that those on the right actually try to not say ridiculous stuff during campaigns, but it never seems to work! If they didn't say something crazy today, they said something crazy 20+ years ago, and that's just as bad and works just as well. And when they don't say anything ridiculous, there's always that old standby of the hidden agenda. If people on the right aren't saying something stupid, that's only because they're trying really hard not to, whereas people on the left don't have to try. And you can rest assured that the right-wing base really, really, wants them to say something stupid and lose the election. The more hardcore of a conservative you are, the bigger your death wish is. The choice is between "you lose", and "you lose".

Campaigns are not campaigns. They are rituals. Ritual smacking of the right for saying, doing, and thinking stuff that is not socially acceptable. The ritual is a substitute for actual social action. It's all most people are comfortable with, and that's the way it is and we like it. Don't try to change it. You'll spoil the lovely fantasy of a better world that the left keeps pushing towards and never arrives at.

The real world can never match the fantasy. And now you know why.

Autumn Cleanse

Chris Bentley follows Dalton and Dwight out the door. Good! Let them all quit, I say. I hope Matthews drops out next, or Sousa.

Not a whole lot of people seem to want Dalton's job!

Laws For Liberals

Just a summary of what we've learned so far. I plan to keep adding to this.

1. The State Is God.
-The government represents the only absolute, perfect authority.
-All other authorities are to be subjugate to government. They can exist, but are subject to the whims of government.
-Only government can solve problems.
-Only government can protect people.
-Problems like bullying in schools exist because there is insufficient regulation. ORNGE and eHealth, for example, happened because there was insufficient government oversight and "private money" was allowed to taint the process in both cases. On the other hand, LHINs are public, so if they waste money, nobody cares.
-Once regulation is brought in to deal with a problem, people decide that the problem is solved, even if it isn't.
-Criticizing a regulation is the same as saying we were better off when the problem was not being regulated. Saying you cannot legislate homophobia out of existence is the same thing as saying that you are OK with homophobia.

2. A Liberal majority is the only legitimate form of government in Canada.
-A Conservative or NDP government that could pass for a Liberal government is good, and a Liberal minority is better still, but neither of these things are really government. If the voters reduce a Liberal government to a minority, it is a "major minority", and the attempts of other parties to get leverage in this minority situation are "partisan games."
-Opposition MPPs must be courted to cross the floor, and when that doesn't work they must be bought off in an attempt to byelection their way back to a majority, and when that doesn't work the Premier is entitled to quit and close down the Legislature, because not having a majority is exhausting, you guys. 
-Lip service to former PC leaders like Bill Davis must be paid, because it makes the more conservative PC MPP's look foolish, even though none of these Liberals would have ever voted for Bill Davis.
-Stephen Harper's majority is not a real government because he cheated, even though no evidence of cheating has been found yet. Accomplishments made by Conservative or NDP governments are not accomplishments. Better yet, these governments accomplished nothing and are the cause of the problems that the Liberal government must solve i.e. "Mike Harris did (insert terrible thing here)"

3. Liberals feel threatened by the expression of conservative ideas. 
-Because Liberals are supposedly much, much smarter than us, you would think they could easily debate our ideas into the ground without even trying, but instead they'd rather call us stupid, racist, and homophobic.
-Liberals will read this blog and post passive-agressive comments about how nobody cares what I am writing, even though they care enough to post passive-agressive comments.
-They will claim that the media in this country is reflexively and overwhelmingly pro-Conservative while Tim Hudak can't even get into one of the big four papers most days.
-If a Republican from the United States- that is to say, someone who doesn't even live in this country- says or does something stupid, that reflects poorly on Conservatives in Canada. When it comes to foreign threats, Liberals are more preoccupied with Republicans in the United States than they are with people who actually would cause harm to Canadians, given the chance.
-Even though Conservatives are widely mocked and despised, and are usually brought to their knees by Internet memes about binders full of women, the presence of their ideas still constitute a major threat to whatever it is Liberals are protecting. Entire books are written on this subject.

4. Evidence based policy is only useful insofar as it advances the Liberal agenda.
-Liberals will push for handgun bans, will lower class sizes, refuse to create safe-injection sites and ignore the Drummond Report while insisting that they govern on the basis of evidence-based policy.
-Evidence that any Liberal initiative, such as the Green Energy Act or the 30% tuition cut, isn't working is to be dismissed out of hand.
-Things like Auditor General reports or Ombudsman reports are also to be ignored. Sometimes the Ombudsman is to be attacked personally, even though that's the sort of thing no Liberal would ever tolerate from Rob Ford.

5. Only a Liberal government can legitimize behaviours, opinions, and ideas. 
-Unions will only become a government target when Dalton says so and not before. When Tim Hudak complains about unions, he's compared to Chris Christie.
-The NDP can bleat about taxing the rich all they want. It's not a good idea until Dalton adopts it as part of his budget.
-Cancelling the power plants was "the right thing to do." Dalton said so, and people believed him.
-Paul Litt's "Elusive Destiny" tells the story of how, back in the Trudeau days, the country was basically agreed that homosexual acts should be decriminalized, and nobody could really think of a reason why they should stay criminalized except that Catholics wouldn't like it. When it was clear Trudeau was serious about this, everyone except for Dalton's dad dropped their opposition. Something similar happened with Gay-Straight Alliances this year. Everyone outside government can agree that something should happen, but until the Liberal government legitimizes it, it won't happen.

6. Other parties are to blame when Liberals do something wrong.
-Dalton prorogued the legislature because the opposition was opposing, not because his Energy Minister was about to be found in contempt.
-ORNGE was caused by Conservatives, not Liberals.
-The deficit was caused by Conservatives, federal (Harper) and provincial (Ernie Eves), not Liberals.
-The G20 debacle was Harper's fault. McGuinty had nothing to do with it.
-Caledonia was Harper's fault. McGuinty had nothing to do with it.
-Because the PC Party of Ontario was in power for most of the 20th century, everything can be blamed on them.

7. True Liberals maintain the status quo.
-Christy Clark isn't a true Liberal because she has current and former CPC people working for her.
-Jean Charest tried to crack down on student protesters and develop northern resources. Au revoir, Jean.
-Stephane Dion had too many big ideas. Paul Martin tried to make the Liberal Party less top-down and paid the ultimate price. Michael Ignatieff didn't have deep enough roots in the Liberal party. John Turner wasn't the true heir to the Trudeau legacy.
-Liberals talk about how inequality is awful, but don't do much to fix it.
-Liberals like Justin Trudeau promise an end to cynicism in politics, then cynically don't tell us how they'd do it.
-Justin Trudeau is to become Liberal leader because of his last name. Dalton McGuinty being Liberal royalty didn't hurt him either.

8. Liberals are aware of their own wrongdoing but will actively seek to avoid acknowledging it.
-Basically all of the above. Anyone who's tried to get a given Liberal to defend Dalton's lousy record will get some version of this.
-Dalton's caucus will complain about him behind his back but not to his face. Now that he's gone, Kathleen Wynne is suddenly actively distancing herself from Dalton's track record. I'm sure that'll get her real far.
-Lip service to progressive ideals is usually enough to quiet their own pangs of conscience.

9. Shame is the most powerful of all Liberal weapons.
-Nobody ever asks just how personally committed most Liberals are to ending sexism, racism, homophobia, inequality, etc. The fact that they say they are, and we don't say that we are, is enough. The NDP might be nuts enough to pass laws banning inequality, but the Liberals never would. If there is no inequality, there's nothing to pay lip service to. And because we are less likely to pay lip service to stopping inequality than the Liberals, that opens the door for the Liberals to say that we don't care about inequalities.
-When Rob Ford ran for mayor the Liberals thought that he could be shamed in this way. It didn't work. Because Ford didn't blink. When he didn't blink, the Liberals had nothing left.

10. Conservative errors make Liberals correct by default.
-If Tim Hudak gets something wrong, you'll read all about it in the papers. If Dalton gets something wrong, you have to come here to read about it.
-Someone used CIMS improperly in the last federal election and robocalls went out. We don't know who this was, but the CPC is guilty anyway. Frank Valeriote, a Liberal MP, got caught making robocalls himself, but nobody cares about this.
-There is more evidence linking Dalton to ORNGE than there is linking the CPC to the robocalls. Oh well.

11. The deficit is a small price to pay for social progress.
-Liberals actually do believe that test scores going up and the fact that hospitals aren't closing justifies the presence of the deficit. Even though the deficit is the fault of Conservatives as per #6.
-If you listen to the NDP, there actually hasn't been that much social progress in Ontario. The Liberals respond by saying there is "more to do", which justifies more spending and growth in the size and cost of government and which keeps the NDP quiet for a while.
-Any reports that the unemployment rate has gone down, hiring is up, the deficit is smaller, etc. is evidence that the Liberal approach is working and must continue. But of course, there is "more to do", so don't complain if you don't see any net benefit to yourself.
-More to the point, don't complain at all if things are lousy for you because "we're all in this together" and your complaining is just making it worse for everyone. Your complaining could jeopardize whatever social progress has been made.

12. Bad behaviour by Liberals can be justified because it's done in the name of making things better.
-Adscam. Just Adscam.
-Nobody likes having to outsource attack ads to the Working Families Coalition, but it's a necessary step to protect social progress.
-Ontario is Worth Fighting For. So don't trouble yourself about what you might hear about the OLP.
-Whenever possible, Liberals must distance themselves from disreputable behaviour, but they will never condemn it.

Anyone out there got any suggestions for rules I can add?

Good Night, Dwight

This leadership maneuvering is ever so delicious. Is this the OLP or an episode of Game of Thrones?

And what did Pupatello say to Duncan to get him to step aside, I wonder? What does she have on him? We may never know.

Well, this one goes out to all the Liberals engaged in picky-choosy this week. Heard it for the first time in a year whilst driving down to Durham to check on things there.

St. Paul's PC EDA Presents: Election Night Pub!

The debates are finally over and we're going to be hearing about nothing but horses and bayonets for the next two freaking weeks. Not to worry! The St. Paul's PC EDA has got you covered with their Election Night Pub Night!

$25 gets you in the door at the Fox on Yonge, located at 1535 Yonge Street. Pre-register at https://www.ontariopcsecure.com/events/84 or email
stpaulsont@gmail.com to save $5!

We start at 7 and end when the last swing state swings! Beer will be drunk! Food will be eaten! Prizes will be given out for correctly picking the results! The fate of the free world hangs in the balance! Exciting!

Back To The Future

You know how we always have to hear about how Hudak was "at the cabinet table" when Harris did what he did?

Premier Dalton McGuinty’s successor as Ontario Liberal Party leader will be a current or former member of his cabinet.

On Sunday, Yasir Naqvi, the lone backbencher considering a bid, abandoned any leadership run.

Not very promising for those Liberals who talk of renewal, I think.

And what message does this send to minority groups?