In a genuine democracy all of us would be encouraged to join in the political process. But since we live in a bastardized democracy the extent of our involvement is limited to voting for the local candidates who, for a few months at least, pretend to support the "progressive" platform of this or that Centrist party. I write "Centrist" here because of course I'm forced to use the model you all grew up with. It's ridiculous to think in terms of the "Left - Right" spectrum in our Canadian context, but it's what they peddle in our schools. I think the old model just creates meaningless noise. And noise contributes to chaos.
Kirk Tousaw (Vancouver Quadra) engaging in a little self sabotaging behavior. As a lawyer he knew better. The NDP should have done well this election, but images like this one have shredded their credibility.
The L-R spectrum, which is a tired relic of French Revolutionary politics, should be torn from every high school Social Studies textbook in Canada. But we can't do it because our leaders aren't creative enough to define their own beliefs with a fresh and honest tongue. They are not political philosophers. Surprise!
When I look about me in Vancouver I don't see "Right wingers" or "Left wingers". I just see a million folks doing whatever they please. I guess you could put a label on their behavior - call it 'the primacy of the senses'. If you share in their "lifestyle" choices they may approve of you. But if you don't... oh boy! ...if you don't, the best you can hope for is that they'll ignore you. At worst, they will work like Trojans to deny you your very right to participate in the limited political conversation which pretends to inform our diverse community. Witness the sudden explosion of news stories about federal candidates outed by political watchdogs and assorted Google sniffers.
BOURQUE NEWSWATCH, the news "aggregator" site, has been serving as a cheer leader for busy Google sniffers during the 2008 Federal Election. Here is a screen capture for September 21 which pulled NDP Leader Jack Layton into the furor over dumped candidates in Vancouver.
I have views of course, on the B.C. candidates who have been "outed" and those who are still under siege by persistent ankle biters. My preferred response is to remind you that they are only "guilty" (stepping down does imply acceptance of guilt) of behaving in a manner that is widely accepted in B.C. Which of you cannot smell cannabis wafting from your neighbor's window? And how is showing your ass at some Earth People "happening" any different from displaying it in a PRIDE parade downtown? Split hairs and you only split hairs. The fact is that tens of thousands of British Columbians engage in self-sabotaging behavior and election calls only sanction the cowardly to engage in some finger pointing.
I can assure you that if the newsroom employees at the Vancouver SUN or at BCTV were put under blanket surveillance for 48 hours, you would all enjoy reading the sordid details in the transcripts. Should that disqualify journalists from running for public office? Well perhaps that depends on just how bastardized our political process has become. If elected in 2008, none of those celebrated election dropouts could have hurt my family directly, but the witchcraft policies of the Greens and NDP could adversely damage the social fabric and the unchecked spending or Voodoo economics of the Liberals and Tories will certainly pick our pocket over the next decade. Must my tune change on the day I start receiving the "Old Age"? Unlikely, but until that day when I do join the ranks of the "cheque people", our great dependency uber-culture will fail to bury my right to exercise free speech.
Blogging is not a subversive activity, and one does not need a diploma from the "Upstairs College - School of Journalism", the Cambie at Broadway campus, to qualify as a "credible" voice. Watch your TV news tonight and ask yourself the question "What makes those news readers so credible?" Is it the way they grimace and scowl to let you know when to boo the villains of the piece? Hi Deb ! Hi Pamela!
Julian West (Saanich-Gulf Islands) just handed an election win to the Federal Liberals as the NDP cannot replace him on the ballot. Who could have imaged that West wagging his noodle in public could one day guarantee Briony Penn a seat in Parliament? Yikes! It's all too surreal. Read "Nude Swimming NDP Candidate faced further Allegations" (here)
The Federal Riding we live in seems typical. The Liberal candidate is a party stalwart who carried water for Chretien and Martin for years. So now he wants a paying job he can retire on. The Tory candidate was parachuted in to service our demographics. He lives miles away. The Tories are playing "skin to win," a cynical ploy that should fail. I'm not fond of the N.D.P. candidate but he gets my vote because he's harmless enough. He can't hurt our family. My wife was born in Taiwan, a country where the politics are nuttier than ours. She's a hard working realtor and rather savvy in her take on local politics. She won't support my choice of federal candidate on moral grounds, which is her call. Still, we'll walk together to the polls as we always have.
And for TV funny man Rick Mercer's take on all this (although he skewers only Tory candidates who dropped out) check out his column "WHO CAN SURVIVE A GOOGLE SEARCH ? NOT ME" in the Globe & Mail.
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