lotusland - nervous politics from a laid-back city

its a dion deal

hey, liberals, its not so bad.  you got the media's favourite candidate.   that should help, eh? 

ignatieff supporters, i dont know whether to give him props for taking on the big nation issue or lols for the inevitable 'losing to a guy from quebec' which ensued after kennedy was delivered and rae let his minions loose.   

dion is easier to defend than an iraq war-supporting, american, effete urban thoroughbred bourgeois.   he is easier to defend than an unpopular ndp premier.   he is easier to defend than  some guy from toronto who doesnt speak french.  the type of voter who would overlook these flaws is actually in the bag - the liberals have that miniscule-l liberal urban yuppie support locked up.

i still think they should have gone with dryden.  everyone knows the only way to beat manboobed hockey dad is with a goalie who displayed legendary pwnage.

im on the gazette website courtesy of antonio! BYAAAH!!!

and then im going to link to the site like BYAAAAAAAH!  and im going to remind you all to watch chappelle impersonate howard dean on youtube like BYAAAAAAH!  because the liberal convention made mr. dean all topical again.

i have to say, i made antonios first blogger layout by stealing a pepsi (national icon of quebec) layout from another site.   and now hes all the way up on canada.com ... snif, all grown up.

anyway, im sure youll all be reading his convention bloggery.  nice pic, dude.

let the eagle soar

"I think it's excellent timing for us to have Governor Dean address us," MacKinnon said. "Unlike the Conservatives who bring their American allies in under the cover of darkness, we're happy to put our American allies out front and on the stage."

hell, we liberals even make them front-runners in our leadership campaigns.

mason loh and everyone like him: why do you do these things?

im sure youve all heard about this, because its old news.   

what i want to know is whether the bit i heard about dinnergate was true.   people were using " b: Student ID - Senior Card - Immigrant Card - Landing Paper - Citizenship Card - Care Card - or any other photo ID." as their id and the letter that invited them to the dinner as confirmation of their address.  someone who handled the letters noted that a lot of them were addressed c/o other folks.

the person who reported this to me is completely uninterested in politics and was working at the event because she 'needs' volunteer hours (compulsive resume ho with friends in the young liberals). 

liberals, you really get off on looking like turds in front of me, dont you.  how in the name of  fuck am i supposed to take you seriously when:
a) a letter c/o someone elses mothereffing house counts as proof of address, and
b) these letters come from the campaigns themselves, and
c) people get a free dinner for showing up

this is so stupid and so depressing.

but what is cute are the comments on the sda post.

first, i think its just charming how conservative bloggers really think their cacophony-based echo chamber is some kind of revolutionary 'new media' that picks on the liberals, unlike the old media which is rife with bias.  i didnt know that the way to deal with bias wasnt critical reflection but setting up your own politburo.  this is charming because they wont shut up about the significance of their individual action (while ignoring how much they are *not*challenging), which is so my parents generation of them.

secondly, that guy who pressed send 8 times and spammed the comments.  this revolution is kind of funny because the soldiers refuse to let their children send them to guerrilla training camps where they might actually learn how to use their weapons.

liberal leadership race! some shite for the fans!

ok, fine, ill hate on each of them for a few lines, only because i know that liberal partisans are fond of this corner of the intarwebs:

if bob rae's last name was not rae (a longtime liberal surname), and if his brother was not that guy with all the money, what are the odds that this ndp premier would be a front-runner in a liberal leadership race? old boys club = very sucks. 

ignatieff.  ok, im not one to agree with the pope (aka ratzinger...) but when he went on that diatribe against relativism, i really hope he meant ignatieff on human rights.  the liberals are running a guy who thinks it is intellectually and morally impossible to take a strong stance in matters of human rights.  see people who put effort into their writing for details. 

need a shorter version?  here is aguirre's take: in much of his work he begins by describing what is wrong with his subject (the war, imperialism, violations of human rights, the lack of universal health coverage in the US … ) and then pauses to say “and yet, and yet”. With that he turns to a counter-argument which lifts us up from puny thoughts into the heaven of higher values ... This technique of “and yet, and yet”, with its challenging headlines and robust beginnings, is a useful way of capturing the attention of readers, particularly the liberal ones. You do not expect to find yourself reading the sort of article that might be written by neocons such as William Kristol and Richard Perle. Similar rhetorical methods are used by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, another liberal conservative who likes to play the enfant terrible. Ignatieff seems to be at once “thoughtful” and “provocative”, but what he does is trickery, the smuggling of concepts.

ignatieff is all about the propaganda-spitting. as a pseudo-academic-in-training, i should be helping his academically unrigorous ass out the door of the ivory tower, shoving it into 'dirty political whore land' where it belongs.  unfortunately, despite my lack of trust in the present electoral system, i feel morally queasy endorsing any role he may take in the public sphere.

now, ill add that i went to a ken dryden event (those who know me will know why).  he has brilliant interpersonal skills.  absent from any meeting with the man is the saccharine braying typical of so many politicos.  dryden is calm and talks to one person/group at a time, by virtue of his mindfulness in employing the inside voice.  he is also a very thoughtful speaker (perhaps too thoughtful in that he can add a few more examples to a point than a speech should accommodate) and confronted the typical bc questions of "what are you going to do about draconian marijuana legislation" and "what exactly does the liberal party stand for, anyway" in a satisfying enough way that im pissed off that more liberals arent taking a fucking chance for once in their lives and picking someone who isnt pseudo-martin (rae's old money and old family) or pseudo-trudeau (ignatieff's many degrees + being an entitled little rich douche).  it would be nice if you could  at least make him somewhat of a front-runner, it will bring some substance to your little convention.

youth for volpe: which one of you bitches did this?

so, apparently someone out there thinks id be interested in this crap... yeah, im a wop, but im a green party wop, ya hear?  which one of you douchebags chose to sully my otherwise pristine inbox with this vile spam?

A visitor thought you would be interested to know the Youth For Volpe campaign has now launched.

Our website can be found on the Internet at:

http://www.youthforvolpe.ca

Please visit it and contribute to the effort to have Joe Volpe elected as the next Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

ignatieff says "conservatives scaaary"

yeah, he's part of that miniscule-l liberal american academic cottage industry of books with such mind-blowing conclusions as "not that im for it or against it, but torture should have limits" that use cosmopolitan, rights-based liberal language to cloak hawkish, self-interested aims.  that isnt my beef with him today.

remember when martin ran those attack ads in his first campaign?  the ones with the people suffering and the smokestacks and the gun shooting at the viewer, etc?  remember the tone of that more-depressing-than-usual campaign?  we had to sit through an entire campaign based on a) a perceived liberal legacy that had nothing to do with the candidate and b) how scary the conservatives are.

so this is just one article, and its on shitty ole' ctv, but hey, looks like ignatieff is a fan of that game.

"This is a wonderful party with a great progressive record. A lot of things we're proudest of in Canada came out of the Liberal party, like the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, like the Canada Pension Plan, like a lot of other things that we love about our country, and so it's a chance to serve," he said.

maybe living out west has impaired my judgement, but people dont love the liberals as much as liberals like to think they do.  why new leaders cant just be up front about the future and their plans is beyond me. voters can look at books and charts and see that another long stint of grit rule is historically predictable, but we're barely over the martin fiasco/waste of time.  too soon, mike.  too soon.  you should carry the bruised brand out of the ashes rather than expecting it to carry you when it's bloody effing crippled.

Ignatieff said Canadians should be wary of Harper's "right-wing government.  ... "When presented the scenario that Harper could possible be in control for the next several years, or later form a majority government, Ignatieff said he feels "shivers up my spine."

and a gun shooting at you, right? 

I think they're going to back off, they're going to think, 'Wait a minute, that's not really what we wanted,' so I feel confident that as the Harper government goes forward, it's going to get into more trouble," he said.  "And then I think people will take another look at the Liberals and realize that we represent a kind of progressive, moderate, sensible, practical kind of government that appeals to Canadians."

telling the voters what they're going to do, eh? 

gerard kennedy didnt graduate or nuthin, short on book learnin

gerard kennedy, eh?  a comment on this post here disses kennedy for not graduating and getting that liberal arts diploma that the commenter, throwing grammar and proper diction to the wind, delcares "the most easiest of degrees."

if the degree is so laughably easy, then ...

how would completion make you respect him more?  anyone can do something easy.  doing something hard is what builds character.
how come you're not more impressed that he left that b.a. in b.s. to actually found a non-profit business?

full disclosure:  by writing this post i am endorsing neither gerard kennedy or the liberal party of canada.  i just seem to enjoy the mind-numbing buzz one feels after spending an hour or two arguing pointlessly over which white guy from toronto or quebec is going to be the next liberal leader.

berthier-maskinongé dips into the reserve koolaid

i think this is supposed to be a joke because it is just that effing hilarious.  paul martin for liberal leader!  all hail daveberta for the link!

He combines a high level of competency with unmatched previous experience, while also remaining profoundly human.  - i hope this was just lost in translation as la langue de molière tends toward the dramatique.  i guess he is *profoundly* human if you take a hobbesian view of human nature and then rip off that view's cojones so that the war of all against all isnt a sublime battle of brawn and cunning,  but a bunch of whiny boys hoarding and guarding little membership forms and convention spots. 

oh no, is my anti-martin bias showing.  i am so concerned...  yeah, ive been flipping that entire faction of the party the bird for quite some time.  i guess you could call me "divisive," until you realize i decided to leave the party.

Paul Martin was not given the opportunity to truly demonstrate what he was capable of and what he wanted. He was forced to loyally defend the shady past of others, but thanks to his efforts, we avoided a much-anticipated disaster. - lol, paul martin as the subject and "loyally defend" as the verb.  i think hes made it pretty clear as far as the "what he wanted" goes - it seemed like he wanted to be the prime minister real bad.

In these times of conservatism and war-mongering, there is no other way to ensure the survival of our Canadian values. In fact, our present situation puts Canada in a state of greater vulnerability in regards to social justice as well as sovereignty and national unity. With respect to national unity, our fellow countrymen must understand more clearly the issues and risks they are faced with. - paul martin wasnt known for his progressive peacenik values until he needed to lure supporters.  i dont think he gets to hide behind the "but im a total progressive, just like *you*, average contemporary canadian/potential ndp voter" sign. electorally, he lost quebec to the bloc, who re-branded themselves as nationalists. 

we have consulted our militants - again, i hope this is just some kind of translation mishap, because i wouldnt really be a loudmouth, anti-martin, arsehole all over the internets if i knew it would result in militants on my case.

and 90% of those consulted wish the return of Paul Martin - hard facts and statistics! omg!  90%... thats like an a+!  that shit gets you into medical school!

yeah, im flogging what i hope we all continue to consider a very dead horse.  couldnt resist.  id probably be a better person if i didnt indulge my proclivity towards contempt and derisiveness.  youd think the post-vote schadenfreude would get this out of my system, but nah.

overheard on the skytrain

so im sitting on the skytrain, somewhere between burrard and waterfront station.  it's the morning rush, and its not like i have enough room to breathe, let alone crack a book open.  i start eavesdropping on various conversations, and decide to focus on one as i heard the word "election"

(transcribed as faithfully as possible)

girl:  so who did you vote for?
guy:  ndp
girl:  i was going to vote for the ndp, but then i talked to my friend's mom.  she has a lot of opinions about politics.  she told me that the ndp is a lot like communism, and i didnt want to vote for, like, communists.
guy:  who did you vote for?
girl:  well, my friend's mom told me the conservatives were the best choice for a bunch of reasons i forgot, but when i got to the voting place, i thought i should just vote liberal like i did last time.

no, these were not 18-yr-olds rolling a joint.  these were holt renfrew suit and briefcase 30-somethings.

a woman's answer is vague and circular, so grab your beers and popcorn for this one.

maybe it's my age, but ive never heard this expression before.  ive always blamed my verbosity, fickle nature, and proclivity to  engage in non-linear argumentation on the fact im in political science.  should i be blaming my vagina?  the cbc seems to think this is a cheap ploy to score political points, which is kind of interesting.

moreover, youre not supposed to go around accusing voters of being negligent, fat, winos.  i dont know that being a statist makes you crazier than believing a devout consumerist - i dont advocate closing our critical eyes. honestly, though, martin probably buys a lot of beer and popcorn with the tax loopholes he makes himself.

gomery inquiry, omg!

so giovanni (from nelson - not the vc boy, fidel's dad, or the 23 popes) wants to know what i think about the gomery inquiry.  basically, it was a cheap attempt by the martin people to rid canada of all future possibilities of corruption by telling us that it was all caused by chretien.  he thinks we are dumb enough to believe that the senior minister of quebec (MARTIN) didnt know shit about this huge, well-organized, money-making scam going on in his province that included every fucking liberal, especially gagliano.  apparently, we are supposed to tack "except for martin" onto the end of that sentence.  and next time jack layton cries health-wolf, we are supposed to care.

the next election is going to be a bigger fucking clown show than usual.

youve begun to bore me, volume 3187491

basically, the past little while has been a round-up of stupid shit.  i cant sit around and scoff all day long, im tired of that.

1. wolf blitzer, during a bird flu segment "the other frequently asked question that we're getting from our viewers, feeding birds at the park, good idea?"  um.  yeah, as long as the birds arent giving you a hot carl.  do not, under any circumstances, look up "hot carl" or any of its derivatives (such as "cleveland steamer") unless you already know what these things are.  not work safe, not wuss safe, poopie-related, etc.  just don't.

why doesnt cnn focus on this sort of bird flu information instead? 

2. jim green breaks godwin's law irl.  this gaffe could have been avoided if he had a few nerds on staff who could brief him re: the laws of teh intarnets. 

p.s.: i think certain people who have a hate-on for jim green should explain that to ainge.  one ill-advised hitler invocation does not make a person as unsuitable a mayoral candidate as, say, being christy clark.  using the analogy of holocaust for personal gain is shameful in addition to clumsy, but it doesnt qualify as hate speech.  the statement linking holocaust supporters to homophobes is a stretch, and a fairly ridiculous historical parallel. 

3. in another instance of politics mirroring nerds and teenagers on lj and message boards, gagliano is  banned from the liberals.  i guess martinites will be informing the conservative blogosphere that they are no longer LIBERANO$ since they got rid of the evil eyetalian scourge of the party.  see, i have this suspicion that all anglo montrealers really hate italians.  this arose from interaction with anglo montrealers, the first people who were all "tee hee, tacky mafia people!!" about my ethnicity.  only fellow wops are allowed to make fun of st-leonard and the saputos, ok.  you can ostracize all the wops you want, liberals, but why ditch gagliano and demote bevilacqua when you can, i dunno, get rid of albina guarnieri?

david herle is an effing dork, eh?

my last post in this category detailed this liberal optimism.

the purpose of david herle is to be a liberal strategist, so i cant really call him a dork for being optimistic despite the fact even the globe and mail acknowledges the liberals tend to poll better in bc when the ballot box in question is proverbial rather than actual:

The Liberals have eight of 36 seats in that province, but always show strength between elections. The party never seems to be able to convert that strength to seats on election day.

one day, ill isolate the x-factor and use it for the betterment of canadian society, if i can ascertain what that would entail.  im sure some public opinion academic at the university of michigan has already theorized and written on the topic of 'why people change their mind between polls and elections' ... well, whatever.

However, Mr. Herle noted that Paul Martin is a force for them, as he "moves votes."

hee hee, moves votes.  to other parties.  but whatever.   

The report has provided fresh ammunition for Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's campaign for a fairer financial deal from Ottawa.

so dalton mcguinty can play politics and make ontario like him by busting a bloc/reform and screaming "ontario rights, man, we never got one of those payments!" without much regard for the theory behind equalization.   

the feds response is cute.  blame sars and all that. 

liberal party gossip hour

so, given recent polling data, a certain liberal partisan believes they will secure 18 seats in bc next federal vote, which will apparently take place in november since that is when he expects the ndp to rebel. 

liberal prospects according to scuttlebutt + my verdict:

pomo-coquitlam-poco:  unseat james moore?  he beat the ever-lacklusture kwangyul "i have no fingerprints" peck by a small margin, but living so close to the pocomos has me convinced moore is actually independently popular in the area.

fleetwood-port kells & newton-n. delta - the grewals.  id like to think any party running strong candidates could unseat this duo at this juncture

delta-richmond east - i dont know anything about this place, either

burnaby-douglas - siksay has been a boring and genuinely crappy mp.  bill cunningham will be an equally crappy mp.  george drazenovich is a complete tool who likes to tell old italians that the liberals are the party of homos and they should vote for his croatian ass.  still, when my nonni vote, they continue to do it with trudeau in mind.  ive lived in this riding for most of my life and i still cant take its pulse. 

new west-coquitlam - the liberals think they can win any riding with "new west" in its name every election.  the three-way races in these two constituencies seem to favour everyone but the liberals.

obviously, these theories are coming from points east.  the idea is that the liberals will pick up 10 seats in this province to make up for 10 seats on thin ice in a province starting with q.  thats a lot of work for mark marrissen and his band of martinites, isnt it.

as weird as 18 liberal seats in bc seems, the conservatives might be sending the wrong message to gvrd voters with their candidate selection.

the conservatives are a party of questionable political judgement.  i dont feel like im being unfair in this declaration.  they are running fundamentalist christians everywhere they shouldnt be:
richmond (darrell reid - ex president of focus on the family canada, also ex-chief of staff to preston manning)
north vancouver (cindy silver - writes academic articles in journals with a religious bent.  virulently anti-ssm. served as in-house counsel for focus on the family canada.  i feel bad for her cos she has the same name as a porn star.)
west vancouver-sunshine coast-sea to sky (john weston - as far as google knows, hes just an openly christian lawyer.  if he keeps his mouth shut, the conservatives could use him as a tool of spin, in that 'see, theyre not all crazy, theyre just expressing their religious freedom' way.  still, he seems to be a bad fit for the riding)
new westminster-burnaby (marc dalton - a pastor from pitt meadows, which is on the other side of the gvrd)
south surrey-white rock-cloverdale (russ hiebert, of 'i pissed on val merediths parade' fame)

why?  who knows.  despite being the youngest caucus parliament has ever seen, this party is quite verifiably senile. 

another rumour is that svend robinson is considering a run in vancouver-centre.  can i get a wtf up in here?  yuppies dont vote ndp!