Saturday, March 26, 2011

HARPER GOVERNMENT - Fascism Lite by Louis Evan Palmer


"Fascists seek to organize a nation according to corporatist perspectives, values, and systems, including the political system and the economy." - wikipedia


The relentless Harper-led assault on democratic values continues. It is both a drip-drip torture in things like election funding illegalities and a full-bore frontal attack with outright lying, forgery and illegal secrecy. Appropriately, the Harper government is a one-man show with its select stable of designated hitters and spitters and attack-dog yes-men. John Baird leaps to mind.

It is a government that while appearing puritanical seems to have a suppressed attraction for corruptibles either as senators like Patrick Brazeau, former chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples or as advisors like Mr-Fixit Bruce Carson, a former bankrupt and disbarred lawyer. Harper Government has accumulated enough mini-scandals and ethical affronts that one would assume that we were looking at the decaying malodorous carcass of a 15 or 20 year run in power and not the five years worth of minority that we actually have. One can only shudder at what would happen if Harper gets a majority.

Lamentable firsts for Harper Government - first government to prorogue parliament to avoid a vote of confidence; first government in any commonweath country to be found in contempt of parliament (with a second contempt citation in the wings).

Among the many lapses in competency, Harper was supposed to fix the RCMP but chose as its leader probably the worst possible person in William Elliot. But while Harper is content is appointing ill-suited candidates to important positions, he does not shy away from removing competent but independent leaders like the AEC's regulator head Linda Keen who was fired for upholding AEC's safety protocols. On the verge of radioactive catastrophe in Japan, Harper doesn't look very prudent or intelligent on that count.

Harper Government also attacks other independent agencies like StatsCan in its war on credible public information which would enable democracy to function better but, inexplicably, not registering long guns helps and advances society. It's not coincidental that the lowest voter turnouts in Canadian electoral history have occurred during these five lost Harper Government years. The attacks also range over our top-notch diplomats as Richard Colvin found out to his dismay, first being muzzled, and then maligned and denigrated by the Harperites.

Harper and his cohorts really don't seem to like democracy. For example, Harper launches constant attacks against "coalitions" which are a perfectly legitimate expression of an election. But Harper Government doesn't want the Canadian electorate to get a government that reflects their vote. If we get another minority government, it is a strong message that Canadians want a coalition government. Attacks at specific components of a democracy are also attacks on the entire edifice. Make no mistake, Harper does not like or trust democracy. He wants a majority because that the closest thing to a dictatorship you can currently get in Canada.

It is typical of this mindset to conflate the Government of Canada with the Conservative Party - also known as Harper Government. It follows that we would see inappropriate secrecy and partisan sniping at MPs asking legitimate questions.

On top of everything, Harper Government's economic management has not been that good - they signed on for a Software Lumber deal that sees significant amounts of Canadian dollars and jobs flow south or disappear; they made the largest procurement in Canadian history for F35 fighter jets without tender and, as a result, Canada is taking planes that even the US Marine Corp says are too expensive and not what their mission needs; they took Paul Martin surpluses and turned them into enormous deficits. Harper Government's Finance Minister's budget numbers were, and are, not believeable - he was predicting a surplus when every other major foreign government forecast a deficit and then he disingenuously claimed that the surplus had suddenly and uncontrollably veered into a string of deficits. It's called lying and it's all through Harper Government.

This is a call to Canadians to vote against Harper Government and work to defeat Tory candidates in all ridings. A free Canadian society depends on it!

HARPER GOVERNMENT - Fascism Lite, Louis Evan Palmer, The Way It Can Be, http://twicb.blogspot.com


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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Copyright 2011 Louis Evan Palmer lives in Ontario Canada. His short stories have appeared in numerous publications.