My LTE to Canadian press RE: Stephen Harper (the Conservative PM hopeful)

[Harper_is_Bush]

We in Canada are facing a Federal election this Jan. 23.

We have a single rightwing Conservative party now led by Stephen Harper which stands a chance of forming the next Government. He would be Bushs best friend, and seeing him elected leader would bring a huge smile to chimps face.

Just like the USA, up here our media is largely rightwing. They (and some of thier readers) constantly bitch and moan that Stephen Harper is portayed as "scary" by Liberals using "scare tactics". Anyway, this is my LTTE response to that bitching:

Stephen Harper voted in the House of Commons to participate in the US invasion of Iraq. He is on record two months before the war saying that Canada; in his judgment, will join the Iraq invasion "notwithstanding" our "neglect in co-operating with allies".
Stephen Harper wrote a letter to the editor telling us that it was the "Conservative party that urged the government to enter into negotiations with the United States on Ballistic Missile Defense in the first place." Stephen Harper is on record saying that Canada is already committed to be involved in Ballistic Missile Defense through NORAD.
Stephen Harper is on record within the last five years telling us that Canada is a "second-tier socialistic country", that Alberta should "build firewalls", and that West of Winnipeg Liberal ridings are "dominated by recent Asian immigrants".
All the Conservatives and the media pundits are outraged that poor Stephen Harper is a victim of "scare tactics". Are Canadians not allowed to even look at the recent words spoken by the man who wants to be our Prime Minister and judge him by those words?
Is it unreasonable to believe; given his words, that he would fully co-operate with Ballistic Missile Defense and whatever military venture George Bush has in mind next? Why? Please stop throwing Canada the red herring argument that poor Stephen is a victim of scare tactics. He's the victim of his own words, and deservedly so.

I've sent it around to a few papers. Let me know if it needs improvement...I plan on sending it again in a week.

[NanceGreggs]

1. Well said!

I'm an American living in Canada (Toronto). A Harper campaigner came to the door recently, and before he could start his spiel, I explained that I was not a Canadian citizen, and therefore couldn't vote.

He started to walk away, when I stopped him to add: "If your candidate had a brain in his head, he wouldn't be riding on Bush's coat-tails, now that Bush is at a 35% favourability rating in the polls. A smart politician hitches his wagon to a rising star, not one that's about to burn out."

Needless to say, he had nothing to add ...

[Harper_is_Bush]

2. Thanks. But you shouldn't have warned that campaigner!

Harper recently distanced himself from Bush and pledged not the send troops to Iraq.

His positions on Iraq and BMD are huge indications of his future. He basically said we should jump into Iraq because the USA is our "best friend in the whole wide world". Now he's being given a pass on all these past comments by our media.

I think the Canadian Conservatives have explained to the Bush admin that they will be (as they have) coming out strong against the USA in terms of independance from US influance. That is a strategy to get elected.

[NanceGreggs]

3. A flip-flopper?

Honestly, I don't really follow Canadian politics, but every time I see Harper in one of those crappy commercials, I think, "How can anyone see that vacuous look in his eyes and think this guy has an IQ above 20?" What a dolt!

[hopeisaplace]

9. lol, I had a similar experience

I recently had a canvasser for the conservative candidate in my area knock on my door..
and before he could even get a sentence out, I informed in that there was NO
HOPE of me voting Conservative, that he REALLY was at the wrong house. He started
to say he used to be liberal..but I proceeded, in a typically polite Canadian way,
to say that our neighbors to the south are perfect examples of conservatism run
a-muck and something to the affect that conservatives are rarely ever able to
control the extremes of their party ...extremes being (religious and corporate).
..something like that...anyway....

my hubby, who was quietly listening to me go on in the other room, was having a big
laugh (to himself). He walked over to me after the fellow left and more or less said, it was pure entertainment watching someone try to get me to vote conservative. With his hands on his hips, he
was getting a big kick out of the pour guy having to listen to me. Hubs a liberal tool.

[NanceGreggs]

11. I MUST share this story ...

My husband and I are both Americans, and we live in downtown Toronto.

There was a local election going on in September 2001, and a very good-looking young black man came to the door, campaigning for a local representative.

I explained to him that we were American citizens, and could not vote. He was very polite, and we chatted for a few minutes. He asked where I was from in the States, and I told him I was from New York City.

On September 12th, there was a knock on the door -- it was my young campaigner friend. He said, "I don't know if you remember me ...," and I kind of laughed, thinking he was too handsome to be fogotten by anyone!

He explained that he was campaigning on our street again, and remembered that I had said we were Americans, and that I was from New York. He said he'd stopped by to convey his condolences for what had happened in my country, and asked if I'd heard from my friends and family back in NYC, and if everyone was all right. (And just thinking about it now makes me teary-eyed all over again). His compassion and sincerity was so welcome -- I started to cry, and he held my hand and assured me that all Torontonians, as well as all Canadians, mourned the loss of their American neighbours and friends.

The candidate he was campaigning for won that election, and a year later the candidate came to my door, reminding me that there was a neighbourhood meeting that night to discuss a local issue.

I told the candidate about what had happened on September 12, and told him that if I could have voted for him, I would have -- not because I knew what his political position was, but because any candidate who had attracted the support of such a fine young man as his campaign volunteer must be a very good candidate indeed.

Canada has been my home for thirty years now, and it's people like this who make me glad to be here ...

[hopeisaplace]

12. what a wonderful story

and we're very glad your here too :)

[NanceGreggs]

13. Thanks, hopeisaplace ...

... and we're very glad you're here at DU!

:hi:

[snowbear]

4. It's hard to believe Canada would elect someone like him...

But then... who are we to talk, look what we have!!!

Your letter is wonderful though!!! AWESOME!!

Maybe before your election, this is where our dirtball_in_chief will be:

[hopeisaplace]

5. great letter - and

hello fellow Canadian, :hi:

something else that sits with me?

When B*sh visited here..didn't he meet with Harper
privately (if I'm remembering correctly)..I watched the entire
visit as it was unfolding, and I remember my ears perking-up
when the media made one little comment about it..that comment being
something like: "it's the first time ever that a visiting President
privately met with the opposition" (<--I think that's what I heard,
..being this was a while ago, hope my memory is ok)
I remember thinking this is probably how the meeting with Harper and B*sh
went: Topic: How to win elections. 1. Steal them - Call Karl for tips
2. Lie, Lie, Lie, 3. Always keep them
talking about the other party to keep the attention off yourself and
your party.

Anyway, this meeting, if I got it right, really bothered me, and why wasn't
it repeated over and over by the media?

[nine23]

6. Suggestion: you should put this in the Canada section.

That way, it will "stick", and you'll get more suggestions from Canucks for when you re-send it.

Side note: Last night, I had a dream in which - similar to what we did in the early-90's - we wiped the Conservatives right off the map; left them with a mere two seats in Parliament...not even enough to qualify as "opposition", ie. no paid office space, no free office supplies, no free food/booze in the Parliamentary cafeteria...

It was like those "night dreems" I had back when I was a boy!

[Harper_is_Bush]

8. Did already! Coincidence?

I think not. We're connected somehow.

Posted before your post (I think):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=190x9940

Tell me, are you a beautiful single woman in your 30's?

[nine23]

10. RE: "are you a beautiful single woman in your 30's"

As I had "those 'night dreems'...back when I was a boy", I'm sorry to say...no, I'm not!

[JohnyCanuck]

7. Interesting discussion re Harper and US influence

going on at www.vivelecanada.ca . It's drawing lots of comments from all sides.

Yes, I’m scared of Stephen Harper!
Contributed by: FurGaia

Beyond Harper’s calculated flip-flops and beyond his not so hidden agenda , one reason for not voting for the party of Stephen Harper stands out for me. It is my very strong conviction that a vote for the Harper Conservatives would constitute an endorsement of the support apparatus that brought Stephen Harper and his hybrid party where they are today. That support apparatus IS NOT CANADIAN!

One of the enabling factors of the rise of the Extreme Right in US politics has been the willingness of the opposition to give it the benefit of the doubt. Election day is fast approaching. Time is of the essence. Giving Stephen Harper the benefit of the doubt is a luxury one cannot afford. And so I'll cut to the chase.

In his essay Rescuing Canada's Right , Adam Daifallah writes:

For a blueprint for change, Canadian conservatives need look no further than south of the border. A well-funded conservative infrastructure, acting as a support network for the Republican party, has been instrumental in that party's victories in the U.S. Over time, this infrastructure has successfully made conservative ideas a major force in the national discourse. It did not develop out of thin air, however, but only because American conservatives were willing to make it happen. <…>

The result was a vast conservative network that spent more than $1 billion in the 1990s alone. Money went to fund such influential policy organizations as The Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute and the Manhattan Institute—all of which played crucial roles in the advancement of conservative ideas in the eighties, shoring up support for Ronald Reagan's presidency (the current Bush administration would later loot the think-tanks to fill various governmenet posts).

http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/20060103233956320