Is it me or is the fat lady singing?

[jackbourassa]

After more than 12 years in power, we're about to lose it. Post some of your thoughts here.

What were the best/worst moments of the last 12 years for you?

Me...

Best moment: When Chretien finally fired Paul Martin as Finance Minister.

Worst Moment: Nearly losing the Quebec Referendum in 1995.

[ClusterFreak]

1. Yeah.....seems like....

Best: The Clarity Act.
Worst: Alphonso Gagliano.

Let's hope it's only a reich-wing minority.

[iverglas]

2. worst: Chaoulli

Not only is it an appalling decision for the future development of Canada, but it's really really bad law.

And I think I'll go ahead and lay it at the doorstep of Paul Martin and the Liberals for the damage done to the health care system under his watches, since the closet right-wingers on the Supreme Court would never have got their hands on it if it hadn't been for that.

Best: Preston Manning getting his fingers stuck in that party-favour thing on 22 Minutes.

Okay, hit me, I thought he was funny.

[Manix]

3. The worst moment is to come. The arrogant smirk on....

Dubya's face, when he is told that he has a new poodle in Canada, is my nightmare!

[daleo]

4. Everyone is too pessimistic, it's not over

It will be closer than we are hearing.

But:

Best moment - No more deficit, just because I was so sick of being hectored about it by Mulroney.

Best moment II - Not joining Bush in the Iraq invasion.

Worst moment - I put pepper on my steak.

[Darth_Kitten]

5. Worst is a Conservative minority.....

and they'll have their hands tied doing anything extreme.

If anything will muzzle the right wing elements in their party it's knowing they'll have to remain silent to retain power. LOL

[glarius]

6. Best moment

I also think it was the Clarity Act....I think this will prevent the separatists from stealing a victory in the future.
Worst moment: I guess I'm naive, but I always thought our media was more or less, with a few exceptions, fair. It was a real eye-opener to see them pretty well all fall in line and give Harper a free hand, not demanding to question his hidden candidates and all the other crap they have let him get away with.

[jackbourassa]

7. I think the Clarity Act will be Chretien's legacy

n/t

[glarius]

9. I agree with you about that.

I have thought so ever since it happened...No matter what else Chretien did or did not do, the Clarity Act will give him his place in history.

[Vote NDP]

8. Hmmm...

Best: NDP + Cadman hold the balance of power.

Worst: Irwin "Cannabis Kapo" Cotler's handling of the Marc Emery affair. I used to respect Cotler as a distnguished human rights lawyer and a civil libertarian (even though he's always been as corrupt as all fuck, being a West Island Liberal), but I've realised now tht he's a neo-conservative tool of Washington who has more than just a few religious convictions in common with Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Pearle.

[iverglas]

10. in competition

Don't forget Cotler and the "Anti-terrorism" Act.

Whoooo. Here's a wierd one. I just went to my bookmarks looking for Cotler's apologetic for that legislation, hit the first result in a search for "cotler":
http://www.irwincotler.parl.gc.ca/issue_details.asp?lang=en&IssueID=331
and got this:

ERROR
Access Denied
Access Denied by security policy
The security policy for your network prevents your request from being allowed at this time. Please contact your administrator if you feel this is incorrect.

I don't have a network.

Same for http://www.irwincotler.parl.gc.ca
oh well, and for paulmartin and ralphgoodale ... well, I suppose the MPs' sites have been shut down for the duration?

Here's google's cache of it, anyhow. Various versions of his blatantly non-civil-libertarian screed appeared in newspapers and such.
http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:qnatSL6Mq6sJ:www.irwincotler.parl.gc.ca/issue_details.asp%3Flang%3Den%26IssueID%3D331+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

It has been said that the world changed on September 11. I do not know whether the world changed—or whether the darker side of the universe was exposed—but what is clear is that September 11 was a transformative event, impacting on our psyches as well as on our politics, on our priorities as on our purposes. It has been a central motif of public and Parliamentary discourse—whether in the public square or the halls of Parliament—while the “war on terrorism” has become a centrepiece of the daily media. ...

http://www.cjc.ca/ptemplate.php?action=itn&Story=510

Cotler's credibility as a human rights expert was a trump card in the push to persuade a suspicious Canadian public of the merits of the controversial new Anti-Terrorism Act, C-36.

As a widely published law professor, now on leave from McGill, and onetime counsel to prisoners-of-conscience like Andrei Sakharov and Nelson Mandela, Cotler's backing gave the bill the boost it needed.

Cotler argued anti-terrorism laws and broader police powers are not an attack on civil liberty, but a bulwark protection against attacks on the ultimate human right to live in a secure society, free from terror.

Never mind free from Israeli state-conducted/sponsored terror, of course, not even when the issue is humanitarian relief to the victims:

As a backbench MP, Cotler often issued stinging indictments of the Liberals' failure to articulate strong opposition to groups like Hezbollah — later outlawed as a terrorist organization — or to foreign regimes that abuse human rights.

(Hezbollah was subsequently banned from raising funds in Canada for humanitarian relief.) A right-wing "civil libertarian" co-opting the discourse of human security is a disgusting thing to see.

Never trust a civil libertarian, or any other kind of "liberal". Phil Ochs was right.

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/ochs-phil/love-me-im-a-liberal-11453.html

I cried when they shot Medgar Evers
Tears ran down my spine
I cried when they shot Mr. Kennedy
As though I'd lost a father of mine
But Malcolm X got what was coming
He got what he asked for this time
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I go to civil rights rallies
And I put down the old D.A.R.
I love Harry and Sidney and Sammy
I hope every colored boy becomes a star
But don't talk about revolution
That's going a little bit too far
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I cheered when Humphrey was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I'm glad the commies were thrown out
of the A.F.L. C.I.O. board
I love Puerto Ricans and Negros
as long as they don't move next door
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

The people of old Mississippi
Should all hang their heads in shame
I can't understand how their minds work
What's the matter don't they watch Les Crain?
But if you ask me to bus my children
I hope the cops take down your name
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I read New republic and Nation
I've learned to take every view
You know, I've memorized Lerner and Golden
I feel like I'm almost a Jew
But when it comes to times like Korea
There's no one more red, white and blue
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

I vote for the democratic party
They want the U.N. to be strong
I go to all the Pete Seeger concerts
He sure gets me singing those songs
I'll send all the money you ask for
But don't ask me to come on along
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Once I was young and impulsive
I wore every conceivable pin
Even went to the socialist meetings
Learned all the old union hymns
But I've grown older and wiser
And that's why I'm turning you in
So love me, love me, love me, I'm a liberal

Irwin Cotler cried when put Sharansky in prison, but ... well, security certificates, those little things that result in people being detained indefinitely and suchlike, are something he's "open to reviewing". I guess he's just grown older and wiser.

[glarius]

11. I have never corrected anyone's spelling before but

since you feel it's alright to correct someone for their punctuation, which you did on another thread, than I guess it's alright to correct your spelling....The word is "weird" not "wierd.".....You're welcome.

[iverglas]

12. love her, love her, love her ...

She's a LIB-UH-RUL.