The Monkey House

Bored and dipping in the whiskey last night, I decided to engage in a little social investigation. I have long been curious by the human tendency to, once provoked, enter into group-think mentalities and demonize potential outsiders. In civil, civic discourse, this trend is reversed by sophisticated rhetoricians through the disarmament of their opponent, first through finding common ground and then, point for point, countering hostile suggestion with legitimate fact, all the while ignoring the hostile tone of their opponent. Well, sometimes it is nice to return slight for slight, but the skilled debater always returns to the facts that support his or her opinion. Now, in the case of political discussion, there may not be only facts but there are reasons behind the opinion and it is to these which one must turn if one’s position is to be defended.
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Photo Credit: Igougo

A few months ago I wrote a paper for a poli-sci class predominantly in response to an article we were instructed to read by Juan Linz. Linz had contrasted presidential with parliamentary democracy, leaning heavily towards the latter as the preferred system of government for most democracies. I couldn’t help but take issue. After all, Linz had never seen the likes of Stephen Harper. Harper, I argued, was already proving that there are several ways to make a mockery of Parliamentarianism’s famed ‘checks and balances,’ the devices often cited by those like Linz as the selling points of the system. Indeed, Harper had (incredibly) exemplified how a prime minister with a penchant for despotism could effectively rule a liberal, democratic state almost autocratically, and that it was high time for Canada to reconsider its parliamentary system as a means to facilitate democracy.

And then things got even worse…
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Any follower of professional poker knows that Stephen Harper just went “all in” by proroguing Parliament. It’s because he now holds all four aces.

Ace number one is an opposition in disarray. Iggy is nowhere to be seen or heard. Gilles is emailing-in his commentary. And Jack is basking in the knowledge that eighteen percent of Canadians would vote NDP even if he were a mustachioed blow-up doll.

Ace number two is a reluctant but growing acknowledgment by the national media of Harper’s management of the country relative to the rest of the sinking world, H1N1, his piano playing and yes, Afghanistan. They, like he, know that the majority of Canadians don’t give a rat’s ass what the Afghans do to each other if it means finding and eliminating those who are building the roadside bombs that kill our selfless troops.
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Why is it that everything Stephen Harper tries to do becomes the potential trigger for an election? If you listen to Conservative Party spin-doctors you’d likely be led to the belief that the Opposition is building an offensive to take down the Government. Reality check: Mr. Harper, your Government is already at the will of the Opposition. If and when Michael Ignatieff wants to force an election he will do so and he won’t be stopped.

If anything is clear, this moment in time is not right for an election. This past week the Government has been in a deadlock fight with the Liberals over a proposed $3-billion fast-tracked stimulus fund. Why the uproar? Harper’s plan for getting the fund working fast is to bypass the generally required approval procedures for such funding.
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Honourable Iggy thinks our PM is playing games again.  According to Lord Ig, Mr. Harper has no respect for Parliament because he’s letting a few choice budget details slip out beforehand. Before we all get our shorts in a knot, let’s not forget that this budget slippage scenario was I believe (correct me if I’m wrong) started by none other than … Paul Martin.

Mind you, Paul’s strategy was meant to gently stoke the peace loving natives and booming markets of our great Dominion – in times of plenty. Mr. Harper’s may well be designed to divide and conquer them. A measly $1-billion for displaced workers. Buzz Hargrove wanted that for the auto sector alone. Sure enough, he’s turning the air blue on the phone already.  But who is he talking to?  Is it smilin’ Jack and his blinkered bunch of budget busters. Or is it Iggy – Buzz’s future boss when he finally pursues his political career.

Meanwhile here in Quebec, Gilles Duceppe and Pauline Marois watch gleefully as their approval ratings climb – for doing diddly squat. And Premier Charest looks for another way to suck more dough out of the federal coffers to keep his propped up. God only knows where it all goes. Our provincial health care system is abysmal, our taxes outrageous, water pipes are bursting in air and we’re decades behind the R.O.C. on more than one portfolio.
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President-elect Barack Obama Will Make His First Presidential Visit to Canada

President-elect Barack Obama has announced that his first international trip as the newly elected President of the United States will be to Canada.

The Prime Minister’s office confirms that the president-elect has accepted Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s invitation to visit Canada soon after he is inaugurated on January 20th.

Transition aides for the president-elect say that Obama picked the United States neighbour to north as his first trip within North America as president, but they could not discuss the date for the trip or its itinerary.

The Office of the Prime Minister has also said that it has been in close contact with Obama’s transition team and an official for the transition team says that aides for the president-elect and Harper have been discussing specifics of the trip in recent days.
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