Harper Government In Contempt of Parliament

[NAB]

Dunno, he is being called harpy in a number of places, mostly by people who dont want to wind up on harpy's Sh!+ list for slagging him on the interweb. He is after all webcrawling to keep folks that think he is a jerk, out of the loop, and out of meetings.

Huh? are you in the same conversation as the rest of us nibs?

Nab

[I Think]

Huh? are you in the same conversation as the rest of us nibs?Nab

Well I've seen people distorting issues about Harper's governing, but not deliberate name calling.

Pop over to any comment section on a political issue at the Globe and Mail if you want to see Harper's nicknames.

Some really inventive ones there. Oh, and Taliban Jack is used there as well.

Should I continue Nab? Are you awake?

Nibs wrote:
Dunno, he is being called harpy in a number of places, mostly by people who dont want to wind up on harpy's Sh!+ list for slagging him on the interweb. He is after all webcrawling to keep folks that think he is a jerk, out of the loop, and out of meetings.

[NAB]

Huh? are you in the same conversation as the rest of us nibs?Nab

Well I've seen people distorting issues about Harper's governing, but not deliberate name calling.

Pop over to any comment section on a political issue at the Globe and Mail if you want to see Harper's nicknames.

Some really inventive ones there. Oh, and Taliban Jack is used there as well.

Should I continue Nab? Are you awake?

Nibs wrote:
Dunno, he is being called harpy in a number of places, mostly by people who dont want to wind up on harpy's Sh!+ list for slagging him on the interweb. He is after all webcrawling to keep folks that think he is a jerk, out of the loop, and out of meetings.

Ya, wide awake nibs. Your comment still doesn't make sense to me with respect to the conversation flow in this thread, but then I guess when one runs out of new and more important material that's the only approach left ;-).

Nab

[UnknownResident]

Ya, wide awake nibs. Your comment still doesn't make sense to me with respect to the conversation flow in this thread, but then I guess when one runs out of new and more important material that's the only approach left ;-).

Nab

Any little jabs you can make at those darn lefties huh?

[butcher99]

But you know how it is, calling people names based on lowbrow understandings of international politics and diplomacy is much more fun.

Is that why you do it? You seem more into the angry thing then the comedy/fun thing.

What's Harper's nickname?

The Taliban Jack thing is getting a bit old. We sit here and critique our parliment for acting like children, when we're doing the exact same thing. Yay for hypocrisy! I wish everyone could discuss the issues like adults, without name calling and fear mongering. But then this wouldn't be any fun at all, and we might get a parliment that works.... What would we complain about then!?

I concur. The Taliban Jack nickname is more a reaction to all of the virtriol leveled at Harper, some of it earned, most not. I do like the hurt reaction that you get from the brain-washed NDP'ers when you use that nickname for Layton, they act like you just shot their dog. Good grief - that's my main problem with the lefties - they can dish it out all day long but they cry like babies if you insult any of their sacred cows. Get a sense of ha-ha and stop taking yourselves so seriously.

At least come up with something original not something dredged up from years ago. There are only one or two people in this thread who continually feel it is their right to name call. It is rather childish don't you think?

[The Green Barbarian]

At least come up with something original not something dredged up from years ago. There are only one or two people in this thread who continually feel it is their right to name call. It is rather childish don't you think?

no - not really.

[Urbane]

Speaking of respecting democracy . . .

Matt Gurney: Liberals love democracy, except when it’s ‘unprincipled’

Matt Gurney Apr 24, 2011

For a party that’s running in large part on the fact the the Tories hate democracy and don’t respect Parliament, the Liberals sure have a weird way of staying on message. Rattled by the surge of the NDP in the polls, which has made it possible (if unlikely) that the NDP will form the official opposition atop a decimated Liberal caucus, the Liberals have shifted their attack ads to focus on Jack Layton’s NDP. This will of course take some of the pressure off of the Tories, leaving them to stay focused in a final week of campaigning while the parties on the left savage each other. But if the Liberals want to hold onto their remaining influence and legacy, they need to strike back — hard — at the party that’s threatening to become the left-wing alternative for Canadian voters.

Hence their new attack ad, “Not so fast, Jack.” The Liberals use the 30-second clip to attack the NDP on a variety of issues: Inexperience, nonsensical economic policies and, intriguingly, not being principled on the long-gun registry vote. So, apparently, the Liberal Party of Canada, God’s gift to democracy, consider allowing free votes in Parliament to be … unprincipled. Good thing they’re here to make Parliament work and counter the Tories’ disrespect for our democracy.

The long-gun registry vote, held late last September, was a nailbiter. A private member’s bill put forward by a Tory MP was very, very close to dismantling the controversial, expensive database that tracks firearms owned by licensed Canadians. The bill had earned the support of several Liberal and NDP MPs, mostly from rural ridings where the registry is deeply unpopular. Ignatieff ordered a whipped vote — he forced his MPs to vote as he wished them to or else face internal discipline. Layton permitted an open vote, and lobbied his MPs aggressively to vote the way he wanted them to. It worked. The registry survived by two votes.

Layton is wrong on the registry. It’s a pointless waste of time, money and effort, and in one of the finest Canadian political traditions, has taken on symbolic worth far beyond its merits. The registry does little, if anything, to enhance public safety, but has become conflated in the eyes of a public largely ignorant of firearms issues with actual gun control, which depends on the existing licensing regime and would be enhanced by stronger judicial punishment of violent offenders.

But Layton has the right to be wrong, and to advocate for what policies he will. In taking a stand and persuading his MPs to vote with him, without threatening punishment for those who disagreed, the NDP leader showed true leadership and honoured Parliamentary tradition, where private member bills are settled by a free vote.

The private members bill was really a government bill by any other name, so the opposition has a fair point when they claimed that the Tories were abusing Parliamentary procedure to achieve partisan aims. But they weren’t alone in their maneuverings. The Liberals, by whipping the vote along party lines, broke with Parliamentary tradition and forced their members to vote against the wishes of their constituents. And yet they accuse Layton of being unprincipled on gun control.

Yet more proof that for the Liberals, the only principled vote is one that returns them to power.

National Post
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