Here we go again, the same weak arguments against voting for principles in case that act results in the minority government of the Tories falling, and an election is called.
Harper has run rings around Dion yet again in the past few weeks.
Harper outsnookered Dion and his leadership team on the Afghanistan file. Instead of the Liberal Party setting out a carefully thought, comprehensive alternative to the debacle of a policy now being implemented by the government, Dion allowed Harper to frame the discussion, and meekly fell in line with what Harper wanted: an extension of the mission with some meaningless words about change. Was it Harper's smile that convinced Dion that he had found a new buddy?
Harper outsnookered Dion and the leadership team on the crime bill. Look what happened: Harper challenged Dion - tell the Senate to pass it, or we treat it as a vote of confidence. And Dion? He ducked the fight. Skipped the vote. Then, apparently, quietly passed the word to the Liberals in the Senate to pass the crime bill. The result? Dion looks like a diminutive chicken, afraid of his own shadow.
Now comes the budget, and already Dion is capitulating, using the tired old story about the cost of an election.
Whatever happened to Liberals who had principles, who possessed courage, who were prepared to fight for Canadians?
What a sorry lot we have leading us in Parliament. Perhaps we need another election to wipe out a third of sitting Liberal MPs, so that the party can start all over again, with a new slate of candidates for election to parliament, replacing these timid souls, and a new leader.
It is becoming very hard to hold your head up as a Liberal.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
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9 comments:
If the Liberals are scared to go into an election with Dion, which is what is really happening here, then.... I mean, delaying and abstaining, hiding, all within the confines of perceived weakness, it's a joke really. Maybe if they would have dumped Dion last fall, we would already have a new leader and we could get on with. If you want to wait until eternity, that leaves plenty of opportunity to deal with the problem. What is going on here now is insane, if not pathetic.
Go with Dion, or get on with it. That's the bottomline in my mind.
To be fair, I think the hawkish elements in the Liberal caucus on the Afghanistan issue led by Ignatieff and Rae are partly responsible for the compromise for Afghanistan, if you're going to take issue with that (I don't - I've already stated I can live with the compromise).
The Budget's supposed come-down - if that happens - I'd have more of an issue with. It's obvious there are a LOT of Nervous Nellie's in the Liberal caucus, and it appears they may outnumber those who want an election.
I've given up on Dion. He's given up on the job of leading the Liberal party back to the government benches. In February last year he gave a speech enunciating a clear policy for Afghanistan. In February of this year he abandoned all that principle lest he be forced into a showdown. Now he's bailing on the budget.
The Harpies have a powerful campaign claiming that "he's no leader." Why does Dion have to make their case for them?
Why would you play into the Conservative trap by towing their line and lauding Harper's "skill" as a "master of strategy"? Give me a break.
This isn't skill he's demonstrating, it's an embarrassment to Canada and a pathetic excuse for governance.
The real point here is that Harper and the Conservative machine spend the vast majority simply trying to make the opposition look bad instead of actually governing. I would expect nothing less from an opposition party than to walk out on idiotic games such as the Senate motion. I would expect the same from the Bloc and the NDP, too.
Harper is a weak target, ripe for the plucking.
The opposition parties control the House.
Yet Dion and his MPs somehow cannot scratch together initiatives to show up Harper, give voters cause to vote Liberal.
That's a failure of political leadership on the part of the Liberals.
So, the question you have to ask yourselves is, "Who will I vote for"?
Dion is Harpers bitch and Steffi proves it everyday.
Why we should go to an election
1) We're polling competitively with Conservatives and are ahead in key provinces (Ontario and Quebec). The governing party usually loses even more points during an election, and this governing party will most likely lose points because of their terrible record.
2) The Budget is the best place for Dion to knock the Conservatives off their stride. The recent book published by Jim Prentice bombed and this shows a major weakness for the Conservative party.
3) Going to an election on the economy makes the most sense for Dion. The economy is the single best issue for Dion to champion during an election because it comprehensively covers the other major pillars of his platform - the environment (Research and Development, knowledge-based economy) and social justice (sharing the wealth and taking care of all Canadians).
4) Not going to an election on the Budget brings us to another contentious vote - Afghanistan. The media have pounded Dion on the issue and tend to side with Harper's version of the story where we need to establish "command and control" in that country. Signalling that we are willing to capitulate on the budget means we're also willing to capitulate on Afghanistan.
We should all be stopping to think what will happen to the Liberals if Dion is pushed out - consider Ignatieff and Rae, are we going to believe in one or the other backstabber as our new leader? And as far as I'm concerned Ignatieff is almost the same as Harper and Rae would not get elected. The great irony is that of the three Dion is the electable one. He should stare them down and go for it.
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