tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611409863712113861.post7105520581707976156..comments2023-06-27T10:33:35.086-04:00Comments on kirbycairo: Political Irony and Emotional Intelligence. . . .Kirbycairohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17528654183160305877noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611409863712113861.post-90968612719391841402015-10-27T22:13:39.326-04:002015-10-27T22:13:39.326-04:00@ Tory Pirate - I understand what you are saying a...@ Tory Pirate - I understand what you are saying and Loat and MacMillan make a solid argument in this regard. But in hindsight it is easy to say that the media and the political class made the Reformers look amateurish and foolish, but in truth, the simple fact is that they were amateurish and foolish. The problem wasn't their desire to be better, to be less corrupt, to be less "politic." The problem was that they were, like Harper, know-nothings who were mean-spirited and, ironically, not really interested in democracy. The kinds of political reforms in which they were interested could easily have been done by a more honest, intelligent, fair-minded group. I simply don't agree that a party that has its "act together," as you say, can't also be reform minded and make good things happen. Kirbycairohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17528654183160305877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611409863712113861.post-13519719796017090362015-10-27T21:36:36.202-04:002015-10-27T21:36:36.202-04:00"That program of reform was so short lived th..."That program of reform was so short lived that many people have forgotten it altogether."<br /><br />It is interesting to look at *why* it was short-lived. A pretty good overview is given in 'Tragedy in the Commons: Former Members of Parliament Speak Out About Canada's Failing Democracy' by Alison Loat and Michael MacMillan. <br /><br />Their overview notes that every effort the Reform Party took to reduce party discipline and the leader-centric party structure was portrayed by their opponents - and the media - as evidence that the party was disorganized and amateurish. A party will only take such coverage for so long. <br /><br />By the time the Reform Party became the Canadian Alliance it had learned its lesson and was well on its way to becoming the tightly controlled Conservative Party which stayed in power for a decade straight. Like it or not the Canadian electorate rewards parties that seem to have their act together (this election being no exception) and parties are only portrayed as having their act together when tightly controlled.<br /><br />Kinda tragic actually.The Tory Piratehttp://torypirate.weebly.com/politics--policynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611409863712113861.post-22529592860817672942015-10-27T16:59:34.197-04:002015-10-27T16:59:34.197-04:00"Of course, the real dilemma of the Turing Te..."Of course, the real dilemma of the Turing Test is that it might always be unclear whether the robot you are testing is truly an "artificial intelligence" or just a very well programmed simulation of intelligence.:<br />And that I think sums up our entire political system and its participants, Kirby!Ruralhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11814103548500393628noreply@blogger.com