The Threat of Prorogation. . . . .

Most people in the media and even in the blogosphere are putting the prorogation of parliament in its proper perspective and they see it for what it is; a blatant and ruthless attempt to avoid accountability by a Prime Minister who hates democracy and sees the majority of our elected representatives as a bothersome restriction on what he thinks is his God-given right to govern. I have, however, seen the occasional article suggesting that the prorogation is not a threat to democracy. One in particular I read in the Ottawa Citizen yesterday which attempted to make a point by point argument about why prorogation was no big deal. The problem is that no matter how extensively one argues the details concerning the role of Parliament, the Prime Minister, and the Governor General, you cannot overcome the most basic problem. The fact is that when the Prime Minister, or any government executive, has the right to shut down the legislative branch of government on whim simply to avoid pressing questions, democracy is at threat. This is particularly true when we understand democracy not as a fixed state of affairs but as an ideal toward which we are always working. When we see democracy in this light it is easy to see that any action that undermines the movement toward this ideal is, a priori, a threat to democracy. 

There is no question that under any conditions prorogation is a threat to democracy, and this threat is even more pronounced when the prorogation is undertaken by a Prime Minster who is feeling the heat and just wants to avoid political questions and further his political ambitions. To lesson the threat to democracy the power of the executive over the legislative branch of government must be curtailed and dates of legislative sittings should be fixed and only alterable by the general will of the house (preferably a two thirds majority). These are the kinds of things which would push us further toward democratic accountability and away from the arbitrary power of the executive. 

If you don't think that prorogation is a threat to democracy then you just aren't paying attention and you don't understand democracy. This is not to suggest that tomorrow we will find ourselves in a complete dictatorship. But democracy is always delicate and vulnerable, our gains must be diligently protected and we must always work for greater levels of justice, accountability, and participation. We clearly have a Prime Minister and Government who are desperately working to reverse the gains toward democracy that we have made and which, in John Baird's words, is looking to "replace accountability with corruption." There is no question that democracy is being threatened, the question is how will Canadians respond?  

Harper's Gang. . .

Just a little fun with photoshop to remind us of the silliness of it all. 

Cheque-scam and the voting public. . .

The fact that the Harper government is corrupt is easily demonstrable. Chose one of a dozen scandals. The In and Out scheme for example. This was considerably worse than the sponsorship scandal which so damaged the Liberal Party brand because the sponsorship scandal was a few peons trying to make money for themselves, while the In and Out scandal is a case of a party attempting, through corruption, to manipulate democracy at the highest level. However, even if one were a Conservative supporter and thought that the sponsorship scandal was worse, the only defense you have is that the Liberals were corrupt too (a school yard defense for a party that was elected claiming it would be the direct opposite of the Liberals). And there are plenty of other issues that demonstrate the Tory corruption is just as bad as Liberal corruption used to be. But of course then there is the fact that the Tories, beside being corrupt, are also rabidly anti-democratic, anti-woman, anti-gay, they hate any kind of genuine people's representation, or any kind of equity. 

Yet, the worse the Tories get the higher their poll numbers go. I for one can't entirely figure this out even with the incredibly biased work of CTV. Of course, like the explanation for most phenomena it is a confluence of factors. Many people just don't pay attention. Many are just not very politically savvy and don't understand the issues. Many people are so partisan that they could have pictures of Harper molesting Collies and they would still think he was a great leader. And many people actually support the total destruction of our democracy and social safety net. After all, the NAZI party was brought to power through the ballot-box, a fact many forget. 

The only part that is really a bit of a mystery to me is that most leaders who are blatantly corrupt like Harper is, and manage to maintain  a degree of popularity, have a good deal of charisma. Now, regardless of one's political stripes it is obvious that Harper is fairly deficient in the charisma department. And herein lies the rub; the real reason we are where we are is that while Harper appeals to the worst in people politically speaking (something which always gains in popularity during troubled times - again remember the Hitler lesson) , the only real bulwark against Fascist tendencies in difficult times is an opposition leader with real charisma. This is, of course, what we are sadly lacking. And in the absence of this there will continue to be a large part of the population in difficult times which finds the easy way out - the path of anger, blame, and hate. And this phenomenon will only get worse as the population ages because in my experience the older that people get the more susceptible they become to this kind of ideological trap. It seems to me that as many people age they too often fall into two poor political habits. One is that they become disappointed with their lives and start to lay blame for their supposed failures on other people. This it the - "It is single-mothers on welfare, or gay people that are getting all the government's attention and resources, and the rest of us are getting nothing" attitude. Or they begin to imagine that despite all the public services they enjoyed in the past - they were solely responsible for their successes. This it the - "I got there with absolutely no help from anyone, and anyone who can't do the same is just lazy" attitude. 

Anyway, as capitalism slowly changes and decays, one of the possible responses that people inevitably take is the one that many in Germany took in the early 1930s, to wit; things are getting bad because minorities and moral degenerates have taken advantage of our kindness and we need to attack these elements of society which are sapping our strength and wealth. This is precisely what Harper's politics represent, and even without the Charisma of Hitler there are enough people who take this negative response in our troubled times to make it a very real and dangerous possibility. Of course, as is almost always the case, conservatives will lead us to a disaster, and when things get really bad progressive people will have to clean up the mess. In the meantime, we must watch the difficult pendulum of history feed people's  anger and negativity and watch one more right-wing fool dismantle democracy and equality with the support of many of those who will eventually suffer the terrible consequences. The angry, spiteful, disgusting tirades of men like John Baird will fill our airwaves and some people will eat it up, as though MR. Baird is being publicly hateful the way many would like to be. And as the distribution of wealth gets worse and the education system decays, and democracy is dismantled, and workers lose their rights, and the gap between the rich and the poor increases, what is good in the human spirit will endeavor to persevere in the face of Harper's hatred and we, or our children will attempt, once again, to clean up the mess. 

The Conservative government of Canada is more than just bad, it is evil. It is evil because they want social democracy to fail, they want all the things that make a country civilized to break down. They want a society run by the rich for the rich. They are the very reason the human soul is being lost in a quagmire of greed, self-interest, hate, and anger. 

And here is the irony; they want society to fail, and it is failing. The fact that the Conservatives register even a few points in the polls is a sign that democracy in the age of media concentration simply is not working. People are either not paying attention or so lost in a cloud of ideological misrepresentation and spin that they have lost all sense of reason. 

From the beginning, it has been central to the Conservative strategy to destroy the system. And, as always, it is easier to destroy than to create. The cons know that there is a certain group of society that wallows in hate and ignorance that will always vote conservative no matter what. All the conservatives have had to do is hold on to these and then create an atmosphere of cynicism and disgust at the system and it would alienate enough of the rest that they could stay in power because not enough people would bother with the system. It is a basic divide and conquer strategy that can be very effective. I believe that Harper probably even held meetings with ministers like Baird and told them to be as obnoxious and offensive as they could because that would help destroy confidence in the system itself. Surely nothing else explains such behavior from a party that was initially elected with the claim that they would bring decorum and legitimacy back to the system. (And I would like to believe that no one could be naturally as offensive and ignorant as men like Baird or Polleivre.)

So it goes.....