In which I consider becoming an armed revolutionary on Jan. 24

[felis_ultharus]

I did a pre-election voting thing. I don't think I have to tell anyone here who for ;)

canpolitik had some interesting stuff on the Conservatives. Can't vouch for all the sources quoted by profoundtruths in this thread, but the ones I recognize (Egale, The Tyee) are quite reliable.

If true, then Conservative candidates are being muzzled by their head office, and refusing to answer questionnaires about their precise political positions. This means we have no real idea of where they stand. And since Harper is an extreme machiavellian who manipulates loopholes in the political system (such as the unite-the-right-movement, designed to exploit a flaw in our democratic mechanism), he'd have no problem lying to the public.

The problem with arguing against Harper with his supporters, then, is the same problem as arguing the dangers of global warming. We know the consequences could be disasterous, and almost definitely will. But we have no absolute proof -- and by the time we have it, it'll be too late.

We do know he's a social conservative. We do know he's a political liar. We do know that one of his MPs publicly argued for the re-criminalization of homosexuality, and was quickly tossed out of the party. We don't know if he was tossed out was because he was an extremist, or because he opened up about it publicly.

We also know he's running a whole slate of candidates who believe their in a holy war against queers -- such as Rondo Thomas, Stockwell Day, Darryl Reid (former head of Focus on the Family), and dozens of others. We know that all the moderates have left.

Everyone's making fun of the Liberal ads that go "we just don't know." But it's true. We don't. What we do know is scary.

This could go way beyond same-sex marriage. The federal government could re-criminialize homosexuality if it used the notwithstanding clause, and Harper may feel it's his Christian duty to do so. Bush is willing to do apparently politically suicidal things in the name of fundamentalist Christianity, and Harper is no different.

How could 40% be considering voting for this man?

Comments

[link2lando.livejournal.com]

I might just join you. I can't hardly wait to vote. Oy.

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

It's a good idea. No one knows what the weather will be like on Monday, and while the current forecast is good, it is always possible this cold snape would get worse.

[jenjoou.livejournal.com]

You didn't vote for the conservatives did you? ;)

Yay for pre-voting, none of the fuss and lineups and I got to see some place other than the Chevalier de Colomb's club house for once. ^_^

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

I actually pre-voted at the same place -- a high school -- that I would've on the main day.

But I've never encountered serious lineups when voting. It's usually a five-minute thing. Maybe Jeanne-Le Ber is just apathetic...?

[jenjoou.livejournal.com]

I've always had to wait at least half an hour. Usually the line up is out the building and to the street. Even Friday I had to wait for a while. I guess Beloeil likes to vote (our population is at least 40% senior though, maybe they have more time?). Likes to vote Bloc anyways (sometimes Liberal). No one else really has a chance out here. Better than the conservatives I guess.

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

One of the frustrating things about this election is watching the Conservative tide rise elsewhere.

Not that I want it here, but I feel helpless, watching it grow and not be able to do much about it because it's in another part of the country :/

[jc2004.livejournal.com]

I've been having nightmares about this myself (I dreamt I lived in a beautiful house with a beautiful garden by the sea and a bunch of stupid people trashed it). People are being moronic as usual. They want to punish the Liberals for whatever. The last time this happened, we got Mulroney, the GST, and the Free Trade Agreement, which all sucked yak ass. I think the first thing Harper will do, besides attacking gay marriage, will be selling off our water to the highest american bidder.

[felis-ultharus.livejournal.com]

People are angry -- but people are angry who usually don't pay attention to politics. Whenever I point out Harper's evils, people think I've seen the attack-ads too many times.

(Of course, I don't own a TV, and I've been following Harper's career a lot longer than most.)

As for Mulroney, he won by building a coalition of disgruntled Quebeckers and disgruntled Westerners. His coalition fell apart into the Reform and Bloc parties.

But even with that coalition, he only got two-fifths of the vote in 1988. Most of the country went farther left, and voted against him. Funny thing was, he was using that election as a referendum on NAFTA, which meant that three-fifths of the country voted against NAFTA.