02.19.2012 08:06 PM

Great Harper column

Read it, Geoff and Jordan.

29 Comments

  1. Pat says:

    I hate to disagree, but this is probably the most pain the opposition has inflicted on the Harper government in 6 years. It’s ugly, but it works.

    • George says:

      clearly you didn’t understand Warren’s column. The opposition, both of them are neutered. The opposition are a non-entity, unless you know something about a new LPOC that we don’t know about.

    • Michael S says:

      i agree. there is in no way i see Vic as a victim…

    • MCBellecourt says:

      Actually, although “The Angry Baird” accused the Opposition of this Twitter account, it has not yet been firmly proven that it was any member of the Opposition that done did it. With (as I understand it) 4 IP addresses and the hundreds upon hundreds of people that have access to those computers, the author of said Twitter account may never be found!

      Nonetheless, it’s a lot of fun watching the HarperCons squirm!

      (side note: “Angry Baird” was coined by a headline writer at the G&M.)

  2. frmr disgruntled Con now Happy Lib says:

    I especially liked this passage, Mr. Kinsella: “Toews bears some of the responsibility for this toxic pall that hangs over the capital. He is a bombastic, partisan attack dog who moonlights as a minister of the Crown.

    He, and too many of his cabinet colleagues, show no hesitation in questioning the patriotism of their critics in the Commons.

    They accuse them of not supporting the troops if they question the F-35 purchase, accuse them of being an enemy of law-abiding Canadians if they question the gutting of the long gun registry data.

    But Toews slithered under his own bar last week with his rejoinder to a Liberal critic, telling him if he didn’t back the government’s bill he would be backing child pornographers.”

    • JenS says:

      Yes – this is what I especially like about the column. The writer breaks down the Toews-as-sympathetic-figure crap that has evolved over the past few days, doesn’t give him a free ride, but still makes clear that the low road isn’t the way to go.

      As far as “inflicting pain” on Harper et al, that sounds like bubble talk to me. I don’t see how the Vikileaks crap has done any real damage outside the bubble of political watchers.

  3. JH says:

    WK – I agree with you and with Tim Harper. Every politician, every political operative and every member of the media is now under threat of public exposure and embarrassment because of their personal lifestyles. To all those approving of these tactics – what happens when it is one of your own? Do you really thing they are all so pure? Or what if the concentration on political coverage of issues that affect this country, is overridden by the sport of scandal and gotcha! The shot term view is oh good! We got the Cons. The long term fall-out may not be so palatable to you.

    • smelter rat says:

      The solution, if one is needed for these hypocrites, is to stop preaching Reform Party rhetoric to Canadians, and start listening to them.

      • MCBellecourt says:

        If the story in the G&M is any indicater (over 8000 comments now), the preaching will not end until we see the tail end of the Harper Government. If you follow the posts and take note of the time the posts are put up, you will notice a pattern with ConBots.

        The rhetoric from these ConBots is becoming, to say the least, rather vicious. Unable to justify this legislation in any way, they are now taunting fellow posters with threats of incarceration in concentration camps, for crying out loud!

        Don’t believe me? See for yourself.

        The only good thing to come out of this whole SNAFU so far is, is that these paid ConBots are getting extremely easy to spot.

      • Smelter – They did listen to Canadians. Ergo, got their majority. Sheesh.

  4. que sera sera says:

    How can it be ok for a Cabinet Minister to attack 34 million Canadians and yet be wrong for Canadians to disseminate matters of public record about a Cabinet Minister?

    Maybe all bullies only respond to a punch in the mouth rather than a time out for contempt in the House that they disrespect daily as their slanderous bully pulpit.

    You cant trust someone with the babysitter how can you trust him with your country or your privacy?

    The ruling elites have nowhere to hide anymore – perhaps it is time they got down to business and governed rather than trying to rule by fiat.

    • Chris says:

      Warren has come out very strongly against this, but he has a vested interest in doing so as he has been the victim of similar smears.

      I am sure he is aware of many less than savoury details of the lives of people on “his side” as well as the opposition, so it behooves him to be against this sort of thing.

      The interesting thing about the twitter account and other social media stuff is that it is reaching a new audience that couldn’t care less about inside politics and protecting the personal lives of politicians. The reality is that you no longer need to be inside a newsroom to get widespread coverage of something like this. That must be frightening to a lot of politicos out there.

    • MCBellecourt says:

      Well said. They have gotten away with ruling by fiat for too long already. And boy, did you nail it with the “bullies” part.

      I sincerely hope that this is the awakening of the sleeping giant, and that Canadians learn from this after it is all said and done. The basest part of human nature is that, when given too much power through apathy and carelessness, anyone, no matter how good they might appear to be, can morph into a monster.

  5. Jan says:

    I am not up for the parliamentary press gallery telling us what information we should be allowed to be made aware of.

  6. Shawn says:

    I appreciate that you are holing firm on this position regardless of what political stripes the person has. Being an aggressive campaigner doesn’t mean you have to cross the line to dirty, anonymous personal attacks. Fighting for what you believe in doesn’t mean you have to stoop to that low level even if you say the other side did it first or did something to deserve it. It’s up to everyone to set bars for themselves and hopefully set them higher than this.

    The he hit first so I hit back harder argument is a big reason why the average person has no time for politics at all and doesn’t trust anyone involved.

    I enjoyed the Harper article also because of the balanced approach to the issue. Even if you think Toews deserved it… those responsible should still be above that.

  7. william smith says:

    who is Geoff and Jordan?

    • Chris says:

      A couple of hotshot political operatives that Grandpa Warren is naming and shaming..

      (one would assume, anyway – this whole thing is full of inside baseball type stuff)

      • Warren says:

        Yeah, they worked for Ignatieff. And now they’re doing what Ignatieff once said they’d be fired for.

        • Tim Sullivan says:

          Iggy was fired for not doing what he threatened others to not do. He would have made a great PM, but he did not have the instinct or wherewithal to fight back.

          From omnibus crime bill, to F-35s, to corporate tax cuts, to GST reductions, to damn-the-torpedoes foreign policy, to G8 and G20 NON-accountability, to slamming the judiciary, canceling the census, gun registry, inter-writ attack ads, Prorogation and a hundred other “don’t care what people say, I’ll ruin this country one misspent dollar and one lapse of decorum and tradition at a time” attitude of the government, the only effect any critics have had in 6 yrs was on bill C-30. There has been only one climb-down I’ve seen, anyhoo.

          If Harper’s government does not like it, Harper’s government can retreat from its tactics.

          The problem we have is liberals do not know what conservatives will say or do to advance their agenda. Linda Keen, Pat Stogrin, Paul Kennedy – fired, Gwyn Morgan – not hired (look what happened to that commission!), Dion attacks, Elections Canada frauds and election violations, any BS Pierre Poilievre says — the Liberals, the liberals, are not ready for for what the Conservatives, the conservatives, will lie about next, cheat and steal next, including elections.

          A truce can be called, if that is warranted, but it is not the political parties orchestrating this attack. And BTW, it may not even be the political opponents who are causing this climb-down, but conservative commentators and one Con MP brave enough to comment.

          Nothing I’ve seen attacking Toews is illegal. Exposing the public record is not illegal. Overspending on a national election, that’s illegal, and it was not Geoff or Jordan who did that, and I have no clue who Geoff and Jordan are. My days on the Hill are long behind me, but were in better times.

  8. dave says:

    The column almost seems to be saying ‘What happens in Ottawa, stays in Ottawa.’

    I wonder what would happen to this personal slanging if the government and media were revealing to us, daily, the actual dollars and cents, the real issues, the debate and discussion, the decisions, – and, again, the real dollars and cents of the nation’s business. Could be the personal slanging is taking the place of real info that we Canadians need about our governance.

  9. fred says:

    Nothing was happening until Toews got his medicine. After the fact spin by the mad dogs or the neutered kittens – who cares?
    It’s up to the disinterested Canadian populace now to oppose these totalitarians.

    • JenS says:

      It happened after Toews made his boneheaded pedophiles comment, then was found to not really have a clue what was in the bill. That’s when and why he climb-down happened. You’re giving Vikileaks faaaaaaaar too much credit.

  10. Sean says:

    I have no sympathy at all. The CPC is led by a bunch of lying thugs who raise money by embittering people who fundamentally hate this country. Their success is due completely to telling lies about all of their opponents. Supposedly this came from a commons computer. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if it came from a CPC staffer who thinks they have something to gain by Toews gets dumped. This type of horseshit is the legacy they will leave us with and it is likely the only thing they will be remembered for.

  11. MP says:

    Let me get this straight, the Toronto Star sends Blakes over to every publication ban hearing to fight for the right to publish gory murder details (of private citizens), but Tim Harper draws the line where a civilian airs court records about a public figure who is a philandering hypocrite? And the fabulous rationale for this position is so that Queensway insiders can gossip about it privately in the pub?

    Sorry, both of you need to get out more.

    And another thing, only an idiot keeps his gloves on when the other side goes bare knuckled. If Ottawa is a meaner town, it’s because we’ve all made it that way (voters and non-voters).

    • Michael S says:

      Nicely said MP. screw the boys club in Ottawa, let us commoners know everything, and we will decide if it’s relevant or not…cheers

      • william smith says:

        The Star fought the ban to keep Mrs Williams divorce details private and now the same journos want to keep private info about pols private – some double standard here. The Inside journos dine out on the latest gossip and then pretend that MP’s private lives are private – bullshit!

Leave a Reply to Shawn Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.