…and, their “Washington correspondent” is involved in illegal hacking. See the full Times story, here.

The Rebel’s support for white supremacy and the Holocaust-denying National Front should surprise no one who has been paying attention lately – as seen here. Given what I used to believe about their founder, that surprises and disappoints me. But it’s real. 

So The Rebel has fully embraced the dark side. That matters, and that will have real consequences for all of them. 

But it also matters in this way: The Rebel initially promoted itself as a legitimate news organization. Many of us therefore (reluctantly) came to their defence when they were denied press credentials at the Alberta Legislature by the Notley government. 

Well, the Notley government was right – The Rebel is no news organization. It is a far-Right propaganda vehicle that trades in illegally-obtained material. 

It should be accredited as a news organization nowhere in Canada. 

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@jjhorgan's #BCNDP's aligned with @realDonaldTrump on trade. @christyclarkbc wants to hammer Trump over softwood. That's the #bcpoli ballot.

— Warren Kinsella (@kinsellawarren) May 6, 2017

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…and he knows BC elections, too. Here, his latest survey(s):

Can the BC NDP – who once had a double-digit lead – still win? Yes, says Greg:

However, an NDP victory is still possible: 40% of the electorate say they want to hear more before making up their minds. This is almost exactly the same number we saw at this point in the 2012 Alberta election, before a surprise PC upset at the very end of the campaign.

But can Comeback Clark take this one again? Still hard to say. 

But I agree with the Globe: the BC Liberals deserve to.

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Now in the latest Dundurn catalogue! Read all about it here.

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Now in HuffPo.

(Civil) comments  welcome. 

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From CP via CTV:

“I am very happy to see members of the press this evening,” Trudeau said early in his remarks, which drew subdued applause from the roughly 300-person crowd.

“We are very happy to see (journalists) among us and thank you very much for being here,” he said, looking at reporters and raising his hands to give a conspicuous, single clap.

The new system involves holding fundraisers featuring Trudeau or ministers only in public places, announcing them in advance, allowing the media to attend and disclosing the guest list within the following 45 days…

Liberal party spokesman Braeden Caley said there was “a pause” on national fundraising events throughout the first quarter while the new standards for open and transparent fundraising events were being prepared.

Some Liberals are pointing to that as one reason for lacklustre fundraising figures in the first three months of this year, when the Conservatives raised nearly twice as much money from a larger pool of contributors, even though they are in the midst of a leadership race that ought to be siphoning would-be donations to the party.

I must say that I found the single-clap thing – and drawing the media’s presence to everyone’s attention – to be a bit Trump/Harper-esque. It was unnecessary.  The media are doing their job, and their presence is a good thing.

Brendan Caley’s remarks also help to explain the fundraising gap I wrote about a couple days ago.  (The same thing has happened in Ontario: the governing Liberals hit “pause” on fundraising, to respect the new rules, while the two opposition parties did not.)

As I’ve written many times before: until the media give political parties free ad space – and until the taxpayer is willing to pay for everything that parties need to do during election campaigns – fundraising is obviously required.

The new rules ensure that it is all done out in the open, and without the possibility of undue influence.  That’s good, and deserving of more than a single hand-clap.

 

 

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When you take health care away from 24 million people, it means people are going to die. Donald Trump is an asshole: sing it.

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Star Trek: still better. 

NOW PLAYING: TAX WARS #BCNDP Debt Star™ ft. Darth Horgan. #MayThe4thBeWithYou. @jjhorgan #bcelxn17 #bcpoli pic.twitter.com/ZPDGzgFiJc

— Today's BC Liberals (@bcliberals) May 4, 2017

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…really well done. 

But Star Trek is still way better than Star Wars.

Stephen Harper’s apprentices? These are not the leaders you are looking for. #Maythe4thBeWithYou #cpcldr #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/rX84SicXS1

— Liberal Party (@liberal_party) May 4, 2017

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Column, now on HuffPo.  Got a lot of comments about this one.  Sample: “You’re mean, but I like it.”

Snippet:

You weren’t going to ever, ever beat Justin Trudeau. He was going to put you — a bloviating blowhard, a misanthropic misogynist, a down-market Donald — through the political Cuisinart. He was going to shred you to pieces, and make soup out of you, Sharky.

So you packed up your toothbrush, waved over your shoulder in the direction of Mad Max, and started jogging back to Gate 11.

You always planned to. You won’t be missed.

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