Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Justin Ling discusses the dangers of the U.S.’ fever swamp conspiracy theories as they get shared – and warped – for Canadian marks. Ryan Cooper writes about the conservative victimhood complex which has made it impossible for the U.S. to be governed in
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Accidental Deliberations: Tuesday Afternoon Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Ian Welsh highlights the false choice between lives and the economy which is being used an excuse to concentrate the power of the wealthy at the expense of both. And Paul Krugman makes the obvious point – yet one seemingly controversial among
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on how the criticisms which were used to push Andrew Scheer out of the Cons’ leadership role in fact reflect the fundamental problems with a party built around selfishness as the sole ideal to be pursued. For further reading…– David Akin reported on Scheer’s prolific spending when he was
Continue readingSusan on the Soapbox: Cowboys and Politicians
It’s the last day of the Calgary Stampede. It’s also the last day for politicians to dress up as cowboys for one last photo-op before getting back to business of politics. The issue we have with this photo isn’t that these men aren’t real cowboys but that they’re not
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Owen Jones offers a needed reminder that no matter how often it gets trotted out as a basis to ignore the ideological underpinnings of parties oriented toward the concentration of wealth and power, the concept of compassionate conservatism is nothing more than a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on Scott Moe’s choice to pursue strongman politics indistinguishable from the Donald Trumps and Doug Fords of the world. For further reading…– D.C. Fraser reported on Moe’s willingness to stand with and behind Ford no matter how preposterous his claims. And Fatima Syed noted that both Moe and Ford
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Terry Schwadron writes about Donald Trump’s war on the poor, while Rosemary Feurer and Chad Pearson highlight how U.S. businesses and their political pawns have undermined the labour movement. And David Climenhaga and PressProgress point out that we should expect exactly the same
Continue readingParchment in the Fire: The European elite have developed a death wish | Paul Mason | Opinion | The Guardian
From the French right’s selection of Fillon to the Italian referendum and Austrian election, Europe’s centre is oblivious to its own existential crisis. They might want to dust off their copies of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice Source: The European elite have developed a death wish | Paul Mason |
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Jokers to the Right
It’s time we learn more lessons from Archie Bunker. While the right wing continues to become increasingly clownish, we need to go back to Norman Lear’s classic 1970s sitcom, All in the Family, to get re-acquainted with Archie Bunker’s willful embrace of ignorance and bigotry to learn where he’s coming from and how to protect … Continue reading Jokers to the Right →
Politics, Re-Spun: On Tuesday, Corporate Media Played You. Did You Catch It?
Which was the most important news story on Tuesday this week? And which news story was overshadowed by corporate media coverage of the other 3? Donald Trump was officially nominated and elected as the Republican candidate for president, despite attempts to derail that surreal event. Donald Trump’s wife plagiarized Michelle Obama in her speech. There … Continue reading On Tuesday, Corporate Media Played You. Did You Catch It? →
Politics, Re-Spun: Parlez-Vous Contempt?
Comment? Conservative contempt for democracy, representation, culture, and people not like themselves [really really white!] does not end with Harper or #TheNewHarper. This new francophone minister, the anglophone Squires, not only clings to her talking points as if her political life depends on it [which it does], but she also waxes unironically about herself, showing … Continue reading Parlez-Vous Contempt? →
Politics, Re-Spun: Parlez-Vous Contempt?
Comment? Conservative contempt for democracy, representation, culture, and people not like themselves [really really white!] does not end with Harper or #TheNewHarper. This new francophone minister, the anglophone Squires, not only clings to her talking points as if her political life depends on it [which it does], but she also waxes unironically about herself, showing … Continue reading Parlez-Vous Contempt? →
Politics, Re-Spun: Harper’s Campaign Against a Mythical Netflix Tax Backfires, Badly
Check out our savvy PM, getting all hashtaggy on us all! But to quote Mr. Layton from 2011, it’s become a #Fail, or, “Hashtag-Fail” if you will. You see, our PM has decided to say that others want to bring in a Netflix Tax. So he opposed it. But he
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: 11 Weeks of Daily Harper Protests
The Harper Re-election Disaster Bus Totalitarianism: daily, for 11 weeks! Get used to this. People hate Harper and his Conservatives. We will see through his weak attempt to wedge oppositions parties by running a long election campaign because he has more money to spend. Saturation will come fast. We will
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Harper is No Conservative. In His Black Soul, He’s a Mangy Junkyard Dog Posing as a Conservative.
Richard Benyon, a Tory MP and former environment minister under David Cameron, writes that Tony Abbott is no Conservative. By Mr. Benyon’s standards, neither is Steve Harper. Mr. Benyon wrote an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, in which he called out the Australian prime minister for rescinding the
Continue readingPreston Manning—a real conservative?
As someone on the left I have occasionally wondered how we got lumbered with responsibility for defending the environment. Surely, I would muse, this is the province of conservatives. Conservative, conservationist—practically the same word. Shouldn’t conservatives be those most concerned about conserving? Well, as it turns out, at least one
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Top British Tories Slam Tony Abbott. Carol Goar Gnaws on Harper.
Who better to give Australian prime minister Tony Abbott a real hiding but a number of prominent Tories. Real Tories, not what passes for conservative under the Harper regime. Real Tories, as in the Brits. The attitude of Prime Minister Tony Abbott to the global challenges of climate change is
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Has Conservatism Become a Death Cult?
Some day our grandchildren will ask “why?” They’ll want to know why their grandparents’ generation failed to act against climate change while there was still time to prevent their own generation from getting the worst of it. That’s how they’re going to judge us; not by how bad, how dangerous,
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Harper, the Dog of War
For Harper, 6 CF-18s in Kuwait, all war all the time, phoning up the Pentagon asking where we can become more militarily engaged…all these things lead to a war posture, including a soldier being killed at home. A war posture is good for Harper’s base and makes Canadians more scared
Continue readingNational Post climate change deniers "paranoid"—so says their own editor
The prattling of climate change sceptics/deniers in the National Post has been ridiculed by one of its own editors. In recent comments on the CBC’s The National, Jonathan Kay repeated observations he made in a column some years ago in which he accused deniers of being “a liability to the
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