Saturday, April 23, 2011

NDP disasters

Last night as I was grading finals, I started wondering what an NDP led government might do.

Like any government stepping into the breach for the first time or the last time, they could well fuck it all up.

But they might not. And even if they did, their disasters won't look like more than a thousand Canadians in cages in downtown Toronto.

Their disasters won't look like mishandled fighter plane purchases.

Their disasters won't involve keeping tortured Canadians prisoners in their own embassies or foreign police dungeons.

Their disasters won't involve obstructing parliamentary committees and other organisations.

Their disasters won't involve lying to and misleading parliament to the point of contempt.

Their disasters won't involve rewarding corporations with tax cuts.

Their disasters won't involve convicted fraud artists advising the PM.

Their disasters won't involve altering signed contracts.

Their disasters won't involve denying reputable organisations funding for partisan political reaons.

Their disasters won't involve attempting to keep you from a polling booth.

Their disasters won't involve creeping your facebook page to keep you from your democracy.

Their disasters won't involve turning a budget surplus into a deficit.

Their disasters won't involve sending your Canadian Forces off on every little combat adventure the Brits and the Americans come up with.

Their disasters won't involve fucking over veterans, the elderly, the youth, students, and the working class.

Their disasters won't involve shutting down climate change research.

Their disasters won't involve politicising the National Research Council.

Their disasters won't involve intentionally screwing over Canadians, especially those they don't like.


I'm sure I've missed some, but you get the picture.

9 comments:

Rev.Paperboy said...

Well, they might intentionally screw a few canadians they don't like, but since those would likely be the very wealthy, I don't really see it as a disaster

Lindsay Stewart said...

THIS!

thwap said...

The difference between an NDP disaster and a "conservative" disaster is that the NDP will never be allowed to live it down while you can have people dying from drinking water or eating a sandwich under a "conservative" and the media will forget about it within a couple of weeks.

The Mound of Sound said...

An NDP government? A fantasy can't be a disaster. The reality, however, can - a Harper majority. If the voting public perceived even a chance of an NDP government, minority or not, there will be a terrific movement of votes to the Conservatives. Mission accomplished Jack!

susansmith said...

Mound is losing it - that's not what happened in Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Sask., BC. Hmm, you must be talking about ONT NDP with Bobbie Rae but geez Bob's a big time Liberal now.

But really that old meme really needs to change because I've always known it was just a strategy to vote Liberal no matter what and no matter if it was bogus.

Of course the voting public, which includes all of Canada may well, considering how well other provincial NDP govts have done minding the public purse may well know that the NDP does well here. And the NDP just has to point out that Bob's a lib now so go talk to him.

Lindsay Stewart said...

My suspicion is that the CPC hasa solid base that will waddle out of their hovels and squat in the polling places and leave their mark. That is a relatively fixed number of persons who can be relied upon. Beyond that cadre of true believers the water is murkier. What appears to be happening is an upswell of sentiment and fervour for significant change. That change will not come from the LPC who still, rightly or wrongly, wear the taint of old scandals and have proven utterly ineffectual as an opposition to a pushy minority under Harper.

Liberal policy is barely to the left of Harper on most issues. The charisma vacuum that has been at the head of the party since Martin fell off the podium has not endeared the party to the public. Not having Clement's access to your pocket books, the sucked out LPC can't buy a vote. They are a piss poor alternative to a piss poor government.

I have fought myself over the last months, I know that I detest Harper. I think his government, his party and he are damaging the very fabric of this country. But I also have no faith or trust in the Libs. I don't trust them. Not because of old songs like the Adscam Blues but because of who they seem to be and how they seem to work. The inept, waffling hacks don't have my best interests in heart. They don't have a passion for any issues per se. They exist as an extension of the focus groups whose response tell them what the public might like to hear. And they exist in that null space for one reason, to be back in power.

The NDP won't form a government as a result of this election. Neither will the LPC. What prevents a Harper majority is not vote splitting but voter turnout. If more people come out and vote the Cons lose ground, their grip on power shrinks. The rise in Dipper fortunes has not been met with a rise in Con numbers. Mound's thesis is not supported by any sort of evidence. The LPC/Strategic Vote crowd are serving only to diminish turn out. That is where Harper gets his majority. This whining bullshit that more votes for the NDP = even more votes for Harper is crap. It is pure crap powered scare tactics and the crap artists selling this line need to settle.

Go and vote. Do your damnedest to encourage others to vote. The more votes are cast, the better the result will be. Shut the hell up with this crap that Layton is somehow going to hand the crown to Steve-o. It is no more valid or true than saying a vote for Ignatieff's Liberals are a vote for Harper. And the animosity being shown by LPC/StratVote partisans toward the actual left and progressive public is stupid and pointless. More votes = less Harper.

Chasman said...

What psa said. I'm sick of voting against conservatism, so today I voted for what I hope is social democracy. And yes, the recent polls made it easier.

Kirbycairo said...

PSA hits the nail right on the head. And when the Liberals lose they have no one to blame but themselves and their total failure to present a meaningful alternative to the Cons. It is always the same thing with the Liberals, campaign from the left govern from the right - even when they are in opposition it has been the same thing.

And as much as I hate the Conservatives, I will not vote only out of fear like the LPC is attempting to make me do. Of course, in some cases a vote for the NDP will help the Conservatives. But it now seems equally true that in many cases a vote for the Liberals also helps the Conservatives. In Quebec where the NDP are far out polling the Liberals there is no question that if Liberals really believed in strategic voting they would vote for the NDP in many cases and the Bloc in others.

It is truly ironic that now that the NDP are riding as high in the polls as the LPC, suddenly they are not so hot on strategic voting. And the Liberals attack ad simply demonstrates that the Liberals are, in the final analysis, on the same tack as the Conservative - the politics of fear to get power.

The NDP are the only party that even vaguely demonstrates a real awareness of the real goals of neo-liberalism and dangers of an unchecked globalizing corporatism. And most NDP supporters are mainstream people with a commitment to a mixed economy. The time has come for someone to question the prevailing paradigm.

Rez Dog said...

If Canada actually gets a change in government, I hope it's more than we got with Obama.