Sunday, April 01, 2012

The Government Chief Whip is clearly an ineffective whimp

There is a reason Gordon O'Connor has found himself descending the ladder of the Harper cabinet hierarchy. Simply put, he can be rated anywhere from useless to a complete political liability.

One would have thought that having been moved out of the high profile Defence portfolio and down to National Revenue would have taught him something. Nope. So, down to the crowd of junior ministers he goes and ends up with the job of Government Chief Whip - which he clearly cannot handle.

How do I know? This crap, that's how.

The chief whip is supposed to be a disciplinarian and the person with a finger on the pulse of the back benches. And when the heartbeat of the back benches gets irregular, it is the job of the chief whip to pound on the chest. When a back bencher strays, it is the job of the chief whip to put them back on the path. Sometimes that means being nasty.

While I may be among a handful of Canadians to view Harper as a relatively unsophisticated individual, I do believe he can read a poll. One of those polls would have told him that jumping into the religio-conservative wet dream of controlling the reproductive rights of women would create a national debate which would lead to the rending of his political base. Given the population of religiously-driven freaks in the Harper caucus, it falls to the chief whip to keep them silent.

So, how does a Stephen Woodworth get loose?

Simply put, either the Government Chief Whip isn't up to the job or Harper is dumber than a sack of hammers and is using Woodworth as a stalking horse for something he truly wishes to pursue. Let's assume, for the time being, that it's the former.

Woodworth, despite not having won a position in the Private Members' Bills lottery, managed to squeeze in a private members motion. And you can suggest that the contents of his motion won't pass all you like. You have to ask, how it got out there in the first place? Doesn't the Government Chief Whip have sufficient control of the back benches?

No.

For one thing, O'Connor, as has been pointed earlier, is a notorious ass-kisser. He's also weak in the leadership department. His deputy is Harold Albrecht, a former pastor with this outfit. Maybe not so surprising is that he represents the riding of Kitchener-Conestoga which virtually surrounds the Kitchener Centre riding of Woodworth. And Albrecht, along with being a vocal homophobe, is clearly anti-choice.

It's not a stretch to speculate that Albrecht ran ram shod over a weak O'Connor.

That, or Harper is actually the one allowing Woodworth to proceed, which would suggest that O'Connor lacks the necessary influence to hold the position as Government Chief Whip.

Going to the so-called "science" that Woodworth is suggesting needs to be explored by a parliamentary special committee to satisfy his completely false interpretation of the Criminal Code, some things need to be pointed out: (in the event his motion passes)

So far the Harperites have rejected all science which does not embrace their ideological view. A definition provided by science is definitely not what Woodworth is pursuing.

If such a committee is formed then I will make it a personal mission to highlight other science Stephen Woodworth needs to study. Things like the science of Catholic priests molesting young boys, things like the science of Catholic priests enslaving young girls and things like the science of the Catholic church covering up those activities by their members.

You see, if Woodworth's efforts have anything to do with science, than so will my questions. And I'm not making a threat. It's a straight out promise.


2 comments:

harebell said...

While O'Conner might be the most useless waste of space to ever have donned the whip's mantel, I wouldn't rule out that Woodworth and the tool Albrecht are just doing their master's bidding. Harper is a fundamentalist evangelical tool in the most extreme version of that viewpoint. His church is a hate based organisation and its focus is outlined very clearly.
"The denomination's leaders, in addition, oppose abortion, stem-cell research, euthanasia, the use of marijuana and ordained female clergy…"
In a micro-managed entity that is the Harper Party there is no way that anyone goes of the rails with out official approval. Remember how non-believers have been cast out, while useful idiots have been loyally covered for. Otherwise explain Anders, Clement and Oda.
Harper is a fanatic and his church rivals the most fanatical islamic sects for its loyalty to the faithful.
A recent article in The Tyee nailed it on the head for me.
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/03/26/Harper-Evangelical-Mission/
1. Disdain for the environmental movement

2. Distrust of mainstream science in general

3. Distrust of the mainstream media

4. Loyalty to the party

5. Libertarian economics as God's will (God is opposed to government regulation or taxation

6. Misunderstanding of divine sovereignty (God won't allow us to ruin creation)

7. Unreconstructed Dominion theology (God calls on humans to subdue and rule creation)

This is not an over reaction it is a straight forward explanation of the convenient lunacy that the rethugs mobilised in the US and copycat Harper has attempted here.

Beijing York said...

Last time around, with Epps' the fetus is a victim of crime and should be afforded the same status as a woman, O'Connor was one of only four Harper CONservatives to vote against it.

I think he has been told from on high to let this motion pass.