Like Kirby says . . .

KIRBYCAIRO'S blog posting is one of the best overviews of the problem facing the Liberals  that I have had the pleasure of reading. Gets to the hard-core center of the Liberal problem. See what the man has to say: Look for Solutions to the Real crisis or continue in Irrelevance. . ..

Vancouver Centre Results Disappointing for Moi . . . .

Well, you probably were aware that I was doing some campaign volunteering for our local Vancouver Centre NDP candidate, Michael Byers. Unfortunately, my efforts and the efforts of a strong crew of volunteers weren't enough to unseat Hedy Fry from her 15 year grasp on our riding. Hey, at least the con candidate, aka, Lorne "Freak Out at the Queer Debate" didn't make it in! The Tyee has the results here. (This link marks my initial goal of only linking to independent news sources when available. We need to reduce the corporate media's influence whenever we can.)

On a lighter note, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" did a short recap of our recent federal election. Pay particular attention to his characterization of the Canadian conservative party.

Enjoy . . . .





(Cross-posted from Moved to Vancouver)

If you've had sex on your kitchen table...

Jack Layton is with you all the way!

(Did he just ruin a moment for a few people, or what?)

A message for the members of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition

Corrected and updated. And again.

Do your goddamned job!

Yesterday's display during the vote on second reading of the POS Unborn Victim of Crime Act was reprehensible.

I usually have to hold my nose when I vote but yesterday's performance by the Opposition has made the prospect of selection an even more odious task.

The fact that Stephane Dion was absent for the vote is even more disgusting when we find out where he was and what he was doing?

Red Tory and JJ have the complete list of miscreant misogynists and... oh! Looky here! Names, email addresses and phone numbers of Liberal MPs who should endure a political execution at the next election.

Let's repeat the names of Liberal members who think incremental legislation sneaked in through a back-bencher's bill, with the full approval of Harper, is a good idea:

Raymond Bonin; John Cannis; Hon. Raymond Chan; Hon. Roy Cullen; Sukh Dhaliwal; Hon. Albina Guarnieri; Hon. Charles Hubbard; Hon. Jim Karygiannis Derek Lee; Hon. Lawrence MacAulay; Hon. Gurbax Malhi; Hon. John McKay; Hon. Joe McGuire; Hon. Dan McTeague; Hon. Shawn Murphy; Massimo Pacetti; Francis Scarpaleggia; Hon. Raymond Simard; Lloyd St. Amand; Paul Steckle; Paul Szabo; Hon. Robert Thibault; Alan Tonks; Roger Valley; Tom Wappel; Borys Wrzesnewskyj; John Maloney.

And then there are those who were just plain too busy to answer the division bells because some of them were celebrating International Womens Week! (Yeah... if you're going to put one in between the ribs, you might as well give it a twist.)

Stéphane Dion; Bryon Wilfert; Joe Volpe; Scott Simms; Nancy Karetak-Lindell; Hon. Mark Eyking; Ujjal Dosanjh; Denis Coderre; Brenda Chamberlain; Gerry Byrne.

It's only proper to point out that the NDP came out of this splattered in shit. Meet Peter Stoffer, who voted with the Conservatives.

After that dismal performance what do they come up with next?

This.

Liberals will attempt to turn the tables Thursday on rival parties who've ridiculed them for being afraid of toppling the minority Conservative government.

They'll introduce a motion condemning the NDP and Bloc Quebecois for defeating the previous Grit government in November 2005, thereby enabling Stephen Harper's Tories to win power.

Well, that's just jaw-dropping amazing. I'll bet they all show up for that one. I have a better idea. All of you go to the pub, order a table-full of beer and weep in it. It'll have the same effect. But wait. There's a real killer line in The Star's article today:

The motion slams the Harper government for setting back women's equality rights by cancelling such Liberal measures as the Court Challenges Program and a national child care program.

Wow! That sends a real message, doesn't it? You passed up a chance to kick them in the nuts and choose to throw spitballs instead.

What a bunch of fucking cartoons.

Tell them what you think of them.

Corrections: The above lists have been corrected for accuracy. Thanks to Jennifer in comments.

Correction II: Commenter Ferd pointed out that Nancy Karetak-Lindell, who was absent from the vote was likely caught in an Arctic blizzard and could not have been in Ottawa.

The Afghanistan Motion. Putting the NDP between a rock and hard place.

In answer to more than one suggestion that the motion before Parliament today be made a little more public, here it is:

Pursuant to Order made Thursday, April 19, 2007, the House proceeded to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion of Mr. Coderre (Bourassa), seconded by Mr. Ignatieff (Etobicoke—Lakeshore), — That,

(1) whereas all Members of this House, whatever their disagreements may be about the mission in Afghanistan, support the courageous men and women of the Canadian Forces;

(2) whereas in May 2006, the government extended Canada's military commitment in Southern Afghanistan to February 2009;

(3) whereas it is incumbent upon Canada to provide adequate notice to the other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of our intentions beyond that date;

(4) whereas by February 2009, Canada's military mission in Southern Afghanistan will represent one of the largest and longest military commitments in Canadian history; and

(5) whereas Canada's commitment to the reconstruction and security of Afghanistan is not limited to our combat operations in Southern Afghanistan;

this House call upon the government to confirm that Canada’s existing military deployment in Afghanistan will continue until February 2009, at which time Canadian combat operations in Southern Afghanistan will conclude; and call upon the government to notify NATO of this decision immediately.

A couple of points to note:

1. This motion did not call for a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan. It was only calling for a commitment from the government to end combat operations in southern Afghanistan by February 2009.

2. It did not call for a redeployment to the north. It did however state that Canada's commitment to Afghanistan should not be limited to the single small area in which Canada is now engaged.

3. It was a John A. MacDonald style parliamentary maneuver. This was a classic hobbling of the NDP by the Liberals. They forced the NDP to take a position one way or the other which would have placed them in the camp of either the government or that of the official opposition: neither of which the NDP wanted to be in. In the end, the NDP appears to be supporting the Conservative position of open-ended war in Afghanistan... no matter what reason they might suggest otherwise. During a future election campaign expect the NDP support of the government to be played hard and put away wet by the Liberals. While many would consider what the Liberals did to be dirty politics, I would rather see political parties engage in parliamentary maneuvers of this sort than the style taken by Harper, which is to simply smear individuals with unfounded accusations as a means to playing to the cameras.

(OK. That was three points... )