In recent months, I've received email after email, joke after joke, phone call after phone call from both Liberals and Conservative friends alike asking me what this Liberal Party stands for. And, after months and months of deliberation, I've finally come to a conclusion.
NOT MUCH!!!! THAT'S WHAT!!!!
It's a joke anymore to watch our troops in action. Even the MSM is in total laugh mode at this stage.
The funny thing is, I know there's some damn smart people up near the top of the party so I question the motives behind our incessant stupidity at this point. I thought things would be different on the Hill with the likes of Warren Kinsella and Peter Donolo giving some adult supervision in the sandbox...and I still holdout hope that one day soon it will be, but....
First we abandoned all our principles in 2008 when we let Harper and his goons ram an immigration bill through as part of a budget bill. A bill that has allowed Jason Kenney and his crew the ability to pick and choose, in no specific order, who gets in and who doesn't. A bill that has been taking its toll on our ethnic supporters that are now kissing the asses of Conservatives to be heard for fear their families won't get into the country. Liberals let that happen. We, the great defenders of the immigrant.
Then we allowed this group of clowns to vote themselves in a $3 Billion dollar slush fund to prop up their own ridings with infrastructure projects. Paul Martin must have been vibrating out of his seat that day.
Then we begun to hang our own MPs out to dry. When star MP, Dr. Ruby Dhalla introduced a bill to reform immigrant old age pension benefits that has been years and years in the making, we forgot that we introduced the bill in a previous session. We shoot our own now in the Liberal Party I guess, 'cause we sent out her caucus ally, Judy Sgro to diss Dr. Dhalla's private member's bill.
Funny thing is, the party voted for the exact same bill when it was introduced by another Brampton MP by the name of Colleen Beaumier. That includes people like Judy Sgro who spoke in favour of the bill in committee!
But now, the party, more specifically the leader of the party, has abandoned the urban voter and female voter completely by letting his own MPs vote for the scrapping of the gun registry. A law that every single police force in the country wants to keep in place.
In memory of those women at l'ecole polytechnique that inspired that law in the first place and for all those women that live in fear of domestic violence, I ask the leader what on earth he is thinking. Specifically, why is he letting this ass Wayne Easter continue to make the rest of us Liberals look like morons when he goes on these political talk shows to make himself more important than the entire party by trying to explain why he voted to scrap the registry?
What's next? We're going to repeal same sex marriage?
We have abandoned every principal we ever stood for. And, if the only way we think we're going to climb in the polls is to attack the Conservatives on a pandemic that this country has never seen the likes of before called H1N1, then we better think again. People aren't friendly to those that use the dead and sick for political gain. Ask Lisa Raitt.
Where is this army of Liberals marching to? Where? I, for one, have no clue and I am certainly tired of shaking my head in disbelief.
16 comments:
I am a Liberal and am slighty ticked off.I thought Donolo would make a big difference..who is running this show?
Of couse the media being on Harper's side does not help us any....and now pictures by the PMO of Harper and couple of them fake, going into our newspapers..you name it, and the stupid people will love it all , eat it all up and sigh over this BS..no one has a chance, unless the Liberals can come up fast with nasty, but true ads.
Good post, terrific title, and I was in total agreement with you until you brought up the name of Warren Kinsella.
As far as this man being one of the saviours of Liberalism, my experience and belief is that he is a small minded, bigoted individual more suited to the conservative party than the Liberals.
I say this because he recently used his pull on Liblogs to have me censored, resulting in my subsequent removal from that blog roll and from joining Progressive Bloggers as well, because I dared to do a post that he and his Zionist friends (including the aforementioned blog administrators) found objectionable.
http://blog.johnprince.ca/2009/09/canada-should-be-ashamed-for-kowtowing.html
This man's actions have proven to me he is far from being a democrat and is certainly not a Liberal... in the Trudeau sense. Since when do we in the Liberal Party censor political debate and differences in opinions by censoring our own kind? Warren Kinsella’s actions suggest he believes this is OK. Therefore, Warren Kinsella is not a Liberal in my opinion, but the epitome of the worst kind of conservative there is.
With the above said, I too have felt both ashamed and angry at our seeming ineptitude to draw on and stand up for our values and principles, as we have always done. We should be proud of who we are and what we stand for and that is the message people need to be hearing... but unfortunately, we are not. That needs to change!
John,
While I may undersand where you're coming from, I'm entirely sure that the intent of thi post is not a Warren bashing. I would have otherwise deleted your comment, but I do believe you should be heard in our party. That is why there is LiberalsONLINE.ca. It's for differing opinions.
Warren may not be the saviour, but he sure is smarter than lots of others that shouldn't be there at all. I'd bank on that for sure.
James, what took you so long to reach this conclusion that Liberal Party is a mess. I totally agree with John Prince. Warren Kinsella is not much help.
Rememer Mos, many others and I were removed from Liblog for similar reasons as John Prince and you started the new aggregate. I am totally disgusted by the current leadership of Liberal Party and see no difference between Iggy and Steve.
... the intent of this post is not a Warren bashing.
"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." — Robert Francis Kennedy
Following your lead and quote 'I endeavoured to persevere' in the face of tyranny and censorship, and therefore got my plug in. :-)
With respect to your comment about LiberalsONLINE.ca allowing differing opinions suggests that the others are not, which makes my point. Thank you!
This should be a wakeup call to everyone that maybe this is what is wrong in part with our party these days. We have become 'fractured' and need to come together again. Elitism has no place in the Liberal Party of Canada! Segregating members into neat compartments by colluding blog administrators playing god, does not bore well for our party. This is part of our problem. Like in Berlin 20 years ago today, the walls must come down. Otherwise, we have not progressed much since the days of...
http://altonweb.cust.he.net/history/lovejoy/
... whose birthday it is also today, and who is remembered because an angry mob murdered (censored) him, because they did not like his ‘opinion’.
With this in mind, it stands to reason that Liblogs and Progressive Bloggers are 'murderers'. They should be judged and sentenced, which I am attempting to do here. Long Live Liberty and Freedom and down with Tyranny and Censorship, I say.
In order to turn our party around we need to fix things that we know are wrong. My treatment by Warren Kinsella and these blog administrators was wrong. These people who call themselves Liberals "use democracy as no more than a bright tinsel wrapping to be torn off the moment it poses any real constraint around their freedom..." or their agenda.
Like the tall man with the beard said, "United we stand, Divided we fall."
To my point. there's smart people up there. Many of us, including Warren, warned the leader that it was time to go to election in June. And June we should have.
Warren and other smart people, however are/were not being listened to and people like Coderre were walking areound like Gods dictating what we, the grassroots should be doing.
The OLO was flawed and there was no, and I mean NO adult supervision. The kids have been fighting leadership races so long, they didn't know how to fight the real enemy.
And that, my friends, has nothing to do with anybody else but the leader and his office.
I'm still holding out hope that Donolo will right the ship. In the meantime, the LPCO has an AGM in February and I suggest that everyone pay close attention to the spots available on the executive. Change can only come from within.....or, we can continue to be the party of those etitled to their entitlements.
Thank you James for saying what has been on the mind of a number of Liberals recently.
I sit around everyday wondering why am I still a Liberal. Personally, I wouldn't mind reviewing the same sex marriage law, but does that make me a Conservative? I don't plan on voting for a bunch that seems to revel in negative politics to the Nth degree. I am even starting to think who I should vote for next time in the election.
But your post is about the Liberals. if people ask me what we stand for, or what Iggy is about, I must admit I have no answer. We seem to be going through an era where our ideals seem to have been lost, where we seem to be reacting to issues instaed of setting the debate up for discussion. It is normal to react as an opposition party, but you have to have some conviction behind the way you react.
I disagree with you on Ruby Dhalla. If we are to be a credible opposition, we should have more discipline in what our members are voting for or against. We can't have Dhalla going off on her own because she's trying to save her reelection chances, or Easter doing the same thing with voting to repeal the gun registry. Remember, Iggy let the entire Newfoundland caucus vote separately on the budget.
So here's a question for you: should I still keep my Liberal membership? It seems pointless to do so right now.
Dhalla had the support of most, since the bill was actually a continuation left by former MP Colleen Beaumier. The party was behind Colleen and now there leaving Dhalla to dangle. Sad.
The point is we are not consistent with anything and are lackluster when it comes to original thought.
Bitching about your enemy is great...provided you have a better idea yourself. The question none of us can answer most of these days is: "what would you have done differently?"
LeDaro,
Thanks for your comment, but the way this thread is going with its fixation on Dhalla (micro vs the macro) it is pretty clear to me that the commentators cannot see the forest for the trees, and once again, turn a blind eye to the obvious while still questioning how come nothing changes?
"In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is stoned to death."
Could of fooled me. I thought someone was fixated on warren.
touché!
Your a good sport James. :-)
Lizt said:
"I thought Donolo would make a big difference..who is running this show?"
Donolo hasn't taken over yet. From what I understand he starts the job on Nov. 17th. Unless my info is incorrect. Do you know James?
James said:
"The point is we are not consistent with anything and are lackluster when it comes to original thought."
Agree with you on this 100%. Ignatieff has gone back & forth on everything he's stated & it's making me crazy. It not only looks bad in the eyes of the public but takes away all credibility for the Lib Party. And it way past time for some policies to be brought forth.
I was not happy that Ignatieff was made leader - not from the very start. I liked Dion & he was ousted far too quickly. There should have been a leadership race. Michael doesn't seem to have the political know-how on most things - he has not been in politics long enough to understand how it works. He is making us look foolish & useless.
We've had ample opportunites to make hay with a lot of the crap that's gone down with Harper & the Cons & it isn't happening. Have to seize what's there & at that moment. Be forceful. Nothing happens.
I'm fed up with it & not sure where I'm going now - meaning staying with the Party.
There are those out there who may say to me: but your an Iggyiot aren't you? The answer is no & I never have been one as I stated right from the BEGINNING. But no one was listening to me when I kept saying it. My focus has always been: GET RID OF HARPER & his goons - whatever it takes. That's what's really, really important. So I stood behind the Party & supported it. But they haven't done their part - meaning Ignatieff & the OLO.
Rae, as I now see, would have made a much better leader. He knows how the game is played & he is quick with words & right on the mark everytime he opens his mouth. Such ashame he was shunted aside.
Anyway, there's my little rant - lol.
penlan makes some good points with respect to Iggy. I too think the party made the wrong choice. Iggy is too 'elitist' and as such does not have the 'street smarts' that a Bob Rae can bring to the table.
We need someone that can 'get down and dirty' in order to GET RID OF HARPER & his goons. Iggy to-date, does not seem to have the balls or the stomach for it. Knowing which one is the salad fork just does not cut it. We need someone who knows how to wield a knife, as some of us learned early in life, growing up on the wrong side of the tracks. We are in a street fight with a gang of goons and it is time we woke up to that fact.
Way to go soldier. Resist. Resist.
Speak your mind.
Take care of your lip.
Enfamille got some discussion and sharing happening.
Individual MPs need to be stronger.
John Prince, James and Penlan: I fully agree with the sentiment that Iggy is not up to the job. The man has tons of book smarts, but politics requires lots of people smarts as well. Great writers are can draw the best out their own lives and spin compelling tales. Good politicians must be able to get the best out of other people. Iggy, for all his immense talent, is not a people person. So we need a new leader and an end to the repression of dissent. John Prince, I too have had blog submissions rejected by Kinsella. He is not into dialogue, which is fair enough given his War Room job. But we need someone somewhere on high in this party who welcomes dialogue and can use it to build consensus. And I fully agree that Bob Rae would have been a much better leadership choice, for all of the above reasons. Where to now?
Bill, check out my comments on Darryl Raymaker's blog with respect to leadership...
http://darrylraymaker.blogspot.com/2009/11/have-canadians-become-neocon-lemmings.html
Seems to me the corporate elite made up of pencil pushers have hijacked the party and done away with the grassroots, who now are the only ones who have the streetsmarts to know how to fight the Cons at their own game. Sad situation that needs immediate attention.
As far as where do we go from here? Here's a suggestion...
http://letfreedomrain.blogspot.com/2009/12/not-good-time-to-be-canadian.html
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