Well here we go again...

[Feanor]

Well thankfully Fox News isn't getting into Canada even though Steven Harper tired so hard to let his billionaire buddies in the States bring their lying news up here on tax payers dollars no less. Haprer is a slick crook through and through. And having a minister of science who doesn't believe in Evolution (as Harper and Stockwell Day are both in the "earth is 6000 years old camp nuttery) just piles on to how dumb these people are.

...

The really dumb people are the Canadians who for vote for them.

[RGA]

The really dumb people are the Canadians who for vote for them.

The thing is we're all so marketed to death and distrustful we have no idea what to believe. I met a pretty smart couple who will likely vote Conservative and why? Because they don't like Unions (even though they're in one) saying it's hard to get up the ranks. But it misses the point that without them we'd have 6 year olds still cleaning chimneys, 6 day (at least) work weeks - no hour caps, no health insurance, no pensions and 1/5 the pay. That is what business wants and will do when they can do it - hence all companies that operate in third world countries WANT slaves. People just don't get it.

But worse is that they were voting for Harper because HE saved us from recession that was suffered in the U.S. Umm no the regulatory system stopped Harper and his billionaire buddies from deregulating the banks. If Harper had his way this country would have been in worse shape. We survived it despite his efforts not because of them. Arghh. The guy is George Bush's mini me except he speaks English somewhat properly.

[RGA]

Well the Conservatives won a majority government - I don't think Canadians can make fun of Americans for voting for George W anymore since we voted for George Bush's mini-me nutjob. And we voted for him in big numbers unlike Bush where it was highly debatable he got in the first time and only because his brother runs the crooked hanging chad state.

I am pleased the NDP made huge strides but somewhat concerned that this will be more divisive amongst the people. It will be interesting to see how many freedoms we enjoy which will now be quashed. If you're gay you better get married while you can. The religious nutters and halfwit "science is just a trick from God" kooks are now in charge of Canada - and that means the voters are in with them in this thinking. Bet get the operation while it's still free. The sky may indeed fall.

[Feanor]

... 'Cause you'll be taking the shaft.

The right-wing, Republican wantabee Conservative Party has won a solid majority in the Canadian Parliament; (this is possible in our system though they actually got only 40% of the popular vote).

The Conservatives (capital "C") represent the full gambit of social ignorance and bigotry but above all, their ideological adherence to The Big Lie that "bribing the rich" is the only way to advance the economy.

Canadian will stand by -- many of them in naive astonishment -- while the Conservatives compromise universal health care, erode public education, undermine civil rights, pitch environmental protections, loosen gun laws, and (N.B.) reduce taxes on the rich & corporations. At the same time they'll run government with the secrecy and disingenuousness that they have shown during their years of minority government.

Meanwhile the centrist Liberal Party (capital "L") was crushed. A combination of the fact that the Conservatives sucked many of the right-leaning Liberals to vote for them, and equally that many left-leaning Liberals voted for the NDP. The latter fact, in our "first past the post" riding system, allowed the Conservatives get the pluralities and grab former Liberal seats.

The only good news is that the mildly left-wing NDP (New Democratic Party) is now and for the first time the second party in Parliament and will therefore be the "Official Opposition", displacing the Liberals. One may hope that the NDP will be more effective at calling the Conservatives on their destructive and retrograde policies.

[ForeverAutumn]

My favourite quote from any party leader through this entire process came from Ignatieff either last night or this this morning,

"I think the surest guarantee of the future of the Liberal party of Canada is four years of Conservative government and four years of NDP official Opposition".

LOL!

[Feanor]

My favourite quote from any party leader through this entire process came from Ignatieff either last night or this this morning,

"I think the surest guarantee of the future of the Liberal party of Canada is four years of Conservative government and four years of NDP official Opposition".

LOL!

Could very well be true.

[kexodusc]

My favourite quote from any party leader through this entire process came from Ignatieff either last night or this this morning,

"I think the surest guarantee of the future of the Liberal party of Canada is four years of Conservative government and four years of NDP official Opposition".

LOL!

He's probably right in a lot of ways. The Liberals become quite arrogant from being in power so long. When they lost power, they still didn't lose the arrogance. Deep down, I think they really believed they were just a polished leader or single issue away from another majority. Hitting rock bottom should afford them time to get their acts together without always trying to steal power back.

I bet a lot of Canadians wanted to vote Liberal and just couldn't do it this time. The Liberals were at their best when they were a party in the centre, they've sorted of drifted to left a bit and didn't do a great job of owning traditional left issues. The NDP beat them on that front.

The Conservatives won fair and square. The people have spoken. I hope Mr. Harper does a good job. Health care, pensions, and aging seniors are going to be a huge issue over the next 4 years and beyond, and really didn't get much attention this time around.

[RGA]

The baby boomers have destroyed this economy and most of them with any money vote conservative. So Harper will take care of them. This does bode well for the NDP in 4 years however. As the official opposition they will be considerably more apt to call the conservatives on every disgusting shady thing they will eventually do.

The problem with the Liberals calling them on shady activity - is that they were seen as hypocrites (pot calling kettle) since the Liberals were ousted in the first place for being crooks. The NDP has no track record because they've never been in power (provincially is not the same).

Layton was long on the drumbeat that the Liberal party has long lifted the NDP platform. I basically want people who want to make a better country. Anyone who joins the NDP party is someone who is LIKELY doing it because they genuinely want to make "society" better. You may disagree with how they will go about it but likely not the desire. With someone who joins the conservative party it is someone who genuinely wants to make a lot of money - to be rich and powerful. One can't have that agenda and "also" be about making society better. For every have more there must be a have less. meanwhile the Liberals - who the hell knows - being in the center if that center is Liberal morality but financial restraint is one thing - but they always just seem to tell everyone what they want to hear - people are not buying into that crap.

At least with the conservatives and NDP - I kind of know where they stand and they'll probably do what they say they will do (even if what the conservatives say is idiotic).

[Feanor]

The baby boomers have destroyed this economy and most of them with any money vote conservative. So Harper will take care of them. ...

Sure, lots of middle class people voted Conservative. Humour them with talk of lower taxes and leaner government, and they feel good and vote for you. But the true is that the far-right policies of the Conservatives, just like the Republicans in the US, can only actually be beneficial to the ultra-rich and global corporations. Their policies well be so detrimental to their respective economies, that the middle class will end up suffering along with the poor. "Socially conservative" taking points, (anti-abortion, prayer in schools, removing gun controls, etc.), are strictly red herring issues: the Conservative backroom uses them to manipulate the 99% of Conservative voters who are simple, gullible people.

...
The problem with the Liberals calling them on shady activity - is that they were seen as hypocrites (pot calling kettle) since the Liberals were ousted in the first place for being crooks. The NDP has no track record because they've never been in power (provincially is not the same).
...

The problem with the Liberals is that they are controlled by the same sort of Bay Street lawyers power brokers as the Conservatives. Ignatieff was their hand-pick wunderkin. IMO, the Libs would have done better with Bob Rae, but with his background as NDP premier of Ontario, that was never going to happen.

Speaking of NDP track record, their provincial experience proves they aren't the crazy, wild-eyed socialists the Conservative and Liberals make them out to be. Best provincial government I've lived under, (at that's many, many), was Roy Romanow's in Saskatchewan. Come to that, Bob Rae's in Ontario wasn't so horrific as his opponents make out; mostly it was bad luck.

Damn! I remember Rae asking the government unions to accept reduce hours so he could control the deficit. They indignantly refused and accused him of betraying union support. When the election came, droves of union members voted for Mike Harris' Conservatives. Once in power, Harris didn't repeat Rae's offer -- his just fired their asses!! Hahahahah! Sorry, I'm talking about simple, gullible people once again.

[ForeverAutumn]

The problem with the Liberals is that they are controlled by the same sort of Bay Street lawyers power brokers as the Conservatives. Ignatieff was their hand-pick wunderkin. IMO, the Libs would have done better with Bob Rae, but with his background as NDP premier of Ontario, that was never going to happen.

I agree. I've always liked Bob Rae and voted for him provincially. I would like to see him lead the Liberal party.

[RGA]

I hate to bring up Michael Moore but the guy really did raise some excellent points in the movie "Sicko" - it really does boggle the mind that people can be so ready to vote for a party that will make their lives so much tougher in the long run all for a tax break. Umm they brought in the HST and we're in a far worse financial position under Harper than we have been under the Liberals.

Getting out of the great depression was entirely due to a "socialist" approach of spending (and a war helped too but that is spending). Building a bunch of infrastructure puts lots of people to work - who get paid - who then spend. But it is "socialist" thinking because it is "make-work" projects to get the economy going. Even in the U.S. the economies have always been stronger under Democrats not Republicans.

It is interesting how well the right wing seems to be viewed as better with money - when they're always in reality worse, and that they take ownership of God. And then promptly start some war killing people. When Bush says he does something because he heard the voice of God - the people nod and say "well he must be right" and follow along. When I hear some guy says he is hearing voices that don't exist I make a call the funny farm. These nutters run country's with nucular (as Bush says it) weapons. ARGHH!

Still in my riding the conservative got something like 26,000 votes and the NDP candidate got 24,000. But 30,000 registered voters didn't vote. And most of them are probably poor lower middle class and first nations. probably 25,000 of that 30,000 would have voted NDP. So there you go. I'd like to see people fined if they don't vote.

[Feanor]

I hate to bring up Michael Moore but the guy really did raise some excellent points in the movie "Sicko" - it really does boggle the mind that people can be so ready to vote for a party that will make their lives so much tougher in the long run all for a tax break. Umm they brought in the HST and we're in a far worse financial position under Harper than we have been under the Liberals.

Getting out of the great depression was entirely due to a "socialist" approach of spending (and a war helped too but that is spending). Building a bunch of infrastructure puts lots of people to work - who get paid - who then spend. But it is "socialist" thinking because it is "make-work" projects to get the economy going. Even in the U.S. the economies have always been stronger under Democrats not Republicans.
....

But somehow the myth endures that anything run by government is inefficient and likely incompotent; that decissions are made through graft and corruption; that politicians are all crooks and that government is little more than a devious means for them to enrich themselves.

Following on, people see any undetakings of government as unfortunate necessities at best, or at worse extravagances for the enrichment of those who can influence politicians. Accordingly people begrude their taxes and the requirement to comply with government mandates.

At the same time the average working person has the conviction that private business is necessarily more rational and efficient in government. (I've worked for one to many large company to believe that).

Sociologically people tend to with those a level or two more wealthy than themselves and to see them (albeit often grudgingly) as more deserving than themselves. On the downside, they love to distain those less well-off than themselves and view them as undeserving of public "handouts".

In fact it is a minority of people who consistently see at least the potential for government to be a communal undetaking for the good of all. According to a common mentality, this view is "socialist" and to be hated and feared. The Americans in particular, but Canadians to a lessor extent, hold to a mythology of "rugged" individualism and an unqualified confidence in the "free market" and "private enterprise".

The typical person is a bit gullible and needless so say the private enterprise is quite happy to foster these simple-minded attitudes. Private enterprise sees its role to make money for its owners, not to support the poor, educate the people, provide health care, or protect the environment -- and this few has a lot of legitimacy. But private enterprise, especially huge global corporations, have far more power that ordinary people, and if they won't, can't or shouldn't ensure these necessities for the ordinary folk, who will?