I guess in order to sell papers and attract viewers, the media feel they need to have a new story every day. The over-riding logic I guess is that if you keep harping on the same story, it's not news anymore. And we wonder why the electorate have such a short attention span.
The Government of Harper fell because of it's absolute Contempt for Parliament. They lied, misled and withheld vital information from Parliament and produced a 200 page manual on how to stone-wall an opposition led Parliamentary Committee. In essence, they said "screw you" to Parliament, the Democratic process and to you and I as citizens of this country who's voices can only be heard via our elected officials in Parliament.
This is the first time in the 144 year history of our country that the Government has been found in Contempt of Parliament. In fact, it's the first time in the history of ANY Parliamentary Democracy ANYWHERE that a ruling Government has been found in contempt.
So the complete and utter contempt with which the Government of Harper holds our Parliament and our country was a sustainable news story only as long as it took for this ham-handed, ideologically driven, undemocratic regime to finally be knocked off of it's pedestal. In this case, about two weeks. As soon as Harper was knocked off the top of the hill, other political topics became more newsworthy than the contempt issue.
And to make matters worse, the contemptible Harper-Cons continue to dictate the the narrative in this election. First it was coalitions, then the economy, then it was a 1:1 debate that Stephen Harper first Challenged Michael Ignatieff to, then backed out of. And now the primary issue is why the campaigning Tories will only allow 5 questions per campaign stop.
And all the while the contempt issue becomes more and more of a waning memory, thanks to the Conservatives controlling the media, though admittedly, as unwitting dupes.
Never before has there been such an unethical, cheating, lying, undemocratic Government in our fair Domain. Some may point to the Sponsorship Scandal of the Chretien Liberals, as the Tories are prone to do. The Tories deflect at all costs. Admit to nothing, accept responsibility for nothing, account for nothing. But the Government of Harper on an ongoing basis makes the Sponsorship affair look like a couple of minor league, rogue Liberal Insiders who got their fingers caught in the cookie jar..
At one point, in the early days of this election, there was some question as to the legality of Stephen Harper being allowed to run for reelection due to his party being found in contempt. The logic here being that contempt of Parliament is a federal offense and as such, being accused of a Federal offense excludes Harper's eligibility for reelection.
This question was never sufficiently answered. None of the other parties went near the topic and now it has become a non-issue, as the contempt issue has become due to the space of time that has elapsed between the fall of the Harper Regime and the last time it was to the forefront in the media.
There is every reason to believe that one day, Harper may be considered to have been a criminal, if not for the Federal Offense of being in contempt of Parliament, then for the Federal Offense of withholding or breaching the Charter Rights of Canadian Citizens such as in the Omar Khadr affair, or perhaps the breaching of international law as in the matter of Afghan Detainees. Yet there is every reason to believe that he will form the next Government. Simply because he has succeeded in skillfully manipulating the media away from his own legal wranglings and on to other red-herring issues such as the TV debate. And the electorate, with it's minuscule attention span, will forget all about the issue of contempt come election day.And the criminal Harper will get off scott free once again.
The Government of Harper fell because of it's absolute Contempt for Parliament. They lied, misled and withheld vital information from Parliament and produced a 200 page manual on how to stone-wall an opposition led Parliamentary Committee. In essence, they said "screw you" to Parliament, the Democratic process and to you and I as citizens of this country who's voices can only be heard via our elected officials in Parliament.
This is the first time in the 144 year history of our country that the Government has been found in Contempt of Parliament. In fact, it's the first time in the history of ANY Parliamentary Democracy ANYWHERE that a ruling Government has been found in contempt.
So the complete and utter contempt with which the Government of Harper holds our Parliament and our country was a sustainable news story only as long as it took for this ham-handed, ideologically driven, undemocratic regime to finally be knocked off of it's pedestal. In this case, about two weeks. As soon as Harper was knocked off the top of the hill, other political topics became more newsworthy than the contempt issue.
And to make matters worse, the contemptible Harper-Cons continue to dictate the the narrative in this election. First it was coalitions, then the economy, then it was a 1:1 debate that Stephen Harper first Challenged Michael Ignatieff to, then backed out of. And now the primary issue is why the campaigning Tories will only allow 5 questions per campaign stop.
And all the while the contempt issue becomes more and more of a waning memory, thanks to the Conservatives controlling the media, though admittedly, as unwitting dupes.
Never before has there been such an unethical, cheating, lying, undemocratic Government in our fair Domain. Some may point to the Sponsorship Scandal of the Chretien Liberals, as the Tories are prone to do. The Tories deflect at all costs. Admit to nothing, accept responsibility for nothing, account for nothing. But the Government of Harper on an ongoing basis makes the Sponsorship affair look like a couple of minor league, rogue Liberal Insiders who got their fingers caught in the cookie jar..
At one point, in the early days of this election, there was some question as to the legality of Stephen Harper being allowed to run for reelection due to his party being found in contempt. The logic here being that contempt of Parliament is a federal offense and as such, being accused of a Federal offense excludes Harper's eligibility for reelection.
This question was never sufficiently answered. None of the other parties went near the topic and now it has become a non-issue, as the contempt issue has become due to the space of time that has elapsed between the fall of the Harper Regime and the last time it was to the forefront in the media.
There is every reason to believe that one day, Harper may be considered to have been a criminal, if not for the Federal Offense of being in contempt of Parliament, then for the Federal Offense of withholding or breaching the Charter Rights of Canadian Citizens such as in the Omar Khadr affair, or perhaps the breaching of international law as in the matter of Afghan Detainees. Yet there is every reason to believe that he will form the next Government. Simply because he has succeeded in skillfully manipulating the media away from his own legal wranglings and on to other red-herring issues such as the TV debate. And the electorate, with it's minuscule attention span, will forget all about the issue of contempt come election day.And the criminal Harper will get off scott free once again.
No comments:
Post a Comment