"...and I felt EVEN BETTER."
May. 11th, 2011 06:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wombat_sochoI thought I'd posted about this before, but I must just have linked it at The Other McCain.
Canada just had another election, forced on it by the Bloc Quebecois, Liberals and NDP, and to nobody's surprise (save for the chattering classes of Canada, who were all Pauline Kael about it), PM Stephen Harper's Conservatives utterly crushed both the Liberals and BQ to win a solid majority for the next four years. And by "utterly crushed", I mean kicked their asses. The BQ was reduced to four seats in the House of Commons, and the Liberals have gone from the "Natural Governing Party" to holding a mere 33 seats, which makes them the third party, far behind the radical-left New Democratic Party.
Obviously I find this encouraging. While Harper would be considered a RINO down here, up north he's considered somewhat of a slavering reactionary by the press. Well, most of them, anyway; as you can see in the video below, Rex Murphy sees PMSH for what he actually is*, the heir to Preston Manning's Reform Party, and that's no bad thing. This is what makes me hope Tim Pawlenty does well in the primaries and caucuses; he's a quiet, competent fellow who isn't afraid to admit he made a mistake, and I think we need that more than a firebrand.
*(Kate)
Post title taken from the chapter in P.J. O'Rourke's All The Trouble In The World dealing with the Nicaraguan elections of 1990, which ends with O'Rourke passing Bianca Jagger in a hotel lobby, where Jagger is sobbing brokenly over he defeat of the FSLN at the polls.
Canada just had another election, forced on it by the Bloc Quebecois, Liberals and NDP, and to nobody's surprise (save for the chattering classes of Canada, who were all Pauline Kael about it), PM Stephen Harper's Conservatives utterly crushed both the Liberals and BQ to win a solid majority for the next four years. And by "utterly crushed", I mean kicked their asses. The BQ was reduced to four seats in the House of Commons, and the Liberals have gone from the "Natural Governing Party" to holding a mere 33 seats, which makes them the third party, far behind the radical-left New Democratic Party.
Obviously I find this encouraging. While Harper would be considered a RINO down here, up north he's considered somewhat of a slavering reactionary by the press. Well, most of them, anyway; as you can see in the video below, Rex Murphy sees PMSH for what he actually is*, the heir to Preston Manning's Reform Party, and that's no bad thing. This is what makes me hope Tim Pawlenty does well in the primaries and caucuses; he's a quiet, competent fellow who isn't afraid to admit he made a mistake, and I think we need that more than a firebrand.
*(Kate)
Post title taken from the chapter in P.J. O'Rourke's All The Trouble In The World dealing with the Nicaraguan elections of 1990, which ends with O'Rourke passing Bianca Jagger in a hotel lobby, where Jagger is sobbing brokenly over he defeat of the FSLN at the polls.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 09:53 pm (UTC)I also like to point out to Americans who get hostile about Quebec they reasons WHY Quebec is taking such a long time to stop being mad. Before 1970, francophone Quebecois could not use banks. They were not allowed to go to universities. They often could not find doctors who spoke French, even though they were the majority. It was apartheid based on religion and language. The craziness of the 1970s was the result of generations of anger and it's only now that the pendulum is swinging back.
Even in Toronto I find it quite easy to tell you're not in the United States, and it's more than having to "pay close attention". Steve commented, the first time I drove him down the 401, that "reality is skewed an inch to the left" at all times.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 10:00 pm (UTC)Wow, that business about the Francophones being shut out like that is new to me - don't think it shows up anywhere in the Wikipedia articles on Canadian history. It definitely explains a lot.
Sure, if you're in Canada it's easy to spot the differences - but if you're not there, as I haven't been in decades, it's not so obvious. Much like the differences between the US, UK, Scotland and Australia, funny accents aside.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 10:05 pm (UTC)Also Dippers, I've never heard that term before.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-12 10:13 pm (UTC)The conservative blogs up north almost all refer to the NDP as Dippers. I don't know if that's common slang for Canadians in general or not.
*[insert "LOL, Conservatives are stoopid and need small words" joke here]