Dirty Politics

In a CBC story on the upcoming vote on the Afghanistan mission, Harper, as expected, criticized the Dion's position on Afghanistan, and then added something to the effect of "But I do agree with the deputy leader of the opposition when he says that for Canada to leave Afghanistan would be a mistake we would regret for years to come."

He made similar statements in the house, about his agreement with Michael Ignatieff, the pro-"War on Terror" Harvard academic who was thankfully kept out of the leadership spot by the now embattled Dion.

Why is he so eager to agree? Because Harper has no interest in anything resembling an intelligent debate on foreign policy. For this government, winning comes first, principles later. In their unprecedented attack-ad campaign, their sleazy "Not-a-leader" website, and the constant resort to verbal tricks, Harper is more interested in assassinating the character of Dion than he is in presenting policy.

Harper knows how the game works in a modern democracy, and takes his cues from Washington - never debate policy, refer only to iconic events, and make everything an issue of the other side's character. Make every appointment political, and fire anyone who takes you "off message." We haven't gotten to the point where he is accusing the Liberals of wanting to "surrender to the terrorists," but eventually, I'm sure we will.

Security is a nice word to use when you want to scare people, but the Conservatives, even the dumb backbenchers in the bunch (and there are some really, really dumb ones) don't actually believe in it as a general principle. Take, for example, the restarting of the Chalk River nuclear reactor, after the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission shut it down, pending an upgrade to meet international safety and security standards. Linda Keen, the head of the CNSC was fired, and despite her damning testimony of the government's eagerness to start an unsafe reactor so they could avoid political embarrassment, the story didn't have legs. And as in the Bush regime, an independent body created to serve the public good was put under political control. Accountability indeed.

Angry Muslims in Afghanistan = Security threat
Unsafe Nuclear Reactor in Canada = Public relations threat

What is most disturbing of all, however, is that 30% of Canadians still tell pollsters that they support this man.