Saturday, March 10, 2012

The Voice of Progressives

Andrew Coyne has always been anti-conservative.  I want to say that he was part of the Progressive that was cut out from the Progressive Conservatives but that doesn't really fit.  He went after Mulroney like a dog for a bone and kept licking long after it lost all its flavour.  I'm sure you've heard of the self-loathing liberals, well as near as I can tell Mr. Coyne is a self-loathing progressive.

His views speak for themselves.  He wants a national carbon tax for example.  He is unwavering in that wish.  He's a progressive.  A liberal that likes blue.  Only this liberal loves blue when nobody else does.

Read this lecture of his from his bully pulpit at a paper I formerly enjoyed.  Somehow its seems to have gone downhill since Andrew Coyne arrived.  He looks to be somehow channeling Ron Paul.  For a progressive he is adept waging the holier-than-thou conservative finger in your face.

We need that finger in fact.  It's easy to get lost in the labyrinth of day to day politics.  From Steven Taylor and the NCC, I salute. -but from Andrew Coyne?  Umm no.  May as well invite Pat Martin for instructions.

I'm sure you are aware Ron Paul's role in the Republican primary.  It's a particularly useful role for progressives.  It defuses fiscal conservative arguments by proving that there is a limit fiscal conservatism.  It's true: there is a limit.  We do need government.  We do need taxes.  We do need a military.  Etc...  Everybody recognizes this vocally or not.

The trick is that there are ideological axioms that are taken as undisputed truth.  These, like Karl Marx or the environmental movement can be twisted to rationalize anything.  Unfortunately this includes the libertarian principals that are the underpinning of conservatism.  There are libertarian arguments for legalizing prostitution, hard drugs, privatizing the military, even legalizing worse and perverted things.  These are not Conservative ideals.

Progressives have recognized this.  It's the same tactic used against them.  Progressive conservatives don't see themselves as socialists but they see themselves as everything else associated with progressiveness.  They are the elite who understand what's best and want to use the new discoveries in political thought to evolve government nearer to the heart's desire.  They are predisposed to accept socialist ideas when  repackaged as new and nuanced.     

Everyone should recognize that progressives and liberals are two sides of the same coin.  What they have learned, and you see this coming from Liberals too, is that you can always make a more conservative argument to any policy.

That is all they need to do.  They need to raise the doubt that a party or a person has the most conservative views.  Once they get someone explaining why they took the most sensible option, it opens the door to walk the argument all the way back to progressive ideas.  This is how Ron Paul helps Mitt Romney.  This is how Andrew Coyne helps himself.

RP doesn't mean to help MR but Coyne is both ends in one.  I don't think he is actually libertarian but knows the arguments well enough to say: see you should be progressive too.

That's even ok in a way.  You have your opinions.  You like being progressive.  Good for you, fine, whatever.  With Coyne though there is something else.  It's that self-loathing elite thing.  They consider themselves above the rest and despise what they have in common with the non-elites.

He loathes non-progressives.  He loathes the Conservatives.  I've been reading Coyne for years in Maclean's, on The National, on twitter, and recently in the National Post.  If you have too, then you also know that he can't stand Stephen Harper or the CPC.

His bio on twitter is: crap journalist

Agrees with me right?  Nah.  Progressive.  He thinks he's an institution.

The case of the Robocall faux scandal is instructive.  Andrew Coyne was out front inflating the story.  As the flame was put to the dry tinder of piled Harper hatred in the media, Coyne distinguished himself among them.  Twitter trends began to appear like #robocall or #robogate, but Coyne wanted them to be called #robocon.  He tried really hard to trend it.  If he didn't coin the term I'll bet he feels like he did.  The con in robocon suggests who?  Coyne knows how to push a narrative.

Look at a few examples:


See that.  Its just robo-spamming for the NDP and it's "in no way comparable to #robocon."  This implies the NDP had no part in "#robocon" when actually nobody knows.




So according to Coyne the government looks into OAS as distraction to the robocall smear.  Incredible.  He's no fool.  He knows it isn't.  Coyne is part of the problem: the media dirty tricks.

Andrew Coyne is not a conservative.  Not a small c conservative and certainly not big C conservative.  His own words:


He doesn't disagree.  He agrees with Liberals and voted for them.  How is that for principles?

Folks, he's not a friend of the conservative movement.  He's not against Canada but he doesn't realize its more fragile than it seems.  The only reason he's behind things like defunding the CBC is because he's betting the Conservatives won't do it.  You know that if they cut the CBC 50% he'll complain it wasn't 60%.  If you cut it 100% he'll complain you didn't liquidate it.  Cut the CBC because its the right thing to do.  Let Andrew Coyne explain himself to his progressive friends forever. 





16 comments:

hunter said...

Very good comments on Coyne. He has brought all his lefty friends from Macleans (which he ruined) and is in the process of ruining the National Post.

Conservatives should have nothing to do with him, as he destroys anything that is even mildly conservative.

Anonymous said...

Sad, but true.

Anonymous said...

TL;DR. FACT: Coyne's positions are to the right of the federal CPC.

Anonymous said...

Andrew Coyne, didn't he used to be a writer or someting? What does he do now?
Anybody know?

Ken S from Ramara said...

Looking forward to a Harper defeat in 2015 so Ontario can once again tell Alberta, "we're gonna tell you where & how much oilsands product you can sell!"

Mark Dowling said...

"For example, that party favoured balanced budgets. But you are not that party. In fact, you boast of how your decision to add $150-billion to the national debt saved the economy.

That party favoured cutting or at least controlling spending, after the massive spree of the Liberals’ last years. But you are not that party. In fact, you boast of how you have increased spending by 7% per year — $37-billion in one year!

That party favoured a simpler, flatter tax system, that left people free to decide how to spend, save or invest their money for themselves. But you are not that party. In fact, you boast of the many gimmicks and gew-gaws with which you have festooned the tax code.

That party favoured abolishing corporate welfare. But you are not that party. In fact you boast of the handouts you make, often accompanied by ministers or indeed MPs bearing outsized novelty cheques. In some cases, you even put the Conservative logo on them."

How about pointing out the errors in the paragraphs above rather than a wandering diatribe on the presumed motives of the writer? Because a lot of other people in Canada are wondering the same things.

Sean M said...

I'm no fan of Andy Coyne... I find him to be a bit of an A-Hole. Coyne is about as Conservative, and bright as say, Joe Clark. Coyne proves the theory that a person having an education does not always result in that person possessing any kind of intelligence. Coyne is a proud "Liberal" voter and supporter, he is as you suggest, a Harper hater, but he is also a loyal Trudovian cultist, which more or less makes him a Canada hater and closeted Marxist, and frankly, an imbecile. Coyne is one of the many "Liberal" media activist double talkers that has done so much to help destroy the credibility and relevance of the media in general. He's more like a gossip columnist that supports the "Liberal" cause no matter how undesired by the electorate. I look forward to Coyne speeding up the ruination of the now unreadable National Post.

Unknown said...

@ Hunter: thanks!

@ Anon1: He doesn't fool me.

@ anon2: WTF; OVR care to explain your cryptic acronyms? -or does it prove I'm a dummy? Then you just declare him ultra con. Its weird because there is simply no justification for raising taxes unless you are not a conservative.

@ Anon3: He's an editor who needs an editor. He's also an inspirational speaker apparently.

@ Ken S: One of these years Coyne will get his wish. Socialists will be back in the driver seat and we are going to wish we had that firewall. I've got some ideas should it come to that, but we'll need to ditch the gd progressives first.

@ Mark: Thanks for reposting that crap. True as it may be in essence it leaves out what really happened. They were not going to spend any money at all if you remember the fateful throne speech. Coalition crisis. Prorogation. Its all history if you were here and you don't have a selective memory. Coyne fought against all of it on the wrong side. Every aspect. Of course he doesn't care if Dion was going to be PM and we were all going to get a carbon tax. That is what he wants!

He leaves out lowering the GST. He leaves out the Wheat Board while asserting that its this governments fault there is so much agro intervention. Did you even notice how hard it was to ditch the wheat board? Did you notice we had to stack the senate (against my principals!) to get rid of things like the gun registry abolished, senate reform possible, and so on. Its like you weren't even here. I hate these holier than thou types for that. Its like a padre telling a soldier he broke a commandment. Get bent. Do you want to live or go to heaven? It makes me crazy this stuff. I think strategically. I'm goal oriented. When I hear people talking up defeat for some noble idea... well what do you know its the same carbon tax people. Its the progressives.

Further I like my "wandering diatribes." It is the contents of my mind. Some Canadians at least seem to like it but that isn't even why I'm here in the first place. I'd rather be playing video games or spending time with my girl to be honest. I can't in good conscience do that. A-hole progressives are wrecking the place! I imagine this is what Cincinnatus might have felt.

Maybe I should rip that article limb from limb? How come you wont do it? It's not like a get a check from these people in Canada who want me to write against this article directly. It angers me that I should have to do so on account of a progressive wind bag who IS getting paid by dummies like... nevermind. Maybe tomorrow.

fernstalbert said...

I did not renew my MacLeans subscription - in part because of his direction as editor. And now he is at the NP? At this rate it will be the Sun newspapers only and Sun TV. Cheers.

Jordan said...

I agree with Coyne.

Anonymous said...

Coyne is an intellectual who struggles with the mystery of Nationalism. His 'skill set' confuses but at heart he's just a guy trying to earn a buck who is invited to every political table for dinner but always leaves hungry. Why? He doesn't know the answer to this: why do men and women go to war? He just doesn't know...

Anonymous said...

Your hate-on for Coyne doesn't change the fact that he is right. If he's a "Progressive" like Joe Clark, then the fact that he is attacking the Government FROM THE RIGHT is particularly telling.

Thor said...

I've read a few of your posts, and the overriding impression I get is of someone who is most concerned with categorizing people and then battling against those he views as enemies rather than trying to grapple with their ideas and come to a conclusion. Here you are keen to label Coyne a "progressive" whatever that is. I am absolutely certain AC would reject the idea. But he's in favour of a carbon tax, so he MUST be a progressive. (Many conservatives are in favour of a carbon tax FYI)

Your blog would be great if you would focus more on policy rather than name calling and labeling. Also, there is a difference between principles and principals which can be important to the meaning of a sentence!

Unknown said...

Another record breaking hit count? This is getting wierd.

Unfortunately I won't be giving a rebuttal to Coyne's article today.

You all have to come back and we'll have a great argument about it.

I make no apologies for allowing my thoughts to run free in this space. I want to increase my post frequency, and so far that means letting fly at the keyboard. As far as hits go its been a wild and unexpected success. Thank you for your grammar, content & style suggestions. I will endeavor to bring you a better product in the future.

Unknown said...

Oh and I forgot to mention that anyone supporting tax hikes is not a conservative. I will fight to starve the beast if I go against Preston Manning himself to do it. We pay too much already and Government has to live within its means.

Unknown said...

I've posted that article you've all been waiting for.

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