Thank You Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper and I

Stephen Harper has been the best Prime Minister of Canada in my memory.  These have have been the best 10 years of my life.  It wasn't Stephen Harper that made them great but I must acknowledge the man who created the conditions for that to happen.

The GST cuts alone have put thousands of dollars where they belong: in my pocket.  If you bought a house, car or some other big ticket item you can count your savings in the thousands as well.  I'm thankful for the TFSA and the UCCB.  These are things that affect my family directly and I will always respect and appreciate the consideration the Harper Government has shown us.

If Stephen Harper were a monarch I would have called him Harper The Trader.  I'm still amazed at the deals Harper's team was able to reel in.  A trade deal with Europe and another with the nations of the Pacific as well as many others are golden geese that the Harper Conservatives can be most proud of.

Canada's position in a world of turmoil and evil demonstrated courageous morals and emotional discipline.  We can be proud of our clear support for Israel and against Russian aggression.  I'm proud of our humanitarian efforts in the world despite opportunist claims to the contrary.

I used to think of Harper as the accidental Prime Minister.  It seemed so unlikely.  Here we are after almost 10 great years.  How unlikely that he turned out to be the best of them all.  I'm glad he didn't take a walk in the snow.  Stephen Harper ended his tenure as Prime Minister the same way he started it and practiced it; fighting all the way.

 The Economist PM was always a hard sell.  It was never about him honestly.  Conservative voters wanted policies based on values and economics.  Stephen Harper was the delivery man, never the package.  Yet. after all the Minority Years, the Coalition Crisis and even terrorist attacks, I've come to both love and admire this unlikely hero Stephen Harper.

That democratic pendulum has swung ferociously back to the natural governing party now.  There is an eerie symmetry in the accidental Prime Minister being replaced by someone who was born to be one.  These are silver linings of a very dark cloud, but I see hope in Trudeau's easy win.  If Trudeau was aiming at Harper he's managed to hit Mulcair between the eyes.  That's where strategic voting gets you.  Liberals with their shiny pony PM and their majority will have no excuses now.

Conservatives may have lost the mantle of power but Stephen Harper's record is one we can all be proud of.  The Conservative party never had a divine right to govern.  The privilege Canadians have assigned them is of the Loyal Opposition.  It's a job Conservatives, including lowly MP Stephen Harper, are ready and eager to do.

Capital Flight Question Dodged by Mulcair During the Economy Debate

Stephen Harper did just fine in last night's Globe and Mail debate on economics.  The policies speak for themselves.  They are clearly proven to be the best ones.  This government significantly lowered taxes while increasing revenue.  Higher revenues allowed a balanced budget and increased spending.

Only Stephen Harper knows how to do that.  We know because he did it.  He promised us he would have a surplus and increase the UCCB and he did it.  He did it in a sustainable way.  He did it despite volatile markets, sovereign debt instability and blooming global security threats.

Stephen Harper has it covered.  You can put Conservative promises in the bank.

Nobody believes the NDP will have balanced budgets.  They have a raft of spending promises that they pretend will be paid in real time with higher taxes.   Not even the NDP believes it.  It's unsettling that they can so casually look people in the eye or into a camera and make impossible claims.  We are being asked to believe that Thomas J. Mulcair of the NDP is a better economist and conservative that Stephen Harper.  We are being asked to accept that a party that has never been in power and has ruined every province they stumbled into will somehow be better than the decade of sound fiscal judgement that is the hallmark of Stephen Harper's leadership.

There was a moment in the debate last night where Harper could have scored one on Mulcair.   The net was open.  The puck was loose.  Harper didn't take the shot.

Here is the exchange:

David Walmsley:   If corporations move their money elsewhere, you lose both your balanced budget and your revenue.

Hon. Tom Mulcair:  That’s why you’ve also got to work at the same time against tax havens. Mr. Harper has done nothing about that. We’ve had cases where other authorities in other countries have given full lists of Canadians who have been using illegal tax havens, and Mr. Harper has done nothing about that.

The economic phenomenon Walmsley describes is called Capital Flight.   If a government makes business conditions unfavorable by raising taxes or imposing onerous regulations those businesses will eventually leave that jurisdiction.

Mulcair didn't deny that was a possibility, instead he evaded the question by promising to go after a specific form of tax evasion.  That will not attract a dime of foreign investment.  There is no way to punish foreign investors into bringing their money to Canada.

Capital Flight is on my mind.  I lived through capital flight.  I spent months in Saskatchewan and British Columbia two weeks at a time.  The Progressives in Alberta decided to have a royalty review (tax hike on drilling) and so all the majority of smaller Operators fled east and west.  What did they expect?

What does the NDP expect to happen after they hike taxes?  There is oil and gas practically everywhere.  Even Canadian oil companies aren't obligated to invest here.  There is no law saying thou shalt drill.  No one would put their money into a place with such laws.  That is exactly the problem the NDP is creating.

Yes there's a global oil glut.  Good!  OPEC is dead.  Very good!  I've read that unconventional oil can handle some very low prices.  There is money to be made helping Operators cut costs.  That's Capitalism baby and we rock it.

We aren't made of sclerotic union shops like the government itself.  You can keep your tax funded bailouts for the mega zombie corps that are ready to die at the slightest trouble.  But before you do.  Just take a moment to recognize how things are stacked in these left wing parties.

Ontario's auto sector gets bailouts.  The West's economy get's what?  Taxes.  Anti-bailouts.  From our own insane NDP government no less.  Trudeau and Mulcair have a double dose of goodies in store for us should they win this election.  Carbon taxes.  Cap and Trade.  Endless regulations.  Only the rigs aren't going to British Columbia or Saskatchewan.  They are going to North Dakota and further.

Are they crazy though?  Do they not understand they are killing our jobs and industry?  Well ask them?  Every second policy mentions ending fossil fuels.  The left doesn't care about our jobs.  They don't give a damn if the resource industry shuts down like Venezuela's.  That is what they are after.

So these left wing parties are going to cut back on spending because they killed off their biggest source of revenue from resources right?  No they won't they never do.  Its the green shift under another name.  Either the green shift works and there is no Oil and Gas industry.  Taxes then have to come from other industries.  Or nothing shifts and everyone just has to pay ridiculous economy stifling taxes.

Programmers are just as talented in Belarus or India.  What magic will make these "good jobs" come and pay for NDP mistakes in Canada?  Same goes for manufacturing.

The NDP is bad news.

Trust Stephen Harper.  He knows what he's doing.  He's proved it. Surpluses and tax cuts exactly on time.  That is the kind of government we demand.

The GOP Candidates and the CNN Debate from here

From my perch in Cochrane Alberta I've been quietly following the Republican Primaries in the US.  Our southern cousins are fascinating to many Canadians.  It's something of a spectator sport.

Even after tonight's debate I haven't got a favorite.  I was out door-knocking all evening but I caught the repeat airing on CNN.  There are a lot of good candidates and some notorious ones this time.  It's no clever observation to say that there are still far too many candidates.

Let's look at some of them.

Jeb Bush

The Mitt Romney of this round.  He's the progressive establishment candidate who could manage to lose to Clinton.  I hope the primaries don't repeat like last time with Jeb consistently coming in second and each front runner getting knocked out one by one.  I was embarrassed for the Tea Party last time.  It seemed like there was a new anti-establishment hero every week and they ended up with a progressive loser anyway.

Rand Paul

Such a disappointment.   The Libertarian moment seems so far away now.  Ever since Reason magazine attacked him a year or so ago its been all down hill.  His libertarians have decamped for parties who's policies will never be tested in Government and will never need to compromise or adjust their beliefs to fit the experience.  He's stuck with libertarian's who still believe in the Republican Party, which is precious few.

He also retains foreign policy positions from simpler times making him seem kooky to conservatives yet still fascist to libertarians.

Scott Walker

I like Scott Walker.  He's actually made progress against unions and survived.  I've got a lot of respect for him.  I could see him in the next administration but I'm not sure he'll become the nominee this time.  If he was the nominee I think he'd win.  

Marco Rubio

I don't know why he isn't doing better.  He's got a baby face and a powerful speaking style.  Maybe its because he hasn't really said anything interesting.  Who is he again?  What did he do?  Here's another one that might be the nominee in another election down the road after he's done something noteworthy.  

Chris Christie

-Unlikable.  -Handed Obama the election.  -Climate Nazi.  -Has a history of using the government to attack his enemies.  Ok, he stood up to a teachers union.  I'm still not impressed.  

Ben Carson

The neurosurgeon.  I think he'd make a great president.  He'd introduce a flat tax but he's pro gun control.  My impression is that he would think through each issue carefully and use his best judgment of the facts to make decisions.  What more can an electorate ask for?  

He's got a soft spoken bedside manner as well that is very endearing.  He would make a good Surgeon General.  I don't see him becoming the nominee. 

Carly Fiorina 

She could beat Clinton or Bernie.  I like her business credentials and she did very well in the debate.  Trump may have unwittingly helped her.  Good.  I think she could repair the Republican brand and become a great president.  There is still a long way to go before becoming nominee.   

Donald Trump

It's hard not to like The Donald.  He says a lot things that no one else will say.  That turns a lot of people on, myself included.  

What bothers me about Trump is the sense of deja-vu I get from him.  I've seen this before.  I've felt this way about a politician before.  Here's a guy who's successful and smart but obviously unfashionable.  He says a lot of things I want to hear in a way that makes the other guys mad.  He reminds me of Rob Ford.  

Rob Ford is not happening again.  Not to me.  Rob Ford taught me the value of that old saying: if it looks like duck, and talks like a duck, chances are its a duck.  Part of what I liked about Rob Ford was that he was the archetype of everything Liberals hate.  Too much so.  

I think Trump has a lot of the same thing going for him.  Namely: he's a rich a-hole with a big mouth and bad hair and so what if he gets the job done.  Isn't that it?  That's essentially Trump.  Ford has different so-whats and even Stephen Harper has a few so-whats.

People can live with the hair.  What's it got to do with policy?  Nothing.  But it will be globally mocked incessantly and without mercy considering how quick Trump himself turns to insults.  People can forgive the hair now but when mistakes eventually are made and when Trump's other flaws come to light it will become unbearable.

Everyone is stupid or ugly except Donald Trump if they disagree.  So he might not even get to hear about his mistakes or false assumptions until its too late.  Then I assume he'll run around saying "you're fired" a lot.  

I don't think he'll be President.  Mark me down as one of those moronic pundits.  I could see him as Secretary of the Treasury or in someplace that needs a buzz saw of a personality to go in tear bureaucrat egos into shreds.  I think he'd do really well in that type of role.  I wouldn't give him the nuclear missile codes.  I wouldn't let him talk to friends or enemies on behalf of the United States.   

As Mark Steyn put it:

Whether the Chinese Politburo would respond positively to a President Trump whose opening conversational gambit is "Now listen, you muthaf**kers" is doubtful.

Who will actually be the nominee?  My inner cynic keeps saying Jeb.  I won't pick a favorite; and another; and another.  I'll leave it to Republicans.  Maybe Clinton won't be so bad?

Rally Ho! Experience a Conservative Rally.

Last night Conservatives rallied in Calgary.  I highly recommend attending one of these rallies when Stephen Harper comes to your town.  It's one thing to watch it on CPAC, another thing entirely to be there.

I've captured the essence of being there in this video.  I didn't cut any of the thunderous cheers and applause.  That would take forever and besides what is the point of an event like this if you aren't going to hear things that make you want to shout and clap.  I even left a lot of Jason Kenny's introduction in as well.  It deserves to be heard.

You'll see the view swap to a wide angle and the sound is lower about halfway through.  I had battery issues and had to switch to my backup device.  It still works though.  Harper is that good.



There are a few things you should know before you go.  Don't expect the Prime Minister to be precisely on time.  He's the Prime Minister.  He runs a country and a party and a campaign.  He arrives just when he means to.  It's ok if you are late.  You might have to stand though.  If you are really late, you might be standing behind a hundred or so other people standing.  It's all good though.  You're in good company.  Strike up a conversation.

You are among friends at a rally.  I'd never met most of those good people but I felt I knew them anyway.  We are patriots and active participants in democracy.  It's not enough for us to observe or click 'like' here and there.  The outcome of this election is our personal responsibility.  It's our job to put a face and a friendly smile to our important message: that Canada is the greatest country in the world on purpose.  That is our purpose:  Keeping Canada great through sound fiscal and foreign policy. 

We've seen some of the greatest global upheavals during Stephen Harper's watch and come out on top.  That's how we know Conservative principles can weather any storm and capitalize on every windfall. 

Harper keeps his promises and reaches his goals.  It's an easy sell.  We just need to get the message to enough people.  For that we kindly need your help.

Justin Trudeau is Afraid of Foreign Policy

Its a glaring example of media bias that last week Trudeau's Liberals started making excuses on skipping the Munk Foreign Policy Debate there was barely a squeak.

Trudeau's cowardly excuses were presented at face value when reported at all.  The Liberal War room's "demands" were repeated verbatim by the media and would have been labeled plagiarism if it occurred outside of an election.

Their excuses were:

1. The debate was not french enough.
2. The debate had ticket prices of $90 and are not available to the public.

That's it.  The Liberals will pull out of an important and prescient foreign policy debate just 21 days before a federal election and those are the reasons.

Should have blamed the dog.  I'm serious.  The dog ate my foreign policy debate would only be slightly less credible an excuse.  At least call in sick.  "Sorry Justin has a nasty hair-ache and won't be able to make it tonight."

Let's take a minute to dismantle these flimsiest of evasions before we tackle the real reasons Justin doesn't want to be in this debate.

First, the debate is not french enough.  The original press release mentions "french components" on stage and full french and english live video online and through CPAC nationwide. So this obliterates both objections right off the top.  100% of the debate is available to 100% of Canadians in both languages.  

Of course the former substitute drama teacher Trudeau wants to play his Dartanion role in the "on stage" french components as much as possible.  It's really about Justin.  A french language translator of english Justin just doesn't have the same screen affect as Dartanion.  The Liberals are desperate to take a bite out of the NDP in Quebec or they are hopelessly lost.  Trudeau absolutely needs to be seen in french or he's already lost the debate if not the whole election and the leadership of the party.

Next we have the ticket price.  The same Munk debate press release says the tickets are from $30 - $90, not $90.  The nose bleeds are probably $30 and the front row is $90, similar to any hockey game or concert.  You can also watch for free at home.  Who do the Liberals think they are fooling with this?  Even the biggest Trudeau fan knows that $90 for a front row seat to a potentially historic debate is a steal.  The Munk Debates aren't planning to break even according to their response to the Liberal dodge.  Its a charity funded event.  Nobody is making a profit from this.  Tickets went on sale to the public on Friday.  What is the problem?

The problem again is Justin.  Let's face it, Justin Trudeau is weakest on foreign policy.  From his flippant jokes about the invasion of Ukraine to the juvenile wise cracks about our mission against ISIL Justin consistently underscores his incompetence on this file.

When an ISIS inspired terrorist attacked parliament and killed a soldier, Justin (and I hope he was joking in poor taste here) implied he would run to the terrorist unarmed instead of running away. When terrorists kill children, athletes and spectators and then go on a rampage across Boston Justin's biggest concern is for the poor little terrorist who might have had some sad feelings.  We see this again and again from Trudeau from every angle.

Trudeau is not up to this debate on foreign policy.  He's afraid he's going to look exactly as he is: unready, and unfit to lead a country.

That is the real reason why the Liberals seek to pull out of the Munk Debate on Foreign Policy.  There is more downside for Liberals to showing up than dodging.  There is so much downside that looking like an inept coward is preferable to his marketing team. That's seriously bad.  One way or another, this debate could be what finally breaks the Liberal Party forever.

*h/t to Terry LaPlant for the community sourced photo of SAY NO TO THE LIBERALS AND NDP facebook group.

**UPDATE: With only minutes left before the deadline the Liberals have accepted the Munk Debate.  NDP has also committed.  Harper committed a long time ago.

Mulcair doesn't know

On Friday Thomas Mulcair responded to a question about yet another bozo eruption by saying "I don't know." He said his years as a politician have taught him when to say "I don't know."

There is a lot more he doesn't know.  Mulcair's NDP has promised never to run a deficit.  Never ever.  How will he do that?  He doesn't know.  Nobody knows.  

Would he cut services?  He would hike taxes.  That's a fact whatever happens in the global economy.  But that doesn't ensure he'll break even, not while he promises to gut the oil patch in favor of these mythical "good jobs."  

What exactly is a "good job" anyway?  He doesn't know.

How will he create these "good jobs".  He doesn't know.

The NDP is promising $15 per day child care.  How exactly?  He doesn't know.

Mulcair touched on funding his day care plan by abolishing the Senate in the last debate:

"I believe sincerely that the only way to deal with the Senate is to get rid of it. One billion dollars has been spent on the Senate... Can you imagine how many child care spaces we could have created with $1 billion, Mr. Wells?"

How will Mulcair abolish the Senate?  He doesn't know!

Does that sound like someone who knows where they will get the money for his day care plan?

Thomas Mulcair doesn't know any of that.  He does know that what we need is "1 million day care spaces."  Why one million?  Where?  He doesn't know.

These day care spaces will likely only be in big cities.  Rural families will be forced to subsidize urban ones.  Ask your NDP candidate how many of the magical million spaces will be in your riding?  They don't know.

How much will these lebensborn government nannies be paid?  How long before that isn't enough? How will you handle government nanny strikes?  What hours of the day will $15 get me?  Would a Syrian refugee take precedence over my child getting a space?  Will you distribute these spaces based on household income?

They don't know.  They don't know.  They don't know.


The media doesn't want to know.  They don't ask.  They don't want us to know.  They just want to see the back of Prime Minister Harper no matter how good he is.  It doesn't matter how good the economy is or how many refugees we take.  They are in the business of interesting times.  The middle east is very interesting.  It dominates the news every day.  The media wants an idiot in the PMO so they can say "oh how did this happen!"

Well I don't care what the media wants.  I want Stephen Harper and so does Canada.  Thomas Mulcair can say "I don't know" to his media all day.   We deserve to make an informed decision on election day.  We deserve to know Thomas Mulcair and the NDP even if they don't know themselves.  I suspect that the NDP is nothing more than a collection of words some people want to hear.

Thomas J. Mulcair tickles the Ivories

What would the NDP of Thomas J. Mulcair sound like?  Listen.

Rumor has it the election will be called very soon.  If so, this is the last chance to donate to the CPC without the Writ.  Pony up!

There. Are. Four. Lights.

"There! Are! Four! Lights!" Captain Picard shouted this at his captors in the episode Chain of Command Part II.  The ubiquitous press about the Jenner and Dolezal transformations has those 4 words ringing in my mind lately.

In that series of STNG Picard was captured and tortured by the Cardasians (no relation) who tried to break his spirit by insisting that there were 5 bright lights pointing at him when there were only 4.  If Picard told the truth he would be tortured.  They relentlessly bully him.  Agree with his tormentors that there are 5 lights and they promised to stop the torture.  The final scene below shows Picard defiantly telling the truth just as he seemed about to break.


That particular episode stayed with me.  Its relevant to our current challenges with the progressive mindset.

It's a mindset that refuses to accept that people don't like their ideas.  Progs believe that words have power over facts.  If they simply just change the words to something pleasant or even untrue they believe they will have achieved consent to their various unpalatable and unworkable plans.  The very name for their movement, Progressive, is an example of this very tactic since Socialist or Liberal are widely understood terms.  Who doesn't like progress right?

I'm not the only one moved by that episode of Star Trek.  Comparisons online have been made to Orwell's 1984 where Big Brother demanded that 2 + 2 = 5.  Orwell explains it beautifully:

“The heresy of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the mind, and if the mind itself is controllable-what then?”

What then?  Jenner is a woman.  Dolezal is black.  Harper is a dictator.  Khadr is a hero.
Israelis are Nazis.  Carbon is pollution.  The grass is blue.  The Sky is green.  -and so on and so forth...

There are four lights!

Caitlyn Jenner is a man.  He has a Y chromosome in every cell of his body.  This is an accepted scientific definition of a male.  Jenner competed in the men's Olympics when he had he appearance of a man.  His surgical transformation, which was heralded by the left as bravery,  his choice of clothes, his feelings, his make up and whatever pronouns are used to describe him have no bearing on the fact that his gender is male.

There are multiples of entire academic departments dedicated to insisting, not proving, but insisting that men and women are whatever they think they are.  Science be damned.  Facts are oppression.

There are four lights!

My first encounter with progressives was in first grade.  My teacher was presumably educated in one of these places.  Higher learning they call it.  Mrs. Progressive showed me the true face of social progress early on.  She insisted that Killer Whales were actually Orcas.  Indeed they are, but she also insisted that there was no such thing as a Killer Whale.  I was really into things that kill mind you.  I loved sharks, tigers, fighter jets and Killer Whales of course.  I knew all about them.

So when I presented Mrs. Progressive with a children's book right from the school library with "Killer Whales" printed on the cover and the glorious monster depicted there she simply refused to see it.  The book is wrong she said meaning the entire world was wrong too.  I said that she was wrong and she even smiled at this chance to brainwash another hapless student.  I resist these sort of narrative building lies to this day.

These days the truth is whatever you think it is.  Well at least if it annoys conservatives.  The God delusion isn't tolerated for example unless of course your God is named Allah.

How about race?  Most people are surprised to find there is no such thing as race in science.  We can determine lineages far back into prehistory with genetics but no one can determine the pigmentation of those long lost people.  But race is a social construct say the sociologists.  It exists in the mind and therefore it exists.  That's how we end up with Rachel Dolezal becoming black because that is what she thinks she is.  She went pretty far with it in fact much farther than most real black people. She became a president of an NAACP chapter.  There is no reason a white person can't be.  But she also railed against white actors portraying black people.  Would it be ok if they identified as black?   She might have made that helpful suggestion as she was busy tearing people down.  What if one of these actors actually did identify as black?  Is Dolezal the racist then?  Not if she doesn't' identify as one I guess.

Perhaps criminals can start identifying as innocents as Omar Khadr seems to?  ISIS seems to take in rich kids who identify as Mujaheddin readily enough but Pakistani ISIS recruits complain that all they do is clean latrines.  Obviously they don't identify properly.

I could go on but this post has to end somewhere.  If you've read this far and still don't get it then you should probably go back to your food cubes like a good drone.  Progressive/Liberal/Socialist doublespeak knows no bounds.  The truth is quite a large advantage however.  They will not break us.

There are four lights!

Edit: I clarified with a few changed words here and there.  Internet custom is to declare edits.

Unite The Alberta Right: What that should actually look like

The final chapter of the Progressive downfall in Alberta was precipitated by this very idea of uniting the right.  Prentice, Smith and Preston Manning himself helped engineer the scheme to destroy the opposition Wildrose Party so that responsible voters had no where else to turn.

They even appeared to have succeeded at one point.  I myself had left Wildrose for dead, at least mentally for a month or so.  I never took Prentice up on his limited time free membership for Wildrose members.  

But then Progressives were progressive, raising taxes and lording their perceived invulnerability over us.  I couldn't stand it.  I tried the Progressive brand on for size and it sucked.  There was no way I'd vote for taxes.  Strategic vote splitting and all that be damned.  I will never make that mistake again.

So here we are and Ken Boessenkool is trying to unit the right again.  I agree that vote splitting is a real challenge.  And while Progressives were keen to underhandedly wipe out the Wildrose outright for the purpose of unity, I don't see why they won't accept the same logic now and retire the PC franchise.

I don't mean a merger with the Wildrose.  I mean pack it in.  Close it down.  Spare us the needless years of NDP "darkness" that we saw when Reform and PC fought federally.  Are the Ken Boessenkools of the world willing to accept that?  Surrender or nothing.  Those are the terms.

If nothing else the last 6 months have proved that is Wildrose is incredibly resilient.  If losing the party leader and 8 more MLA's, then facing a snap election and increasing their seat count doesn't show fortitude then what will?  I doubt they'll face an existential threat like that again. Wildrose is a hardened player now.

I don't even care about the vote split all that much.  If the NDP lasts for 8 or 12 years, it just means that many more people are going to learn the hard way.  I wonder how many people would have voted for the Progs if they knew what kind of a blowout it would be?  Perhaps they were holding out hope for a coalition?  In fact, there is reason to believe that the Wildrose turnout was suppressed quite a bit with everything that went on in the last year.

Wildrose doesn't need to take the 9 remaining PC's either.  Derek Fildebrant said that the party is open to conservatives but not opportunists.  PC cronies, elected or otherwise need not apply.

Bitterness and resentment however don't belong in a good party.  I would recommend accepting refugee MLAs with some tight conditions.  They must publicly denounce the PC Party for starters.  They should sit as an independent MLA for a year perhaps.  And finally their recognition and acceptance into Wildrose be approved by a vote at the AGM.  They would not technically be "floor crossing" in this scenario.

In any case it's looking like it's going to be war.

Implications of the Alberta Election on Federal Politics

I've read most of the pundits opining on the Alberta election and the NDP.  Many of them are spot on. More than a few of them are the sort of fantasy wish that projects phoney conclusions onto real events.  They get away with it because nobody can test their opinions before the Federal Election and after the election it will all be forgotten.

It's disappointing however that none of the professional talkers and opinion makers actually considered the real implications federally.  Conservatives were not punished Tuesday night.  They, the Wildrose, were rewarded.  Progressives took a thrashing for their progressive governing.

The first myth is that the election has no implication on the federal scene.  This is a bipartisan belief but stems from different viewpoints.

On the left they don't want to get their hopes up at least not too high.  Many on the left are already emotionally invested in Trudeau and the idea that "Angry Tom" could beat their Dartanion is anathema because Harper is also a big meanie in their sad little heads.  The script is set.  It will be personality and charisma vs experience and success.  They may not put it that way but that's what it will be.  Mulcair being experienced and lacking charm interferes with this scheme.  Mulcair's place is to lose badly and pave the way for boy Trudeau.

On the right the fears aren't so nuanced.  They fear an orange wave exactly like the one in Alberta.  Nothing is impossible.  There are scenarios where this could happen but they belong in the realm of Black Swan events.  Everyone recognizes this and immediately dismisses any relevance of the Alberta election to Federal politics.

They are both wrong though.  This does have implications for Federal Politics.

The Federal NDP have been written off almost from the moment Jack Layton departed.  Everyone saw the last Federal Election where NDP surged in Quebec.  It was both a rejection of the Bloc and a sympathetic gesture to smiling Jack Layton.  Mulcair has none of that going for him.  All things equal the Orange Wave of 2011 should experience a neep tide.  Those seats would presumably going to the Liberals in 2016.

But hang on.  Is that really going to happen?  The biggest single factor will be the NDP themselves.  Alberta's NDP win was a needed shot in the arm.  A confidence boost that will propel them to at least try to keep all those seats.  I'm sure a few more votes will flow their way as a result of this weeks events.  As long as they are kept from Justin Trudeau it's a very good thing.  We have the makings of an excellent brawl on the left.  All the NDP has to do is show up.

Now look at Alberta next October.  Don't discount the confusion between the federal Conservative Party and the defunct Alberta Progressive Conservative Party.  Its a confusion enemy pundits are all too willing to exploit especially while Prentice was around.  It's "Tory" this and "Tory" that and the sad retort "they aren't Tory's" is all but vanished now.  It's a shame.

I have an uncle in Ontario who has a nice TTC pension now.  You can imagine the debates we have.  He would bring up all kinds of nasty things Mulroney and the rest did and I could join in with him and say "this is a totally different Conservative Party, we turfed all those assholes and good riddance."  Wildrose gets to do that now.  Everyone should trash Progs at every level whenever possible.

I still meet people who drift from federal to provincial politics in the same conversation without quite grasping the real separation.  Progressives have been giving Conservatives a bad name for far too long.  It's nice to have another fragment of the old PC franchise out of the picture.

Notley's honeymoon should be over by summer.  I predict that nothing will be fixed.  Special interests are publicly lining up for their due already.  The Government will grow larger at an even faster rate while taxes and economic uncertainty will take their toll.  The palpable anxiety of the producer class can only grow in this environment.  How will those voters perceive the liability of a Trudeau or Mulcair government?  I think you know the answer, but note how many of these wise pundits are willing to lead you to it.

This should coincide nicely with Ontario's Liberal fatigue.  If Conservatives are still worried then that is good too.  It's great in fact.  My observation of the CPC is that it seems to perform better when the Party is scared.    Confidence and forthrightness should not be allowed to drift into deadly arrogance.  Honesty and humility as well should be the watchwords of every minister.  Nobody thinks you are perfect, so don't pretend.  Don't try to pull a fast one on voters.  Conservative voters are the savviest out there and they see and understand everything.   Next fall its going to be: here's our record; here's our plan; here's an axe and here's our necks; is there anything else we can do for you Sir/Madam?

Prentice: Gone. Wildrose: Ascendant. NDP Stomps Alberta PCs paralleling Mulroney's '93 Blowout!

Wildrose is looking up today.  The dark cloud left by Prentice and Smith has been cast away.  Neither of them will henceforth sit in Legislature.  The original 17 Wildrosers elected in 2012 was superseded yesterday by 20 happy scrappy MLAs.

Brian Jean, a humble seeming fellow of decent character, had the appearance of a "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington," about him.  You wouldn't know from his speeches that he spent several years in politics.  Go figure.  He's had a fine career.   There's a slight hesitance in his speaking that, while endearing, could seem like a lack of confidence.  With a month on the job and an outstanding campaign nobody can blame him but I must still recommend improvement in giving speeches.  As leader of The Opposition there will be plenty of ice time to work on it.

There are other problems too.  Wildrose was shut out of cities.  Voters went elsewhere in almost all notable cities in Alberta less Fort McMurray.    That has got to change.  Except for Edmonton, where the orange wave crested highest, vote splitting on the right allowed the NDP to exploit that fact to their advantage.

This leads to the other problem for Wildrose, the scattered remnants of the Progressive Party.  The NDP positively curb stomped the long ruling PC Party. None will mistake the fact that only the PCs stand in the way of a Wildrose majority government.  A slow and kindly adoption of PC MLAs by Wildrose would be best for everyone.  One can barely recognize a few of the PCs elected and that's good, because the ones that are recognized have still the taint of Redford on them.

It's amazing that Prentice quit his job immediately after the voters kept him.  Losing the Premiership and resigning from PC leader is one thing.  Quitting your seat on election night is a slap in the face to each PC voter in his former riding.

Get back here you!  At least Ignatieff was kicked out.

Sure it was embarrassing to lose so badly but if he can't just be an MLA he wasn't meant for the top job either.  Prentice left a very good job to be Premier and he'd probably like to go back to a good job now.  "Just visiting" as they say.  Not many people can put 'Premier of Alberta' on their CV.  He'll be alright.  Let's hope he takes the notes back to Joe Clark and Preston Manning.

It marks 22 years ago now that Preston Manning himself trounced the Mulroney PCs (yep, Kim Cambell, but not really).  And it was the same Joe Clark that blocked Conservative unity and allowed the Liberals to dominate as the NDP have done yesterday.  Will those characters work to block Wildrose now?  Pity Alberta if they do.

We've seen this scenario before.  Progressives fumbled badly in 1993 and now in 2015.  Will this be a "Decade of Darkness" for Alberta?  It doesn't have to be.  Wildrose has proven that it has what it takes to last.  It has defied crippling defections and a snap election to came out stronger than before.  Even your author gave up hope, but in end chose Wildrose.

As for Racheal Notley I must pay my respect for a well run campaign and a good performance at the debate.  Experience shows that left leaning politicians govern from the left and issue left wing policies.  We can hope that Alberta NDP are different than the rest of them but that hasn't been the reality in most places.  Whatever compensation the NDP grants to placate nervous conservatives be assured that it is only an attempt to ease them into more socialism later.  Cynical? Yes, it's what happens when ideals hit reality.  It would be nice to be wrong about the NDP but that reality is a pest.  You heard the boos for Harper at Notley's acceptance speech?  They will not make a good government, try as they might.

Raise your heads high Wildrose.  The worst is behind you but there is a lot more ahead.  Keep that plucky and happy attitude you all had through the campaign.  The NDP now heads the bloated and entitled public service the PCs built and they believe they have a mandate too.  Show them we won't tolerate the same government largess the last bunch was thrown out for.

Prentice is too clever to trust

We all appreciate smart people.

Jim Prentice is one of those people, but it doesn't mean you should vote for him.

The reasons are pretty straight forward.  Prentice raised taxes.  It's a Boolean decision.  Forget electronic voting.  If I could rig a machine to vote for me it would need one single line of code.  If government raises taxes for any reason, vote for another party.  Done.  My robotic voter would pick Wildrose.

Prentice is sure smart though.  That coup he pulled against the Wildrose will go down in history.  It's like something out of House of Cards.  Nine MLAs including the Leader of the Opposition taken down with smiles and empty promises.  Many of them aren't even running this time.  We all know the story but it bears retelling as brilliant maneuvers deserve.

The trouble is that Prentice is also a progressive.  One can be both smart and progressive.  This is in contrast to smart and Liberal which are attributes seldom found in one mind.   Progressives tend to see themselves as above the herd.  They are the wise shepherds who's job is to lead the flock.  Keeping with the analogy they also see it appropriate to harvest and consume the flock at will.

This is exactly what has happened.  The PC Budget takes more money directly out of our pockets to pay for their mistakes.  Their mistakes are my penalty.  Progressives, being the adults, understand why they made all those mistakes.  They fully understand why they had to lie to us about past budgets.  It had to be done in their view.  Else the sheep would ignorantly pick new shepherds and that cannot be allowed.

Redford's budget lies show that the party will go along with anything no matter how unscrupulous.
Prentice can't take the blame for the Redford years but he has to take the responsibility.  He wanted the job.  The government, the party and all of its baggage are now his.  That's fair.  If I'm the one paying the freight for it so I think its fair.

Knowing Prentice's craftiness and the unethical party he leads, what can be said about this surprise election?  We know the PC's seem destined to rule for 1000 years or more.  Alberta is broke and unsustainable (hence the taxes) so obviously we need to blow millions to immediately decide a sure thing.  The government could have just waited for 2016.

The "House of Cards" reason for the election is to kick the opposition while they are down.  Wildrose is still hurting from "the Betrayal" as Wildrosers are calling it.  Call an election and exploit the damage Prentice himself inflicted.  Ruthless political mastery of Machiavellian inspiration.    

There seems to be something else going on here.  Prentice's tax hikes were absolutely necessary because of the oil price (or PC mismanagement).  This is basically the line you've heard.  So why didn't they reveal any cuts?  Things are so dire that taxes need raising, but every part of this bloated government is essential?  Not True.

Prentice is playing House of Cards again.  There will be cuts but only after the election.  Prentice and his fat juicy government needs the votes of all those government employees.  Once Prentice gets his "Mandate" he will give a speech something like this:

"While I thank Alberta voters for the confidence in the direction of this government we have heard message from so many who voted for the Wildrose opposition.  We have heard the message that Albertans want a government that spends within its means and that is why we will look for savings for the taxpayer"

And with that Prentice will begin government cutbacks after the election.  He will betray the people who want a fat government by cutting those same people loose and then credit the cuts to the demands of Wildrose.

Astoundingly brilliant again.

Do you doubt this is the plan?  Its so obvious its almost the path of least resistance for the PCs.  It's completely in character and matches their style exactly.

We all appreciate smart people.  Smart people should be our friends.  Smart adversaries not so much.  Smart ranchers not at all if you are the cow.

We can marvel at the guile shown by the PCs and their ancient hold on power but we are subject to the rule of those same people.  This is not a TV show.  I pity Alberta.  I pity the government workers blowing kisses to PCs all while they silently sharpen their blades and set the table.

I've made up my mind.  If you are still deciding think twice about the sharks in the PC party.  They can take care of themselves.  I don't trust them to take care of anyone else.  They will cash you in like a two dollar coupon if it suits them.

Trudeau's Covered Faces

Justin Trudeau wants covered faces at citizenship ceremonies.  Let's not judge other cultures.  The Burka, the Niqab, and the Klan hood are equivalent to Canadian culture in moral relativist terms.

Don't judge now you bigots.

Followers of the Sith faith are in perfectly acceptable Citizenship attire wearing armored red niqabs of the Imperial Guard.

The Emperor would be most pleased to swear in new Canadians in his Iranian style Abaya / Chador.


Cobra Commander is also welcome in Justin's world.  Watch his hood.  You can just barely see him swearing allegiance to Canada.

Hail Cobra!  That's what they say where he comes from.  It's considered an insult if you don't also say it and mean it.  In fact, its his custom just to say "Hail Cobra" and then join Cobra and forget the Canadian thing altogether.

Alberta Voters Should "Look in the Mirror"

I agree with Jim Prentice.  Albertans do need to look in the mirror.  The PC's mismanaged Alberta's finances and even lied about it for years.

So who elected the PCs?  You did Alberta.  It's not like we didn't warn you.  Listen to your leader Jim Prentice.  Look in the mirror.  If you see a PC voter then you caused Allison Redford.  All the other mistakes are hers and her government's.  But you elected them.

Ontario voters are responsible for Wynne.  American voters are responsible for Obama.

Ok.  So you screwed up and drank in progressive lies.  No big deal.  I screw up too.  You don't need to be sorry.  Just don't do it again.

I'm sure Jim Prentice will get around to retracting this bit of common sense.  "Look in the mirror" is bad form for a progressive.  The truth is usually bad form.

The Gentle Extirpation of ISIS and Islamism

It's seems too soon to talk about the end of ISIS.  So much needs to happen first.  What comes after ISIS is an essential consideration with what to do about ISIS.  It's true, NATO and a large coalition of armies could roll over ISIS in a week.  Then what? Another withdrawal, another vacuum, another ISIS.

Some Libertarians will grind their teeth when they read the last sentence.  The Free Market will punch every Islamist in the face and that will be the end of it?  Let's not be like the White House.  ISIS is not about class warfare.  Neither Free Markets nor Social Programs will be the end of ISIS.  The Islamic State is force.  It is brutal, naked, horrific force.  The Islamic State must be ended by force.  

ISIS stated goal is to restore the Caliphate.  It is a goal incompatible with any freedom loving people of any faith.  There is no negotiating with them.  No rational bargain can ever be struck.  Their very existence is in a state of conflict with our own.  We are to either be enslaved or killed.  We are in a defacto state of war.

We are at a similar point now as we were at before World War 2.  Nobody wanted another World War.  Nobody wants another Afghanistan now.  We have to go to war with ISIS but the peace has got to be different this time.  Taliban groups in Afghanistan are already swearing allegiance to ISIS as are Chechen Rebels, Boko Haram, Libyan Rebels and others.  All signs indicate we are at the precipice of a grand conflagration that should really be called World War 3.

After September 11th and the invasion of Afghanistan I became aware of what I've been calling the SS paradox.  The paradox is that the SS would have had no problem with Islamists whatsoever.  They would have politely (as told by witnesses in some camps) "euthanized" every last man woman and child in Afghanistan.   ISIS would not have stood a chance against the SS.  They would not even have dared to try.  While we could beat the militarized SS divisions we have trouble with Islamists for fear of becoming the SS.  Hence the paradox.  With all our technology and might we are hobbled by evil immoral barbarians due to our own basic humanity.

How do we ensure the last of these Islamist rampages then?

It isn't about Islam specifically.  We should seek to extinguish any culture or sub culture that advocates crimes against humanity as its fundamental tenets.  We did it to the Nazis themselves after all.  It just so happens that some aspect of Islam manages to generate murderous madness in far larger numbers than anything else even when compared to Satanism.  It's astonishing that open worshipers of The Devil of Hell are relatively civilized when compared to Islamists.

So how do we achieve total victory?  It has been done in history.  Often it was done using methods the SS would approve of.  The Romans literally dismantled the city of Carthage brick by brick, massacred thousands and sold the rest into slavery.  All they purposely left of that entire civilization was an infant cemetery where Carthage would bury the victims of human sacrifices. It's something the Romans repeated everywhere and was copied by the Mongols and Islam and is being used by ISIS today.

Other methods include drowning out the indigenous population with immigrants as was done in the Americas, Israel, and currently in Tibet.  While more humane than slaughter and slavery it just isn't an option in this case.  Who in their right mind would move to the Middle East?

The only time an enemy was permanently pacified was after World War 2.  The Marshal Plan was the opposite of the Treaty of Versailles.  War torn Europe was to be rebuilt to avoid the anger and resentment that fueled Hitlers rise to power.  Expansionist Soviets were also a problem that would exploit any anger left over from the War.

Japan's case is a little more analogous to our situation.  Many Japanese had a fanatical Shintoist devotion to their Emperor.   They would often fight to the death in hopeless circumstances and famously became aerial suicide bombers in their kamikaze raids.  Even after the first and only Atomic bombs were dropped in anger many Japanese were said to be resigned to being completely wiped out before they would betray their Emperor.  Luckily the Emperor wasn't ok with that and a treaty was signed.

I don't think the Caliph will mind terribly if whole cities we wiped out in nuclear fire.  They were only recently acquired after all and he treats them so poorly already it might be considered a blessing.  An ISIS blessing is a curse.

There are obvious reasons we can't do things the ISIS or SS way.  We can't do things the Bush way or we wind up in the same place again.  We can't even do things the World War 2 way since a Marshal Plan for the Middle East would be a complete waste.  They have enough money already.  You've seen the hotels and the skylines and palaces.  Let them buy their own Marshal Plan, once we've cleaned up their mess for the last time.

After the fighting comes the real battle.  The West's most destructive weapon is not the atomic bomb but progressivism. 

You read that correctly.  We must unleash massive Social Engineering on liberated territories and then spread to slightly friendlier Islamist places.  It will take a generation or two but we will prevail.  The Cold War took a couple of generations.  It was enormously expensive and dangerous.  We prevailed over the Soviets and their ideology.  We shall pacify Islam.

Let's start with the good.  Teaching of science (including evolution) will become compulsory in all schools.  Scholarships should be provided to those who excel in sciences and demonstrate political correctness.  Adults will be required remedial certification in sciences to hold government employment and that will be extended to most other employment as well.  A CBC like entity that delivered news and entertainment with a pro western slant would also be useful.  Capitalism and entrepreneurship should be encouraged so that we don't end up with PIGS in the third generation. 

This alone will cause fundamentalists to become violent and justify their own extermination. 

Now for the bad.  Certain concepts will be banned.  Jihad and other incitements to violence will be banned.  Sexism, racism, homophobia and any kind of Xenophobia will be banned.  The Koran and the Hadiths will not be banned but only a metaphorical interpretation will be aloud.  The punishment for these violations should not be progressive as it will have no effect at all.  What good is a law that isn't enforced? 

Since Islam has no central leader perhaps we could take the opportunity to organize it for them.  New national or ethnic based Mosques would be run by the government with approved clerics giving approved sermons.  Jordan already takes this tack and its a good idea. 

You've probably guessed the ugly.  Many people will die.  Most of them will be fundamentalists but of course a few will be completely unjustly wronged.  That is progressivism.

Would nuclear fire be more humane?  It might be a lot less hassle.  Militaries just aren't set up for this kind of work.  We would need a professional occupation force.  This is all highly disturbing to any civilized person.  We aren't going to surrender to the Islamists and left alone conflict with Islamists seems inevitable.  Can we enclose and contain them?  Should we enclose them if we are able to wipe them out and stop the genocides?  Would genocidal madmen eventually get their hands on a nuclear weapon even while forcefully enclosed?  How much moral agonizing would ISIS endure about using a nuclear weapon?  How much restraint would they exhibit?  All these questions point to an existential conflict with Islamism that is better off handled sooner than later. 

I started this article with the hope of finding a solution.  Even the best solution is repellant to me.  We are going to have to lower ourselves to meet the Islamists and defeat them.  I don't see Ghandi defeating people with no conscience.  Can we at least concede that men without conscience are not men at all.  Islamists are but beasts.  Islamism is like an intolerable pest problem.  We can blast them with a fire hose and be done.  We can go in and try to save some and get really dirty and waste a lot time and be done a lot later.

Either way the containment option temporary.  It is the only option while Obama is president.  But like Obama it won't last.

Dragon Age: Inquisition Game Critique

The world is busy with bad news.  Putin is assassinating his opposition.  Obama is selling out Israel.  ISIS is feeding sons to their mothers, but at least there were a lot of great speeches at CPAC and the Congress.

How about a break?  Take your mind off all of that with my review of Dragon Age: Inquisition.

The Oscars

Happy self congratulations to our cultural elite.  Long may you instruct our correct thinking and living.

Or watch my newest video.

New Frontiers

Spin Assassin is expanding and experimenting. I'm going to bring new content to a new medium. 

I'll continue to provide political commentary but I'd like to move into cultural commentary as well.  Specifically I'm going to comment on a huge and growing segment of entertainment that has been largely ignored.

Video Games!  I've been playing with them since I was a kid.  Since my cousin's Colleco Vision and my Commodore Vic20 I've been gaming all my life.  I and many people like me spend more hours playing video games than watching TV, movies and reading books combined.

The gaming industry pulled in 24 billion dollars in 2014.  The movie industry in contrast made 10 billion dollars last year.  Think about that when you watch the Oscars on Sunday. 

Did you even know that last year's Game Of the Year was made right here in Canada?  It was.  The equivalent of Best Picture in an industry twice as big was created in Edmonton by a company called Bioware. 

Hollywood is becoming less important all the time and its a good thing.

So here is my first attempt.  Mostly I'm just goofing around with Xbox One's Upload Studio.  I'll get better.  It takes time, practice and passion.  I've got plenty of the last one for now.

The Dawning Realization of Dealing with the Islamic State

"Know your foe" said Sun Tsu.  ISIS knows us better than we the Civilized World know ourselves.  They have cunningly exploited the naiveté of the current White House and have enjoyed the opportunity it has given them.

The State Department's foolishness was on display at MSNBC the other day.  Even Chris Tingle-Leg Mathews could not sit through this slop.



When you've lost Chris Mathews, you've lost.  Everyone can see the shallow ridiculousness of the White House in that clip.  The argument can be eviscerated from every angle.  Poverty doesn't cause terrorism.  The United States can't even reduce its own poverty.  9/11 was not carried out because of poverty. Jihadists are not motivated by poverty.




It is the same sort of college protest club tripe spouted by Justin Trudeau regarding the Boston Bombing.  It is manifestly false and irresponsibly dangerous ideology.  I don't mean Islamofascism in this case, I mean the self loathing Islamofascist coddling liberalism that currently poisons our institutions.  It is the reason we haven't swept ISIS aside.  We all know NATO can brush aside ISIS in a single week if it had a will to do so.  It doesn't choose to do so.  The West is currently allowing ISIS to thrive and commit genocide as a self esteem building exercise for Middle Eastern dictators.

Obama's White House doesn't care to pretend anymore.  They say things that are monumentally stupid and verifiably false.  If we don't see it their way we are all just stupid.  They even arranged a PR trip to the Middle East to tell us how stupid we are.  Not a single person is buying it.  I don't even think the administration buys any of it.  Its the pabulum they devised for us and we are going to eat.  End of story.  Such are the minds of state supremacists.

I read Mark Steyn.  I know how bad things are.  I'm not discouraged however. There has been a sea change.  We've turned the corner finally.  Every time Obama swears up and down that ISIS is not Islamic they turn up the barbarity.  They go out of their way to show their gruesome murders are portrayed as sacraments.  Most people see it clearly even though Obama and his people don't.  That gives me hope.  We understand what they are and what is needed to annihilate them.

Unfortunately the containment strategy will have to last until Obama is gone.  I am absolutely sure he will create a disaster engaging in war as Commander-in-Chief.  Libya, Syria and Iraq are his disasters already.  Egypt only narrowly escaped disaster by reversing Obama's will and removing the Muslim Brotherhood from power.

The lesson of Benghazi shows that Obama would sacrifice his own people for the sake of his narrative.  That narrative of rolling up terrorism is now as derelict as the Embassy that was attacked.  How much concern would there be for Canadian troops given Obama's record with his own?  Obama can play games with Keystone, but when it comes to our troops we should be extremely cautious.

It won't be much longer before Obama has to leave the White House.  I am confident that the situation by then will have the public so thoroughly disgusted that even the left will demand war.

Sun News Post Mortem

Sun News is history.  It's sad.  I'll miss it.  I'm sure many Conservatives are quietly relieved.

I've been reading what conservatives have had to say already and they stole the words from inside my head.

Sun News gave air to things that other networks would not have touched.  Take the High River Gun Grab for example.  Nobody would have know about it without Sun News.  Victims probably would have been charged for being robbed by police.  Would the Calgary Herald have stood up for these people?  Nope.  Just a bunch of gun toting yahoos dumb enough to live in place called "High River" complaining about police saving their worthless red necks.

Thanks to Sun News we know the real story.  Homes that were dry as a bone were broken into by police and their private property was stolen.  The RCMP report would never have been written otherwise and now it looks like the victims will have their day in court.

The day that happened I was very angry.  That was the day rants would be warranted on Sun News.  The day Nathan Cirillo died was another.

Unfortunately everyday was panic level 10.  I watched religiously at first.  Then it started to give me a headache.  It was just too much.  Nobody could watch the entire lineup five days a week.

The exception of course is Micheal Coren's show.  Coren was always level headed and always fair.  His tone was never never panic level 10.  He could somehow discuss very serious worrying topics on an intellectual level and invite the viewer into that frame of mind as well.

This isn't to say Ezra Levant was some kind of raving madman.  Ezra is a force of nature.  Even that sniveling liberal Jonathan Kay admits Ezra "drew blood".  Indeed he did on several occasions.  On other occasions, like the one all about Jonathan Kay, it was still panic level 10.  I knew Jonathan Kay was a fake conservative probably before Kay did.  Why I had to suddenly be mad at him for being himself only Ezra knows.

It's not like I didn't enjoy Ezra's show.  I did very much enjoy his show.  I would tune in about once a week.  Let's say I was cleaning the kitchen or something.  Let's see what Ezra is mad about today, I would ask myself and turn on the cable box.  It was outrage on tap.  That keg was never dry and never flat.  One can't drink all the time however.

Please understand, I'm not saying I could do better.  My blog posts and my Facebook feed are a torrent of anger and alarm as well.  I have to control it better too or people just tune out.

I liked Brian Lilley as well.  If I watched Sun News twice that week I'd try to see what Lilley was saying.  I've watched him improve over the years.  We are lucky to have two great personalities now.

I think that all being said its probably best to end the experiment that was Sun News.  I'm sorry to everyone who has to look for work now.  You're not alone and its looking scarier by the day.

It's small consolation but these things tend to turn out for the better.  The next conservative voice will not be "The Conservative Voice!!!!!"  It was wrong to try to counter media bias with opposing bias.  Even Glenn Beck's slogan is "The Truth Lives Here."  Give people the truth that happens to be conservative instead of the conservative that happens to be true.

Glenn Beck may have the right business model as well.  I would pay $10 a month for a more dignified pay per view Sun News.  While I'm at it Glenn Beck has some issues too.  This is for everyone's constructive growth since I'm probably going back to The Blaze now.  Don't forget the over the shoulder factor.  I don't want to hide my news consumption like its porn.  Someone could look over my shoulder and I should not be ashamed to show them what I'm watching.  A grown man crying about America is not going to make anyone think I'm cool.  I'll win no converts.

What I do like about Glenn Beck is that I learn something when I tune in.  He really is dedicated to the truth and to being right.  He's also a great story teller.  When I sit down to an hour of television I want to walk away with something.  I want to be smarter and better prepared than the person who didn't just burn an hour with you.  I want the secret knowledge.  We may not be able to save all the sheep, so at least help the viewers out.

I'm sad to see the sun setting on Sun News, but I have hope.  The next incarnation will be that much better.  Good luck you all.

I'm with Eve Adams

JUST KIDDING!

I would sooner eat glass.

Today I'm eating crow.  My last post declared my loyalty to Daniel Smith and her new party.  I'm not sure anymore.

Some might want to criticize me for switching allegiances before and now possibly switching again.  That's fine.  I'm not running for office.  I can switch allegiances as many times as I please.  I will switch allegiances based the information I have and so should you.

The idea that an effective opposition is an essential part of democracy is something I agree with.   But there is another essential aspect missing from democracy in Alberta.  Albertans need to choose their vote based on policy, not party loyalty.

Too many people, Wildrose, PC, Liberal, NDP, all of them treat politics like its a sport.  They cheer for their team like a bunch of Toronto Maple Leafs fans regardless of  what their party actually stands for.  It's all "rah rah go team" nonsense.

If people were a little less loyal and a little more reasonable Alberta would not be so deep in this mess today.  We would not have had Allison Redford.  The budget would have been balanced while the economy was booming and we would still have the full Sustainability fund and the law protecting it too.  Prentice would not have left his cushy bankers desk to run the opposition now would he?  If only Albertan's were less loyal to the PC brand.

Folks: Democracy only works if you choose the best option on election day!  Never mind an effective opposition.  You'll get an effective opposition if the parties are actually afraid they will lose your support for Pete's sake.  That's Democracy!  -not this phoney and pointless back and forth in the Legislature.

Anyway, Danielle Smith said we had won.  The PCs were being colonized by the heart of Wildrose.  That was my hope and I had no reason to doubt it at the time.  I also had no reason to doubt Rob Ford either.  I'm not a mind reader.  I listen to what people say and if they lie to me then I have reason to doubt them.

I'm sure I won't vote for tax hikes, now or ever.  Prentice has said that Alberta's flat tax is harmful to the poor.  Perhaps, but then he proposed to raise taxes on the poor and everyone else as well.  Justin Trudeau, knowing nothing, can be given a small modicum of pity for being able to say any nonsensical thing.  Prentice should know better as a former banker.  The lie of a competent man is that much worse that the lie of a fool.

Today Premier Prentice said he would slash Alberta's budget by 9%.  An interesting promise from a man preparing to spend millions in a snap election.  Perhaps Wildrose has indeed colonized the PC Party? -after exploring every other alternative.

In any case, its hard to trust any of them.  I would vote Wildrose today, but I can't shake this suspicion that there is something rotten there.  I just don't believe the narrative we've been given.  Nine Wildrosers, the best of them, all went suddenly insane?  -Or they were under a spell cast by the evil power hungry Danielle Smith?  Put your emotions aside.  Put aside your foam finger and your lapel pins and think for a minute.  Is there no problems inside a party that would drive out their best and brightest?

Maybe that's just how its done in Alberta.  Didn't the same thing happen to Allison Redford in a way?   Didn't that happen  Ed Stelmach and Ralph Klein too?  It's all just backroom politics in this province.  Election day is just a day that the government thinks it can find enough drones to be walked into an election booth to re-affirm loyalty to that government.  Until people start asserting control over their own vote the sickness in this province and its democracy will continue.