Fascism Anyone?

[Cobalt_Kid]

Seems the Harper government is doing great...on the fascism index.

Fascism Anyone?

Analysis of these seven regimes reveals fourteen common threads that link them in recognizable patterns of national behavior and abuse of power. These basic characteristics are more prevalent and intense in some regimes than in others, but they all share at least some level of similarity.

1. Yup

2. Probably

3. Definitely

4. Yes

5. Yup. What was that comment from MacKay about the Liberals having "his dog" when Belinda crossed the floor.

6. Another big yes

7. For sure

8. Probably

9. another definitely

10. Yes

11. Yes, Harper has been attacking science and the arts in Canada

12. Yes, Harper wants to build a bunch of prisons and is "getting tuff" on crime.

13. Can you say senate expense scandal

14. Can you also say in-and-out campaign financing and robocalls

 

[Goober]

Good to see another impartial opinion.

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

12. Obsession with crime and punishment. Most of these regimes maintained Draconian systems of criminal justice with huge prison populations. The police were often glorified and had almost unchecked power, leading to rampant abuse. “Normal” and political crime were often merged into trumped-up criminal charges and sometimes used against political opponents of the regime. Fear, and hatred, of criminals or “traitors” was often promoted among the population as an excuse for more police power.

This one sounds really familiar, with a lot of cases of Canadians being assaulted by the police and Sammy Yatim just being shot nine times.

Good to see another impartial opinion.

Hey, it's booger.

Tories’ new law for mentally-ill offenders will increase risk to public: Psychiatric group | Toronto Star

Apparently Harper is going to "protect" us from the mentally ill found not competent when they commit serious crimes...even though there was no real need.

As for designating some NCR offenders “high risk,” the association cited a long list of concerns, starting with the observation that it was “not aware of any evidence that demonstrates that the current NCR policies put the public at undue risk.”

It states that the new category “is unlikely to achieve its goal of increased public safety but will be a substantial drain on resources.”

And it worries that by introducing “retribution” into the NCR system, patients will be “less engaged in their therapy, paradoxically, increasing public risk.”

When you look at a lot of the stuff that Harper is doing that doesn't make much sense from a traditional Canadian view, it does from a fascist one. The Nazis also stigmatized and victimized the disabled and mentally ill who were also killed in great numbers in the Holocaust.

 

[Goober]

This one sounds really familiar, with a lot of cases of Canadians being assaulted by the police and Sammy Yatim just being shot nine times.

Hey, it's booger.

Best you can do, no surprise there.

 

[damngrumpy]

Is Harper a fascist? Maybe or perhaps not, but worse he is showing his cards
as a social conservative and sometimes they are worse as they are religiously
based ideological zealots. The greatest threat we have is that organized and
evangelical religion would grip this country. We would all be talking in tongues,
(tongue in cheek here) and believing in the end times and preparing for Jesus
to come back. It would also bring on the rest of the religious nut cases in Islam
with the hidden Imam and a lot of other nonsense. Trouble is the people do
believe this stuff. Social Conservatism is not in the interest of a democratic
society

 

[Colpy]

Seems the Harper government is doing great...on the fascism index.

Fascism Anyone?



1. Yup

2. Probably

3. Definitely

4. Yes

5. Yup. What was that comment from MacKay about the Liberals having "his dog" when Belinda crossed the floor.

6. Another big yes

7. For sure

8. Probably

9. another definitely

10. Yes

11. Yes, Harper has been attacking science and the arts in Canada

12. Yes, Harper wants to build a bunch of prisons and is "getting tuff" on crime.

13. Can you say senate expense scandal

14. Can you also say in-and-out campaign financing and robocalls

!. REALLY??? Funny, I rarely see a Canadian flag casually displayed, lapel pins never, go ahead, quote me one of those "catchy slogans"....as for Xenophobia, I see that more often in leftest hatred for everything US. FAIL.

2. Ahh the Canadian gov't under Harper has continued Canada's traditional respect for human rights, FAIL

3. Who have we scapegoated???? No one. FAIL

4. The military gets 1.3% of GDP, compared to the USA at 4.4% or a better comparison, Australia at 1.5%.....and we are currently cutting military budgets. FAIL

5. The Conservative gov't has supported both the most extreme pro-abortion positions on earth, and gay marriage. FAIL.

6. Canada has a free press. FAIL

7. Might even give you half points for this one, but we are no worse than we were under the Liberals.

8. The Canadian gov't exercises tolerance of all religions. FAIL

9. Once again, half points....in fact, I'll even give you full points.

10. Half points

11. FAIL completely.

12. Half points

13. Not even close. FAIL.

14. FAIL completely, even according to the Canadian courts.

That is 2 1/2 points out of 14.

You're delusional.

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

!. REALLY??? Funny, I rarely see a Canadian flag casually displayed, lapel pins never, go ahead, quote me one of those "catchy slogans"....as for Xenophobia, I see that more often in leftest hatred for everything US. FAIL.

It's all relative, Harper is definitely more in your face about Canada than previous PM who left it up to us to decide how much we did or didn't love the country.

2. Ahh the Canadian gov't under Harper has continued Canada's traditional respect for human rights, FAIL

SO people in other places get his support but screw us, I'm pretty sure allowing our Parliament to work so we have the basic right of representation is an important right.

3. Who have we scapegoated???? No one. FAIL

How many millions have been spent telling us all what terrible, terrible people, Stephane Dion, Michael Ignatieff, Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau are. Harper went as far as to attack his manhood in the mailout that a lot of conservatives turned their noses up at. The only way that Harper looks any good while he screws the nation is if he distracts us from the real issues.

4. The military gets 1.3% of GDP, compared to the USA at 4.4% or a better comparison, Australia at 1.5%.....and we are currently cutting military budgets. FAIL

Yah, and we needed all that nice new hardware for what? new Leopard tanks and global reach air lifters. Harper is far more concerned about pushing Canada's military ability beyond our borders than was the case.

This also plays to #1

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/11/24/f-military-canada.html

The federal government paid tribute to its role in the Libya campaign Thursday with a flashy display of military might on Parliament Hill, a ceremony that some observers viewed as a way of declaring Canada's more muscular role on the global stage.

The celebratory event, which was attended by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Defence Minister Peter MacKay as well as a host of military officials, included a flypast by CF-18 fighter jets, a 21-gun salute and the awarding of a Meritorious Service Cross (Military Division) to Lt.-Gen. Charles Bouchard, the Canadian air force general who commanded the NATO mission in Libya.

Some saw it as a conventional victory parade. "It is a celebration of sorts, there's no question, but it's within military tradition," said Michel Drapeau, a professor of military law at the University of Ottawa, who pointed to similar victory parades held in Canada for V-Day and the Korean War.

But others remarked on how out-of-character the ceremony seemed for a country that for decades has tended to play down its military. Stephen Clarkson, a University of Toronto professor with an expertise in Canadian foreign policy, views the ceremony as an exercise in "self-glorification."

And of course the F-35 fiasco.

5. The Conservative gov't has supported both the most extreme pro-abortion positions on earth, and gay marriage. FAIL.

The most extreme on the earth, what does that even mean? They've also been accused of suppression of women rights groups apparently we achieved equality in this country the moment the conservatives took office. There has definitely been a cooling of advocacy for all sort of groups in country, what's the point when the PM doesn't even listen to his own MPs.

6. Canada has a free press. FAIL

Not the way we had it before Harper took over. The first thing he did was clip the wings of the Ottawa press corps supposedly because they just weren't doing a good job. His idea of open relations with the press is having them present a list of questions which he decides to answer..or not. The conservative government has one of the worst records for open access to information, I recall the incident of conservative spokesmen a few years ago running away from CBC reporters because they didn't want to talk about the ongoing investigation into in-and-out campaign financing. One again it's all relative.

7. Might even give you half points for this one, but we are no worse than we were under the Liberals.

I disagree, but we live in a age when governments frequently use this issue to enact laws that restrict citizens freedoms, we're not alone in this.

8. The Canadian gov't exercises tolerance of all religions. FAIL

I was thinking more about Harper's own close association with the Christian right in Canada, but that's his right I guess. It isn't something I like to see in a leader, it's a multi-cultural nation and I don't think any one religion should get preference.

9. Once again, half points....in fact, I'll even give you full points.

I accept the science behind climate change and that indicates that we may in fact be destroying ourselves by current industrial development, especially the burning of fossil fuels, so I think in this area Harper may turn out to be one of our worst leaders ever. He's being faithful to the industrial base that put him in power at the likely cost of all of us. This is the big one for me, I think Harper and the conservatives are trading our future for the appearance of prosperity today.

10. Half points

CAW economist decries Harper's 'dog whistle' attack on unions - The Globe and Mail

Unimpressed with a Tory private member’s bill demanding unions publicly disclose their financial statements, Jim Stanford is accusing Stephen Harper’s government of “dog whistle” politics.

“Blowing a whistle that only the dogs can hear (i.e. the Conservatives’ red-meat base) while allowing the leadership to stand back and look statesmanlike,” the Canadian Autoworkers Union told The Globe in an email, explaining what he thinks is really behind the bill.

11. FAIL completely.

Several thousand scientists would disagree, when was the last time you saw academics marching on Parliament in Canada.

Harper’s attack on science: No science, no evidence, no truth, no democracy | Academic Matters

He's about as anti-intellectual as you get when it comes to PMs in this country.

12. Half points

13. Not even close. FAIL.

Really, what exactly was going on with Duffy but cronyism and corruption. I also don't buy it that HArper wasn't calling the shots when it came to trying to cover it up. If one thing has been made clear in the last seven years, he's in charge...then suddenly he's not whenever something goes wrong.

14. FAIL completely, even according to the Canadian courts.

They've already been convicted of violating the election laws in their first election where the conservatives were running on a platform of accountability and transparency, that alone should indicate what Harper thinks of democracy. I also seriously doubt one low level staffer in Guelph ran an illegal robocalls campaign that spanned the nation and used extensive conservative compiled non-supporter lists.

That is 2 1/2 points out of 14.

You're delusional.

I get that it may not be pleasant being a Harper loyalist right now, but once again personally attacking people who are pointing out the glaring gaps in our democracy under the conservative PM kind of proves my point.

 

[Goober]

It's all relative, Harper is definitely more in your face about Canada than previous PM who left it up to us to decide how much we did or didn't love the country.



SO people in other places get his support but screw us, I'm pretty sure allowing our Parliament to work so we have the basic right of representation is an important right.



How many millions have been spent telling us all what terrible, terrible people, Stephane Dion, Michael Ignatieff, Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau are. Harper went as far as to attack his manhood in the mailout that a lot of conservatives turned their noses up at. The only way that Harper looks any good while he screws the nation is if he distracts us from the real issues.



Yah, and we needed all that nice new hardware for what? new Leopard tanks and global reach air lifters. Harper is far more concerned about pushing Canada's military ability beyond our borders than was the case.

This also plays to #1

Analysis | Is Harper trying to increase Canada's military might? - Canada - CBC News



And of course the F-35 fiasco.



The most extreme on the earth, what does that even mean? They've also been accused of suppression of women rights groups apparently we achieved equality in this country the moment the conservatives took office. There has definitely been a cooling of advocacy for all sort of groups in country, what's the point when the PM doesn't even listen to his own MPs.



Not the way we had it before Harper took over. The first thing he did was clip the wings of the Ottawa press corps supposedly because they just weren't doing a good job. His idea of open relations with the press is having them present a list of questions which he decides to answer..or not. The conservative government has one of the worst records for open access to information, I recall the incident of conservative spokesmen a few years ago running away from CBC reporters because they didn't want to talk about the ongoing investigation into in-and-out campaign financing. One again it's all relative.



I disagree, but we live in a age when governments frequently use this issue to enact laws that restrict citizens freedoms, we're not alone in this.



I was thinking more about Harper's own close association with the Christian right in Canada, but that's his right I guess. It isn't something I like to see in a leader, it's a multi-cultural nation and I don't think any one religion should get preference.



I accept the science behind climate change and that indicates that we may in fact be destroying ourselves by current industrial development, especially the burning of fossil fuels, so I think in this area Harper may turn out to be one of our worst leaders ever. He's being faithful to the industrial base that put him in power at the likely cost of all of us. This is the big one for me, I think Harper and the conservatives are trading our future for the appearance of prosperity today.



CAW economist decries Harper's 'dog whistle' attack on unions - The Globe and Mail





Several thousand scientists would disagree, when was the last time you saw academics marching on Parliament in Canada.

Harper’s attack on science: No science, no evidence, no truth, no democracy | Academic Matters

He's about as anti-intellectual as you get when it comes to PMs in this country.

12. Half points



Really, what exactly was going on with Duffy but cronyism and corruption. I also don't buy it that HArper wasn't calling the shots when it came to trying to cover it up. If one thing has been made clear in the last seven years, he's in charge...then suddenly he's not whenever something goes wrong.



They've already been convicted of violating the election laws in their first election where the conservatives were running on a platform of accountability and transparency, that alone should indicate what Harper thinks of democracy. I also seriously doubt one low level staffer in Guelph ran an illegal robocalls campaign that spanned the nation and used extensive conservative compiled non-supporter lists.



I get that it may not be pleasant being a Harper loyalist right now, but once again personally attacking people who are pointing out the glaring gaps in our democracy under the conservative PM kind of proves my point.

And how was Democracy under Chretien- using the RCMP as his 3rd world Police Force.

 

[hunboldt]

Mckay's comment should raise a few eyebrows. AFAIK, Belinda Stronach never commented on their relationship- she apparently just wrote it off as 'wiser for the experience'.

Mom Boucher and his crew would be rather proud to call their femslaves their B------s. but coming from the second most powerful man in the government - we should be concerned with just what the H--l goes on in his mind...

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

And how was Democracy under Chretien- using the RCMP as his 3rd world Police Force.

It wasn't good, it pissed me off to see Sergeant Pepper attacking protesters demonstrating for democracy and against a dictator that was behind a genocide on East Timor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_invasion_of_East_Timor

The Indonesian invasion of East Timor began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian military invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism. The overthrow of a popular and briefly Fretilin-led government sparked a violent quarter-century occupation in which between approximately 100–180,000 soldiers and civilians are estimated to have been killed or starved.

But Chretien hasn't been in power for almost a decade, we need to be concerned about what's being done in our name now.

Chretien isn't the standard we should be demanding, respect for real democracy and citizens rights are. Constantly pulling Chretien out of your *** just makes you look like one.

 

[Goober]

It wasn't good, it pissed me off to see Sergeant Pepper attacking protesters demonstrating for democracy and against a dictator that was behind a genocide on East Timor.

Indonesian invasion of East Timor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nothing about those Security Guys he had carrying weapons

But Chretien hasn't been in power for almost a decade, we need to be concerned about what's being done in our name now.

Chretien isn't the standard we should be demanding, respect for real democracy and citizens rights are. Constantly pulling Chretien out of your *** just makes you look like one.

Chretien was the standard for quite some time.
Nothing about his using the RCMP to go after a Civil Servant?
Now try to be polite. Children are watching. And yes they can read.

 

[hunboldt]

Best you can do, no surprise there.

BTW, I suspect my cat is Fascist, for some reason, Goob..

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

Nothing about those Security Guys he had carrying weapons

Chretien was the standard for quite some time.
Nothing about his using the RCMP to go after a Civil Servant?
Now try to be polite. Children are watching. And yes they can read.

Here? I think most have been scared off long ago.

He was Pm, he was also a lot more democratic in terms of allowing his caucus to do pretty much what they liked...including plotting behind the scenes to replace him like Martin did for years.

With Harper the conservatives seem to believe they have achieved their dreams of a glorious leader to lead us all to button down nirvana. Harper's kind of excess is a lot scarier than Chretien's because it has a purpose, and it's not a good one if you're not part of the cult.

 

[hunboldt]

And how was Democracy under Chretien- using the RCMP as his 3rd world Police Force.

We've moved past him, Goob- or before him...

 

[Colpy]

It's all relative, Harper is definitely more in your face about Canada than previous PM who left it up to us to decide how much we did or didn't love the country.
.

Actually, it is relative here, which is the point. Rabid fascist nationalism is never relative, it is monolithic.

 

[Goober]

Here? I think most have been scared off long ago.

He was Pm, he was also a lot more democratic in terms of allowing his caucus to do pretty much what they liked...including plotting behind the scenes to replace him like Martin did for years.

With Harper the conservatives seem to believe they have achieved their dreams of a glorious leader to lead us all to button down nirvana. Harper's kind of excess is a lot scarier than Chretien's because it has a purpose, and it's not a good one if you're not part of the cult.

If Harper's Cabinet Ministers said 1/10th of what Chretien's did the press would be on Harper like stink on a fart.

 

[Colpy]

SO people in other places get his support but screw us, I'm pretty sure allowing our Parliament to work so we have the basic right of representation is an important right.
.

You do have representation....you have an elected MP, don't you??

How many millions have been spent telling us all what terrible, terrible people, Stephane Dion, Michael Ignatieff, Thomas Mulcair and Justin Trudeau are. Harper went as far as to attack his manhood in the mailout that a lot of conservatives turned their noses up at. The only way that Harper looks any good while he screws the nation is if he distracts us from the real issues.
.

Ah....that is called POLITICS. Good Lord, if you listened to the opposition, you'd think Harper sat at the right hand of Satan. Fascist scapegoats are GROUPS (you know, like Jews) not individual political rivals.

Yah, and we needed all that nice new hardware for what? new Leopard tanks and global reach air lifters. Harper is far more concerned about pushing Canada's military ability beyond our borders than was the case.

This also plays to #1

Analysis | Is Harper trying to increase Canada's military might? - Canada - CBC News

And of course the F-35 fiasco.

.

War. We just finished one in Afghanistan. BTW, you do understand defense is the PRIMARY responsibility of any government??

We are so armed up that in the Libyan (very limited) air war we ran out of ammo after ONE WEEK, and had to beg the USA for more.

Unless you can see the future, we need a competent military. And Canada is HARDLY militaristic.

The most extreme on the earth, what does that even mean? They've also been accused of suppression of women rights groups apparently we achieved equality in this country the moment the conservatives took office. There has definitely been a cooling of advocacy for all sort of groups in country, what's the point when the PM doesn't even listen to his own MPs.
.

We have NO abortion law. In Canada, it is perfectly legal to interupt any natural birth, smash open the baby's head and scramble its brains with forcepts, and then pull the body out of the birth canal. You can count on one hand the countries in which that is legal...China, North Korea etc, It is NOT legal in ANY of the northern European social democracies.

That is extremeist be definition.

I
Not the way we had it before Harper took over. The first thing he did was clip the wings of the Ottawa press corps supposedly because they just weren't doing a good job. His idea of open relations with the press is having them present a list of questions which he decides to answer..or not. The conservative government has one of the worst records for open access to information, I recall the incident of conservative spokesmen a few years ago running away from CBC reporters because they didn't want to talk about the ongoing investigation into in-and-out campaign financing. One again it's all relative.
.

This is NOT the USA, where the gov't is held to task by the media....we have Question Period for that...

The Press can print what they please....that is a free press by definition.

I was thinking more about Harper's own close association with the Christian right in Canada, but that's his right I guess. It isn't something I like to see in a leader, it's a multi-cultural nation and I don't think any one religion should get preference.
.

Harper is a Christian. So what?? No religion is persecuted in Canada.

 

[The Old Medic]

If any of you had even the slightest idea of what Facism was, you would never compare ANY Canadian government to it.

Those that refuse to study history are likely to relive the same kinds of things that history has already dealt with.

 

[JamesBondo]

It wasn't good, it pissed me off to see Sergeant Pepper attacking protesters demonstrating for democracy and against a dictator that was behind a genocide on East Timor.

Indonesian invasion of East Timor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



But Chretien hasn't been in power for almost a decade, we need to be concerned about what's being done in our name now.

Chretien isn't the standard we should be demanding, respect for real democracy and citizens rights are. Constantly pulling Chretien out of your *** just makes you look like one.

yep, don't bring up cretien because it makes harper look good.

 

[captain morgan]

Good to see another impartial opinion.

It's never ceases to amaze me on how those that don't get what they want throw these never-ending tantrums, complete with finger-pointing and labels of fascists and/or references to the Nazis.

... Personally, I don't think that there is a shade of purple deep enough to fully convey the true thoughts on the OP