Harper and Nixon
- Thread starter Cobalt_Kid
- Start date
No argument here.
Most people would rather spend time dissecting the stats and performance of their favourite sports team than paying attention to the economy, society, politics, and who represents them.
It's not like this is the first time this parallel has been examined.
The Canadian Nixon | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
So if Harper has been busy attacking the foundations of our political system for years, is it any wonder that the PMO acts as if there are no checks on its power?
As these institutions are there to serve the people of Canada through our elected Parliamentary system, by constantly attacking them, Harper is in fact attacking all of us.
This puts things like in-and-out campaign financing and robocalls in perspective as well as vicious attack campaigns created within the PMO. Harper isn't interested in governing Canada in the traditional Parliamentary sense, he's interested in undermining and destroying as much of the existing infrastructure then assuming the control for himself in the PMO...where as we've seen recently they act as a completely independent power structure.
This is how extreme governments like fascists and communists rule.
We've got a choice next election, we can continue down the road to absolute government with the "conservative" party or stand up for the freedoms this country used to stand for.
The Canadian Nixon | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
So if Harper has been busy attacking the foundations of our political system for years, is it any wonder that the PMO acts as if there are no checks on its power?
As these institutions are there to serve the people of Canada through our elected Parliamentary system, by constantly attacking them, Harper is in fact attacking all of us.
This puts things like in-and-out campaign financing and robocalls in perspective as well as vicious attack campaigns created within the PMO. Harper isn't interested in governing Canada in the traditional Parliamentary sense, he's interested in undermining and destroying as much of the existing infrastructure then assuming the control for himself in the PMO...where as we've seen recently they act as a completely independent power structure.
This is how extreme governments like fascists and communists rule.
We've got a choice next election, we can continue down the road to absolute government with the "conservative" party or stand up for the freedoms this country used to stand for.
One wonders why the Guardian would have thought this diatribe would be of interest to its UK readers.
I also note that the opinion piece is over 5 years old, but I guess when you're a dedicated "googler" that doesn't make much difference.
Where do the comparisons to a Nixon-type morality come from?
Not helping the Conservative case was their leader becoming the first prime minister to be found in contempt of parliament. It was for refusing to share basic information on program costing with parliament’s democratically-elected representatives.
Not helping was the prime minister’s instituting of an unprecedented vetting and censorship system wherein all information is controlled from the centre. Resultant muzzling stories are extraordinary. The science community is so distrusted that Harper operatives, in part of what commentator Allan Gregg sees as an Orwellian obsession, shadows distinguished scientists with chaperones – media minders as they’re called – to see they don’t step out of line.
Not helping have been many other developments. Campaigns to discredit opponents were a staple of the Nixon years and have been, though not to the same degree, of the Harper years. Targets include, to name just a few, diplomat Richard Colvin, Veterans’ affairs advocate Sean Bruyea, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, and budget officer Kevin Page. Between elections, the Harper team has brought in character-assassination advertising, much of it dishonest or out of context, to a degree far beyond what our politics has seen before.
Nixon used the machinery of state in an attempt to throttle or subvert the democratic process. Among the anti-democratic actions of the Harper government have been the record or near-record use of closure and time limitation tactics to cut of parliamentary debate, the shutting down or prorogation of parliament for crass political purposes, the politicization of the bureaucracy to the point where civil servants were once used as stooges in a fake citizenship renewal ceremony. Additionally there’s been the undermining of oversight bodies and abuse of process as seen in the use of an all-consuming omnibus bill
Is Harperland our Nixonland? | iPolitics
Not helping the Conservative case was their leader becoming the first prime minister to be found in contempt of parliament. It was for refusing to share basic information on program costing with parliament’s democratically-elected representatives.
Not helping was the prime minister’s instituting of an unprecedented vetting and censorship system wherein all information is controlled from the centre. Resultant muzzling stories are extraordinary. The science community is so distrusted that Harper operatives, in part of what commentator Allan Gregg sees as an Orwellian obsession, shadows distinguished scientists with chaperones – media minders as they’re called – to see they don’t step out of line.
Not helping have been many other developments. Campaigns to discredit opponents were a staple of the Nixon years and have been, though not to the same degree, of the Harper years. Targets include, to name just a few, diplomat Richard Colvin, Veterans’ affairs advocate Sean Bruyea, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, and budget officer Kevin Page. Between elections, the Harper team has brought in character-assassination advertising, much of it dishonest or out of context, to a degree far beyond what our politics has seen before.
Nixon used the machinery of state in an attempt to throttle or subvert the democratic process. Among the anti-democratic actions of the Harper government have been the record or near-record use of closure and time limitation tactics to cut of parliamentary debate, the shutting down or prorogation of parliament for crass political purposes, the politicization of the bureaucracy to the point where civil servants were once used as stooges in a fake citizenship renewal ceremony. Additionally there’s been the undermining of oversight bodies and abuse of process as seen in the use of an all-consuming omnibus bill
Is Harperland our Nixonland? | iPolitics
And as Nixon and some in his administration stated, without the chaos of the Vietnam war his Presidency probably wouldn't have gone to such extremes, all of America seemed to be in crisis around that time.
What justification does the Harper government have in taking such an adversarial stance towards the press, Parliament, government ministries that are trying to do their job, scientists, unions, minority groups, and more. If you're waging a political conflict against much of the rest of society, then there must be some reason. If the only objective of the conservative government is to secure unchecked power for the Prime Minister, then it's operating outside the intent and legal limitations of our Parliamentary system.
One thing is clear, in their constant attempt to marginalize anyone who poses any real threat to centralized power in Canada, the Harper government has done significant damage to individual freedoms in Canada.
What justification does the Harper government have in taking such an adversarial stance towards the press, Parliament, government ministries that are trying to do their job, scientists, unions, minority groups, and more. If you're waging a political conflict against much of the rest of society, then there must be some reason. If the only objective of the conservative government is to secure unchecked power for the Prime Minister, then it's operating outside the intent and legal limitations of our Parliamentary system.
One thing is clear, in their constant attempt to marginalize anyone who poses any real threat to centralized power in Canada, the Harper government has done significant damage to individual freedoms in Canada.
According to this article by Lawrence Martin, Canada is ranked the worst for centralization of power in Parliamentary democracies, the question has now become, can we even call ourselves a democracy anymore.
Harper’s Attack on Democracy, Itemized by Lawrence Martin
I agree fully, there are few checks on Harper's power and even in the midst of scandals like the senate debacle going on now he simply claims no knowledge and by extension no responsibility...the same goes for the robocalls scandal.
I don't think there's any doubt that Harper isn't at all interested in accountability and transparency.
It's hard to take them seriously about caring about open and honest government when they were breaking the law from the very start to get elected as a minority government in 2006.
At times the Harper conservatives seem to act more like an insurgency against legitimate Parliamentary oversight than a real government.
How the hell did we let him get away with this?
In effect we do have a one party state, in control of information and policy with little oversight.
In effect public servants who are supposed to be working for us are now working directly for the interests of the conservative party and more specifically Harper.
How can we make informed choices on who is in power when we don't even have access to the information necessary to make that choice?
Extremist regimes like the Nazis and Soviets suppressed information that threatened their "truth", this isn't something that has any place in an advanced society.
Harper’s Attack on Democracy, Itemized by Lawrence Martin
I agree fully, there are few checks on Harper's power and even in the midst of scandals like the senate debacle going on now he simply claims no knowledge and by extension no responsibility...the same goes for the robocalls scandal.
I don't think there's any doubt that Harper isn't at all interested in accountability and transparency.
It's hard to take them seriously about caring about open and honest government when they were breaking the law from the very start to get elected as a minority government in 2006.
At times the Harper conservatives seem to act more like an insurgency against legitimate Parliamentary oversight than a real government.
How the hell did we let him get away with this?
In effect we do have a one party state, in control of information and policy with little oversight.
In effect public servants who are supposed to be working for us are now working directly for the interests of the conservative party and more specifically Harper.
How can we make informed choices on who is in power when we don't even have access to the information necessary to make that choice?
Extremist regimes like the Nazis and Soviets suppressed information that threatened their "truth", this isn't something that has any place in an advanced society.
Harper is not doing anything that previous Liberal government didn't do before him.
It's funny that when the Liberal governments were abusing all their powers, everything was just fine, but now that it's the Harper government,, Oh no,,, we can't have that!! Hypocrites!!
I'm almost certain that years after Harper leaves the government, he will go down in history as one of Canada's greatest PM's of all time!!
It's funny that when the Liberal governments were abusing all their powers, everything was just fine, but now that it's the Harper government,, Oh no,,, we can't have that!! Hypocrites!!
I'm almost certain that years after Harper leaves the government, he will go down in history as one of Canada's greatest PM's of all time!!
All in favour of having the mods put all the kid's posts in one thread called I hate Harper vote yes
YES
YES
Yep, this sh*t gets a little tiresome, he's a politician for Christsakes and has the attributes just as a duck has web feet. He's no different from any of the other stripes of politicians and probably brighter than some of them. I do wish however he wouldn't cover up for the dead wood like Peter MacKay and Mike Duffy.
Yikes! I can't believe there are still people who think we live in a democracy and that politicians represent anything other than the interests of those who paid to get them elected. They don't represent the people who voted for them.It doesn't matter which party they claim to be. It doesn't matter what you think or what you want. You are just fodder for the illusion of democracy that they have convinced you to participate in. It has no validity or reality. It is a fiction, a lie and you all debate this crap as if your life depended on it.
Who you callin a youall, pilgrim?
Been saying for years that our bit of democracy is the single minute out of the years between elections when we get to choose the skunks that "represent" us. And the rest of the time we live in an oligarchic plutocracy (or plutocratic oligarchy or plutarchy of you prefer).
A friend suggested we find the people who least want the job and give it to them. As it is, we elect those who we know are going to screw us and them complain when they do.
lol You're funny.
I'd prefer a direct democratic republic such as there is in Switzerland, where the politicians can't do diddly without the public's say so. Representative democracy ain't even close.
Good for you. But that's not what happens. The democratic part of the direct democratic republic is that not everyone agrees all the time so the most people that do agree, get to tell the gov't what to do and the minorities are SOL. That's generally how a democracy works, you know. Like I said, you are comical.