Military warned of fallout from MacKay chopper ride
- Thread starter mentalfloss
- Start date
"My problem with the use of the word barbaric is that it was chosen to reassure Canadians rather than actually change unacceptable behaviours,"
Politicians misstep and say stupid things all the time.
Politicians misstep and say stupid things all the time.
Ahhh, now I get it.
Thanks, I'd hate like hell to keep thinking he was a tool, for all the wrong reasons.
Two stories clashed?
Just in from today's CBC: Of course they're a commie plot and not to be believed:
MAP MacKay's airlift from Burnt Rattle to Gander Airport
No matter. No one is likely to be on the firing line from Peter MacKay's expensive taxi ride and dubious explanations. Truth is, in Stephen Harper's government of promised openness and accountability, lying is apparently not a firing offence.
Consider:
Tony Clement gets caught in a nose-stretcher over scrapping the long-form census, claiming the move was recommended by Statistics Canada, which, in fact, did no such thing.
The head of StatsCan resigns to prove the point.
Clement is moved from industry minister to be the head of Treasury Board, the department responsible for setting and enforcing the rules of ethical conduct in the public service.
Bev Oda, the minister responsible for Canada's foreign aid programs, fibs about how and why her department cut off millions of dollars in funding to a particular agency.
She still has her limo.
Not surprisingly, the Pinocchio syndrome appears to have infected the Conservative party to its roots.
In Montreal recently, Conservatives admitted to running a telephone campaign soliciting support from constituents in a by-election to replace longtime Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, whom, they imply, is quitting.
The whole thing is a sham – Cotler isn't quitting and there is no byelection.
Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan defends his party's deceit as a right of freedom of speech.
The fact that lying in high places has gone unpunished should really come as no big surprise.
The buck stops at the Prime Minister's Office, which, on too many occasions in the past, is also where the truth has stopped. Several of Stephen Harper's past spokespeople became legendary for their whoppers.
(Soon after the Conservatives came to power in 2006, several national political columnists with major media organizations refused to travel abroad anymore with the prime minister, concluding they could be just as easily lied to at their desks for a lot less money.)
Not allowing the truth to get in the way of good politics is certainly not unique to the Harper government.
Jean Chretien embroiled his government in a lasting furore when he falsely denied having lobbied the head of the Federal Business Development Bank to give a loan to a controversial innkeeper in his riding.
Brian Mulroney's penchant for Irish blarney allowed his political opponents to successfully popularize the unfortunate moniker, "Lyin' Brian."
So far, Harper has not fired anyone for lying.
One thing the Conservatives do particularly well is read the public mood.
And evidently what they are reading is an electorate so disenchanted and disconnected from national politics that dishonesty is considered just business as usual in the nation's capital.
As long as a government believes the public doesn't care about politicians who lie, don't expect those who do to be punished.
The prime minister was asked why there have been no consequences for MacKay.
The PM responded that the minister's use of the helicopter was "appropriate."
No mention of lying.
One morning on a fishing trip in Newfoundland, the big one that got away was the minister of national defence.
MAP MacKay's airlift from Burnt Rattle to Gander Airport No matter. No one is likely to be on the firing line from Peter MacKay's expensive taxi ride and dubious explanations. Truth is, in Stephen Harper's government of promised openness and accountability, lying is apparently not a firing offence.
Consider:
Tony Clement gets caught in a nose-stretcher over scrapping the long-form census, claiming the move was recommended by Statistics Canada, which, in fact, did no such thing.
The head of StatsCan resigns to prove the point.
Clement is moved from industry minister to be the head of Treasury Board, the department responsible for setting and enforcing the rules of ethical conduct in the public service.
Bev Oda, the minister responsible for Canada's foreign aid programs, fibs about how and why her department cut off millions of dollars in funding to a particular agency.
She still has her limo.
Not surprisingly, the Pinocchio syndrome appears to have infected the Conservative party to its roots.
In Montreal recently, Conservatives admitted to running a telephone campaign soliciting support from constituents in a by-election to replace longtime Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, whom, they imply, is quitting.
The whole thing is a sham – Cotler isn't quitting and there is no byelection.
Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan defends his party's deceit as a right of freedom of speech.
The fact that lying in high places has gone unpunished should really come as no big surprise.
The buck stops at the Prime Minister's Office, which, on too many occasions in the past, is also where the truth has stopped. Several of Stephen Harper's past spokespeople became legendary for their whoppers.
(Soon after the Conservatives came to power in 2006, several national political columnists with major media organizations refused to travel abroad anymore with the prime minister, concluding they could be just as easily lied to at their desks for a lot less money.)
Not allowing the truth to get in the way of good politics is certainly not unique to the Harper government.
Jean Chretien embroiled his government in a lasting furore when he falsely denied having lobbied the head of the Federal Business Development Bank to give a loan to a controversial innkeeper in his riding.
Brian Mulroney's penchant for Irish blarney allowed his political opponents to successfully popularize the unfortunate moniker, "Lyin' Brian."
So far, Harper has not fired anyone for lying.
One thing the Conservatives do particularly well is read the public mood.
And evidently what they are reading is an electorate so disenchanted and disconnected from national politics that dishonesty is considered just business as usual in the nation's capital.
As long as a government believes the public doesn't care about politicians who lie, don't expect those who do to be punished.
The prime minister was asked why there have been no consequences for MacKay.
The PM responded that the minister's use of the helicopter was "appropriate."
No mention of lying.
One morning on a fishing trip in Newfoundland, the big one that got away was the minister of national defence.
This will be like questioning a four year old. Very painful to watch.
What stories clashed?
Those stories.
What stories?
The stories I'm talking about.
How did they clash?
By not being the same same.
Can you explain?
Go and read it.
Or like the following...
Which translates to, petros has nothing.
Nothing?
1.cut short his trip to catch an 8 a.m. flight from Gander to London, Ont., to announce a contract at noon.
2. "I cut the trip short to take part in a search and rescue demonstration,"
1.cut short his trip to catch an 8 a.m. flight from Gander to London, Ont., to announce a contract at noon.
2. "I cut the trip short to take part in a search and rescue demonstration,"
What facts?
If I want to find something in the stories surrounding this event, I can formulate one of two theories.
1, There were lies, because someone used the word guise.
2, They're lying because Mackay had to cut his trip short, for ministerial duties, and cut it short for a chance to see, and be involved, with a SAR team in action.
I know I've seen legitimate events unfold under the guise of something other than. Equally, I've cut trips short to stop at Can Trash, only to find myself with an opportunity to witness something else.
The facts are what they are, interpretation is what is different.
But I'm not looking for a smoking gun.
Yes, nothing.
Col. Ploughman didn't think it was a good idea because? What did he mean by needing to use a guise? Why does the truth need a guise?
It certainly is keeping people busy, which is the whole point.
Notice that even opposition politicians don't like to have serious controversies that could come back to bite them, so they like these ones, that attract attention, and keep the rabble occupied.
Notice that even opposition politicians don't like to have serious controversies that could come back to bite them, so they like these ones, that attract attention, and keep the rabble occupied.
Bad optics.
Ploughman said that?
I've already stated a legitimate alternative to your agenda driven conclusions.
True, but I'm just whiling away the time until I do something truly serious, like going hunting.
I give up,you people }harperites} are so fn stupid if he{or any of his lackys} **** on your head you'd say oh goodie ,chocolate.