Dion propelled to leadership by kook fringe, preposterous!
Say it ain't so.
Gee sure hope nobody in the conservative war room decides to capitalize on this, and I also hope the media doesn't jump on this connection of the liberal party youth to this US based group.
"Though often dismissed as a bizarre political cult, the LaRouche organization and its various front groups are a fascist movement whose pronouncements echo elements of Nazi ideology. Beginning in the 1970s, the LaRouchites combined populist antielitism with attacks on leftists, environmentalists, feminists, gay men and lesbians, and organized labor. They advocated a dictatorship in which a humanist・elite would rule on behalf of industrial capitalists. They developed an idiosyncratic, coded variation on the Illuminati Freemason and Jewish banker conspiracy theories. Their views, though exotic, were internally consistent and rooted in right-wing populist traditions...."
"nazi ideology"? "attacks on environmentalists, feminists, gay men and lesbians, and organized labour"? advocating "dictatorship"? "right-wing populist traditions"?
Oh dear, I hope Warren (I hate racists) Kinsella doesn't find out about the connection to Dion's leadership win being leveraged by this secretive US based group with "right-wing populist traditions", he could make Dion's life a living hell.
There are a couple of reasons and they are connected.
First, unless Dalton can get the native occupiers out of Douglas Estates, (land claim or no land claim) that will be the polarizing issue for Ontario. Dalton must go to the polls next fall and you can bet he's going to be starting the campaign in earnest anytime now. He can't expect to have this issue just disappear without a concerted effort by conservative activists to remind voters about Daltons two tier justice.
It also means that liberals in Ontario are going to be preoccupied on the provincial level till after the fall, they don't want to be working two campaigns. You can bet that the message will be communicated to his federal counterpart to stifle any action which could send the country into a federal election. It would just be one more thing that would get voters upset by being sent to the polls three times in three years, imagine.....grumpy voters....in Ontario.....I'm not making this up.
But how does this have anything to do with Stephane Dion? Stephane needs to do something very soon to prove to the liberal party members that they didn't choose him as the best of a bad lot. He needs to show that he can actually lead. The only way that he can do that is if he can get the oppostion unified for a nonconfidence vote. That would mean sending Canadians to the polls for the third time in three years. Boy tough call that, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Now I don't expect Dion wants to fight an election anytime soon, but if he can't keep the various party factions under control (and there is a great many factions in the liberal party) he won't have a say. Which leads to the other reason why Dion is going to have a tough time. Its about those "factions" and who brung em to the dance. Kennedy's supporters want to have their boy in Parliament, they will be pushing hard to not only get him a safe seat to run in, but they want it done asap, before anyone starts taking a more critical look at his "so-called" qualifications. Just to be clear though, I'm not talking about Kennedy, I'm talking about Justin Trudeau. Trudeau hasn't got a lot under his belt as far as political experience goes and he looks less like he would be the second coming of his father and more like the second coming of Bucky Dither's, or worse Joe Clark. Then you have the establishment, they want to keep control of the party apparatus, to do that they need a guy on the inside. But if they are as smart as they claim to be, they won't want an election until they can get the resourses in place to fight an election. Those resourses are in Ontario, see Dalton and coming provincial election in the fall.
So now we get to see which faction is going to win out, but more importantly if Dion can be his own man. Frankly he doesn't have a lot of time, or opportunities to prove it. And when a liberal leader gets cornered and is faced with a decision they always get tripped up. Its part and parcel of trying to be all things to all people. Unless you never have to make a decision, this can work well and your leadership won't be questioned. But as it happened to Paul Martin, decision time came and went and he was found dithering. Its because of having a lack of principles that when the time comes to stand for something, they have nothing to stand for.
As proof that Dion is just as big a ditherer as the last guy, refer to how he handled the "nation" vote. Was he front and center with a stand on the issue right away, or was his intial response muddied, or was he really the last guy to say where he stood? In the after math of that issue there are claims and counter claims of who he did and didn't consult with.
The best indicator however is something quite innocuous. That of his dual citizenship. His response is that he would give it up...maybe...but he isn't going to right now. Not exactly a definite response is it?
But the very top reason Dion is going to get pummelled in the next election is how he responds when challenged. The example that will be making the conservative election ads is the clip of the liberal leadership debate in Montreal. The topic was the one the liberals feel secure that they can beat the conservatives with the environment. When Iggy challenged Dion "But Stephane, we didn't get it done" is going to be played and played and played. It will go something like this. Voice will say something like "what is the liberal record when they had a chance for 13 years? Lets ask a "prominent liberal"." The clip of Iggy is played, the voice again cuts in and says
"and how does this liberal leader who was responsible for the environment respond when confronted with their record". And this is the killer, the Dion response from same debate
"THATS NOT FAIR!!! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO SET PRIORITIES".
Voice again, "not fair? You don't know what you are talking about? Too hard to set priorities?" The ad cuts to a pic of Paul Martin and the voice comes in saying "where have Canadians seen this before?" The beauty of it all is its quotes from the liberal leader and his deputy. The conservatives won't have to make any of it up. Matter of fact they could take a whole wack of quotes from any of the liberal "team" and make some killer ads. Methinks Iggy will be featured prominently in them.
When newly elected party leader Stephane Dion bowed to pressure Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh called it an act, Omar Alghabra saw Dion as a cornered man, Temelkovski was disappointed and angry when Dion backtracked.
If you read something like that what would you think? That the liberal party was on the verge of a full scale rebellion the likes we haven't seen since....well for about the last 13 years.
Now try to contend this type of selective reporting hasn't been done before by the MSM.
"The federal Conservatives were quick to point out yesterday that five of the six arrested are past Liberal Party donors, an apparent effort to revive in the minds of voters one of the worst financial scandals of the Jean Chrétien era."
Been a lot of reciting of the lib-left talking point that Harper doesn't know what the term Quebecois nation means. Doesn't matter what you want it to mean. But what it doesn't mean is separate from Canada.
Now wasn't that easy.
Now if you want to persist, lets add this question.
Does the liberal version of Quebecois nation mean constitutional change?
The liberal party wouldn't try to keep a question like that from being voted on at their convention or anything would they?
If this is the best the "dream team" can come up with Harper is sure to win a majority.
"Leader Stephane Dion hasn’t named a deputy leader yet, but an unintentionally public e-mail shows at least one of his MPs is very interested in the job."
Wonder what she's going to do if Dion makes somebody else deputy leader?
"However, while there is a respect for Stephane Dion as leader, I get the sense that there is still a hidden (or not so hidden) resentment of Bob Rae. I went into Montreal as an anybody but Rae person and cheered when he lost. Some of the shots that he and his campaign members took during the campaign left lasting impressions on me and now that the race is over, I think I'm still trying to settle scores."
Think he'll be pissed if his chosen leadership candidate doesn't get the deputy leader spot?
"Cheered when he lost" "trying to settle scores" "hidden or not so hidden resentment"
Couldn't be, its nothing like the civil war that went on between Martin and Chretien...its probably worse.
Update
Globe and Mail has a related story, however it only brushes over the issue of recruiting female candidates.
"While the next national campaign is widely expected to be run by Mark Marissen, the brains behind Mr. Dion's leadership victory, the newly minted leader is trying to integrate top members of rival teams into a unified Liberal fighting force.There is speculation he may appoint Michael Ignatieff, who finished second, as deputy leader. However, that would mean bumping current deputy Lucienne Robillard, which could be problematic given Mr. Dion's vow to bolster the role of women in the party."
The un-named source again. Looks like the Martin team is still running things *cough* Marissen*cough. Wonder what role Volpe is going to play? Wouldn't have anything to do with fund raising I hope.
"Mr. Dion is said to want to employ Mr. Dryden, a onetime hockey legend and passionate orator, to stump the country talking about Liberal values."
What does he want to do put them to sleep?
"He wants Mr. Brison to play a strategic role planning the daily Liberal attacks on the Conservatives in the House of Commons."
To get to the diatribe of this post, I'm suggesting that a deal was made with Dion by the powers that be to deliver the Kennedy support. If you where Kennedy and Justin Trudeau came knocking, would you be asking who sent him, or would you be in such awe of his presence that it would be all you could do to keep from prostrating yourself in adulation. So much awe in fact that you would also welcome the entourage he brought along....and swallow hook line and sinker any advise they offered?
It appears that Trudeau the younger has a tendancy to think very highly of himself, which is fine as long as you don't conversely believe that nobody else can possibly be as smart as you are. Therein lies the simularity of Justin to Paul. Paul Martin became Bucky Dither's as soon as it was found that he was more myth than man. Justin is making the same mistake. However, Dion is now stuck having to repay Justin for the"favour", the drawback is that Dion knows that the minute Trudeau wins a seat, everyone will be waiting with baited breath for Stephane to announce his retirement.
One way Dion could derail Justin's march to the big chair is to let the expectations about him build to the point that there is no way they can be fufilled. I mean really what is Justin's field of expertise? Frankly, other than riding daddies coattails there isn't anything else, he's a male version of Belinda Stronach. My guess is that Dion knows that as far as the party establishment was concerned his only purpose was to keep the seat warm. The shock to the party brass is going to come when they underestimate Stephane and find out too late that he like Chretien will not go willingly, it will be a fight.
I guess that all this subjection will be just that...unless some info surfaces that would indicate otherwise.
I guess the liberals are going to have to come to terms with the fact that when they compromised to avoid the real issues that put their party in opposition, they ended up with a one issue candidate.
Of course the anti-canadian party isn't going to help Dion either pushing for a non-confidence vote.
Once a sure bet for liberals to believe that Travers would carry the water for them dutifully repeating all their talking points.
Lately though, since it became clear with the Martin tenure as leader of the party that can't pander too much, James has tempered his comments with a bit more scepticism on what liberals say. Take this part of the article for example:
"Groups with ties to Sri Lanka's complex conflict are being singled out for their aggressive tactics. Ignatieff organizers say one Montreal faction put the price of its support on a future Liberal government establishing a consulate in the area fighting for independence. And Rae supporter Tarek Fatah this week exposed detailed discussions with Tamils allegedly offering to trade votes for a promise to delist Tiger guerrillas as terrorists. Both campaigns say they rejected those and other ethnic overtures, claims strengthened by their conspicuous failure to win late-ballot converts. And there's no evidence yet that anyone agreed to anything contrary to Canadian hegemony. "
Yes, both Iggy and Rae rejected these demands, but then the collary that the editor missed is that question, did the eventual winner do likewise?
Maybe I'm being a bit presumptious but I perceive a sea change coming in the MSM. If true its one thats long overdue.
He called Kelowna a "great agreement" that would solve problems with housing, infrastructure, health and education. In fact, on education Kelowna talked vaguely about "supporting innovative educational initiatives" but it was a funding agreement, not a plan of action. First Nations, provinces and territories signed on because they were being given no-strings-attached cash by Ottawa, but no one had the slightest idea what they were going to spend it on.
"Her biased pronouncements blaming Israel for most of the problems in Gaza and Lebanon earned the Canadian Jurist the Jimmy Carter Middle East Myopia Award."
Dion has stuck with this plan, even though the Liberal government's own consultants warned that major emitters would hoard the credits and wait until the price rose, at which point they'd make a killing at the expense of the taxpayer.
But the EU scheme suffered a major blow in April and May when it emerged that companies were issued with more allowances than they needed, a serious problem in a market that depends on the scarcity of allowances for its existence. The European Commission has promised a much tighter cap on emissions in the second phase of the scheme, from 2008 to 2012.
THE NORTH AMERICAN DOCTRINE
This doctrine maintains that no part of North America should be subject to foreign incursions (see blog post for complete NA doctrine)
