Thursday, March 13, 2014

Did I Call It Or Did I Call It?

Pierre Poilievre's anti-democratic election deform legislation, 
OTTAWA - Pierre Poilievre won't stop citing a report to justify cracking down on potential voter fraud, even though author Harry Neufeld says the Harper government is misrepresenting his report and ignoring his recommendations.

"We are going to keep quoting Mr. Neufeld's report because it contains the facts that obviously support our position that people should have ID when they show up to vote," the minister for democratic reform told the House of Commons on Friday.

He accused opposition MPs of ignoring the "hard facts" contained in last year's report by Neufeld, a former chief electoral officer for British Columbia who was commissioned by Elections Canada to review the problem of non-compliance with the rules for casting ballots in the 2011 election.

However, Neufeld suggested it's Poilievre who's ignoring the facts.

What I said in response to the SCOC's abominable ruling on the Wrezenski-Opitz case:
Some progressives have been hailing the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing Ted "Homo-Hater" Opitz his theft of the Etobicoke-Centre election. Supposedly, the Supreme Court of Canada has decided that our rules, procedures and safeguards for conducting free and fair elections shouldn't interfere with Canadians' right to vote. At least, say progressives, that will be the end of right-wing caterwauling about Muslim women wearing veils being denied the vote, or Conservative Party goons disrupting polling stations talking about "illegal" polls. Right?

1. Such thinking underestimates harpercon shamelessness. They can, and they will, take advantage of this ruling while simultaneously pressing hot-button issues or hypocritically citing "procedural errors" to disrupt polls. (Something Ted Opitz's crew of goons did themselves in Etobicoke-Centre.) As long as disruption during elections prevents people from voting (in polls where their opponents tend to do well) these harpercon scum will disrupt. 

To whit; Now that they've got to keep Ted Opitz's stolen seat in Etobicoke-Centre through this bullshit precedent that makes it impossible to prove fraud after the fact, the harpercons will place tough barriers to honest voters due to non-existent "voter fraud."

This whole disgusting mess has been, as with all things with Canadian "conservatives," been imported from the USA, where shameless Repugnican scum shriek endlessly about "voter fraud" when the bulk of the (small) amount of such fraud is perpetrated by themselves.  This all about the very scuzzy attempt to discourage, or, worse, actually prevent people who tend not to vote for you from voting.  As I've said before, free and fair elections are as close as you can get to sacred in this world. For a party to dedicate itself to the evisceration of this process is atrocious. Such people are,  by definition, enemies of democracy. They should be labeled as such and treated as such.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't be surprised to see the conservatives here, adopt the 'Southern' stategy of making the voter guess the number of bubbles on the bar of soap, for a chance to vote...then Con's can decide the election, in all it's one-sided glory- Hail To The CHEATS!!

thwap said...

I wouldn't be surprised if we let them get away with it.

(That includes having an afternoon's protest and circulating a petition telling them not to.)

Anonymous said...

Thwap! :)
Let you in on a little secret that really isn't a secret, just...mysterious. The cheat's don't ever have to answer to us, petition, protest, or not; someday, they will have to answer to a higher authority than you, me, or Elections Canada. Could be the RCMP. Could be the Lord, Himself, which is not a 'could-be' in my books, but a just way to proceed, in any case. There is only so much we can control, Thwap. Whatever other forces are involved- they'll have their way, too. Then, and only then, will the out-come be seen for what it is, and we can rest NOW, assured; that as long as we do our best at whatever we do, things will unfold as they should. And a world full of Conservatives can't touch this peace o' mine 'cause they sure as shite didn't give it, in the first place!! (They were part of what made me dig deep, and find what I needed, tho'.)

Anonymous said...

Harper is a fascist, dictator and control freak from way back. Even Manning called Harper a dictator.

Because Harper is so evil, he will use every dirty tactic in the book, to hang onto power. Harper has been very sneaky, working on the TPP behind our backs as usual. The TPP is a corporate give-a-way, which gives greedy corporations, far more power.

The 3 Amigo's have been working on the NAU, behind our backs as well. Corporations are bottomless pits of greed and pushing very hard for the NAU. They only want one single government to deal with, rather than three. They are also demanding a huge cheap labor pool, which they would have when the 3 countries merge. Our currency will be, the Amero dollar. You can find info of the Amero dollar, on Wikipedia.

Kerry signals the advance of the NAU plan.
01/28/2014
www.wind.com

It is also said? Harper is also the front man for the NWO.

thwap said...

Lali,

I don't believe in those things. I think the only justice will be what human beings win by their own effort.

And I don't think Canadian progressives have it in them to fight for it.

Anonymous said...

I understand your disbelief. Let's just say I'm gonna 'call' this one, and we'll see what transpires. You do have some fun once in a while, don't you Thwap?

thwap said...

Lali,

Oh yeah. I'm often the life of the party.

Seriously.

[?]

Anonymous said...

and [?] means?

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry. I had no business commenting on any-one's fun, or lack thereof. It was meant with the best, encouraging, intentions, OK?

Anonymous said...

Which 'things' do you not believe in? Peace? Fun? Other forces that fight, beside us? Or higher justice? Just curious...

thwap said...

Lali,

I don't believe there's a higher justice.I don't thik Herr harper has anything to worry about on that score.

The [?] was meant to convey that I might be deluded about being the life of the party sometimes and that I'm really just obnoxious.

Anonymous said...

I think you would be fine company Thwap, on any occasion- now, RoFo- he suffers from alcoholism's 'delusions of grandeur' in that, he IS the life of the party. And, that's part of his illness.
As for the 'higher justice than man can provide/induce/conceive of', I would ask you to think scientifically; and withold your conclusion for the present time. It's the keeping of an open mind that enables us to see what we would not have, willfully blind, isn't it? That's what a cult of any kind rules out. I've learned from the Great Critical Thinker, Himself, and His writings. I can't help that it is present in my words- ..."out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks"...nor would I have it any other way.

thwap said...

How is it "scientific" for you to believe in something but not scientific for me to NOT believe in something?

Heads you win, tails i lose?

I have to tell you that I think religion is a useless anachronism that humanity is best putting behind it.

http://thwapschoolyard.blogspot.ca/2012/07/more-religion-bashing.html

Anonymous said...

...a) is all the evidence in (and have you even considered what there is), to prove there isn't?
...b) i'm not trying to 'prove' anything...(bashing gets us all nowhere).
...c) much evidence is already in, don't you think, that shows humankind doesn't quite have a grasp on how to manage the affairs of this world.
Science reacts to new evidence. This show isn't over yet. How is saying- keep an open mind- trying to prove something?

thwap said...

You believe something to be true.

But the evidence isn't all in.

I don't believe in the something you believe in.

You tell me to keep an open mind.

Do you see what happened there?

You're free to believe in a higher power. You said that I should trust in it too.

I said that I didn't believe in that power. You said I shouldn't have a closed mind.

Perhaps you were unaware of it, but I have a visceral loathing of religion. I really, really hate it.

I didn't tell you to disbelieve anything. I told you what I think. I didn't tell you to pretend to agree with me because all the evidence isn't in and you'd have a closed mind if you didn't.

I realize your suggestions were meant in a friendly fashion, but I really can't stand religion.

Anonymous said...

Hate is ugly. Read- Chris Hitchens "As If". Then LiberalsLikeChrist.org. Then, take your reasoning up with the likes of MLK. And Tommy Douglas. And many others, far more eloquent than this humble writer. Or not, Dude. Good Luck, I guess. (Glad I don't put my lollipops and unicorns on mankind- who can't get his/her shit together long enough to fix anything with more than duct tape, dynamite and a back-hoe. ;)

thwap said...

Lali,

Why don't we agree to not try to convert each other?

I have held forth at length on this subject at the next two links. If you're interested, you can read them. If not, don't. But please, I beg of you, stop telling me to trust in a higher power and a final justice, because I do not believe in those things as a matter of principle. In return, I will refrain from asking you to embrace atheism and the here and now.

http://enmasse.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7413&highlight=

http://enmasse.ca/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10698&highlight=

Anonymous said...

I agree. Can we agree that the Hippies are right? And, that the South lost? ;)

thwap said...

Lali,

But of course!

The hippies were right about a lot of important things.

And the South lost. And a lot of the complaints about the "carpet-baggers" was true, but a lot of stuff about "beautiful traditions" is a bunch of hooey.

Anonymous said...

Carpet-baggers- I'd heard of, beautiful traditions, I hadn't.

thwap said...

Look up "confederate flag = heritage, not hate"

It's something to do with asshole (but genteel) plantation owners, dashing officers and beautify southern belles not mistreating their slaves or grinding down poor white farmers.

Plus, white people who live in the South love their families and their home towns or counties and there ain't nothing wrong with that, which means there ain't nothing wrong with anything.

Anonymous said...

...what I really know about the south comes from singers. Dylan, Earle, Cash, Mellencamp...and the rest I get from half of the headlines at Raw Story- GOP SCREWS NATION AGAIN!! KKK Business Groups/GOP Members Want to Refuse Service to whomever they choose. Sweet. They didn't get the message about losing. Seems you have to fight the same old deadly, hateful shit, year in, year out, that you thought we'd got beyond. That's the trouble with a certain...well...narrow-minded group of humanity. Progressing on the basis of new evidence and actual fact, isn't their 'strong suit'.