One of the things that has always resonates for me in the bible is how well it was written to cover almost every conceivable personal circumstance. It has stood the test of time and has yet to come out wanting though one might not find the lessons learned are always the easy or comforting ones.
It’s easy to look at the appointment of Liberal David Emerson to Stephen Harper’s cabinet and say Harper is being pragmatic and playing grown-up real politic. Get over your outrage and shelve your sense of honour or integrity. Standing up for honour and preserving your integrity are so adolescent of you. Besides Emerson is a man of much experience and talent, and he brings much to the table and the discourse, forget the fact that the man campaigned as a Liberal, was elected as a Liberal, and now that the Liberal’s have lost the house; crosses the floor to join his political opponents. It’s a win-win situation for the Conservatives. Prime Minister Stephen Harper gains his talent, Emerson gains a seat at the Table of Cabinet and the Conservatives are made stronger for it and in the best of all possible outcomes, Canadians benefit from stronger conservative governance.
But I suggest that it all depends how one answers this biblical question: What does a man profit who gains the world but loses his soul in the exchange?
I know how I answer it. This time round the Conservative Party got my 'hold my nose and vote' vote but I never thought after the election I would still be left standing around having to hold my nose. If I wanted a Liberal in power I would have voted for one.
8 comments:
One skirmish in a larger war. If Harper doesn't get a chance to govern, if we go back to the Liberals and their socialist, politically correct agenda, it's all over. For good. The whole country will start to look like (shudder) Toronto. The Federal Accountability Act will offset this bit of greasiness. So climb a tree and take a gander at the forest. There's a difference between using the levers of power to do good and using them to do Liberal.
OC
"Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to--to God's kingdom"
I say, welcome aboard, Mr Emerson.
OC, I'd be ready to concede your point but for three things; 1) this election centred around a distinct lack of ethics in the Liberal camp. 2)Harper did not need to fight this battle. He was perfectly able to govern without chosing to freely give a cabinet position to a liberal and an unelected senator. 3) I'd be right up in the tree with you but its a sure sign the battle is lost when your champion picks up and takes on the mantle of your foe. Time to climb down from the limb and look for a new one before we all get dragged back down with him in the muck.
Huck:
Even though I more of an old testament-type-woman, I will answer you in this way:
"Don't giveth that which is holy unto dogs or cast your pearls before the swine."
I wasn't expecting heaven or perfection, just honour, decency and integrity in governance. Obviously, it was just too much to expect from a Canadian conservative leader.
Stephen Who?
On his very first day as PM, Stephen Harper showed clear signs of following in the footsteps of the bungling Joe Clark, who not only lost his luggage but succeeded in losing his bearings in Parliament as well. Like Joe, Harper seems to have forgotten that his is a minority government, not a majority one, and seems to have assumed – at great risk to his fledgling government – that the Liberals, NDP and Bloc will not oppose him and force another election for 12 to 18 months.
We shall see if that assumption is valid.
If an election is held soon, the Tories will start off with egg on their faces, due to Holier-than-thou Harper’s baffling judgment on Day One.
Why on earth did Harper harpoon his own left foot?
He did it once, with his turncoat-conversion and the Liberal into the cabinet before anyone can see it sleight of hand.
He did it twice, with his appointment of – among others – Stockwell Day to his cabinet, instead of more women, and more women it important posts. Does the other half of the population – women – not count in Stephen Who’s world?
He did it thrice, with his U-turn on an elected senate. Principles dumped for expediency?
He did it fourthly, with his appointment of a former lobbyist – and then breathtakingly wants to legislate against others being allowed to do the same.
He did it fifthly, with his introduction into Canada of the Karl Rovian doublespeak. Thanks to Stephen Who, Canadians can now also spend delightful hours parsing the speeches of politicians, to decipher just how they are being bamboozled.
What a beginning!
I wonder if he will last as long as Joe Who....
OC, that is just weak dude.
What you are observing is not a war in any sense of the word, merely a transfer of power. A war implies two clearly defined participants and some sort of identifiable cause. There's no "going back to a socialist, politically correct agenda" because there has been no departure from that agenda in the first place as much as the Team Blue thunderstick bangers like to delude themselves into believing.
You want a forest/trees analogy? When I look out, I see nothing but decaying forest. The rot is spreading and instead of striking at the root or burning out the detritus you guys want to prune the branches.
Content yourself with your victory but just watch and we'll see who's right about this.
Jay:
Weakness is, of course, in the eye of the beholder.
Dude.
There's a slight chance we may want different things out of this government, you being a strict anarcho-capitalist and all.
I can't take any more of this end of the world stuff over a bit of political hardball. I never wanted Harper to be Jesus Christ himself. If he repeals a few things that should be repealed, tones down the kneejerk anti-Americanism, gets rid of the day-care re-education camps, lowers taxes, well I'll call that a good start.
When money is stolen and frauds perpetrated, I'll turn up the outrage meter. Until then, I'm giving him a nice long grace period and choosing not to be a useful tool for the opposition.
OC
OC, I'm with you on this.
Kateland, I know you're a smart womanand I respect your opinion more than you know. But you're deluding yourself if you though Stephen Harper wasn't a politician. In fact, he's a very skillful politician who has proven time and again that he can get things done, meaning he is willing to use every tool in his arsenal along the way.
Parliament is what it is, and in a minority situation, a leader who wants to stay in power is going to do what he can. For me, as long as Mr Harper puts in the Federal Accountibility Act as it was proposed in the election, and as long as he attempts to pass the rest of his Five Priorities, I'll give him a pass.
I like him but I can only trust a politician so far, no matter how much I like him
Kateland:
I'm with you on this one. Having said that, I'm still squiring the Conservative war horse; just lamenting that the knight's armour is tarnishing so quickly. But the alternatives? The Liberal nag is a swayback and the NDP nellie is a donkey.
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