Liberals have someone new at the helm. Whether you supported him in the past or not, if you are a Liberal this is the face that will lead us forward. Deal.If you are not a Liberal but want to see a change in this country, not just a change of government but a real change in terms of how information of importance is disseminated or perhaps how real information is decimated, this is the person you should insist do it.
2008 in political terms, in Canada, was replete with lies and out and out propaganda. There are tactics in politics that I suppose are fair game, in that we'll never again be free of them, but we all should really draw the line at lies being repeated so often that they somehow infiltrate conventional thinking.
I know it's not good form for politicians to call out a foe on a lie. I'm not clear why this word, lie, should not be used when it is apt, but here we are. There are other ways however of pointing out the obvious and it is my hope that in 2009 we start doing this. Doing it clearly and swiftly. As soon as the inaccuracy passes the lips of whomever is uttering it, call it out for what it is. My expectation is that Michael Ignatieff will do just that. We all should remind him when he doesn't.
Here's an example of what I mean:
"You have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on it's almost embarrassing to listen to you." ~ Zbigniew Brzezinski
Refreshing isn't it?
Yes. New Year, new rules. No more lies or at least no more lying and getting away with it.
21 comments:
Ever since Harper came to power, 3 years ago now minus a few short weeks, it's been nothing but lies, propaganda, & secrecy. Among MANY other negatives & scandals.
You are right, KNB, it's time to end the "ignoring" of all these & speak up - clearly & loudly! Iggy & everyone else in the media's eye, including the media, as well. Enough is enough. If these atrocities & misinformation are not confronted every single day then there will be no change & things will only worsen.
Wow! It was so refreshing to watch another right-wing neoCon apologist "pseudo-journalist" being called to the mat. The good Dr. called out the blatant lies as "sloganism". Love it. It IS time for us Canadians to start hearing the same type of "bullshit-calling" of the Canadian talking heads, when they resort to "Idiot-Nation" type arguments to "prove" their cases.
Truth and intelligence will eventually triumph over ignorance... we just need to be persistent - and resist the temptation to resort to their tactics ("truthiness")...
Doing it clearly and swiftly. As soon as the inaccuracy passes the lips of whomever is uttering it, call it out for what it is. My expectation is that Michael Ignatieff will do just that. We all should remind him when he doesn't.
While I agree 100% with you it's too bad Iggy seemed to have fallen into the trap of saying a lot of nothing on the latest conflict.
Harper could of easily echoed what Iggy said.
Part of the larger problem is that the Jason Cherniaks and Warren Ks do use that "sloganism" and are Israeli apologist. This is a problem when bullshit takes root in political parties.
Iggy did put out a statement this week supporting Israel - a lot more than "nothing"
"The Liberal Party of Canada unequivocally condemns the rocket attacks launched by Hamas against Israeli civilians and calls for an immediate end to these attacks. We affirm Israel's right to defend itself against such attacks, and also its right to exist in peace and security."
No condemnation of Israel anywhere in his statement - the above represents what most ordinary Liberal grassroots members and Canadians think. If you don't like this viewpoint from the new leadership, deal with it or leave the party and go join the NDP.
the above represents what most ordinary Liberal grassroots members and Canadians think
Really? And you know this because.....
Your statement is ludicrous. I don't think that is the case at all, but in terms of Iggy's statement, it was indeed weak tea, imo. No doubt after how he was villified during the Israel/Lebanon conflict, he is being ultra cautious.
I don't condone the political side stepping and as I said in my post, it's up to me and others to make our voices heard.
That said, I can't condemn any call for the rocket attacks to stop, even though I believe Israel should also be called to task.
As for the NDP, what exactly has Layton offered with respect to the situation?
c_wtf, indeed there is 'sloganism' by members of the party and I see it as a problem.
There are generally balancing voices too and I hope to hear them in the upcoming session.
I guess it's an issue as to who holds sway. Ignatieff is learned in the field and hopefully will rely on more than the 'one note Charlie's' that have loud voices.
Are you at all worried that Ignatieff's most vocal self-appointed advocate sounds a lot more like Joe Scarborough on the Israel/Hamas question than like Zbig Brzezinski?
Are you at all worried that Ignatieff's most vocal self-appointed advocate sounds a lot more like Joe Scarborough on the Israel/Hamas question than like Zbig Brzezinski?
Good question.
Partially.
Until Harper came along, Canada was reserved on condemnation of both sides. Harper is/was clearly on Israel's side during the last Lebanon war. Maybe it paid dividends with the Canadian Jewish community.
At the time, it was evident that the likes of Jason C and Warren K applauded the Canadian foreign policy shift.
Iggy seems to be taking the Liberal party to the right and at the same time trying to be a populist politician. I can only hope that he gets his footing and stop with the flutter.
I wonder if the pro-Isreal lobby has Iggy's ear - Warren K is a rather strong advocate is seems.
It's rather odd that the Bloc reflect my position.... maybe they should drop the separation aspect and go national....
I've yet to see evidence that Ignatieff is taking the party to the right. In fact I saw no real evidence the party had shifted to the left. There are policies that I suppose could be attached to different sides of the spectrum, but as a whole, I still see a fair balance. This PR statement on it's own does not change that imo, but as I've said, I want to see a broader discussion within the party and reality checks on both sides.
As for Kinsella, well I think the term 'self-appointed' is the most germane. There are many, many issues I disagree with him on, not the least of which is the giant pass he has given Harper in the past. That is a relationship to watch to be sure. I understand he is indeed going to Ottawa, so we shall see.
Interestingly, the Bloc often has policy that I'm aligned with. I wonder how many Canadians in fact would be if they knew what they stood for outside of separation.
Hey, I love the new rules. One question, though...are you also going to oppose Liberal and NDP lies, or just Conservative ones? You made it *sound* as though you were trying to be non-partisan, but from what I've seen here in the past I won't being holding my breathe...
(BTW...you spelled 'form' wrong...;)
Anon,
Go crawl back in your hole.
(BTW...You spelled 'breath' wrong, you added an 'e').
Yes anon, I made a spelling error. Feel better now?
Wow anon, some of us have questioned Iggy's stance on the present Israel war, praised the Bloc and you call us partisan... I'd like to see a Connie stop breathing the rarified air of Harper's farts to actually think about what HE says and does....
I see that JC is using the Liblogs to push Iggy's ineffective comments - I guess the Liberal party is hoping that we become silent on a issue that many feel Israel is wrong about and that Canadians should not support...
I don't know about the Liberal party c_wtf, but Jason certainly is. I just noticed the post myself.
Jason has never and will never speak for me, nor am I interested in him telling what I can and cannot say and with what emphasis.
What post did JC do? I don't know what you're all talking about.
Never mind. I just went to Liblogs & saw what you are talking about.
I'm with knb & C_WTF on this. No one has a right to tell us what to say or what to think.
It seems that the mental midget has again posted on Liblogs changing his message somewhat.
I speak on behalf of the organization. While I will never force bloggers to adopt my view, I feel it is my responsibility to lay out the official position of Liblogs on the fighting in Israel and Gaza.
So now an aggregator has an official position.... interesting...
Instead, we can focus on relatively recent events. I believe that those events prove beyond any doubt that it is Hamas, and not Israel, that is responsible for the current fighting.
Instead you should focus on the entire history - but of course we can predict that what you will write is bullshit already.
.People who do not like the response need to evaluate who is truly responsible, and demand that governments around the world start to take action to save the people of Gaza from their own elected government. It is time to stop blaming Israel for being attacked by a government that wants to destroy the Jewish state.
Israel should stop and respect the Palestinian, they should stop the illegal settlements and retreat to the 1967 borders.
Israel has no respect for international organizations - bombing UN outpost and now schools with refugees demonstrated that.
Now Iggy has echoed Harper on Isreal and is taking sides, it's time for this Liberal to work with another party...
http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/564293#Comments
Bye-bye Iggy, nice knowing you...
I guess you people are all going to have to leave the Liberals and join the NDP now, right? Because your new leader happens to agree with the Prime Minister (and most Canadians, whether you choose to admit it or not), and is taking steps to distance himself from the mindless, knee-jerk anti-Semitism that seems to be prevalent among Liberal bloggers.
Wasn't it just a couple of weeks ago that you were all touting Iggy as the savior of the Liberal Party?
What happened?
No more lies? How about a guy who pretends to be a liberal leading the LPC? Today Iggy scored his second rousing endorsement from a big name rightwing nutjob at the National Post. This time it was noneother than Jonathon Kay singing Iggy's praises to the heavens. They think they've found paradise - two Conservative leaders for Canada.
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