Stephen Harper actually said that Michael Ignatieff has no moral compass? Well my friends, he has outdone even himself, imo.Perhaps we should begin by sending the man a dictionary. Not for the term moral compass necessarily though he should probably educate himself there too, but I think he should be let in on what projection means.
Projection:
a. the tendency to ascribe to another person feelings, thoughts, or attitudes present in oneself, or to regard external reality as embodying such feelings, thoughts, etc., in some way.
b. Psychoanalysis. such an ascription relieving the ego of a sense of guilt or other intolerable feeling.
I mean seriously. Harper? The same person who offered a dying man some financial arrangement for his own gain. The man who has broken just about every promise he made to his base. The man who fabricated a reason to call an election and then followed up that performance with a phony crisis requiring prorogation. Harper, the man who would just as soon ruin a persons reputation as walk across the street. Can you say appointment of cronies to various boards and committees , Income Trusts, fixed election dates, David Emerson, Senate appointments...must I go on?
Not only does this man not have a moral compass, his scorn of others in this regard is positively laughable.
This is going to be the spin?
“Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberal Party, when this matter first broke, were practically demanding that I throw Mr. Mulroney in prison without a trial,” Mr. Harper said.
“Now they're out there pretending that somehow they're his best friends and they don't agree with any of this. I think what Canadians will see is when it comes to a very difficult issue of government conduct and government ethics, this government has behaved responsibly and the other party, the other leader, has absolutely no moral compass.”
First of all, I'd love someone to provide a quote where Ignatieff suggested that Mulroney be jailed without trial. And second, who is pretending that Mulroney is Ignatieff's best friend? Ignatieff simply played this with elegance and suggested that Mulroney and the office of the PM deserved more respect than Harper and some Conservatives were giving him.
Is there any political calculation in Ignatieff's comments? Of course, but he did not offer them out of the blue. He was asked about the Mulroney/Harper/Conservative caucus ruckus and replied with aplomb. In fact, when you compare his reaction to Harper's today, you see a stark contrast between someone with composure and someone who is agitated.
Broken moral compass indeed. All I can say is keep talking Mr. Harper. The more you say, the more you reveal and it's about time that everyone saw
P.S. - Do you think this ticked him off?
14 comments:
Let's be clear here.
We often accused the Conservatives of taking words out of context and distorting their meaning.
Harper said:
“Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberal Party, when this matter first broke, were practically demanding that I throw Mr. Mulroney in prison without a trial,”
“Now they're out there pretending that somehow they're his best friends and they don't agree with any of this. I think what Canadians will see is when it comes to a very difficult issue of government conduct and government ethics, this government has behaved responsibly and the other party, the other leader, has absolutely no moral compass.”
On commenting about Muldoon, Harper is completely (gasp) correct.
We heard the same kind of rhetoric when Martin decided to go ahead with regards to the sponsorship scandal.
So now, we can add "hypocrite" to the Liberal party resume.
Don't get me wrong, Harper is a piece of shit - he's done nothing but undermine Canadian values. Yes, Harper is slime incarnate, and I agree with your overall assessment. But let's not demean ourselves here.
Oh come on! I'm not demeaning myself. I fully admit that Ignatieff's comments were as political as anything else, but he's hardly saying that he and Brian are best bud's. Nor for that matter is he suggesting that the inquiry shouldn't take place or it wasn't warranted.
Geesh, civility among political rivals/adversaries is not all that unusual...at least it wasn't until Harper came on scene.
I don't recall Ignatieff suggesting that Mulroney should be convicted without trial. In fact, I remember many screaming that Mulroney should face an inquiry. (I'm sure I did that and I probably wasn't kind to the man, but I'm not in public life.)
If the basis of Harper's statements have to do with comments made by the Coderre's of the party, well I'll see his Coderre accusation and raise him a Blackburn, Cannon and MacKay, who are all singing Brian's praises.
Do they speak for him and the party? No, I thought not.
Harper is not right on this. He's just being petulant Harper. Kind of like the Dad who has been away and comes home to find the house upside down. In public he'll blame 'the other" kids, but wait until he gets his own in private.
KNB, I'm not saying that he's not petulant or anything else. Just that in case, I think that he is right - you know fling enough BS all day, some is bound to be true once and awhile..
Trying to pretend that your Interim leader and his crew respect Brian Mulroney,
is beyond funny, it's sad.
Knb, Canadians are not that stupid.
“Get tough on crime, bring forth Brian Mulroney!’’(Liberal MP) Murphy is heard saying in the House of Commons during a highly-charged debate on the passage of the Conservative government’s new crime bill.
“Hang him high, hang Mulroney! Let’s get this Mulroney before the courts as soon as possible and hang him high!
We gotta get Mulroney, put a noose on his head, put a noose on his head. Get tough on crime.’’…….
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=113112&sc=98
Quote from Getting Iraq Wrong
''Nothing is personal in politics, because politics is theater.
It is part of the job
to pretend
to have emotions that you do not actually feel.''
http://www.vigile.net/article8029.html
I'm not sure what the crew think wilson. I remember that comment from Murphy, in fact I watched him make it and cringed at the time.
Ignatieff calling Mulroney on his birthday, I think, was just an act of courtesy and respect. Rae did it too. Neither man called in a camera crew to try to pull something over on the public.
Once again, the media is pushing this story for what it is not and people who want Ignatieff to fail, including Harper, are taking their cue and pushing it farther.
Canadians will only care about who looks like a gentleman in this case and it ain't going to be your guy...though to be honest this part of the story will die off and the fractures in the Conservative party will persist.
As I've said, as the story grew, Ignatieff 'did' politics...rather well as it turns out.
Harper just can't seem to help himself. It's always everyone else's fault.
The situation doesn't matter - all Ignatieff did was wish Mulroney a happy birthday, as did Bob Rae, and whether they did or didn't doesn't change the unhappiness in Harper's caucus.
C'mon Harper, stand up and be a man - take responsibility for a change.
Iggy has certainly shown that he knows how to make Harper squirm. Iggy pointed out that respect for Mulroney was due because he achieved two majority governments, and this must have driven Harper nuts. Iggy made it clear he did not agree with Mulroney's policies, but respect was due to his office. I think Harper has met his match and he knows it. Harper will fight back tooth and nail, including personal attacks against Iggy's character.
Iggy has certainly shown that he knows how to make Harper squirm.
Ohh yeah.... Harper is on probation!
LOL
Some people here are lost in the weeds. Canadians don't give a rats ass about whether or not Ignatieff said something kind about Mulroney. What is worth noting, Harper's miscalculation, or more correctly, taking the media bait and responding. Newsflash, there are still Mulroney loyalists within the fold, there is still a PC faction that until now has been glossed over by perceived success. All Harper is doing here, criticizing Ignatieff is again agitating some within the party. How that works for Harper escapes me, but it's an error, and ole tin ear has made a few, if you're paying attention.
It's not a public debate, this whole issue is so maddeningly stale, I can't even muster the energy to pay attention, and I'm engaged. The media loves it, but this ain't watercooler talk. What's relevant, all is not well within the Con ranks, and people are looking for cracks. This storyline never works against the Liberals. We're playing on his turf.
Poor pathetic Steve V, winner of the most delusional idiot the spring award, you are one f*#@!ed up Liberal.
By the fall of 2009 most Liberals will be wishing that they had never heard of Iggy, but you'll still be there trying to rationalize your support of the unsupportable.
Charming, anon. And Liberals like yourself are what the party should emmulate?
This ridiculous demonizing of anyone who supports Ignatieff or the party is productive how precisely? Since when did this party become as rabid as some of the crazier right wingers where it's suddenly okay to bash someone for the opinion they hold?
The last time I checked, each leadership contender had supporters and once the leader was chosen, we moved on. Yeah, yeah I know. You didn't get your angry little voice heard this time, but it's time to suck it up.
You don't like Ignatieff. No sweat, there are other parties out there that must be going in a direction that you favour. Go work for them, because unless you have something constructive to add or a specific complaint about Ignatieff that you can argue like an adult, no one is interested in gratuitous insults.
You're just bitter because you've been WRONG the whole time. Delusional? I'd say so.
Where is the democracy in the Liberal Party?
DOA
Yea, you're right anon. It's a bloody dictatorship and Canada is going to hell in a handbasket because the party made a one off decision in extraordinary circumstances. We're all doomed I tell you!
Good grief. Come back and join the conversation when you have something meaningful to add. Something that actually speaks to the future and isn't stuck in a past that will not change.
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