From The Salamander

Lately, I guess as a response to the rhetoric that comes pouring forth every year as Remembrance Day approaches, I have made several critical posts directed against those who find it so easy to don the mantle of patriotism while paying only lip service to the lives lost in war.

In response to one of those posts, the salamander left a poem. With his permission, I am showcasing it here, as I think it very effectively captures some of the motivation behind those who so willingly consign others to the risk of injury or death while fighting wars that hardly serve the purposes their propaganda suggests.

Here it is:

on armchair warriors.. and their ilk ....

--------------------------------- the Theocrats ... assorted aborted Bureaucrats the ethically dead, and marching ants of zombie conservative reform rants

The toxic loutpack ministry of lord Stephan Harper Baird, - Mackay, Oliver and Clement, Kenney, Fantino.. Flattery .. the noisy others

All of them piss-poor pro war hissing cowards sycophant jowly pigmaids in lipstick waiting.. lords of flies, electoral lies and the live and oily robocall

Guided by invisible heavenly white angel noise boot lick back-room - blackberry electro twits and sneery war-room phone call cabin boyz

To their mission-vision calling they must whore.. all wrapped in petro power F-35 bomblet games steeped in wet red dreams of good old fashioned war

And kneeling to their woofing Rapture Beast in Heat in holy Israel.. they inhale their precious time in the trough Wallow Baby.. Wallow.. squeal from your Commons seat

When hobnailed real Canadian boots kick yer stinkin filthy arses high n heavenwards then and only then, will you behold

The filthy Rapture You Deserve.. and Earned

I look forward to hearing much more from the salamander.

And Another Thing ....

When It Comes To Our Veterans

... the Canadian government knows that talk is cheap.

After Cutting Through The Sanctimonious Rhetoric

...it is apparent that, like most governments, the Harper regime has been quite content to recruit, exploit and ultimately abandon those who, in good faith, joined the armed forces to support a 'muscular adventurism' that has both tarnished and diminished Canada's standing in the real (i.e., excluding the U.S.) international community.

Ample evidence of this abandonment is to be found in the words of those veterans and military widows who gathered on Parliament Hill just prior to Remembrance Day, words that paint a stark picture of bureaucratic indifference and red tape that flies in the face of reassurances from the government, which says the care of military families is a top priority.

Retired master corporal Dave Desjardins, who was "proud to serve his country" and is paralyzed from the waist down, had the following to offer:

“What I’m not proud of, however, is how our government officials and senior military leadership can look directly into the camera (and) speak to the Canadian public about honouring our veterans at this time of year with implied conviction when they’ve clearly turned their back on us and continue to demonstrate (that) on a daily basis,” said Desjardins.

He challenged Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney to look him in the eye “and tell me you really care.”

You can read the complete sad story, posted in today's Star, here.

Canadians: Dear Leader Requires Your Uncritical Attention

To absorb and spread this message. Watch, learn, and heed:

Ignore the ugly rumours spread by enemies of the state that Dear Leader advocated this policy in 2008.

All The World's A Stage: Harper Hypocrisy in China

Harper blasts foreign money in oil sands debate while welcoming China

Prime Minister Stephen Harper blasted “foreign money and influence” behind critics of Canada’s oil sands even as he welcomed Chinese investment in Canada’s energy sector.

... he made clear he does not equate Chinese foreign investment in oil sands development with the unwanted “foreign money” behind environmental groups, and that he sees no irony in the contradiction.

'Nuff said, I think.

Will Your Next Banana Be Chiquita?

Mine will be, given that the Harper government, aided by one of its fronts, ethicaloil.org, has issued a fatwa against the company for its resolve not to use tarsands oil for its transportation needs.

In a rare departure from Harper's find-no-fault-with-corporations-policy, he and his ministers are in high hypocritical dudgeon over Chiquita's decision, and are employing the same tactics to demonize the company as they use against anyone who stands in their way:

Several high-profile government MPs, including Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose, have urged Canadians not to buy bananas distributed by Chiquita Brands International after the Ohio-based company said it would avoid using fuel for its trucks derived from Alberta’s oilsands.

Here is a sample of the propaganda currently being employed on our airwaves:

“The Chiquita banana company says it’s boycotting oil from Canada’s oilsands. Apparently they like oil from OPEC dictatorships better,” an announcer’s voice says over orchestra music. “While they boycott Canada’s oilsands, you can boycott them. Don’t buy Chiquita bananas or Fresh Express salads at your grocery store.”

This perverted appeal to patriotism is especially rich, given the consistent contempt Harperites have shown, not only for the opinion of Canadians on an array of issues, but also the world's concern for climate change, as evidenced by their recent sad performance at Durban.

Lawrence Martin On The Dire State of Democracy Under The Harper Regime

Writing at i.Politics.ca, Lawrence Martin, author of Harperland, (a revealing look at the Prime Minister and his contempt for just about everyone outside his narrow clique), does us all a service in his article, By the way prime minister, this is not a police state, reminding us of some of Harper's more egregious and flagrant violations of democratic norms over the past few years. Given that there have been so many instances of these abuses since the Harper regime took power, I am grateful for the brief refresher course Martin offers here.

The Coalition Monkey- Harper's 2004 Words Betray His Hypocrisy

The CBC's Terry Milewski has a great posting here on Harper's assessment of coalitions' constitutionality when he was seriously considering one with the NDP and The Bloc back in 2004.