Showing posts with label sun tiv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sun tiv. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Protection, Patriotism and Punishment - the Harper Credo

By now, most have heard about Sun TV's faux citizenship ceremony orchestrated by the Harper regime to help promote its brand of Canadian patriotism. Putting aside questions of the ethics of a Canadian broadcaster allowing itself to be a propaganda arm of a government increasingly hostile to the traditional values of Canadians, I recommend Thomas Walkom's article in today's Star.

Entitled What the fake citizenship scheme says about Harper, the article offers the following insights on the deviant path the Harperites are treading:

The old Conservative brand, associated with prime ministers like John Diefenbaker and Joe Clark, emphasized practicality melded with compassion. The new one focuses on pride, patriotism and toughness.

Martial valour is an integral part of this new image. From that stems Harper’s emphasis on the military...

Toughness is expressed by the government’s emphasis on jails and mandatory sentencing, as well as its take-no-prisoners approach to political foes.

But above all, the Conservatives want to brand themselves as the party of patriots.

Recent reports of seismic disturbances in Saskatoon are undoubtedly due to John George Diefenbaker proving restive in his grave.