Rage Farming And Hypocrisy Come So Easily To Him

While political hypocrisy is hardly rare, in my view Pierre Poilievre 'elevates' it to an entirely new level - new at least in Canadian politics. And while his blind followers will no doubt fail to see this, rational, reflective citizens will.

By now, most people will have heard about or seen the video in which deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland is viciously verbally assaulted by Alberta miscreant Elliott McDavid. If you haven't, I placed it on a previous post. While one cannot draw a direct link between McDavid's disgraceful behaviour and Poilievre, it is clear that the kind of reckless, divisive rhetoric favoured by the soon-to-be-crowned new leader of the CPC emboldens such heinous harassment.

A story in The Tyee  quotes McDavid as saying he is proud of what he did:

“Why did I do that? Because I want the rest of the country to wake up and realize that she is a traitor to the country. She is selling out the country,” Elliot McDavid said in a phone interview Saturday.

 University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley told the Tyee

 he expects aggressive attacks on politicians to increase in Canada as right-wing politicians continue to engage in “rage farming” by advancing false and misleading conspiracy narratives.

But, of course, the most dangerous rage farmer, Mr. Poilievre, refuses to take any responsibility for the current rancourous landscape that he so willfully cultivates and exploits. Indeed, until he was confronted by a reporter about the Freeland incident, he offered no denunciation of it. His 'repudiation' of it, as you can see in the following video, was completely self-serving:

He refers in the above to the online abuse his wife, Anaida, has experienced, so perhaps she deserves some scrutiny. Clearly a fellow traveller and soulmate, she reminds me a bit of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth's perfect partner-in-crime:

""But screw your courage to the sticking-place and we'll not fail!"

That the rage-farmer's wife is all in with Pierre's pursuit of power at any price is evident in a recent Tweet she sent, recommending Canadians visit an extremely right-wing site trafficking in sensational headlines, love of 'freedom' and hatred for Trudeau.'

Oh… 7 times Trudeau met with pedophiles, terrorists and extremists | True North

tnc.news

7 times Trudeau met with pedophiles, terrorists and extremists

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has a long record of hob-knobbing with individuals who have been convicted or accused of committing heinous crimes such as possessing child pornography or even attempted...

This kind of scurrilous recommendation by the wife of a possible future prime minister is unprecedented in Canadian politics, as far as I know. That she panders like Pierre to an angry and reactive rabble does not bode well for a return to a more civilized discourse, but perhaps helps explain some of the putative reactions she has stoked.

It is said that behind every successful man stands a woman. In this situation, it might be more accurate to say that behind every unscrupulous politician stands an equally unscrupulous wife.

They make quite the power couple, eh?

Annoy A Nazi

I was going to write about Pierre Poilievre this morning, but then Brittlestar's latest popped up; as a consequence, I now have a new, catchy personal theme song:

In Good Company

Given the unhinged crowd Pierre Poilievre cultivates, it would seem that Patrick Corrigan has pierced the heart of the demagogue's mystery.

And for those who would like a graphic reminder of that crowd, there's this:

 

Then Again, More Often Than Not ...

 ....justice does not occur, but police brutality does.

Sometimes, Justice Really Does Happen

The following is self-explanatory; there is no need to watch TizzyEnt's original video posting, as the one below reveals all we need to know about the crimes, and the arrest of the woman who perpetrated them:

A Window Into Their 'Minds'

 

If you read this blog with any regularity, you probably know that I hold the crazed right in abject contempt. Their eagerness to embrace conspiracies, their elevation of 'Queen' Romana Didulo to other worldly status speaks to both the weakness of their minds and their extreme credulity. As well, the fact that they continue to protest against non-existent vaccine mandates suggest they live in a fantasy-fueled world of their own. 

I applaud Peterborough mayor Diane Therrien's assessment of them. And rather than treat them with kid gloves or pander to them a la Pierre Poilievre, more political leaders need to strongly denounce them and their disruptive, illegal tactics. I want nothing to do with them.

And I will lump these people into the results of a recent Abacus poll. When asked the question, All things considered, which is a better place to live - Canada or the U.S.? 91 % of Canadians polled preferred Canada, of course, The other 9% did not.

Looking into how they answered the other questions, reveals that the plurality of younger men [those under 45] think they would be better off financially and enjoy life more if they were living in the US.

Conservative voters also tended to be less keen on Canada.

Only 60% think they have better health care than they would have in the US, and only just over a third think Canada is a better place to earn a living and enjoy life.

Those who are unvaccinated against Covid, of which the deranged are a large part, also have reservations about our home and native land.

Only half of this group think living in Canada means being safer from violence or having better health care.  A plurality thinks they would be better off financially and enjoy life more living in the United States.

Now I realize that I am conflating the 9 % with the crazies, but it seems to me that they all have something in common: an unwillingness or an inability to see things as they really are. By objective standards, there really is no basis to argue that life in the U.S. is better, unless one thinks the freedom to engage in violence, to carry and use guns at will,  to support insurrectionists, and elevate cult-like movements as legitimate expressions of democracy is preferable to life here at home.

In which case, all I can say is, Don't let the door hit you on your way out.

 

 

UPDATED: This Is Gonna Hurt

 

I have a friend whose daughter recently started her career in healthcare as an occupational therapist in a facility where people are awaiting placements in LTCs, and already she is feeling burnt out.

- burnt out over the fact that she cannot do her job properly in assessing people for their needs, as she is being called upon to perform much more basic functions, such as changing patients' diapers.

- burnt out over having to do the paperwork her job entails on her own time at night, without additional payment.

- burnt out over the fact that her facility keeps accepting new patients, which leaves her even less tome to assess the ones she already has.

She is just one of thousands of  healthcare workers toiling under stressful conditions across the province, and thus far, despite the proclamations of Doug Ford and his health minister, Sylvia Jones,, little relief seems pending. 

Other people as well are losing faith in a system that is supposed to be there, up and running well, when we need it. Thus far, Ford's 'vision' is not inspiring confidence:

‘Just a code word for privatization,’ Aug. 18

The unconscionable and heartless directive by the Ford government to free up hospital beds by having “elderly” patients transferred to long-term care (LTC) facilities far removed from their families and communities, follows the same scheme the McGuinty-Wynne Liberals hatched, which brought the same outrage that families and others are expressing now.

The Conservatives have blatantly put ageism forward by discriminating against people of a certain age as “elderly.”

Where do those other adults waiting for nursing home placement fit into the government’s solution of clearing hospital beds?

To label those of any age waiting in hospital for accommodation in a long-term facility as “bed-blockers” shows a disturbing indifference to them. 

The chaos in hospitals is not the fault of Ontario seniors, but government has shamefully placed the blame on some of our most vulnerable people.

Ellen Watson, Aurora

Privatization does not work, Aug. 12

Remember how former Premier Mike Harris “created a crisis” in education with the goal of privatizing?

Well, today Premier Ford has created a crisis in health care and, surprise, surprise, he is talking about privatization, which has already wreaked havoc in long-term-care (LTC) homes.

Ask yourself if education is any better for Mike Harris’s heavy-handed disruption tactic?

I submit that things are much worse.

If anyone thinks privatizing healthcare will make things better, look to the past, then think again!

As George Santayana once wrote, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

Jonathan O’Mara, Whitby, Ont. 

Privatization does not work, Aug. 12

While I am not schooled in the intricacies of economics, it does seem to me that any model of privatization means profit, by which the provider must charge more, through extra billing, not covered by OHIP, or reduce costs, such as offering staff less money and benefits, and/or reducing the number of staff, and thereby lower the quality of service.

It only makes sense that privatization results in greater costs to the tax-payer and consumers, and less quality to those unable to pay for enhanced services.

While privatization advocates claim that fewer people will be waiting in the public system, they fail to state that a private tier would syphon off professionals (already in short supply) from the public system, contributing further to the strain on our public system.

We must maintain the integrity of our universal heath care system.

Norah Downey, Midland, Ont.

Sylvia Jones warns ‘status quo’ in Ontario health care is not sustainable, Aug. 17

It apparently was not bad enough the Ford government opted for mass institutionalization of our seniors in long-term care facilities in defiance of their stated wishes to age in place.

Now to fill empty LTC beds in the white elephants his government has funded to the tune of over $6 billion of taxpayer’s money? They plan to ship our seniors, like cattle, from one community to another so they don’t “block beds” in hospitals. Remove them from all that is familiar at the most vulnerable time in their lives to a place they don’t know, to be cared for by strangers, where it is difficult for family to visit?

In other words, abandon them after a lifetime of helping to build this province.

Could this government possibly have a more contemptuous view of older adults? Is this really what Ontario voted for?

Patricia Spindel, Ajax, Ont.

UPDATE: Let's give the final word to Brittlestar: