The Failures of Our Political Representatives

The other day over at Trapped in a Whirlpool, blogger Kev wrote a post entitled Irrelevant by Choice. In it, he lamented the failure ofParliamentary-backbenchers to do the job they were entrusted with, the representation of their constituents. He wrote:

I choose to believe that the vast majority got involved in politics for the right reasons, because they believed strongly in something and felt they could make a contribution. However, somewhere along the way they were convinced that the only role they could play was to defend the party, tossing away any principles they may have had.

Although our political system is based on what is known as party discipline, like Kev, I have been dismayed by the failure of Conservative backbenchers to show any moral fiber, choosing instead to support the most odious of legislation and propaganda spewed out by a government that evidences little concern with anything save its own ideological agenda, no matter what the cost to the environment, ordinary people's lives, or faith in the democratic process.

My assumption is that in many cases, the siren call of a Parliamentary secretariatship or, the ultimate prize, a seat at the 'adult table' via a cabinet post, overwhelms any residual morality of the people's representatives.

Nonetheless, occasionally the slightest ray shines through on a dark contemporary political landscape. As reported in the print edition of this morning's Star, that ray is to be found on Toronto city council.

Michelle Bernardinetti, one of two women (Jayne Robinson is the other) on Rob Ford's 13-member executive committee, has decided not to seek reappointment to the cabinet-like body, saying, "I'm a Liberal. I'd like to focus on the values that I hold.... It's a great opportunity just to be an independent councillor."

It seems that biggest objection Bernardinetti has to the committee is one that parallels the nature of federal and provincial politics: the whipped vote wherein members face "intense...pressure from Ford's staff" to vote a specific way, supporting even the most inane of the chief magistrate's directives.

Says Bernardinetti: "I'm elected by the 60,000 people in Ward 35, and I have to listen to my residents.

A pity 'tis that our provincial and federal representatives show such deep contempt for such a lofty concept.

One of Nature's Hidden Affronts

I assume this requires no commentary from me:

H/t janfromthebruce

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.

But Would They Be So Enthusiastic

... if they knew anything about their northern neigbour? You decide:

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.