I Support Red Tory and MoS in their protest

To start with, I do not have the full details about the controversy between Liberal 4ever and RT. However, I have no reason to doubt what RT is saying on his blog about him and his family being threatened. I believe such threats are totally wrong and contrary to Liberal beliefs. This Liberal 4ever has left certain comments on this blog as well which were anything but "liberal." From what I recollect, he made derogatory comments with regards to Senator Barack Obama which further shows the ignorance of Liberal 4ever. Therefore I join the protest with MoS and RT, however for the time being I will not stop blogging, but if Liblogs does not take serious action about characters like Liberal 4ever, then I will seriously consider it.

I don't thoroughly read Liblogs, but there are some great contributors such as RT and MoS. It will be unfortunate to lose such contributors if Liblogs does not take actions against those who pretend to be liberal but are, in reality, far from it.

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George W. Bush goes Trick-o-Treating

Happy Halloween!

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Joe the Plumber: the babysitter

The biggest October surprise turned out to be Joe the Plumber. He does not have a plumbing license and hence is not much of a plumber, and even less of a politician. However, that did not stop McCain, his side-kick Sarah Palin and other surrogates from repeating the mantra, Joe the Plumber. It kind of became a pacifier for them in the absence of any other substantive issues in their campaign.

Joe the Plumber in now even appearing at John McCain and Sarah Palin rallies and making a fool of himself. Maybe they should also enlist the help of Bugs Bunny, Road Runner , Daffy Duck and Mickey Mouse . After all they are well known and Americans may be swayed by them.

It is time that Americans realize that what a goofball McCain and Palin are. Grow up Mr. McCain. It is not too late to rebuild your self-esteem. The babysitter didn't show up at your rally the other day even though you kept calling him.

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Harper’s new (or not so new) Cabinet

Changed positions marked with an asterisk (Source: CBC).

Justice
Rob Nicholson

National Revenue and Minister of State (Agriculture)*
Jean-Pierre Blackburn

Veterans Affairs
Greg Thompson

Government Leader in the Senate and Minister of State (Seniors)
Marjory LeBreton

Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Chuck Strahl

Defence
Peter MacKay

International Trade*
Stockwell Day

Treasury Board
Vic Toews

Labour*
Rona Ambrose

Human Resources and Skills Development*
Diane Finley

International Co-operation
Bev Oda

Environment*
Jim Prentice

Transport, Infrastructure and Communities*
John Baird

Foreign Affairs*
Lawrence Cannon

Industry*
Tony Clement

Finance
Jim Flaherty

Intergovernmental Affairs, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister for La Francophonie*
Josée Verner

Government Leader in the House of Commons*
Jay Hill

Public Safety*
Peter Van Loan

Agriculture and Agri-Food, Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
Gerry Ritz

Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism*
Jason Kenney

Public Works and Government Services
Christian Paradis

Canadian Heritage and Official Languages*
James Moore

Health*
Leona Aglukkaq

Natural Resources*
Lisa Raitt

Fisheries and Oceans*
Gail Shea


MINISTERS OF STATE

Sport*
Gary Lunn

Chief Government Whip*
Gordon O'Connor

Status of Women*
Helena Guergis

Small Business and Tourism
Diane Ablonczy

Transport*
Rob Merrifield

Western Economic Diversification*
Lynne Yelich

Democratic Reform*
Steven Fletcher

Science and Technology*
Gary Goodyear

Economy Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec*
Denis Lebel

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency*
Keith Ashfield

Foreign Affairs (Americas)*
Peter Kent

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Jim Flaherty: No New Shoes

Jim Flaherty may keep his portfolio but no new shoes for him. His boss Emperor Harper so far maintained that the fundamentals of our economy were sound. Now after the elections there is the admission of problems and talk of deficits and of rescuing financial institutions. With Harper spending over $30 million annually for security and his primping there will be very little money left for new shoes for Jim Flaherty ;)

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Joe the Plumber: The Joke

Keith Olbermann Special Comment

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Stephen Harper - Emperor, or at least President

According to media reports it cost $30 million for Emperor Harper’s security in 2006. I wonder what the figures are since. I do not have comparison for previous Prime Ministers but it sounds very high.

Moreover in the case of Jean Chretien you could approach the PM, shake hands and chat. It was true in case of Paul Martin as well, however he did not have the common touch of Jean Chretien but nonetheless was accessible.

However, I have heard horror stories about Emperor Harper. Some people were mishandled if they wished to attend a function where he was present. I have heard that if you are not well dressed and well groomed you may be turned away from the door or at least you need a valid CPC card. If not emperor he is definitely behaving like his idol George W. Bush. In other words he dreams of being "President" Harper.

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John McCain is having the blues

John McCain, right in front of his eyes, is seeing blue, state after state going for the Dems. This map is a rough prediction. This result is partially his own doing. He became desperate when he first noticed that he was down in polls. He and his sidekick Sarah Palin went into full negative mode. This included lines such as "Obama pals around with terrorists" "he is too risky" "he is a socialist" "he associated with ACORN's (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)" whose voter registration drive carried out illegal activities according to McCain camp. All that backfired. Now the McCain and Palin camps are blaming each other.

It is possible that he may lose his own State of Arizona to the Dems. Both Houses of Congress are headed for Dem majorities. Alaska may hold its nose and vote for their hometown daughter Sarah Palin but they are sending plenty of signals that she is not ready to be a heartbeat from the President. Even the Alaska’s main newspaper The Anchorage Daily News has endorsed Barack Obama. It is all around bad news for McCain and the camp and the Republicans in general. Oh yes, Ted Stevens of Alaska’s conviction, the longest serving Republican senator, is another nail in the coffin of GOP.

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Ashley Todd: Race Baiting -- Keith Olbermann Special Comment

The McCain campaign has tried all kinds of dirty tricks, but this one is the most despicable.

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Elizabeth Hasselbeck on Sarah Palin’s Wardrobe

Ms. Hasselbeck of "The View" defends Sarah Palin’s $150,000.00 wardrobe. She says talking about Palin’s wardrobe is sexist. Interesting! That is besides the point that under the current economic situation average Joe the Plumber’s wife may not be able to buy a $50 dress.

I must say that after watching Ms. Hasselbeck speak at Sarah Palin’s rally I am convinced that she would have made a much better VP for John McCain. She is conservative, well spoken, has name recognition and she is hot. McCain missed on this one.

Ms. Palin indicated that on her own, she buys her clothes from a place called "Out of the Closet" in Anchorage, Alaska.

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Sarah Palin and John McCain on the Huckabee show on Faux News

They may be out of tune and synch but they like to be on the same stage.

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Anna Nicole Smith and Howard Marshall: GOP ticket for the Whitehouse?

The similarities are uncanny.

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Sarah Palin: Joe 6pack is seething with jealousy

First we heard about Joe 6pack from Sarah Palin, however, John McCain loved the idea so much that he brought in Joe the Plumber. Now it is Joe the Plumber everywhere in their talking points and McCain is even taking a Joe the Plumber campaign tour. Economy, wars and healthcare can wait as Joe the Plumber takes the centre stage and becomes the main theme of the McCain campaign.

San Franciscans are naming a sewage treatment plant after George W. Bush. Now John McCain and Sarah Palin have Joe the Plumber – very compatible. Joe the Plumber will keep the lagoon full of @#$* in working order. This whole McCain campaign has hit the gutters and is flowing towards the stinking lagoon.

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Sarah Palin Fashion

You must have heard by now that the McCain campaign spent over $150,000.00 on the fashion and image of Sarah Palin. What you might not know is that some of the dresses she bought, she has not yet worn in public ;) The above pictures show some examples ;)

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Osama Bin Laden Endorses John McCain ;)

Click here to read the story.

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Sarah Palin: Kitchen sink and all

Sarah Palin is throwing the kitchen sink everywhere hoping it will hit someone or something. First, she says that Obama was "pallin’ around" with terrorists. That did not work. Then she raised issues with irregularities in ACORN's (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) voter registration drive. It actually turns out that one of the major voter registration frauds is on the Republican side. More recently Obama was too liberal that it bordered on him being Communist and anti-American. It looks all of this is hurting McCain more than Barack Obama. Is Palin becoming a major drag on the McCain campaign?

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Tina Fey, Sarah Palin and Saturday Night Live

What was not broadcasted and what you missed. Sarah Palin won and Tina Fey gave in ;)

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Keith Olbermann on Pro-American

Special Comment about John McCain, Sarah Palin and their supporters' asinine and caustic campaign tactics:

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Stephen Harper: The rejuvenated King

Hello Canada. Get ready for series II of King Harper. Now that he has slightly more seats in the House of Commons and the Opposition is in disarray, his real self may shine right through. The way Harper and gang denigrated and demonized Stephane Dion to win few more seats is a new record low in Canadian history. It was horrifying but I suppose some Canadians did not catch on with these Rovian tactics of Stephen Harper.

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Joe the Plumber to revive the McCain Campaign

It is obvious that McCain's campaign is in trouble because of many mishaps and gaffes. Now it has gone totally negative. In other words, it has hit the toilet.

Joe the Plumber is McCain's only hope to revive his campaign. There is hardly any rally of McCain or his side-kick Sarah Palin where Joe the plumber's name is not invoked.

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Fox News: What are they selling?

I have a confession to make. Once in while on weekends when nothing else is going on, I watch Faux News. It is surprising not only by content but also the visual. They have quite a few young anchorwomen and camera pans from the feet, legs and cleavage. My question is, what are they selling, news or sex?

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Sarah Palin on SNL

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David Letterman and John McCain

Early on in September, when John McCain suspended his campaign and said the economy was in trouble, he made many gaffes. One of them was his cancelling of his scheduled appearance on David Letterman's Late Night Show. He called David Letterman and said that he was leaving for New York and was headed for Washington DC. It turned out that he actually did not go to Washington until the next day and during the Letterman show he was in a studio next door giving an interview to Katie Couric. David Letterman was rightly upset.

Finally on the 16th of October McCain did show up on David Letterman's show. When Letterman asked him for not showing up last time, he had no answer but to say that he screwed up.

I think he screwed up the whole thing. He did not achieve anything in Washington DC and by politicising the bailout package he became a hindrance. Then there was the first debate between him and Barack Obama coming up and he said he was too busy solving problems in Washington DC and that he may not attend the debate. Then he showed up anyway. Is his whole campaign not a big screw up? About time for John to admit that too.

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John McCain and Barack Obama: the Comedians

In case you missed the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, here is the video.

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Joe the Plumber - The Political Football

There were many political footballs thrown back and forth during this election season in the US. Especially Pastor Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, Pastor Hagee and many more. The latest of them was Joe the Plumber by John McCain at the third and final debate at Hofstra University in New York. It went back and forth and the candidates repeated Joe the Plumber close to 30 times during the debate.

Joe the Plumber became a media hit and he had reporters surrounding his house, satellite trucks and all. Joe the Plumber, Joe Wurzelbacher, had his 15 minutes of fame. It turned out that it was a foul pass anyway. Joe the Plumber is no plumber, he does not have plumbing licence, and he earns only $40,000.00 per year and no taxes for a Joe the Plumber who is supposed to earn over $250,000.00, (the bracket under Obama's tax plan where the rich would pay their fair share) – Joe will actually save on taxes. Politics, politics thy name is trickery.

Click here for a good story on this ;)

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Barack Obama and John McCain: Third and final debate

Folks, you have heard about Joe-6pack from Sarah Palin. Bad news for Joe-6pack, he has been upstaged by Joe the Plumber. John McCain kept referring to Joe the Plumber throughout the third debate. According to one estimate, he said Joe the Plumber some 20 times. So much so that at the end of the debate Tom Brokaw of NBC declared Joe the Plumber the winner of the debate. Surely Bob Schieffer of CBS, the moderator, would agree with this.

I thought generally that John McCain’s performance was pathetic. When he talked about Bill Ayers and ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) he down-right looked silly. Then he would grimace in a strange way, indicating his disapproval, when Barack Obama was speaking. All in all McCain lost three debates in a row. Even his supporters and Republican commentators on CNN said that he did not do well.

One feels for McCain for his service, but making it the focus of his closing remarks did not go well. On the other hand Barack Obama spoke about economic hard times and what can be done about it in his closing remarks looking straight in the camera and leaving a strong impact. Barring some other hurdles, such as racism, I think Obama has sown up his Presidential victory.

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John McCain: Obama is a Family Man

First, Sarah Palin and McCain incite crowds and when crowd react they do not know what to do with it. Some in the crowd yelled that Obama is a "terrorist", "kill him" and so and so forth.

Then, at a townhall, one woman said that Obama was an Arab. What does McCain mean when he says “Obama is not an Arab. He is a decent human-being and a family-man.” Is he implying that Arabs cannot be decent human beings and family men? Arabs are not going to like this.

On last night’ Presidential Candidates’ debate later.

Meanwhile, check out this good commentary from CNN's Campbell Brown on the maligning of Arabs and Muslims in American political discourse:

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Canadian General Election October 2008

I am sure pundits will be giving many analysis of last night’s election as to who won, who lost and what went wrong. In my estimation all the leaders are losers. Yes, there was no winner last night.

Harper took a big gamble to win a majority, indifferent to what was happening to the country. He lost and got another minority. If he would have waited and handled economy well, he might have had better chance in 2009 on the fixed date.

Dion’s dream to become Prime Minister did not work. He could not deliver a knock out punch when Harper was at his weakest, stock markets were in disarray and the economy headed for a major downturn. He ended up with reduced Official Opposition numbers.

Jack Layton aimed for the Prime Minister’s job but could not even come up with Official Opposition title. He fell short of his expectations although he picked up a few seats.

Gille Duceppe could not quite pull off a major upset in Quebec but he did achieve his objective of denying Harper his majority. Canadians should be thankful to Duceppe. Imagine a Harper majority and full-fledged CON agenda.

Elizabeth May of course could not garnish a single seat in the House of Commons. She would have done better in London Ontario or in British Columbia.

However, the biggest loser in all this was the Canadian public. Harper broke his own fixed date election law to impose the election. All Canadians got was a major loss of time and resources with the same results we had before the election. Harper should have been looking after the economy, but instead his ego to have a majority got the better of him and he lost his credibility in the process.

I think both CONS and Libs need a new leader. CONS need a leader who cares about Canada and not about himself alone. Libs need a leader who not only cares about Canada but also can win. It is hard to predict the future, but both these leaders should head for the exit door.

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Stephen Harper: Issues to be considered

Stephen Harper is NOT a Prime Minister, or rather he SHOULD NOT be. A minimum requisite for any Prime Minister is that they should be proud of the country they're governing. That shouldn't be too much to ask. Yet Stephen Harper has referred to Canada as a "second-tier socialistic country" and called for a "firewall" to be built around Alberta. He wants to destroy everything Canada stands for, from hollowing out medicare, to circumventing the Charter of Rights, to establishing a militaristic and Bushian foreign policy. Stephen Harper hates Canada and everything this country stands for. Is this the kind of person we want governing Canada? Should he be our Prime Minister? The answer is No.

This alone would be enough reason to vote against Harper, but there is more. Alot more. It is hard to name everything, but I will try to provide a few examples.

To begin with, Stephen Harper is an ideologue. He subscribes to the small government, free market ideology that was responsible for the Wall Street collapse south of the border. A collapse that arose through excessive deregulation at the behest of the Republican neo-CONS. Stephen Harper is not someone we want managing our economy nor someone we can trust to safeguard our social programs. Furthermore, an extreme ideologue like Harper will not want to accept reality when it contradicts his theories, no matter the consequences for Canadians.

This is dangerous.

Then there is the corruption. Cadmangate, Schreibergate, Couillardgate, the list of Conservative corruption scandals is endless (and they have only been in power for two and a half years). This is especially ironic as the Conservatives campaigned in 2006 to "clean up government." I guess Stephen Harper is a "Maverick Reformer" like Sarah Palin who was recently reprimanded in her own state for corrupt exercise of power in firing the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner.

There is also the mean-spirited nature of the Harper government, from his control freakery, to his aloofness from the Canadian people (for instance his refusal to take questions from the public on Peter Mansbridge's Your Turn segment) to his "pooping puffin" ads at the beginning of the campaign. Harper and his cronies are hardly any better than a gang of schoolyard bullies. Furthermore, this bullying attitude extends to the Conservatives' attitude towards those in poverty, and those at risk. This includes refusing to honour the Kelowna Accord which would have helped impoverished Aboriginal communities, to axing daycare, to an overall hostile attitude towards social programs and social justice in general.

Around the World, neo-CONS are on their way out. John Howard of Australia was resoundingly defeated in his bid for re-election. Bush himself is on his way out and the Democrats look poised to take control of the Whitehouse and gain increased majorities in both the House and the Senate. As well, in Britain the Conservative Party has rejected the neo-CON legacy of Margaret Thatcher.

So why do we still have that anachronism of a Prime Minister that is Stephen Harper? Today, we have a chance to put this right and defeat Harper. Please, I urge you all to get out and vote, and take our country back.

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John McCain has his own Personal Deity

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Happy Thanksgiving

This turkey will like you to spare him for this Thanksgiving. However, you need not take him in as a pet.

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Sarah Palin, John McCain and Stephen Harper: What These Three Have in Common

All three mislead. McCain has too many senior moments. His positions change hour-by-hour and day-by-day. A good example is his position on the economy. On the same day, in the morning he said the fundamentals of the economy are strong, then it was in dire straights and he suspended his campaign and later he said it had all the symptoms of a Great Depression.

Sarah Palin out-right denies Troopergate and said she never asked for commissioner Monegan to fire her brother-in-law Mike Wooten. Now a bipartisan committee of the Alaska Legislature finds it differently. She also said that she was opposed to the Bridge to Nowhere and then it turns out that she was for it all along until Congress cut the funding and she was against it.

Harper misled on many issues but most obvious recently is the Cadman Affair. He repeatedly said that the tapes which reveal Harper saying that Mr Cadman was offered compensation for his vote were tampered with. Now experts appointed by him reveal that no such tampering took place.

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Stephen Harper’s turn

Harper’s fellow poodle, Tony Blair of Britain, gone. John Howard, speech writer for Harper, gone. Harper and Blair’s master Bush ready to pack up and leave. It is about time that Harper do the same. It is very important for the peace and safety of the world.

Harper is ready to go buy buy the stocks... he should say bye bye as well.

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Stephen Harper does not like Canadians: His "Let Them Eat Cake" Moment

Peter Mansbridge of the CBC invited all the federal leaders to participate on his segment "Talk Back" where Canadians sent in questions for the party leadership. All the nationwide opposition leaders, Stephane Dion, Jack Layton and Elizabeth May, accepted the invitation but Stephen Harper refused to do so. Emperor Harper said that he would have a one on one interview with Mansbridge but no questions from the public. What is he afraid off? He simply does not want to deal with the public. There are numerous indications of that.

He called the election when US election was heating up, hoping that Canadians take interest in the US election and thus he gets less attention. He was hoping to just slide by. Then he agreed for an English debate on a day when the widely anticipated US Vice-Presidential candidates' debate was on, again hoping that few people would watch.

He agreed for an interview with Peter Mansbridge when the second US Presidential candidates’ debate was on. His interview did not air until after 1 A.M as CBC chose to broadcast presidential debate first. All this shows that Emperor Harper does not want to deal with the public.

Then there was Harper's "Let them eat cake" moment. As the Toronto Stock Exchange dived and the economic news became more dismal, his recommendation was that there are some good buys on the stock market as the prices were lower – to him it did not matter that you may not have a job any longer, that you may not have the money to pay for rent on your lodging or to make the mortgage payments, that you may not have money to buy food and other necessities of life. All Harper could say is that there is the opportunity to invest in the stock and buy at a low price. That is what Emperor Harper said. Can you believe this? How much more out of touch will this man be before Canadians realize he is not fit to lead the nation.

It is also ironic that Emperor Harper is making a big deal over Dion's interview with CTV Atlantic. This was Dion's second interview with the Halifax anchor, while Harper had given none. We can debate the merits or demerits of that CTV affiliate airing the "botched" interview start (I'm sure this is a topic that will occupy many journalism ethics classes), but it is clear that Harper wanted to turn it into a "gotcha" moment insensitive to Dion's hearing problems and to the fact that English is Dion's second language (another case of Harper being insensitive to francophones and to Quebecers).

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John McCain Unhinged

In the second US presidential candidates’ debate, John McCain was unbalance to say the least. At one point he referred condescendingly to Barack Obama as "that one" when talking about a certain energy bill (Now, "That One '08" T-shirts are selling like hotcakes). Then, at the debate, McCain said that US imports oil worth $700 billion a year from terrorist countries. CNN estimated total imports cost approximately $350 billion a year. Also, guess who is the biggest exporter to the US, Canada. So, "my friends" we are a terrorist country, then Saudi Arabia and the third one is Mexico (as these are the top three oil import sources for America). In July of this year, the United States imported 1,960,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada, 1,661,000 from Saudi Arabia, and 1,200,000 from Mexico.

According to McCain, its major oil suppliers and neighbours are terrorist countries, the Saudis are not going to be pleased when they find out what McCain thinks of them.

All in all McCain’s performance at the debate was distressing and he sounded unhinged.

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Stephen Harper and Economy

Up to last week Harper has been stating that the fundamentals of our economy are sound. Maybe he and his corporate friends are fundamentally doing well. However, he does not fully realize how average Joe and Jane on Main Street are coping – people are losing jobs, inflation is up and people are losing their savings, in particular those who had invested in the stock market including RRSPs and funds for their children's education and other nest eggs.

Now Harper has somewhat changed his tune and said that the World financial crisis and US financial meltdown may impact us, but he still does not understand or does not want to understand the economic downturn in Canada because of the financial meltdown. I have seen on TV snippets of his platform and it is not reassuring. Danny Williams’ ABC (Anyone but Conservatives) has started to make more and more sense.

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Sarah Palin and John McCain unveil themselves

Sarah Palin and John McCain have dived for the gutter. Maybe San Francisco should get ready for their statues at their soon to be named George W. Bush Sewage Treatment Plant. These two, McCain and Palin, are swimming in such sewage.

The McCain campaign is becoming desperate as it is falling in the polls, so they jumped right into the raw sewage. Palin has said that Barack Obama is pallin' with Bill Ayers who was accused of violent activism as part of the Weather Underground in the 1960s, when Obama was only 8 years old. Bill Ayers is now a university professor and has only a passing acquaintance with Obama. McCain is also questioning "where Obama came from." This is a subtle hint that Obama's father was from Kenya (ie. that Obama is "not really" American). Obama was born in Hawaii and brought up in the United States first by his mother an later by his grandparents. This is the newest low that McCain and Palin have hit. Would they go any lower? Just keep watching when they fall further in the polls.

Palin is forgetting that her own husband was pallin' with Alaska separatists and that her pastor is a self-proclaimed witch-doctor, there is video of this pastor ridding Palin of witches. Moreover there is Trooper-gate. As well, John McCain is forgetting his Keating 5 association and pastors John Hagee and Rod Parsley, his supporters until he was forced to renounce them, who have made incendiary comments against Jews and Muslims respectively.

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Sarah Palin, Straight to the Gutter

You have heard of "Straight Talk", John McCain now has a new slogan, "Straight to the Gutter."

Keith Olbermann presents a great Special Comment on Sarah Palin's role in McCain's new gutter politics:

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$700 Billion Wall Street Bail Out and Its Secret of Passage

Hank Paulson, the Secretary of the Treasury, may know alot about Wall Street but he knows very little about the US Congress or legislators in general. He wrote a simple 3-page document which any legislator could read and understand - of course with the exception of John McCain. When it is so easily comprehensible watch it, it will fail and it was defeated in the House of Representative.

Long live the legal drafters. The Senate handed the document over to them and they easily expanded it to over 450 pages and increased the amount from $700 billion to $800 billion. All set. Very few can now read it all and understand it. Now they will understand a few scary words from their colleagues on the danger of not passing it. Bingo, both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed it with sizeable majorities. Seen the process before, works almost every time.

Now did you notice that over one trillion dollars (yes trillion with "T") have been spent on the Iraq war if you put all the costs together? Those trillion dollars were taken out of American economy. That money could have been in the hands of Main Street folks who would have been able to take care of their obligations including paying mortgages and other loans, there would have been no crisis. Now there has to be a way to make up this bail out. Also to hide the biggest blunder of century, if not in history, to engage in a very expensive and unwinnable war.

Because of this big screw up of the US government, Europeans and others are paying the price too because they heavily invested in US financial markets considering them to be solid investments. Not so. The Germans have bailed out some financial institutions, so did Britain and France and other European countries are looking to rescue themselves from the financial crisis as well.

Then we have Stephen Harper who like McCain still thinks that the fundamentals of our economy are sound. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s reaction and job losses reveal that the bottom may be falling out and remedial action is badly needed. Harper has no plan or platform but still wants you to elect him and give him a majority. Can Canadians take that risk? Think about it.

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Sarah Palin - Vice Presidential Debate

In case you missed the Saturday Night Live skit, here it is in full:

UPDATE: Some people are having problems loading the video, you can click here to visit another site and try to load the video.

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Julie Couillard is back

Julie Couillard’s book "My Story" is released. According to some reviews, it has some good stuff in it. Such as Maxime Bernier telling her that Stephen Harper was too fat, that he asked her to throw the confidential material pertaining to defence documents into the trashcan, and alot more good stuff.

Should Maxime Bernier and Harper and Co. be worried during this election season? It depends how the media deals with this book and how opposition parties utilize the tasty information. Nonetheless it makes the election season more exciting.

Click here to read the story.

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Sarah Palin and Joe Biden Debate

Some CONS, including McSame, say that Sarah Palin did a knock out job at the VP debate. I saw the whole debate and saw no knock out punch by her. She could not answer many direct questions and took refuge in saying that she was a hockey mom, and asked to let her get together with Regular Joe 6paks and produce alot of energy in Alaska. A high school student with some debating ability would have done better. The only thing she did not do is burst out in tears and leave the stage. Maybe that is the standard CONS are using to assess her.

Biden did exceptionally well. He answered the questions superbly and his experience and talent shone through.

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“The View” by Danny Williams, and ABC (Anyone but Conservative)

Danny Williams has the ABC (Anybody But Conservatives) campaign against Stephen Harper. Maybe he is on to something. He did deal with Harper face to face and very few get that chance. Is it possible that he knows something that we all should pay attention to? Williams does have alot of credibility as he is a straight talker who has a very high approval ratings in his home province of Newfoundland.

Danny Williams told Steve Murphy of CTV Atlantic that when he confronted Harper on his promise of an off-shore resources deal, Harper looked straight in his eyes and said he did not need the votes of Newfoundland and Labrador. That is quite rude to say to a Premier of any province, especially after breaking his word on the Atlantic Accord.

I watched French Debate and parts of English debate, I do not think Harper did so well. He kept smiling and on economy he said Canada is not the U.S. and repeated the John McCainesque quote of "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." Can you believe this guy? On Thursday the Toronto Stock Exchange took a 814 point hit which does not look good. Yes, geographically we are located north of the US and we are not the US, but anything which happens in the US travels to the North like pollution from smoke stacks in Ohio. This false assurance by Harper is not very comforting. People lost their savings, especially those who have RRSPs up to 20+% on average, and he continues to tell us that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" (even McCain ultimately admitted there was a crisis, but Harper out-Republicaned him by not admitting this). Maybe Harper means that the economy is strong for him and his rich friends.

I think Danny Williams is right, that Harper cannot be trusted.

In the English debate Harper was repeatedly asked where his platform was which is not available yet. Jack Layton threw a zinger when he said, "Are you hiding the platform under your sweater?" Yes where is his platform and how is he going to deal with the current economic crisis which is getting worse by the day?

Stephane Dion gave a strong performance in the French language debate and held his own in the English debate. Elizabeth May performed strongly in both debates and gave new visibility to her party.

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Stephen Harper: the Aussie factor

Poor Harper! He was just hypnotized by John Howard as he has been by George W. Bush and John McCain. No spin by Harper, it is all the fault of the speechwriter so fire the speechwriter. What a bull! When a leader makes a speech in public or in Parliament he/she takes ownership. When John F. Kennedy said, "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" we attribute these remarks to Kennedy and not to his speechwriter.

Harper will say Kennedy’s speechwriters were good. So if his speechwriters are bad then whose fault is it? It means he was a poor judge of character when he hired these people. The buck stops at his doorstep. If he cannot surround himself with competent people then the fault lies with him. He continues to blame his misfortunes on his staff or on his caucus. He is the leader, why does he not take responsibility. It is a shame that John Howard's speech was plagiarized. Pathetic.

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Stephen Harper's Funda-mentals?

Let's say you’re in a ship. The sea is very rough and the ship is shaking uncontrollably, the ship is in disrepair - disrepair because of the neglect by the captain and the crew. What do you think could happen? If you said that the ship could sink then you’re a realist. However if the captain keeps telling you not to worry, does this captain have any credibility? Canada is a small ship in the vast ocean of the world economy and tethered to a bigger ship called the U.S. which is in serious turbulent waters itself. Is the captain of Canadian ship not being irresponsible to continue assuring us that "everything is ok"? Should this captain and his crew not be fired? That captain currently happens to be Stephen Harper.

Harper has completely gone McCaniac (recent revelations show that in the past he took his cues from Pro-Bush Australian Prime Minister John Howard on the Iraq war) and keeps saying that the fundamentals of our economy are sound. We are in the same roller coaster ride as Wall Street. Early this week, when the Dow Jones plunged 778 points, the Toronto Stock Exchange dropped 850 points. I believe it was Pierre Trudeau who said that if U.S sneezes we get pneumonia. How can Harper say that we are going to be all right? Especially when he has patterned our economy after the U.S which is less regulations, lower taxes for the rich and big corporations and unbridled capitalism. Moreover our biggest trading partner is the U.S. We need to change the course and fire the current captain and crew.

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