School make me sad. New poll numbers on the other hand...
Back to miserable school yesterday. I don't know how the average person wakes up at 8:00 or 9:00 AM (or earlier) and manages to get through the day without falling into a deep sleep. For me, it's simply unnatural. Tomorrow I only have a late class (I rented the movie we're screening in film class, so I can skip that), so at least I can sleep in. This also means I can drink myself stupid before I go to bed. Yes, I have a drinking problem. I drink by myself. Constantly. If I had people to go out with, I'd probably be less inclined to, seeing as it would be more expensive at a pub, plus the fact that I'd likely be happy to have some company. But I digress. Gotten back various assignments and exams. The only good news is that I'm not failing anything (yet). Marks are down considerably from last year, but on the upside, if I work hard this semester, I can at least manage respectable grades. Saw cute red headed girl in one of my tutorials. She came in late, so I didn't really have a chance to talk with her before class. And I'm not going to stick around and try and force some sort of conversation with her. That would make me look like a creep. If God loved me, he put her next to me in a line for coffee or standing outside smoking or something convenient. But hey, this is me. Never any breaks.
On the upside, one piece of good news did come my way, courtesy of my morning paper. If the polls are to be believed, Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party are very possibly headed towards a majority government on January 23rd. Now I have hinted at it before, but I am a full-fledged supporter (and member) of the Conservative Party and conservative causes in general. I have been for a long time. If you notice the links on the right handed side of this page, the first one will take you to the party's official website. Yes, that is quite clearly an endorsement. I hope that on January 23, you all help to make Stephen Harper the next Prime Minister of Canada. I could outline all the reasons why I think you should do this. If I did, I'd be sitting here typing for hours. True, I don't have a life, but I also don't have that much patience. I will say this though. Canada is not a one party system, though it really has seemed that way for a long time. People always seem to slight the United States and its two party system (though it's much more complicated than most realize). Well, for the last thirteen years, one corrupt party has had a virtual stranglehold on this country's parliament. Well, instead of big, bloated government, scandals and patronage, you have a chance to elect a man who will restore integrity and accountability to federal politics. A man who will lower the GST. A man who will restore our weakened ties to our strongest ally and pre-eminent trading partner. A man who will strengthen this country's joke of a military. A man who will hold a free vote in commons regarding gay marriage, something Canadians are very passionate about. We live in a democracy people. If the Conservative government you elect displeases you, you vote them out in five years. It's that simple.
But if you don't believe in what I believe, I hope that you get out and vote anyways. Yeah, I would rather you all get out there and place your vote, whether it's for the corrupt Liberal party, the lunatic NDP's or even those hippy freaks in the Green Party. Sure, I'm not painting them in the most positive light, but that's my choice to do so. Take the time to read the papers, not just one (The Toronto Star has a tremendous liberal bias for instance and to be fair, The Toronto Sun is very Tory friendly). Watch the news. Take time to visit the websites of the various parties involved. Do some independent, unbiased research (Wikipedia!) and make a choice. Yes, I encourage you all to Stand Up for Canada, but if you decide to go another route, God bless you, more power to you. That's your choice and I've made mine. Disagree with me if you will, but at the end of the day, I'm still willing to shake your hand and go grab a beer and watch some football. My oldest friend, whom I've known for over half my life, is the diametrical opposite to me, in regards to political views. We've had political discussions that may have appeared as if they were teetering on the brink of us coming to blows. But at the end of the day, we find common ground in a good cigar, a glass of bourbon and talking football. I may have different views on crime and punishment than you do or my views on gay marriage are different from yours. But that doesn't make either one of us a bad person; it makes you wrong, but I won't go there. So my bottom line to y'all is that on January 23, Stand up for Canada and vote Conservative. But if you can't stomach that, just vote. Period.
On the upside, one piece of good news did come my way, courtesy of my morning paper. If the polls are to be believed, Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party are very possibly headed towards a majority government on January 23rd. Now I have hinted at it before, but I am a full-fledged supporter (and member) of the Conservative Party and conservative causes in general. I have been for a long time. If you notice the links on the right handed side of this page, the first one will take you to the party's official website. Yes, that is quite clearly an endorsement. I hope that on January 23, you all help to make Stephen Harper the next Prime Minister of Canada. I could outline all the reasons why I think you should do this. If I did, I'd be sitting here typing for hours. True, I don't have a life, but I also don't have that much patience. I will say this though. Canada is not a one party system, though it really has seemed that way for a long time. People always seem to slight the United States and its two party system (though it's much more complicated than most realize). Well, for the last thirteen years, one corrupt party has had a virtual stranglehold on this country's parliament. Well, instead of big, bloated government, scandals and patronage, you have a chance to elect a man who will restore integrity and accountability to federal politics. A man who will lower the GST. A man who will restore our weakened ties to our strongest ally and pre-eminent trading partner. A man who will strengthen this country's joke of a military. A man who will hold a free vote in commons regarding gay marriage, something Canadians are very passionate about. We live in a democracy people. If the Conservative government you elect displeases you, you vote them out in five years. It's that simple.
But if you don't believe in what I believe, I hope that you get out and vote anyways. Yeah, I would rather you all get out there and place your vote, whether it's for the corrupt Liberal party, the lunatic NDP's or even those hippy freaks in the Green Party. Sure, I'm not painting them in the most positive light, but that's my choice to do so. Take the time to read the papers, not just one (The Toronto Star has a tremendous liberal bias for instance and to be fair, The Toronto Sun is very Tory friendly). Watch the news. Take time to visit the websites of the various parties involved. Do some independent, unbiased research (Wikipedia!) and make a choice. Yes, I encourage you all to Stand Up for Canada, but if you decide to go another route, God bless you, more power to you. That's your choice and I've made mine. Disagree with me if you will, but at the end of the day, I'm still willing to shake your hand and go grab a beer and watch some football. My oldest friend, whom I've known for over half my life, is the diametrical opposite to me, in regards to political views. We've had political discussions that may have appeared as if they were teetering on the brink of us coming to blows. But at the end of the day, we find common ground in a good cigar, a glass of bourbon and talking football. I may have different views on crime and punishment than you do or my views on gay marriage are different from yours. But that doesn't make either one of us a bad person; it makes you wrong, but I won't go there. So my bottom line to y'all is that on January 23, Stand up for Canada and vote Conservative. But if you can't stomach that, just vote. Period.
posted by King Hippo at 10:30 PM
5 Comments:
Wow...Conservative supporter, eh? No wonder you're depressed all the time.
I could do without the Mike Harris-esque intolerant Utopia of social tight-assery and intolerance, but that's just me. Stephen Harper is the Canadian equivalent of George W., please tell me you don't support him.
I reckon it's Liberals for me. I accept there are corrupt members of the Liberal party, but Liberal politics are an ideal and that's what I support, not the figureheads of the party. Sadly most people don't vote that way, they vote against people, not for policy.
Incidentally, Wikipedia's founder has even said not to use Wikipedia as a reliable research tool, after that last episode of semi-fraudulent joke posting.
Shocking,
Personally, I am a member of the liberal party (in whatever sense of the word a "member" is) and although the Liberal Party does have its faults, I still believe that it is the best option for Canada.
The longer a government is in power, the more chances they have to screw up. Unfortunately, they did "screw up" big time and got busted. But it really is no different than any other party. I mean, politics is corrupt (unfortunately) thus no matter who wins, there will still be problems.
The biggest problem, as I see it, is the following. Harper is promising a bunch of baloney (this is not saying the other guys aren't, Martin wants to ban weapons in space.... hurrah!). Honestly, I've heard the GST promise before, and believed it, as did many. Yet it fell through (surprise, surprise). I don't think people will be fooled this time. Anyways, regardless of this, changing a government costs alot of money. The Conservative Party, upon winning a majority, will then have to go pay off all the people that have helped them. The Liberals have already paid their supporters off over the last 14 years, so it's unlikely this would have to happen again.
Then, when Canada realizes the giant mistake they have made, there will be another vote of confidence or whatever, and another election, and a bunch more money will be wasted.
I'm not telling anyone who to vote for, I, like King Hippo, encourage you all to vote. Universal sufferage is a key dynamic to democracy. Even if you go and spoil your ballot, its better than sitting on your fanny.
Thus concludes my post, and with a half-hearted cheer, I say, vote Martin, the lesser of all evils.
(heart) Dosi
Yes, I am a conservative supporter and a member of the party. That means I have a card to prove it and they send me mailings etc. Plus I get to vote for party leadership.
For the record, I do support President Bush for the most part. He's not done a perfect job, but overall I think he's a good man, trying to do the right thing for his country.
Anyhow, corruption and leadership is by no means the only reason that I support the Conservatives. I've been a member since I was 19. I am a social and fiscal conservative. I always have been and always will be. I do not in any way consider myself to be an intolerant person. Realistically, nor does the conservative party and you know it.
I and many, many other people have different views and ideas about what is right and wrong, what is moral and immoral. Again, you are very free to vote for whomever you choose and believe what you will, but please don't say that the party that I belong to and believe in is "intolerant". It's simply not true. Sorry to snap like that, but it's just how I feel.
And yes I am depressed all the time, though I won't be on the night that Stephen Harper is elected Prime Minister of a Conservative majority government! WHA HA HA HA HA!!!! And for the record Double D, a motion of confidence cannot fell a majority government. So there!
Oh come on, the Conservative party (as party, not necessarily all individual members), and Harper himself, espouse a lot of intolerant beliefs. He's prettying himself up a bit for the election but you can go back over a lot of what he's said, especially back in his days of a lower-profile right winger in the National Citizen's Coalition. Ask a gay person if they think Harper is intolerant.
Don't forget some of Harper's more colourful soundbites like "west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society."
Also his crafty plans to effectively remove Alberta fromt he rest of the country. And his position on the Iraq war, which I suppose you can reasonably support but I think the majority of our country does not.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
If I may offer up a quick retort, I shall. This isn't a political blog (there are plenty of those), so I'll keep it brief. I don't want things to get out of hand here.
As for Stephen Harper 'prettying' himself up, I will agree with that to an extent. After the last election I had lost some faith in him as party leader. Not because I questioned his views or competance as leader, rather I wondered whether or not he could successfully sell himself to the Canadian public as P.M. material. He has done so very successfully this time around. I don't think that he's doing so to be deceptive. Rather as Mr. Harper himself has said, he has 'evolved'. Perhaps he wasn't ready to lead this country before. Now, he most certainly is and more and more Canadians are agreeing with me.
As to the question of 'intolerance', what you see as being intolerant are values and morals that I believe in. For instance, I have nothing against gay people, nor should I. However, I cannot support, nor even fathom the idea of gay marriage. Of course, people are free to do whatsoever they choose to, in the privacy of their own homes. You can live with whomever you choose, sleep with whomever you choose. Tax breaks, work benefits, whatever. Fine. But to me, it is not and never will be the same as a union between a man and a woman. This doesn't make me or anyone else intolerant. Just different. If you believe otherwise, so be it. We can both call each other wrong and be done with it. For the record, numerous polls have shown that a majority of Canadians agree with me. And yeah, I did support the war in Iraq. The majority of Canadians disagree with me on that one. I can live with that.
Am I a right-winger? Yes and proudly so. I don't know when the term took on such negative connotations. Ah for the days when 'Commie' was a dirty word...I wish I could have been there.
But thanks for reading and thank you for your opinions. This is what keeps democracy going.
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