Stop Me Before I Vote Again

Yves Engler for PM.

Who says voting is a waste of time?

The US resident staff of SMBIVA.

uh... not really

http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org/stopme/chapter15.html

and dude, can you just pick one name and stick with it? Sockpuppetry is annoying. I'm pretty sure that is one thing that the US resident staff and I do agree upon.

Sorry, I didn't think anyone gave a crap.

It is not like I'm gonna drag anyone into extensive oxtrot-ery, so to speak. Don't have the ADD under enough control for dat.

What is Dip BTW?

No worries. I mean the NDP, aka Dippers. They're basically the (old, not nu-) Labour Party equivalent for Canada

" My own favoured party, the Work Less Party of Canada .."

ahhh greatness shines thru !!!

a former Californicating hippie ex pat
named tom walker

-- bearded like father time
and laid back enough
to spit on his own heels ---

IS

the workless party fb

known mostly by his internet name
sandwitchman
he pops up wherever
job hours are getting kicked around
in the blog-sphere

--------------------
"...(slogans: "Alarm clocks kill dreams", "Workers of the world RELAX") "

32 hour week

my eye
why tom would have us legislate
the 3 hour job day and the 9 hour week
....if he could
-----------------
"...apparently neglected to file the necessary papers to maintain their status as a political party "

FB
so far as i knew
mr walker's party folly
remains BC based

but perhaps he had
or maybe even still has
Onto-prov acolytes

"Sometimes mistakenly identified as Irish, Kennedy is actually of Scottish and Ukrainian heritage"

now that's canadian politics for ya

new name for old poison rodent

chucky woodmatt

lol so that's the illustrious sandwitchman? I had no idea. I don't know much about the Work Less Party -- only discovered them, sorry, him, this morning -- but I do like the slogans.

I'm still eagerly awaiting the return of the SoCreds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_Party_of_Canada

I love Canadian crank politics

"Canadian crank politics"

over long winters on stolen native lands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_in_the_41st_Canadian_federal_election

Cited by FB above. I'm sooo confused. How was the graph derived from the info in the table -- if it was?

They're just plotting all of the polls from all of the different pollsters in one graph, without differentiating. You can see the Conservative support spike over 40% when an Ipsos Reid number is released.
The latest Ipsos Reid one was released right before the government fell, probably in order to deter the opposition or sucker journalists like Yglesias.

For more on Ipsos Reid funny numbers, you can check out this blog. As an added bonus you can see the Sr. VP of Ipsos-Reid in the comments, acting like a fool and threatening bloggers with lawsuits, as he has done on multiple occasions, in multiple forums.

http://paulitics.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/a-response-to-ipsos-reid-part-iii/

I don't pay a whole lot of attention to this stuff, but I'd say Nanos is probably the best. I really should pay more attention, though, as I've cited some dodgy poll numbers from the same guys before, and that makes me a pretty big hypocrite vis-a-vis the Woodchuck. I shan't be making that mistake again.

oh god, this is horrible. Matty Woodchuck is now taking an active interest in Canadian politics

http://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/51364545066831872

op also now has a new member for his American Front for the Liberation of Quebec

http://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/51775951440326656

tabarnak!!!!

It's a rare and precious thing when both "sides" get a dose of well-deserved humiliation.

One vote; one gloat. Gloat early; gloat often.

Yes, this does have potential, Fred. Perhaps Ignatieff will return to Harvard. He fits in there and would be happy, amongst his own kind... He could bring the Woodchuck to guest lecture.

I don't know much about Harper. I keep confusing him with David Cameron. Has anyone ever seen them both in the same room?

the Work Less Party of Canada (slogans: "Alarm clocks kill dreams", "Workers of the world RELAX") apparently neglected to file the necessary papers to maintain their status as a political party

living the dream.

recall the
30 for 40
slogan

of some decades
ago [during
the double
slump

when U-7 UE
was in the
mid 20s]

and a guy i
knew was
setting

trap lines
to survive

[the local
unions were
Absolutely

ineffectual
whereas
local

press
religious
orgs et cetera

stood against the

workers]

i should point out that the U-7 alternative
was discontinued end 1993

there is though still a U-6

"recall the
30 for 40
slogan"

where workless meets progressive labor
for party to party relations

Tabarnak indeed.

All the polls independently establish a variable yet solid advance by the Conservatives (outside Québec). Which to my mind brings up a lot of question about the RoC.

Seriously, they'll vote Harper again? After the G20/G8 police dystopia, the campaign finance prosecutions, the scandals, the lies, the stonewalling and circumventing of Parliament, the gifts to corporations in times of so-called 'austerity', etc.? To say nothing of the whole 'prison and military state' angle that Canadians used to look down on when occuring south of the border.

What's the MSM like on the other side of the Outaouais? The networks must be pumping out disinfo 24/7 to keep this man remotely electable.

The appeal of the conservatives is a bit hard to explain. I don't sense a strong allegiance amongst a lot of the people who vote conservative in Ontario. In general, the low-information voters I've met in the boonies just tend to think that Harper is sort of a "solid guy" who "is doing a good job". That, or they vote conservative sort of by default, because they go to church, even if they're not really that religious. That's about it. The only real issue that I ever hear about is the gun registry. It just seems like none of the scandals or aggressive policies can stick to him because his image is so boring.

Those are the normal people, anyway. There is definitely a smaller, louder contingent of Don Cherry types emerging. You often overhear them being bigoted loudmouths at small town Tim Hortons, or see them on the "Highway of Heroes" when they're out there with their jingoistic nonsense:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_jw-dAO4VayM/SdGbM3MUGAI/AAAAAAAABZI/tatpF9HPrZg/s400/canada-highway-of-heroes-homepage.jpg

http://www.rock95.com/Images/hwy%20heroes.jpg

I grew up in one of those small towns, and there was never any of that kind of thing even just 10 years ago. My theory is that there are a lot of boomers who are getting into that ultra-ornery phase as their balls shrivel up. They'll mellow out in a few years.

As long as the Cons don't get a majority, I'm not too worried.

I'm not too worried

i s hould think not

its canadia

so long as you're white
born there
and can hold on to a job
whats to fear ???

harperite goon squads ???

http://www.thegully.com/essays/america/img_usa/election_riot_gorilla.jpg

------

the fear here is different our gubmint leads killer bee
flights about the planet
but its bi partisan after all
so elections are marginal unless you yourself are marginal

america hates marginals
look what they did to the tramp
when they finally stopped laffing at him

http://www.inspirational-quotes-and-sayings.com/images/charlie-chaplin.jpg

"the fear here is different our gubmint leads killer bee
flights about the planet "

Maybe so, but we are a junior partner in Libyafghanistan, and we just ordered another 65 F-35 tactical strike killer bees that don't even work in cold weather. Hardly suited to anti-ruskie arctic defence, eh?

Where'd you think the contents of those hearses came from?

op

30 hours work for 40 hours pay

SCRATCH THAT -- I WILL NOT BE VOTING!!!

Commons unanimously backs Canada's deployment to Libya
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/commons-unanimously-backs-canadas-deployment-to-libya/article1949786/

So every single Canadian party (the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, Greens and even the Bloc Quebecois!) is on board. wow. What the fuck is going on

FB, I don't think Ipsos is far wrong. If Harper can win a few more seats in Quebec, he'll romp.

Unemployment is moderate. Our housing bubble hasn't corrected yet. The TSX is back at '08 levels. The dollar is strong which makes Canadians feel good. Interest rates are still low. Although consumer price inflation is rising, but is yet to become a prominent political issue.

So in terms of the economy, Harper has a pretty decent position.

In foreign affairs, Harper is also looking good. The Libyan War hasn't lasted long enough to turn foul. Canadians enjoy "bombing Qaddafi." Our national vanity has been gratified by having a Canadian named as the figurehead commander. Qaddafi can't shoot back at us, so Canadians' well-known caution is likewise gratified.

If we accept the adage that "governments don't get voted in, they get voted out," then things simply look great for Harper. He can fold his arms, smile in his sickly way, and watch Ignatieff try to explain "contempt of Parliament" to Canadian voters just when the fucking hockey playoffs are getting under way.

That all sounds about right to me. The only thing I wonder about is:

"Canadians enjoy "bombing Qaddafi.""

I'd like to see some polls on that, but I can't find anything. If you look at the comments on that Globe article, or on this one ( http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/03/21/pol-libya-debate.html ) they're overwhelmingly against this invasion, and even Margaret Wente, of all people, is critical:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/blame-r2p-the-intellectuals-go-to-war/article1957296/

God help me, Margaret Wente actually made sense.

How could one live in this age, and dare to write satire?

When I wrote about how Canadians enjoy bombing Qaddafi, that's just the general sense I get from those around me--at work, in the store, on the bus.

Most people I've run into actually think of it as "bombing Qaddafi," as if our war was being waged against one Bad Man.

I also detect the sense of "Obama is nicer than Bush, therefore Obama's war must be nicer than Bush's war."

Canadians like to serve as loyal auxiliaries of the Empire, whatever that empire might be. The right wing transferred its "ready-aye-ready" to the USA from the Brits. Much of the Canadian left, such as it is, transferred their imperial loyalty to the UN. Neither wants to think much about what an independent Canadian foreign or defense policy would look like. Canadians' nationalism is displaced to entities with greater power than their own.

God help me, Margaret Wente actually made sense.

How could one live in this age, and dare to write satire?

When I wrote about how Canadians enjoy bombing Qaddafi, that's just the general sense I get from those around me--at work, in the store, on the bus.

Most people I've run into actually think of it as "bombing Qaddafi," as if our war was being waged against one Bad Man.

I also detect the sense of "Obama is nicer than Bush, therefore Obama's war must be nicer than Bush's war."

Canadians like to serve as loyal auxiliaries of the Empire, whatever that empire might be. The right wing transferred its "ready-aye-ready" to the USA from the Brits. Much of the Canadian left, such as it is, transferred their imperial loyalty to the UN. Neither wants to think much about what an independent Canadian foreign or defense policy would look like. Canadians' nationalism is displaced to entities with greater power than their own.