CBC Op Ed: Heather Mallick: The road to neo-con ruin

[tuvor]

Viewpoint
Heather Mallick

I'm trying to summon up some human compassion for Canada's health minister, Tony Clement, in the sense that I acknowledge him as an actual human. But as for compassion, the well is dry. Dust sifts through the air down there. Cicadas hop; the dry grass sings.

The man has publicly damned not just drug users but the doctors and nurses who support Vancouver's safe drug injection site, a relatively cheap and effective clean-needles way to make life less bad.

What is he saying, that Staphylococcus aureus has a positive health outcome because junkies die faster? If junkies must have needles, let them harbour Clostridium tetani!

This latest attack on an attempt to mitigate the market forces that kill hundreds of drug users in Vancouver each year is part of the Conservatives' continuing efforts to make Canada follow the disastrous neo-conservative path that has destroyed the quality of American life.

Yes, that same sourly triumphant neo-con campaign that has made a once-great nation contemplate a sudden decline, its currency sinking, its military ventures emptying its coffers, its bridges and banks collapsing, its Big Food sending poison directly to the bowels, its citizens unlettered, its monster homes abandoned and its journalism a waste of time.

I keep imagining Stephen Harper standing in front of the mirror in the morning and reciting, Coué-like, "Every day, in every way, I get more and more Republican."

...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/08/22/f-vp-mallick.html

[CHIMO]

1. At Last

Someone puts into words the things that our politicians can not do.

Dief was a couple and a half generations too early(I didn't agree with his politics nor his methods).
Now there is a leader with vision and capability to lead with DK in the US.

Perhaps the future holds some promise, against the parasites, with those capable of capturing the hopes of the people?

[Caradoc]

2. Absolutely Canadian...

Heather Mallick hits the nail on the head. Tony Clement is every bit as bad a federal health minister as he was a provioncial health minister. What's he even doing at the DNC in Denver when 15 are dead from the Listeriosis outbreak at home? He keeps pawning it off on the Agriculture minister. Harper wants an election now because his own party's internal polls are saying 'now or never' and Stephen Harper just isn't wired for democracy or subtlety. He's become impatient, and it's gonna backfire.

[Bragi]

3. I note the comments

I note the comments after her column are almost all from CPC hacks trashing the article.

On this, a reading of the comments sections of various media sites makes it is pretty claar that the conservatives have an active campaign to dominate most public comments and discussion sections on media sites. This pretty much makes them unreadable.

If I was a media site owner, I'd be thinking of shutting down the forums at least during the coming election since they are just going to be boring battle zones for kiddie partisans shouting talking points at each other.

Sad that Canadian politics now shows clears signs of Kark Rove disease, where political discourse becomes a smear match. Thanks Steve.

- B

[Caradoc]

4. You're right, but...

...I also note on the discussion forum how often the conservative posters are almost always taken to the woodshed and rarely if ever reply when directly confronted. Harper's bitten off more than he can chew with his latest electoral brinksmanship...he is indeed looking desperate. But also, posters that support him are starting to sound a little shrill...they know no one up here is buying the neo-con crap anymore.