Wednesday, March 21, 2007

In The Wake Of a Poorly Recieved Budget...

...another smear from Stephen Harper!

OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is accusing Liberal MPs of being more supportive of Taliban prisoners than of Canadian soldiers, a claim that has Stephane Dion demanding an apology.

Another bad day for the PM and I'll bet he whips out his old "soft on child-porn" lines.

25 comments:

Ti-Guy said...

Oh dear. Dion really should just respond to every one of those juvenile smears with: "Yeah? Well you're fat!"

...and then make oinking noises.

ottlib said...

I agree. Mr. Dion should just point out the stupidity of such a line and how it is unbecoming of a Prime Minister and then leave it at that.

Constantly calling for an apology just gets tired after awhile.

All that being said, Stephen Harper is usually at his nastyess when things are not going well for him. I wonder if his internal polling on the budget is corelating with the generally negative reaction it has received from the punditocrasy.

bigcitylib said...

Tactically, I think you have to. Demand an apology and the PM has to respond or not, apologize or not, and that gets reported. It keeps the story alive a little longer.

Anonymous said...

Well, you have to agree the Taliban do have some solid Green creds. They live in caves, cook over wood fires when they cook at all, get around mostly on foot, and prefer slashing and stoning infidels to shooting, although, they have been known to burn down the occasional school, kids and all. And if they ever regain power they have pledged to return Afghanistan to the 7th century. Hey, maybe Stephi wants to buy some Kyoto credits from them?

Gayle said...

I have no problem with demanding an apology - aside from the tactical point, the fact is it is a slur, and we should not become tolerant of this behaviour from our PM. Silence may be construed as tacit acceptance.

Ti-Guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ti-Guy said...

Well, I agree, but as we all know civility is not just a sign, but a proof, of weakness for brownshirts (who of course scream 'uncivil!' at the drop of a hat).

That's what makes them browshirts.

We do really need a primer for debating fascists. Does anyone know of one?

Dennis (Second Thots) said...

The PM having a bad time? I think he's making making a mockery of Dion as a leader, and he's doing it with one hand tied behind his back, too.

Tactically, the opposition should stop acting as though we're the bad guys over there.

I'm one Canadian who is proud of my prime minister for reminding us that we're the good guys guys, the Taliban isn't. Bravo.

I suspect this is all playing into how Harper intends to enter the next election, which I think will come sooner rather than later.

When you have an opposition that is in such disarray, and has such weak leadership, I mean, how can you resist?

Pass the popcorn.

Ti-Guy said...

*yawn* The ol' 'black is white' response. Dennis, that is really quite stupid.

Tactically, the opposition should stop acting as though we're the bad guys over there.

Are you a member of the government, Dennis? What riding do you represent?

Anyway, no one's acting. This is bad behaviour on Harper's part. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it.

Anyway, Dennis proves my point. The only way to deal with these kinds of people is to invite them to lick some part of your body...maybe even show it to them, in case they don't quite understand.

Leny Vilekoskytch said...

And I wish that the Prime Minister cared more about the victims of the Dawson College shooting than he did about Kimveer Gill and the boy's guns.

Unfortunately for me and the Prime Minister, we can't always get what we want.

Anonymous said...

Soft on crime,soft on terrorism,care more for the rights of the taliban than Canadian soldiers who were committed to this by a liberal government.Yes,bring down the government,it is time for voters to make the decisions.

Anonymous said...

Dion can't be outraged everytime he's on the receiving end of some hard repartee. It may be unfair etc. but for crying out loud Stephane this ain't tiddly winks or a university seminar. I can't imagine Trudeau would be pouting and whining about how he's being treated in the house, he'd dish it back.

Anonymous said...

This is about the security of our Canadian troops, not partisan politics. If Harper blew it trying to defend his indefensible Defence Minister, it's his own fault. Harper and O'Connor are threatening the lives of our troops with their incompetence and inability to know what has happened to the detainees. Detainees captured at no small risk to our Forces.
O'Connor must resign. Harper and MacKay must find out what O'Connor cannot: are detainees captured at great risk by Canadian forces being released once handed over to Afghan custody? Are our troops capturing and recapturing people who set out to kill them?
O'Connor by his inaction had put Canadians in harm's way, and Harper by his unwillingness to know truth is continuing to put our Canadian Forces in harm's way.
This is Harper's baby; no blaming the Liberals. What is Harper doing to ensure the safety of Canadian troops in Afghanistan? If what O'Connor said about Afghanistan having a "revolving door" and detainees being "bought out by their tribes" then what assurance can Harper give Canadian families with troops in Afghanistan that the same people captured are not given the opportunity to do it again?
The Harper government is soft on Human Rights.
The Harper government is soft on Truth.
The Harper government puts Canadian troops in danger.

Ti-Guy said...

I can't imagine Trudeau would be pouting and whining about how he's being treated in the house, he'd dish it back.

Dion's not pouting and whining.

Anonymous said...

Well ti-guy he's asking him to apologize not unlike when he was pressured during the debates in the liberal leadership race and his comeback was that Ignatieff was being unfair. He needs to learn to fire back not complain, that's all I'm saying.

Gayle said...

This smear was widely condemned on Duffy tonight. Not surprisingly the only person who defended it was Jason Kenny.

Robert Fife said it is comments like these that turn people off Harper because it shows his nasty, bully side.

I think if more Canadians heard these comments, coupled with the assanine comments from various Harperites on these blogs, they would be completely turned off Harper for good.

I found it hilarious when Jason Kenny was arguing the NDP do not care about the safety of our troops, when the NDP are the ones who want to bring them home. Seems to me Canada is a lot safer than Afghanistan.

Anonymous said...

and remember Coderre, the Liberal Defense critic is a pro hisbullah prick who marches in their parades.

Liberals hat the military and it shows.

Gayle said...

brent - I think Dion is trying to maintain some decorum and honour in the HofC. It has degenerated into a junior high school "bullies v the nerds" atmosphere in there with the advant of the Harperites.

For all their faults, for the most part MP's used to be fairly civil - the conditions in the HofC now are simply pathetic.

I for one am glad Dion took the mature approach, and simply asked Harper to apologize. I do not want him to stoop to Harper's level.

(Speaking of which, another great Duffy moment was when Duffy quoted a Senator as saying "Harper is a man who is quick to "fall" to the occassion").

Ti-Guy said...

Well ti-guy he's asking him to apologize not unlike when he was pressured during the debates in the liberal leadership race and his comeback was that Ignatieff was being unfair. He needs to learn to fire back not complain, that's all I'm saying.

He's just being direct. If someone says something that requires apologising (like whenever the classless Harpy opens his mouth) he'll ask for an apology. If someone says something that's unfair, he'll call it unfair.

It's not that difficult to understand.

Anonymous said...

Actually, I have written Mr. Dion and have offered him the opportunity to purchase "incompetence offset cedits"..a la the kyoto program...

I have not yet heard back, but I'm expecting a financial windfall.

When my financial ship comes in, I plan to buy ti-guy a year's supply of Depends...

Anonymous said...

Actually, I have written Mr. Dion and have offered him the opportunity to purchase "incompetence offset cedits"..a la the kyoto program...

I have not yet heard back, but I'm expecting a financial windfall.

When my financial ship comes in, I plan to buy ti-guy a year's supply of Depends...

Ti-Guy said...

There's nothing that reeks of competence more than posting twice.

God, I'm hilarious...just like Bruce.

Anonymous said...

Trudeau would throw it back in someone's face. Chretien, while a whole less eloquent would get his retorts in and even resorted to putting someone in a headlock. This whole "he's mean and should apologize" routine started with Martin and look where it got him. Dion has to fashion his own style and emulating Martin is not the way to go, sorry to disagree ti-guy.

Anonymous said...

Since when is "hitting the nail on the head" considered a smear?

Heard any of this before?

What is Canada doing to protect the rights of nonuniformed combatants captured in Afghanistan?

What is Canada doing to ensure that terrorist groups operating in Canada aren't singled out for discriminatory treatment?

When will Canada send a message to close down GITMO?

blah blah blah

Of course Liberals wish the enemy well. They WANT us to lose in Af'stan, to PROVE that we were 'wrong' to go there. Never mind it was Liberals who sent us there in the first place.

Anonymous said...

Good Afternoon all, Interesting comments, If the Liberals or NDP parties would like the military to set up detainee camps all they have to do is say the word and vote with the govt toprovide the funding and be willing to take all the political fallout that will come with it. I am a serving soldier and have served twice in Afgan and I do know that we treat all prisoner correctly more then likely to correctly and they have no respect for that as to them it just shows weakness. I will tell you that it is getting a little annoying hearing the parties argue over the enemy rather then discuss what further steps can be taken to ensure the success of a mission that in all honesty is starting to show progress. Just my two cents, and no I am not a member or support any political party, I vote every time for the party with the best platform for my family. I do not have an account so just call me Armyguy