Monday, March 02, 2015

Why Stephen Harper's Bigotry Will Come Back to Haunt Him



As you know I am having a hard time accepting that Stephen Harper would actually use fear and bigotry to try to win himself another bloody majority.

Because even though he is a grubby creature, it's the lowest thing I have ever seen. And I fear what might happen to this country should he get away with it. 

So it's really good to see some in the MSM finally starting to criticize his dirty game.

And like Tim Harper, start saying enough is enough. 

Are we moving into a new era of intolerance in this country? Intolerance is a strong word, but certainly no more inflammatory than some of the words being bandied about by our politicians in this election year. Vigilance has crossed a line, much of it fuelled by comments — or inaction, or studied silence — by politicians at the federal level, much of it from the Conservative government.

Because attack ads like this one really are disgusting...



And so is this:

Here in Ottawa, a well-known Manitoba Muslim leader implored Canadians to stop casting all Muslims as threats because of the actions of terrorists who have subverted her faith. 

For her trouble, as first reported in the Winnipeg Free Press, Shahina Siddiqui was told by Ontario Conservative Senator Lynn Beyak to stop being so thin-skinned. 

“Canadians don’t want to hear all that,” Beyak said. “They are tired of us being offended. They want us to do something about people who are threatening to blow up malls.”

And as Michael Den Tandt points out, nobody needs a lesson in tolerance more than Stephen Harper. 

There is a way for Canadian politicians to walk the line between the struggle against violent Islamism on one hand, and dangerous bigotry on the other; and that is to declare war on extremism yet uphold the rights of minorities, in this context Muslims, with matching ferocity. It really is that simple. How odd that, 13-plus years after 9/11, this lexicon seems still somehow out of reach.

For his behaviour has been abominable...



He is appealing to the basest instincts of Canadians, and pandering to the mob, for crass political purposes.

And the only consolation is that his revolting behaviour may be starting to cost him support.

The Conservative party’s 2011 majority was built on support from new Canadians. Mr. Harper noted this himself last September in a televised conversation with the editor of the Wall Street Journal. In making a point of taking issue with Muslim religious dress in citizenship ceremonies, as both the PM and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander have recently done, the Conservatives are flirting dangerously with stoking xenophobia.

They should be doing exactly the opposite, for reasons political as much as moral...Because Conservatives cannot win the Toronto hinterland if they allow themselves to be perceived as unfriendly to immigrants. Jason Kenney, the government’s multiculturalism point man, gets this. It’s time he had a frank chat with his boss, if he hasn’t already.


And the even better news is that although the MSM is still not calling a spade a spade, or a bigot a bigot, when you include all the criticism Harper has been receiving over his foul bill C-51, his image is taking a pounding.

And when Canadians realize that he is not only trying to turn this country into a police state, he's actually trying to set it on fire.

His bigotry will be used against him.

And his madness will consume him....



At least that's what I hope. Because if he isn't, and we can't get it together to defeat him and all those who would fan the flames of bigotry.

We will be consumed by our ignorance and our indifference.

And our country will be destroyed...

Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.

14 comments:

Marmalade said...

Basic human decencies are at an all time low. What is causing all this FEAR? Citizens are afraid to make eye contact or heaven forbid, even speak to one another on the street. I notice this on a daily basis and I live in a small town. There are a few exceptions......a scattered person will respond to my "Good day.....lovely one"!

People attached to their cell phones are the worst........

Anonymous said...

Correction: "The terrorists AND Radio-Canada hate our values".

mizdarlin said...


What has always bemused me is the fact that a 'Christian' like Timothy McVeigh who was an admitted terrorist and murderer, homegrown in the late great USA, was never ever called a Christian terrorist or a Christian fundamentalist, etc. nor was his religious affiliation even considered in light of his actions..
This bigotry against The Other has always been with us..as any First Nations person in this country can attest...or any person of any colour other than lily-white, preferably male, preferably Protestant, heterosexual, etc etc...
Do we hear anything of the forced sterilization of males, or any form of birth control other than the 2000 year old condom? Nope....
During WW2 which was the nationality that was put in concentration camps, had there belongings stolen, etc. yes, of course the Jews, but let us never forget that the Japanese, and to a much lesser extent, the Italians and Germans....the Other, no matter that the President considered the Great Progressive, FDR was in
office....
Harper is grasping at the same old straws, with much less reason to do so..and yes, it is gonna bite him in the bum...
In Britain, when the rightwing yahoos in "Pegida' decided to stage an anti-Muslim march, around 300 showed up for their side..several thousand showed up to march against that principle..think that would happen here? I hope so, but doubt it...
We are in the infancy of anti-Muslim rhetoric and bigotry, and, like every other anti-religious movement in the West, any excuse to scapegoat will be utilized to benefit whoever is pointing the finger, or, in the case of Harper, if his lips are moving, ya just know he's lying...

rumleyfips said...

To serve his vile base, Harper had deliberately insulted , bullied, smeared, threatened, vilified, belittled and disadvantaged many groups. Women, Quebecois, scientists, Tamils, LGBT's, First Nations, Maritimers, fisher, Muslims, environmentalist, students, bird watchers and others have been attacked to keep Harpers party pigs in line.

He got me in a couple of ways and I say bring on the Horseman. I am however angry that Harper is attacking so many decent, responsible contributing Canadains so ; no vote for you.

Hopefully, most people will realise that the person next to them in the rink or at Tim's, who falls into one of Harper's enemy lists is a respectable, important, contributing citizen.

There are more decent Canadians than the bigots that form Harper's vile base. On election day, I hope they bite Harper's ass mightily as he runs for the safety of the closet.

rumleyfips said...

Silly me : I forgot the military veterans.

lagatta à montréal said...

Mizdarlin, neither was Anders Behring Breivik, more recently, who targeted a meeting of social-democratic youth because they are anti-racist and for a welcoming Norway...

Unknown said...

Harper should learn some history Simon. The muslims have been coming to Canada for over 100 yrs. The Islamic mosque built in Edmonton was the first mosque built in North America and now we have the Islamic museum in Toronto, built by the Aga Khan, also the only one of its kind in North America.His use of bigotry and fear I think will only appeal to a minority like his base. I think when decisions to do with bigotry and racism are left up to Canadians they show that fairness and equality are what matters. The good people of Calgary voted an almost unknown, Naheed Nenshi, a muslim, as their mayor. In his second run they voted him in by 80% without batting an eye. Hopefully Harper will realize too late that he is trying to persuade the wrong people to accept his bigotry as credible, but he has always despised the majority of Canadians and is not a good judge of how they think. Like all tyrants he thinks he can manipulate his way to acceptance,

Simon said...

hi Kathleen...There are a lot of reasons for the horrible state we're n. Polls show the country is gloomy about the economy, the winter has been a harsh one. And people are also afraid, having been lead to believe by the Harperites and the media that we're all in terrible danger. Unless we can clear he air we're heading for a really bad place...

Simon said...

hi anon...Aren't they one and the same? According to the Con Ministry of Terrorist Definitions. But yeah all this talk about fascist values is making me very nervous, and I wonder where on earth we're all going...

Anonymous said...

mizdarlin
jews is a religious denomination -- not a nationality -- as anybody who doesn't only watch sun news or faux news exclusively knows
6 million jews killed -- 7 million others lest you conveniently forget again
horrible? abso-damn-lutely but the "poor jews" thing is really ringing hollow these days in light of the genocidal atrocities and war crimes that israel is perpetrating on Gaza NOW so give the goddamn "poor jews" thing a rest until they stop slaughtering and torturing Palestinians. okay?

Simon said...

hi mizdarlin...yes we really are living in a nightmare. Once xenophobia implants itself in a diverse country like ours, who knows what might happen? I can understand why people may be frightened, but I could never forgive somebody who preys on those fears like Harper does. It's beyond belief, and really is the lowest of the low...

Simon said...

hi rumleyfips...yes, you're right. Harper has sought to drive wedges between Canadians from the moment he came to power. And as a result we've never been more divided. Instead of dividing people, or trying to scare them, a decent leader would seek to reassure his people. But Harper is not decent, and just keeps getting worse and worse...

Simon said...

hi Pamela...you're absolutely right, he does think he can manipulate his way to acceptance, or that it is possible to fool people all the time. It's consistent with his Straussian views, that an elite should run society, and the rest should be kept in ignorance. I think I could forgive him almost anything, I am a bit soft in that regard. But I could never forgive someone who would deliberately and cynical fan the flames of bigotry for crass political purposes. It's simply unforgivable, and if he is allowed to get away with it it will be the end of Canada...

David said...

http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2010/10/25/timothy-mcveigh-was-not-a-christian/

He told anybody who would listen that he was agnostic. You cannot be a Christian while saying you are agnostic.