Does Jason Kenney Have More Than One Puppet Master?

There is something building up behind the scenes of this government that needs to be exposed.

I haven't connected all the dots yet, and it may take some time; but I believe that there is an extreme right-wing movement, that is using people like Jason Kenney, Bev Oda, Steve Fletcher, etc., to encourage an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities; and believe it or not, some kind of Canadian Imperialism. I don't know.

No this is not hyperbole or a conspiracy theory; but the facts are just too obvious to ignore.

Every time a new name or phrase is brought up by, or in relation to the Harper government; it sets off a chain reaction.

I have one of those weird memories, where I retain thousands of seemingly innocuous tidbits, and yet yesterday it took me twenty minutes to find my glasses. (And I refuse to tell you where they were)

However, while I'm hoping to eventually put all of this together in a cohesive story, for now I have to ramble out loud; so bear with me.

Canadian political scientist, Brooke Jeffrey, in her book Hard Right Turn, elaborated on the theory presented by the late Lester Milbrath; where a nation's citizens are divided by their degree of political involvement. At the top of the heap was what he called 'gladiators'. They are people who either run for office, or actively campaign for a candidate.

Jeffrey, took this one step further and pondered what would happen if enough 'Ignorant Gladiators' were to form a government. She referenced former Alberta premier Ralph Klein (including Stockwell Day, then referred to as 'a radical extremist from the lunatic fringe', but now head of our Treasury) and former Ontario premier Mike Harris, who both had their share of the ignorant in their caucuses. The Reform Party at the time, outnumbered them both for buffoons, but they had not yet been able to take control of the country.

Hold that thought.

From a review of Marcie McDonald's new book, the Armageddon Factor:

In four short years, galvanized by their failure to stop same-sex marriage, not only have conservative Christians developed a permanent infrastructure in Ottawa, designed to outlast whatever party is in power, but they have done so by borrowing the rowdy style of the American religious right to which most of their leaders boast close ties. Their rise has been tied to the election of Stephen Harper and it is no secret that evangelicals have already re-shaped Harper's foreign policy in the Middle East, guided by what McDonald terms the Armageddon Factor...

So what happens when ignorance and religious fervour join forces? We may be about to find out. For now I'm just exposing a bit more of the infrastructure, for what I believe may be the perfect storm. Oye!

1. Steven Fletcher getting us into the 'Coup' business

Michael Allen from the University of California, and editor of Democracy Digest, wrote a piece in December entitled: The D-word out of favor? Don’t tell the Canadians.

The 'D' word of course is 'democracy', which is really kind of a code word, beginning with Ronald Reagan, for involvement in infiltrating the governments of developing nations. If the sitting powers did not agree with their plans for opening their markets and allowing the U.S. to control their finances (read here. Harper already doing something similar) and natural resources, the American government would make them an offer they couldn't refuse. Literally.

The most recent and perhaps one of the final examples of this, is Haiti. There is currently an investigation underway, in determining what role George Bush played in the overthrow of the popular Aristide. And we've recently seen the devastating effects of forced impoverishment on that country, given the death toll in the recent earthquake. It should never have been that high.

But back to Steven Fletcher. He is our minister of 'Democratic' Reform, and according to Mr. Allen, the head of our new 'coup' department. The American foreign elite have determined that these adventures are no longer financially viable, so Canada thinks they can do a better job.

Canada is poised to set up a new democracy assistance organization, based on the experience and structures of existing foundations, but reflecting distinctively Canadian characteristics and priorities. A proposal has been tabled in the House of Commons, with legislation likely to follow next month, to form a Canadian Centre for Advancing Democracy, funded by an annual parliamentary appropriation of $30-70 million.

And the 'existing foundations' that Allen is referring to are the National Endowment for Democracy, the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute.

Apparently our government's first target is Cuba. When they mentioned communism in their throne speech, I was confused until I read this. (and if this doesn't scare the be-jumpins outta' 'ya. Ridding the world of Communism is one stop on their journey to Armageddon and 'the Rapture')

Cuba, with an authoritarian political culture, presents obvious difficulties; but Canada does have a significant presence in the country and has never broken off diplomatic relations. So Cuba might be a case where Canada has some advantages over other democracy assistance organizations.

Can you see Jason Kenney storming up San Juan Hill? I'll tell you this much, if he gets captured, no amount of money will convince me to take him back. They can keep him.

What first led me toward this research was when Gerard Latulippe was named to head up the Rights and Democracy agency, that was subject to a hostile takeover by the Harper regime.

Latulippe is both homophobic and islamophobic, so I think Kenney may have a little crush. But he is also an associate of Lawrence Cannon, another man who believes in selective citizenship, and was an advisor and the Quebec lieutenant of Stockwell Day's, running unsuccessfully for Day's Alliance Party in the 2000 election.

But perhaps the most important thing to note about Gerard Latulippe, is that he heads up the National Democratic Institute (see above) in Haiti, recently taken over by the Harperites. Whew.

2. Enter Bev Oda

From another unrelated story this week (I either have to stop reading or start taking Prozac), another person of interest entered the fray. Owen Lippert.

Like Jason Kenney and just about everyone else in Reform-Conservative Party, Lippert is associated with the Fraser Institute.

However, he is probably best remembered as the man who plagiarized Harper's Iraq speech from former Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Whether he was solely responsible or not, is uncertain, but he lost his job over it (wink, wink)

This past July he was awarded a contact for $ 24, 750, for research he conducted for Steven Fletcher (see 1. above), but his resume states that he most recently, was Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister of International Cooperation, who is Bev Oda.

But again the important point here is that he is with the National Democratic Institute in Bangladesh.

So to recap: Steven Fletcher is heading up the Canadian 'Coup' department based on failed operations by the Americans, under the DRI and IRI. Cannon's friend is head of the DRI in Haiti and Bev Oda's guy is head of the DRI in Bangladesh. Meanwhile Jason Kenney is planning a charge up San Juan Hill.

3. Enter Jason Kenney and This is Where it Turns Really Evil

Many people may be aware that Jason Kenney's assistant is a man by the name of Alykhan Velshi. What they may not know is that Velshi was a player in the Bush administration.

His involvement with numerous so-called 'think tanks', connected him to such people as Paul Wolfowitz, one of the engineers of the Iraq War, Lynne Cheney, wife of former Vice President Dick Cheney, Ari Fleischer, Joe Lieberman, Andew C. McCarthy; the list goes on.

These are all big players of the extreme-right. What do they want with Jason Kenney?

I'll give you a hint.

One of the neoconservative think tanks that Alykhan Velshi is involved in, is the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. There goes that 'D' word again. Another member of this group is Clifford D. May, their President, while Velshi is listed as Manager of Research.

If you run down the list of people in this group, you will see there are no small timers. Newt Gingrich, Marc Ginsberg, Richard Perle, Steve Forbes, Mark Foley (remember him?), James Woolsey, former Director of the CIA ... the list goes on. And of course Joe Lieberman.

No small potatoes here. Jason Kenney must really feel like a player, when in fact he's just being played.

This is what SourceWatch has to say about the founding of FDD.

In early 2001, a tightly knit group of billionaire philanthropists conceived of a plan to win American sympathy for Israel's response to the Palestinian intifada. They believed that the Palestinian cause was finding too much support within crucial segments of the American public, particularly within the media and on college campuses, so they set up an organization, Emet: An Educational Initiative, Inc., to offer Israel the kind of PR that the Israeli government seemed unable to provide itself.

... created two days after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon ... Their work is closely linked with that of the National Endowment for Democracy.

The National Endowment for Democracy takes us back to 1. Steven Fletcher and Canada's new acquisition of the "coup" business.

What are these silly buggers up to? Maybe I'd rather not know.

IS THIS REALLY YOUR CANADA?