This week the U.S. government was almost forced to close up shop, because of the demands of the Tea Party/Republicans. And while President Obama agreed to cut the funding for those who needed it the most, the hold up was Planned Parenthood.
The Tea Party believed that this was an abortion group, and for a bit of flair, also one that promoted human smuggling. So here we had the most powerful country in the world, almost brought to its knees by crazy people.
How did this look to the rest of the world? We can only imagine.
What is more alarming to me, as a Canadian, is that we are also being brought to our knees by our own Tea Party and crazy people. In fact, our Planned Parenthood already had its funding slashed by Stockwell Day, because the Religious Right, now camped out on Parliament Hill, also believed that they were only in business to rip babies from wombs. When in fact most of their mandate, providing contraception, actually reduced the number of abortions.
An old video surfaced recently of Jason Kenney when he was going to prep school in San Francisco, along with an article he had written then, comparing Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan. He had started a petition demanding that all Catholic universities in the U.S. remove the word 'Catholic' from their name if they promoted this.
A former teacher claimed that Kenney was trying to take the Church back to the 50's "I do not mean the 1950s, I mean the 1550s: Obedience, obedience, obedience."
It shows the lengths this party will go to, in their drive to criminalize abortion.
Kenney also made headlines in San Francisco for attacking gay rights.
The Conservatives election campaign is focusing on two things: a 'Coalition' and 'Human Smuggling', that is causing them to speak in tongues, or at least that's how it sounds to sane people.
But do we honestly believe that the world isn't watching? That they're not aware that we have a government aligned with the American Tea Partiers? If Boris Karloff was still alive and they made a movie of this, he could play our current prime minister.
We are living in an alternate universe, one that revolves around Stephen Harper. And we appear to be the only ones not aware of it.
Yoko Ono, the widow of John Lennon, recently forced YouTube to remove the video of Harper singing her husband's song of peace Imagine. It wasn't because of copyright infringements, but the fact that he is the antithesis of everything her husband stood for.
In the Conservative platform, they announce plans to become the world's gatekeepers on religious matters. We all know that this of course means a battle against Islam. Lawrence Martin, in his book Harperland, said that Stephen Harper did not believe in Peacekeeping, nor did he view the world as a global community. He instead ascribed to the Neoconservative view of the world as a Clash of Civilizations. I can see those in the International community now shaking their heads.
When Harper tried to make lying in the media legal in Canada, to pave the way for his Fox News North, Robert Kennedy Jr., son of the late Bobby Kennedy, wrote in the Huffington Post: 'Harper, often referred to as "George W. Bush's Mini Me," is known for having mounted a Bush like war on government scientists, data collectors, transparency, and enlightenment in general. He is a wizard of all the familiar tools of demagoguery; false patriotism, bigotry, fear, selfishness and belligerent religiosity. Harper's attempts to make lying legal on Canadian television is a stark admission that right wing political ideology can only dominate national debate through dishonest propaganda.'
The Australian ran a piece: Canada watches its democracy erode
And Ralph Surrette tells us a bit about the author of the piece: 'Ramesh Thakur, a former assistant secretary general of the UN, author of some 30 books on governance, ethics, law and related topics, now affiliated with the University of Waterloo in Ontario and Griffiths University in Australia. Educated in India and Canada, his view is a substantial international one.'"
"A substantial international one." What don't Canadians get?
We did not lose our seat on the UN Security Council because of Harper's fascination with Israel. We lost it because of how we are now viewed by the rest of the world. As a nation being run by crazy, war mongering, religious fanatics.
They see what we refuse to.
Stephen Harper is now suggesting that the choice on May 2, is between his "stable" government of one, or a "reckless coalition", of parties willing to work together. It's his final bid to hold onto power, knowing that without a majority, he will no longer be prime minister.
The unprecedented Contempt of Parliament charges against him, mean that he will not be able to earn the confidence of the House, going in.
Contempt of Parliament is a symbolic impeachment. So even without a formal coalition, the Governor General must name someone the others agree to, to lead the country.
Stephen Harper will no doubt resign as party leader, and they will spend the summer choosing his replacement.
The Religious Right want Jason Kenney. Heaven help us.
So the choice for Canadians is pretty clear to me. An unstable leader driven by what Robert Kennedy Jr. calls "demagoguery; false patriotism, bigotry, fear, selfishness and belligerent religiosity", or a leader who understands that this is not the Canadian way?
Because under Harper, the world sees instability. What do you see?
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