So Much for Accountabilty. Jason Kenney Rehires Man Accused of Abusing His Office

After the controversy over Jason Kenney using his office for partisan purposes, an aide was blamed and forced to resign.

The Conservative Modus Operandi.

But apparently it was only a time out, because he is again on the taxpayer's payroll.

A senior Conservative aide who quit in March over a fundraising controversy is already back on staff at the office of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

Kasra Nejatian left a position as a lawyer in New York to work for Mr. Kenney in January, but was forced to quit his government job two months later amid accusations that Mr. Kenney was using his political office for partisan purposes.

Alykhan Velshi has probably gone back to his old neocon hideout (just visiting?), and it looks like Nejatian will be taking his place.

Who says crime doesn't pay?

Is Canada Now Part of the U.S. Empire?

In reading books like Todd Gordon's Imperialist Canada, Chalmers Johnson's Dismantling the Empire and now Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, a pattern for American Imperialism becomes evident.

If a country has natural resources the U.S. wants, but refuses to hand over, the government is replaced with a dictator. And that dictator is financed by the corporations then operating in, or wishing to operate in, the resource rich country.

Stephen Harper is now the dictionary definition of a dictator (try saying that fast three times).

This was not accomplished through a bloody coup, and the big stick diplomacy was domestic, however, much of Harper's success was American made.

1. One of the top Republican polling firms, McLaughlin and Associates take credit for Harper's career. They were also the official ad firm for Harper's National Citizens Coalition, "having worked with them for many years". From their website: John [McLaughlin] also has done extensive market research and consulting for non-profit and corporate clients. His clients have included ... The National Citizens Coalition (Canada)

2. Arthur Finkelstein, another top Republican pollster, who has worked for presidents from Nixon to Bush, was the official advisor to the National Citizens Coalition, for sixteen years. He was also a mentor of Stephen Harper's, passing on a visceral hatred for anything liberal.

3. Frank Luntz, yet another Republican pollster, instructed Harper on how to get a majority. His advice included faux nationalism and talking hockey any chance he got. And darn it all, if it didn't work.

4. One of the founders of the American Religious Right, Paul Weyrich, helped to get Harper elected by cautioning his flock not to speak with the Canadian media.

5. Another key player in the American Religious Right, James Dobson, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, on Canadian radio ads attacking same-sex marriage, to bolster Harper's campaign when he was running on the same platform.

6. In Lawrence Martin's book Harperland, he claimed that Stephen Harper does not believe in peacekeeping, but sees the world as a 'Clash of Civilizations', the doctrine of American neoconservative Irving Kristol.

7. Alykhan Velshi from the American Enterprise Institute (dubbed the Cheney Family Think Tank (Dick and Lynne)), is now Jason Kenney's assistant. The same Jason Kenney who brought Ralph Reed's Christian Coalition to Canada.

8. Billionaire Rupert Murdoch of Fox News, financed our own Fox News North (Sun TV)

In November of 2006, in response to a John Ibbitson column: Harper and Bush Compared, Michael Watkins refuted the claim that Harper was nothing like Bush. In everything from healthcare and education, to foreign policy, he was indeed the mirror image.

Not surprising given that the people above, were involved with both men.

I know the list is longer, but it gives some idea of the American bloodless coup and their puppet dictator.

Some are now referring to Canada as the 51st state, but I think it's more than that. I think we are now little more than another American colony.

And before you roll your eyes, consider this.

1. Operation "Shiprider" allows U.S. agents to patrol Canadian waters.

2. An agreement with their military, allows the U.S. to send troops across our border in the case of an emergency. One of those emergencies would be an indigenous protest over a joint venture like a pipeline or highway.

3. FBI agents can now conduct investigations in Canada without permission.

4. The Buy America trade deal was the gifting of our country to the United States.

5. Harper introduced a bill that would require permission from the U.S. before any Canadian flies to a third world country.

The Harper government has quietly presented a bill in the House of Commons that would give U.S. officials final say over who may board aircraft in Canada if they are to fly over the U.S. en route to a third country. "Canadian sovereignty has gone right out the window," Liberal Transport critic Joe Volpe told the Montreal Gazette in a recent telephone interview. "You are going to be subject to American law." (Vancouver Sun)

6. We are now part of the U.S. led nuclear partnership, allowing all nuclear waste to be repatriated to Canada. In other words, the handling of our nuclear energy, is being directed by the United States.

7. The Border Security deal, locks us inside fortress North America.

So could someone please tell me how we are not now just another American colony. We have been handed over by our puppet dictator. Once they control our public services, including healthcare, we may wish we were just the 51st state.

Yet Another Reason Why Jason Kenney Must be Fired. Please Wake up Media. This is Your Country Too

The always entertaining and informative, David Climenhaga, asks this week: Does anyone believe the problem in the immigration minister's office was just an overzealous flunky?

Of course we don't and for those who do, call me. Have I got a deal for you. A bridge over the Wishwehadone River in Monoco, that I can sell you dirt cheap.

The story here is not whether Jason Kenney was intentionally using his office for partisan purposes, but that he got caught, and someone had to take the fall.

To put this into simple terms, Jason Kenney was stealing money from taxpayers and funnelling it to the Conservative Party of Canada. I can't make it any clearer than that. And it was not the first time and won't be the last.

As usual the media is giving it a partisan spin and frankly they're driving me nuckin' futts.

Because if they were doing their job they might be able to explain to Canadians, why, with massive unemployment, is Jason Kenney's office allowing so many temporary workers to infiltrate the Canadian labour force.

It's not because there's a shortage of workers.

The Wall Street "heist" being dubbed the "global economic crisis" hit Canada in 2008, when we experienced massive unemployment. And yet look at the escalation of temporary foreign workers, for that three year period. Through the roof.

The leaked CitiGroup memo that justified income disparity in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada, suggested that the practice was necessary to keep the "price of labour contained"

We see plenty of examples of the outsourcing or offshoring of labor being attacked as“unpatriotic” or plain unfair. This tends to lead to calls for protectionism to save the low-skilled domestic jobs being lost. This is a cause championed, generally, by left-wing politicians.

When Conservative Gerald Keddy defended the use of migrant workers, he called our unemployed "No good bastards", later apologizing by saying that "In no way did I mean to offend those who have lost their job due to the global recession." Who did he mean to offend?

Ex-Reformer, turned Alliance, turned Conservative, turned the worst columnist in the country, Monte Solberg, however, defended Keddy.

“When I was minister of immigration I was stunned by the fact that even though the unemployment rate was over 10 per cent in Prince Edward Island, fish plants there had to bring in Russian workers because they couldn't find local workers,” he writes. “It seems EI paid enough that, in a very narrow sense, it was completely rational that unemployed Islanders would refuse to do those very tough and dirty jobs.”

What he doesn't say is that many Islanders would have gladly done the job, but it would have meant a lengthy daily commute or the necessity to find accommodation near the fish plants. And since the jobs paid so low, with the extra costs, they would have been working for nothing. It was not about their dislike for doing "tough and dirty jobs". This is about keeping the "price of labour contained" for multinational corporations.

Why This Matters

Another important revelation from Kenney's abuse of tax dollars, was the exploitation of immigrants, and yet the rise in the use of temporary foreign workers, has hurt the immigrant population the most.

The leaked memo also calls for the "use of immigrants to invigorate wealth creation", but under Kenney, the wealthy have been able to become even more "invigorated".

In the book Persistent Poverty: Voices from the Margins, there is the story of an immigrant named Kamil who worked in computer repairs. He was asked by his employer to train a new arrival to do the job and once they learned it, he was laid off. "They get low pay ... They don't ask about health and safety matters and employment standards."

In other words, they keep their mouths shut. And what if they don't?

In April of 2009, Jason Kenney and Peter Van Loan launched the largest workplace raid in Canadian history. They immediately deported the workers, not even allowing them to contact their families. One of those targeted and shipped out, had lodged a complaint against her employer for sexual assault.

She didn't keep her mouth shut, so she was gone.

Canada's mistreatment of migrant workers is now getting international attention. (yet little if any here)

Hundreds of Guatemalan migrant workers and their community allies marched through Guatemala City to the steps of the Canadian embassy on Wednesday, to protest the abusive treatment of migrants under Canada's Temporary Foreign Workers program. The workers at the protest had been fired and repatriated for defending their labour and human rights while working in Canada. UFCW Canada, the Agriculture Workers Alliance (AWA), Global Workers Justice and a number of other Guatemalan and international organizations also participated in the demonstration, and joined in the call for a complete review of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program because the federal government program fails to provide migrant workers with legal protection or access to the justice system even when the workers are mistreated.

Yes, Jason Kenney is doing a fine job. A fine job if you're a corporation looking to maximize profits, that is.

But then he is keeping us safe by keeping out undesirables. Undesirables like British Parliamentarian George Galloway. Or Amy Goodman from Democracy Now, just in case she reminded us that Canada was once a democracy too.

Or renowned scientist and activist, Vandana Shiva. A scientist! Doesn't she know that this government hates scientists almost as much as they hate democracy?

So please wake up media and the next time you try and convince Canadians that Jason Kenney is just a cute little, pudgy little, harmless Pillsbury Doughboy, you might want to do a bit of research.

Kenney personifies the evil that is neoconservatism.

Just ask the Guatemalans.

Did You Ever Think This Pimply Faced Nerd From Toronto Could be Such a Menace?

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

"The force possessed by totalitarian propaganda - before the movements have the power to drop iron curtains to prevent any one's disturbing, by the slightest reality, the gruesome quiet of an entirely imaginary world - lies in its ability to shut the masses off from the real world." - Hannah Arendt

Rick Salutin asked recently if Stephen Harper was the last Straussian, referring to followers of the German emigre and political philosopher, Leo Strauss.

People keep asking why Stephen Harper acts as he does, it looks so buttheaded. He seems to muck up his own prospects: firing decent people, lashing out, raising the partisan rhetoric, proroguing Parliament haughtily, binging on military toys, mauling the census – he’s a bright boy, it’s hard to figure.

I used to favour a theory of political Tourette’s, the kind portrayed by Robert Redford in 1972’s The Candidate. You suppress your political ideals for the sake of electability as long as you can; then the buildup leads to random outbursts. But there’s another explanation: Straussianism. (1)

Banality and True Believers

A contemporary and friend of Leo Strauss, was Hannah Arendt, herself a political philosopher. Arendt covered the trial of Adolf Eichmann at Nuremberg, and found herself surprised that he was so banal. "Unimaginative, ordinary and unthinking".

Others may have hoped to see Bluebeard in the dock, she wrote, but for her, the horror lay in the fact that "there were so many like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic ... [but] terribly and terrifyingly normal." She was one of the first to refute the "monster theory" of less-than-human Nazis. (2)

These men were driven by pure ideology based on ignorance and the notion of superiority.

Erna Paris questioned in part the notion of banality (2) because many of the men on trial were well educated. But maybe the best example of this is Jason Lisle, who works for the Creation Museum in Philadelphia. Lisle lectures to students and teachers, providing "proof" that man walked with Dinosaurs*.

He tells the students he did not admit he was a creationist to his professors at Ohio Wesleyan, or at Colorado where he received his PhD in astrophysics. He speaks of the dilemma faced by creationists at secular schools, urging that students not "come out" until after graduate school. "Some professors will just stop you from getting your PhD if you're a creationist." (3)

Lisle has a degree in astrophysics. He can lecture as a doctor, but uses scientific jargon to sell creationism as "scientific" fact. James Dobson, the man who helped Stephen Harper's career by supporting his anti same-sex marriage tour, is a child psychologist. However, if you read his advice on child rearing, he uses terms like "original sin" to justify corporal punishment.

And this brings us to an important element of Straussian theory: Religious fervour.

Leo Strauss felt most people will never do the right thing for rational reasons; they need to be motivated by the myths and emotionality of religion. (1)

And this infallible belief system helps to create a kind of totalitarianism where lies become truth. Again using creationism as an example:

The danger of creationism is not that it allows followers to retreat into a world of certainty and magic—which it does—but that it allows all facts to be accepted or discarded according to the dictates of a preordained ideology. Creationism removes the follower from the rational, reality-based world. Signs, miracles, and wonders occur not only in the daily life of Christians, but also in history, science, medicine and logic. This belief system becomes the basis for understanding the world, and random facts or data are collected and made to fit into the belief system. If facts can't be made to fit, they are discarded or treated as misguided opinions. (4)

This is why Stephen Harper ignores facts and paints the learned as "elites". He's afraid that their proofs will interfere with his ideological agenda. Or at least the ideological agenda of his infamous "base".

When facts are treated as if they were opinions, when there is no universal standard by which to determine truth in law, in science, in scholarship, or in the reporting of the events of the day, the world becomes a place where lies become true, where people can believe what they want to believe, where there is no possibility of reaching any conclusion not predetermined by those who interpret the official, divinely inspired text ... In the promulgation of the totalitarian belief system, at first we are told we all have a right to an opinion, in short, a right to believe anything. Soon, under the iron control of an empowered totalitarian movement, facts become worthless, kept or discarded according to an ideological litmus test. Lies become true. And once the totalitarians are in power, facts are ruthlessly manipulation. (5)

Puzzle Boxes and Secret Agendas

Several years ago I bought an antique puzzle box (the puzzle now is where I put it), which could only be opened through a series of intricate manipulations. I spent days trying to get into it and when I finally did, was disappointed that it was empty. If this box was supposed to contain secrets, as per Japanese custom, the secret must have been the fact that the box was empty.

And just as Salutin correctly suggests that Harper has always been a puzzle, unravelling why he acts as he does, requires work. A good puzzle box will contain many "tricks" that often lead you in the wrong direction. It's main purpose was to protect a secret.

Secretiveness, an aura of manipulation and a sense of hidden agendas. From a Straussian view, these are good things as means to noble ends. (1)

But these noble ends are not necessarily noble in any traditional sense. They are simply the fulfillment of an ideological agenda.

Stephen Harper himself is smart, but he is not brilliant. And while he is often given credit for strategic moves, those moves are being stategized by others. Because Stephen Harper is a narcissist (5)and so long as his ego is fed on a regular basis, he will consent to anything. I believe it is those pulling the strings, who follow Strauss. I don't think Harper is that deep.

All Hail (heil?) King and Country

Neoconservatism as espoused by Leo Strauss, called for unbridled patriotism, or nationalism. Stephen Harper has never been very patriotic. In fact he was always very clear how he felt about Canadians. During the 2004 election campaign he started touting a Belgian style federalism, where the country would be divided along cultural or linguistic grounds. '"He seems to want all francophones to speak with one voice, and the same for anglophones, and this is not the reality of Canada." Harper is quick to point out that his idea is still in the embryonic stage and it will be further developed before the party's policy convention next March.' (6)

Doesn't sound like a devotion to nationalism.

The PM may have shown his real feelings about Canada in 2000 when he called it “a second-tier socialistic country.” Still, for Straussians, nationalism ranks alongside religion as a way to motivate people to great things beyond the vapidity of liberalism. This may help explain the Harper Arctic sovereignty initiatives, or even his curious focus on hockey. (1)

That kind of fierce nationalism allowed the German people to accept their country's aggression. They were hypnotized with symbols and brilliant propaganda. Hannah Arendt once asked whether Nazi Germany was in fact a full totalitarian dictatorship, since it depended so heavily on a "certain societal consensus". (7)

What Could we Possibly be Asked to Consent to That is so Bad?

As we open the doors and find the hidden compartments of the puzzle box, they all lead to something that goes beyond this government's silencing of the press, scientists and experts.

Our foreign policy.

As Stephen Harper is being paraded about from one photo-op to the next, the men behind the curtain have been operating through American Straussians, who not only ascribe to the notions of deception, religious fervour and nationalism, but use them to carry through an aggressive imperialistic agenda.

Council for National Policy: James Dobson, mentioned above is the founder of Focus on the Family, a group with strong ties to the Harper government. Many of Harper's caucus members belong to Focus, including Maurice Vellacott and Rob Anders. Tony Perkins is an employee of Dobson and his political mentor is a man by the name of Woody Jenkins**:

Jenkins and some 50 conservative men gathered in May 1981 at the northern Virginia home of direct-mail pioneer Richard Viguerie to plot the growth of their movement following Ronald Reagan's presidential victory. They formed the Council for National Policy (CNP), a secretive, right-wing organization that brought together dominionists such as R. J. Rushdoony, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell with right-wing industrialists willing to fund them, such as Amway founder Richard DeVos Sr. and beer baron Joseph Coors. As DeVos quipped, the CNP "brings together the doers with the donors.

Jenkins, then a Louisiana state lawmaker, became the CNP'' first executive director. He told a Newsweek reporter: "One day before the end of this century, the Council will be so influential that no president, regardless of party or philosophy, will be able to ignore us or our concerns or shut us out of the highest levels of government."'(8)

In 1997, Stephen Harper delivered a speech (9) to the Council for National Policy, dissing this country and the Canadian people. The CNP approved. But they also approved of others who spoke later:

In 1999, Texas Governor George W. Bush addressed the group as he launched his bid for the presidency. The media were barred from the event. But those who wrote about the meeting afterward said that Bush, who refused to release a public transcript of his speech, promised to only appoint anti-abortion judges if he was elected. The group, which meets three times a year in secret, brings together radical Christian activists, right-wing Republican politicians and wealthy patrons willing to fund the movement. During Bush's presidency, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld have attended CNP meetings.' (8)

The American Enterprise Institute: The American Enterprise Institute is one of a myriad of think tanks that have become part of the infrastructure of the neoconservative/Religious Right movement. The fortunes of the AEI have fluctuated depending on who was in power, enjoying their greatest success under the Bush administration. George Bush pulled 20 staffers from AEI, including David Frum ***, the person who organized the Winds of Change, dedicated to uniting the right, and is now a voice in our own neoconservative government.

Michael Novak, a prominent member of the group, is a regular speaker at the Fraser Institute and according to Lloyd Mackey has influenced the thinking of Stephen Harper. (10)Others belonging to the group are Dick Cheney, his wife Lynn Cheney, William Kristol and Richard Perle. Straussians all.

Foundation for the Defense of Democracies: 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. (11)

Members of this group represent the cream of the Neoconservative movement, including Richard Perle, William Kristol and New Gingrich. And while Frum was plucked from the American Enterprise Institute, to act as a speech writer for George Bush, Alykhan Velshi was plucked from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, to act as legislative assistant for none other than Jason Kenney.

This should set off a lot of alarms on it's own, but there is more to this story. In December University of California professor, Michael Allen wrote for the Democracy Digest, under the title: The D-word out of favor? Don’t tell the Canadians:

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 new poll by the US-based Council on Foreign Relations suggests that supporting democracy has fallen out of favor with the US foreign policy elite. But, perhaps perversely, international commitment appears to be growing, judging by relatively recent democracy assistance initiatives. (12)

Of course spreading democracy is code for exploitation, as we've seen with Haiti and the reasons that country is so poor.

I've been watching for our media's reaction to this new initiative, under the guise of the 'D' word, and only recently found an excellent one by Gerald Caplan, who wonders why Stephen Harper is now so interested in Canada obtaining a seat on the UN Security Council, when he has always hated the UN. It's a good question.

Next week the world gathers at the United Nations ... Mr. Harper has a deep vested interested in this meeting. The ultimate fate of his under-the-radar drive to have Canada elected to a rotating seat on the mighty Security Council might well be decided there. No one is entirely sure why the Prime Minister is so anxious for his government to be represented on that august body, and he, of course, has never said. But he’s spent millions of our dollars having senior civil servants and cabinet ministers jet around the world wooing foreign leaders. (13)

Caplan does an excellent job of outlining how Canada's reputation has been destroyed by the Harper Government, so you would wonder why Harper would dare show his face. (A link is provided below. be sure to read it all. It's very revealing)

So Let's Open the Puzzle Box

1. Silencing of the press

2. Demonizing of anyone who contradicts his ideology

3. Exploiting religion

4. Using symbols like yellow ribbons and hockey to pump up nationalism

5. Cozying up to American Straussians

6. Placing American Straussians in his administration

7. Taking over the "D" word. aka: Coup business.

8. Suspending democracy.

9. Buying fighter jets

10. Testing martial law

11. Building more prisons when our crime rate is the lowest in our history. (see 2 and 10)

I think we already know what secrets were in that box. Stephen Harper is picking up where George Bush left off. And if Glen Beck's Tea Party is successful, and the Republicans again assume control after the mid-terms, Harper will have accomplices.

We need an election NOW!



Footnotes:

*Stockwell Day believes the same thing. See the Tyee: The Man Who Walks with Dinosaurs

** Perkins, like other leaders in the movement, has troubling associations with white supremacy groups. They work hard now to distance themselves from these relationships, often quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. [like Glen Beck] and drawing parallels between their movement and the civil-rights movement. But during the 1996 Senate campaign of Woody Jenkins, Perkins, who was Jenkins's campaign manager, signed an $82,500 check to the head of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke, to acquire Duke's phone bank list.' And as late as 2001, Perkins spoke at a fund-raiser for the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white nationalist group that has called blacks "a retrograde species of humanity" on its Web site.' The ties by Christian Right leaders such as Perkins with racist groups highlight the long ties between right-wing fundamentalists and American racist organizations, including the Klan, which had a chaplain assigned to each chapter. (8)

***Frum's sister, Linda, was one of Stephen Harper partronage senate appointments.

Sources:

1. Stephen Harper – the last Straussian? This might explain why the Prime Minister acts as he does, By Rick Salutin, September 17, 2010

2. Long Shadows: Truth, Lies and History, By Erna Paris, Alfred A. Knopf, 2000, ISBN: 0-676-97251-9, Pg. 318

3. American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, By Chris Hedges, Free Press, 2006, ISBN: 10-978-7432-8443-7, Pg. 127

4. Hedges, 2006, Pg. 114-115

5. Harper gallery leaves MPs speechless: Citizens who really want a national portrait gallery in Ottawa can rest easy. The government already has one. By The Ottawa Citizen, January 29, 2008

6. Harper suggests 'Belgian-style' federalism, CBC News, October 20, 2004

7. The Third Reich: Politics and Propaganda, By: David Welch, Routledge, 1993, ISBN 0-203-93014-2

8. Hedges, 2006, Pg. 135-138

9. Full text of Stephen Harper's 1997 speech, Canadian Press, December 14, 2005

10. The Pilgramage of Stephen Harper, By: Lloyd Mackey, ECW Press, 2005, ISBN: 10-1-55022-713-0 , Pg. 94 and 209

11. SourceWatch

12. The D-word out of favor? Don’t tell the Canadians, By Michael Allen, Democracy Digest, December 4, 2009

13. Stephen Harper does the UN - but shouldn't: If he really wants that Security Council seat, he’d be wise to cancel lest he reveal exactly how badly Canada is failing the developing world, By Gerald Caplan, Globe and Mail, September 17, 2010

Jason Kenney is Like a Mirage. Get too Close and There's Nothing There.

If Jason Kenney was anymore transparent, he'd disappear (wishful thinking, I know).

In his usual muster and bluster he claimed not to have anything to do with George Galloway being barred from Canada. But if I actually believed anything Jason Kenney said I would have myself committed.

Besides, most of these decisions have very little to do with him. When cornered he sweats, cries and takes a runner, right back to his buddy Alykhan Velshi, another throwback from the Bush administration.

From the first e-mail that Mr. Kenney’s communications director, Alykhan Velshi, sent on March 16, 2009, at 2:09 p.m. to immigration bureaucrats – the subject line was “inadmissible” – only 102 minutes passed before an official in the National Security section of the CBSA had agreed that Mr. Galloway should be barred for being a member of a terrorist organization. ...

It was Mr. Kenney’s communications’ aide, Mr. Velshi, who set the wheels in motion a few days before, on March 16.

He sent an e-mail at 2:09 p.m. to the Immigration Department’s director-general of communications, Edison Stewart, saying he had a media call asking “why we’re letting in the following person even though he’s publicly called for money to go to a banned terrorist entity in Canada [Hamas] and that makes him inadmissible.”

Velshi cut his teeth at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a right-wing war-mongering group that propped up George Bush.

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.

"The Palestinian cause was finding too much support."

Galloway wasn't barred from Canada because he provided humanitarian aide to Palestine, with the consent of the British government, I might add. He was barred because he was going to speak to Canadians about why we should be supporting the Palestinian cause.

When Canada was a democracy we would never have put up with this nonsense. I hope George Galloway sues him for every cent of our money Jason Kenney has.

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?

Stephen Harper Our First Republican Prime Minister

I recently watched the movie 'Dave', starring Kevin Kline, and it reminded me of something I had discovered after our 2006 election.

Kline plays a look alike of the U.S. President, who was asked to stand in when the man suffered a stroke and his administration wanted to keep it from the public.

Aside from the backroom wheeling and dealing, it was a cameo performance by John McLaughlin that jogged my memory.

Mr. McLaughlin is one of the most prominent Republican pollsters, and the man who just happens to have taken credit for the career of one Stephen Harper.

Soon after he became Prime Minister, I accidentally stumbled across a congratulatory letter on the net, part of the New York based McLaughlin and Associates website. In it the company stated that they had worked with both Mr. Harper and the National Citizens Coalition for many years and were proud that one of their clients had achieved their goal.

What was also significant was that under the heading of success stories, appeared not only the name of Stephen Harper, but also the Conservative Party of Canada as a separate entity.

I printed off the letter and gave it to a local activist who ran a site protesting NAFTA and deeper integration with the United States. I also sent a link to several opposition MPs and media outlets. Others had picked up on the McLaughlin story as well, and several bloggers began providing links to the site.

Then something strange happened. I visited the site again and both the letter and mention of Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada were gone. Only the name of the National Citizens Coalition remained. Odd.

I started thinking I had been imagining the whole thing, but then noticed on another page that someone else had experienced the same thing.

In the comments after the post:

The National Citizen's Coalition, PC Party & Harper are all clients of McLaughlin & Ass. a New York consultant firm. Could be a pipeline? Check out their client list at www.McLaughlinOnline.com

Then down a bit:

Oddly enough, it used to be at this linnk:http://www.mclaughlinonline.com/aboutus/abtjm.htm but it's gone...hmmm...

The commenter had saved the original text, however, "John McLaughlin has worked professionally as a strategic consultant and pollster for twenty years. During this time he has earned a reputation for helping to guide underdog Republicans and conservative challengers to victory. He has worked across America and internationally in hundreds of campaigns.

Within the past year, John McLaughlin has helped elect Iain Duncan Smith, the leader of the Conservative Party (United Kingdom); Stephen Harper, the leader of the Canadian Alliance Party (Canada); Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore; and a historic 30-seat Republican majority in the Virginia House of Delegates...."

The new bio:http://www.mclaughlinonline.com/aboutus/abtjohn.htm Doesn't mention Harper. Strange, that...But this does: http://www.mclaughlinonline.com/aboutus/assoc.htm#banks Abroad, he has processed a number of surveys for Canada's National Citizens Coalition, and Conservative Party (Canada) Leader Stephen Harper.Hmmm...

The fact that he states that Harper was the "leader of the Canadian Alliance Party (Canada).." reveals that their relationship went back a ways.

Another blogger also pointed out the connection:

One thing I learned from that entry that I hadn't known is that Harper outsources his attack ad production to an American firm, Mclaughlin and Associates. Quite a piece of work, judging by the client list, producing material for everyone from the RNC to the Smokeless Tobacco Council to the American Conservative Union to the lovely and talented people at the Media Research Centre.

Were I one of those Canadian bloggers making attack ads, I'd leave aside the general question of Harper using attack ads to focus on how and why Harper is retaining the services of such people. ... this cements something that should be foremost in their minds right now- they aren't competing against "Tories", but against the Republican Machine. Disastrous governance aside, the Republicans' ability to use that machine should never, ever be underestimated.

On Gerry Nicholls blog, former colleague of Harper's at the NCC, he flogs this endorsement: Broadcaster Charles Adler calls Gerry Nicholls a “political warrior”, Toronto Sun Money Editor Linda Leatherdale says he’s a “fierce defender of democracy”, John McLaughlin, a top Republican pollster, describes him as a “brilliant strategist”, while the Fraser Institute has dubbed him a “non-partisan ideologue.”

But while McLaughlin and Associates have purged all mention of Stephen Harper, John McLaughlin does include his name on his bio (for now anyway):

McLaughlin's recent clients include Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (CA); Iain Duncan Smith, the leader of the Conservative Party (United Kingdom); Stephen Harper, the leader of the Conservative Party (Canada); Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore; and a historic 30-seat Republican majority in the Virginia House of Delegates.

So is it any wonder Harper would hire Ari Fleischer to help sell him to the U.S. media? He certainly appears on Fox News more than he does on any Canadian stations.

And of course Jason Kenney's new aid was once part of the Bush administration. There could be others, but these two names are significant.

We've recently learned that the so-called Rhuby Dhalla affair was groundless, but typical of a Karl Rove style attack.

Yep. Stephen Harper. Canada's first Republican Prime Minister.

The Israel Lobby is Not a Conspiracy Theory

Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe have a new book on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict called Gaza in Crisis, that deals with the horrible conditions in which the Palestinian people are forced to live.

They attempt to detail the reasons for the conflict and the bias shown Israel by many Western nations, especially the United States and now Canada.

They mention a thought-provoking article, published by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt (now a book), based on extended research, that discusses the power of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Israeli lobby in Washington, in shaping American policy in the Middle East in general and toward Israel in particular.

And while Chomsky and Pappe are careful not to suggest a Jewish conspiracy, which this is not, they do reveal how the country called Israel, manipulates public opinion and coerces governments into giving them unheard of freedoms to do what they want. And they do this because of AIPAC. Citing Mearsheimer and Walt:

Their basic argument was that the lobby directs American policy in a way that undermines the United States' national interest. Not since the 1960s would one have come across such a harsh criticism of either Zionism or U.S. policy from within the heart of American academia or the media.

The role of the lobby in shaping U.S. policy in the Middle East is undoubtedly crucial. But American policy in the Middle East, like any regional policy of a great power in the past, is the outcome of more than one factor. For those, like myself, for whom the analysis of such a policy is not just academic but a matter of life and death, an expanded analysis is called for, not only for the sake of understanding that policy more clearly, but also as a way of coping with its dangerous outcomes. (1)

The Israel Lobby and Foreign Policy

Mearsheimer and Walt begin by establishing the fact that Israel has been the centrepiece of US Middle Eastern policy for several decades, enjoying unwavering support, in an attempt to use the only democratic country in the region to spread ‘democracy’ to their neighbours. At least that is the conventional wisdom.

However, this unwavering support has instead achieved the opposite:

Throughout the region [it] has inflamed Arab and Islamic opinion and jeopardised not only US security but that of much of the rest of the world. This situation has no equal in American political history. Why has the US been willing to set aside its own security and that of many of its allies in order to advance the interests of another state? One might assume that the bond between the two countries was based on shared strategic interests or compelling moral imperatives, but neither explanation can account for the remarkable level of material and diplomatic support that the US provides.

Other special-interest groups have managed to skew foreign policy, but no lobby has managed to divert it as far from what the national interest would suggest, while simultaneously convincing Americans that US interests and those of the other country – in this case, Israel – are essentially identical. (2)

And the level of support is enormous:

Israel receives about $3 billion in direct assistance each year, roughly one-fifth of the foreign aid budget, and worth about $500 a year for every Israeli. This largesse is especially striking since Israel is now a wealthy industrial state with a per capita income roughly equal to that of South Korea or Spain. Other recipients get their money in quarterly installments, but Israel receives its entire appropriation at the beginning of each fiscal year and can thus earn interest on it. Most recipients of aid given for military purposes are required to spend all of it in the US, but Israel is allowed use roughly 25 per cent of its allocation to subsidise its own defence industry.

It is the only recipient that does not have to account for how the aid is spent, which makes it virtually impossible to prevent the money from being used for purposes the US opposes, such as building settlements on the West Bank. Moreover, the US has provided Israel with nearly $3 billion to develop weapons systems, and given it access to such top-drawer weaponry as Blackhawk helicopters and F-16 jets. Finally, the US gives Israel access to intelligence it denies to its Nato allies and has turned a blind eye to Israel’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. (2)

Washington also provides Israel with consistent diplomatic support, vetoing 32 Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, and has blocked the efforts of Arab states to put Israel’s nuclear arsenal on the IAEA’s agenda.

Canada and Our Shift in Foreign Policy

In 2006, CTV conducted a poll asking Canadians who we should support in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:

“When asked who Canada should support, a majority, 77 per cent, said we should be neutral. Sixteen per cent said Canada should support Israel, while only one per cent said Hezbollah.” (3)

And yet the Harper government became "unapologetic supporters of Israel" in direct conflict of our interests. And they did this with an aggressive campaign and some powerful allies. The Zionist group: Christians United For Israel and the American Neoconservative heavyweights, represented by Jason Kenney's director of communications, Alykhan Velsi.

Velshi is a player in the American neoconservative movement, and includes among his colleagues, the late Irving Kristol, Andrew C. McCarthy, Lynn and Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, etc. He also belongs to the controversial American Enterprise Institute and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Continuation:

1. Has Israel Been a Blessing or a Burden?

2. Israel Engages in Espionage and Treachery Against Her Allies

3. We Can't Ignore the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. But Who is the Underdog?

Sources:

1. Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians, By Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe, 2010, Haymarket Books, ISBN: 978-1608460-97-7, Pg. 19

2. The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, By: John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, London Review of Books, March 23, 2006

3. CTV, August 1, 2006

Has Israel Been a Blessing or a Burden?

John Mearsheimer and Stephen Watt in their book The Israel Lobby, question whether Israel has really been as strong an ally as many believe. Is the enormous generosity justified? And again, this is not about religion, but the foreign country of Israel.

One might argue that Israel was an asset during the Cold War. By serving as America’s proxy after 1967, it helped contain Soviet expansion in the region and inflicted humiliating defeats on Soviet clients like Egypt and Syria. It occasionally helped protect other US allies (like King Hussein of Jordan) and its military prowess forced Moscow to spend more on backing its own client states. It also provided useful intelligence about Soviet capabilities. (1)

However, backing Israel has come at a price.

The October War or Yom Kippur War , that began with a surprise attack by an Arab coalition on Israel, led to a near-confrontation between the two nuclear superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. The U.S. provided $2.2 billion in military aid to Israel, while the Soviets backed Egypt and Syria.

The U.S. support of Israel, triggered an OPEC oil embargo creating the 1973 Energy Crisis, which inflicted considerable damage on Western economies. And while Arab Nations ignited this war, it was in response to Israeli aggression.

And when the Americans needed them, Israel did not deliver.

The US could not, for example, rely on Israel when the Iranian Revolution in 1979 raised concerns about the security of oil supplies, and had to create its own Rapid Deployment Force instead.

The first Gulf War revealed the extent to which Israel was becoming a strategic burden. The US could not use Israeli bases without rupturing the anti-Iraq coalition, and had to divert resources (e.g. Patriot missile batteries) to prevent Tel Aviv doing anything that might harm the alliance against Saddam Hussein. History repeated itself in 2003: although Israel was eager for the US to attack Iraq, Bush could not ask it to help without triggering Arab opposition. So Israel stayed on the sidelines once again. (1)

Allies in the War on Terror

Since the War on Terror is becoming a war between the United States and Arab Nations, or terrorist groups originating in the Arab World, many believe that Washington should then give Israel a free hand in dealing with the Palestinians and not press it to make concessions until all Palestinian terrorists are imprisoned or dead. They also feel that the US should go after countries like Iran and Syria, as shared enemies of Israel.

Israel is thus seen as a crucial ally in the war on terror, because its enemies are America’s enemies. In fact, Israel is a liability in the war on terror and the broader effort to deal with rogue states. ‘Terrorism’ is not a single adversary, but a tactic employed by a wide array of political groups. The terrorist organisations that threaten Israel do not threaten the United States, except when it intervenes against them (as in Lebanon in 1982). Moreover, Palestinian terrorism is not random violence directed against Israel or ‘the West’; it is largely a response to Israel’s prolonged campaign to colonise the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

More important, saying that Israel and the US are united by a shared terrorist threat has the causal relationship backwards: the US has a terrorism problem in good part because it is so closely allied with Israel, not the other way around. Support for Israel is not the only source of anti-American terrorism, but it is an important one, and it makes winning the war on terror more difficult. [and] Israel’s nuclear arsenal is one reason some of its neighbours want nuclear weapons, and threatening them with regime change merely increases that desire. (1)

Being "unapologetic supporters of Israel" is not in Canada's best interest. We have to look at the big picture. Suggesting that any enemy of Israel is an enemy of ours, is a dangerous precedent to set. It might help the Harper government politically, but what could it mean for us?

Sources:

1. The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy, By: John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, London Review of Books, March 23, 2006