Angry in the Great White North

From My Blahg:

Canada Needs a Stable Coalition

During this election campaign there was frequent speculation as to how a Harper minority government would get its policies passed through Parliament. Stephen Harper said he wouldn’t form a stable coalition with another party but would instead approach them on a case by case basis.

This is not an acceptable plan for governing our nation. Neither is it an inclusive plan as it simply speaks to the conservative’s selfish trait of wanting their, and only their, entire platform implemented. And it’s not in the interest of the other three parties to go along with this, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” style of governance.

But that's the point of a minority government. A minority government in which two parties are in formal and binding coalition representing more than 50% of the seats is a majority government.

Duh.

A minority government is all about deal making. There's nothing selfish about it. The selfishness is in the idea of forming a coalition in order to freeze out the other opposition parties.

I bet Robert McLelland would think it was selfish if the CPC and the Liberals formed a coalition and left the NDP to squawk impotently on the side of road.

But then he has a different coalition in mind:

Only by forming a stable and equitable coalition with the NDP will your government last long enough to get anything done.

Because that's not selfish at all. As long as the NDP gets its way, whatever the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois want is irrelevant.

But it gets better:

If Harper balks at this idea and decides to go his “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” route of governance, then I think its incumbant upon the three opposition parties to end Harper’s rule even before it begins. They can then form a stable coalition government of their own that will work for all Canadians, not just the conservatives.

OK, so the Liberals and the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois form a stable coalition.

I know, it's insane.

But apparently this is superior to different configurations of these interest groups and regional representatives getting together when their interests coincide to pass legislation.

I guess we won't have to worry about considered political opinion from the Liberals or the NDP bloggers giving the Blogging Tories a run for their money.

But the comments to the post from the true believers is where the payoff is:

It is still possible for the NDP and Liberals to form a coalition governement. it depends on the Governor General to decide about this but if NDP and Liberals can come of with a plan to prove they can together form a government and actually get things done, they still have the possibility of preventing the conservatives from being the government.

Thank goodness Paul Martin isn't interested in staying in power at all costs.

The CPC (because of its inherent loathsomeness) can’t work with anyone, except in a Faustian deal with the Bloc. It’ll be interesting to see how they attempt to do things when the majority of Canadians, once again, voted for more progressive parties.

The name-calling. Always with the name-calling. One minute the demand is made that the Conservatives form a stable coalition, then in the next breath the same coalition partners are calling them loathsome.

How to make friends and influence people...not.

And I think progressive bloggers should just stop giving the trolls a stage and boot them and ban them and delete their comments. Whatever they’ve wanted to express with they’re trolling we’ve already heard, and “freedom of expression” does not mean “freedom to make noise,” which of course does not exist.

I guess there won't be any truce in the blogosphere either. Funny thing -- I never boot the "trolls" on my blog. I mean, how can we find a way to get along and get things done if we're not even talking to each other?

Lets poke a stick at the neocons, turn over rocks, force the wingnuts into the open, expose their rabid face, and force them to eat each other.

But right now, lets just flame the media. These lazy, mediocre, right-wing bastards let Harper get away with his dishonest stealth campaign. Let him fool a lot of Canadians. Almost cost us our country.

Lets make sure they can never do that again. It’s payback time.

As for gays and lesbians and their friends, our war begins today.

Lets make this Harperian interlude a mere blip in Canadian history.

Before we smash them once and for all.

Wow. And Stephen Harper hasn't even been sworn in yet! Smash them once and for all? And then what? A utopia of uninterrupted Liberal rule? Or perhaps Jack Layton as Prime Minister for Life?

For people who bleat on about democracy and rights and so forth, they don't really get it, do they? They don't understand that the danger to their rights is not a Conservative government that puts its agenda to a vote in Parliament. The danger is always the same -- from a party, any party, that believes it is no longer answerable to the people.

But then these guys figure they'll be in that party, living the high life like Napoleon in Animal Farm.