Forget the Cowboy Hats Already. Let's try dealing with Reality
The reason nothing ever gets done is that we still live in Simple Town.
Everybody wants a hero and a villain, white hats and black hats. The world, apparently is peopled with Good Guys and Bad Guys.
I guess that's why we all love sports. A beginning, a middle and an end. A final score. Somebody won, YEAH! Somebody lost, BOO!
If only life was even remotely like that.
Take Stephen Harper, please.
The man says he's going to do some things about crime. Right away, he is immediately cast, by the water cooler crowd, as a sonofabitching Law & Order Demon.
But look at most of his proposals; think about them for a second.
If you're found guilty of 3 violent or sexual offences, you are liable to be branded a dangerous offender. ALL RIGHT BY ME.
Stiffer penalties for impaired driving. REALLY ALL RIGHT BY ME.
Mandatory prison sentences for gun crimes. ALL RIGHT BY ME.
Tougher bail conditions for gun crimes. ALL RIGHT BY ME.
Young people who commit serious crimes are held accountable to their victims and communities. ALL RIGHT BY ME.
And - although not addressed in the Throne Speech - taking a hard look at the poisonous mistake of "safe" injection sites, free needles, and free drugs. REALLY, REALLY, REALLY ALL RIGHT WITH ME.
So, for all of these considerations, with which most Canadians totally agree, the chattering classes immediately let their knees jerk in unison, "Oh that Harper!"
Well, Harper is no hero for me; but these policies seem to me long overdue and I welcome them.
6 comments:
" but these policies seem to me long overdue and I welcome them". I would suggest that you are not alone David!
David,
If a person with left-leanings like you supports Stephen Harper's crime initiatives then I know they're a good thing! I mean that sincerely.
Conversely, if our favourite used-car salesman, Jack Layton, is against something then I automatically know that I'm for it!!!
Robert
P.S. I think you should start advertising your upcoming talk. I will be doing so too.
I wonder if left of center voters will see this and feel like the government is acting in their interests, or will it be reduced to - THE SCARY CONSERVATIVES WANT TO GET RID OF THE GUN REGISTRY1
Like you said, voting too often is reduced to a single understandable result. So when it comes to a government wanting to change something, say a more efficient health care system, or making people responsible for their actions they automatically vote for the opposite.
I call them Barbie voters - change is hard.
David,
While the basic elements of the crime bill idea are good and sound, it is the long-term effects of the militarization of our nation that concern me the most.
Moreso now with the knowledge that the US reall REALLY need someone to STAY PUT in Afghanistan before the situation in Pakistan is clearly understood...
The Real News has more about this and I really think that this 'war' we in Canada are participants to needs to be re-thought and we need to get out NOW!
Something that the CONformers are going to NOT do at all. In simple point of fact they want us to STAY LONGER!
We were in California this summer and while driving were listening to talk radio. The animosity between the left and right is extreme to say the least. Here, we can sensibly move between the two (although our right is probably closer to their left in my opinion) depending on a particular issue. The American way, in that regard, doesn't make sense and is almost goofy.
Without having seen the bill, I am willing to bet that it will contain 'anti-terrorist measure,' which will allow detention without charge, secret hearings and difficulties with access to counsel. These measures might not be the end of the world and are not doubt useful in an emergency, but can we really trust the security apparatus which has brought us Air India anyone, Mahar Arar and the RCMP investigating its own killings?
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