If you think of Canada’s democracy as a living organism, right now we’re suffering from cancer. RoboCon is a growing problem, and the electoral fraud will multiply further as punishments are avoided by the guilty cells.
If this society were an organism, it would be one with an immune system weakened by lack of pathogen exposure. Crisis, like the unprecedented theft of an election, is an invader. There are three general outcomes. The invader kills the organism. The organism defeats the invader and the immune system is strengthened. Or the organism adapts and become a permanent host to the infection.
Citizen McMaher connects a few more dots for us. The RoboCancer has spread to other systems. Did you wonder why there was a strange fascination held by Canada’s New Government with the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812? Could it be because the more government taxpayer money sent off to commemorate the event, the more Conservative call centres are given millions of dollars to help promote such events?
Our immune system is broken. We promise punishment in our Elections Act whenever someone suppresses the ability of a Canadian to vote, but ten months after RoboCon, and 4 years after S-GI’s NDP robocalls in 2008 there’ve been exactly 0 charges laid. There should be millions of dollars in fines waiting for the guilty party. RoboCon is HIV for our electoral system.
It wasn’t a very resilient system in the first place. First Past The Post welcomes small percentage changes in the popular vote, when it comes to making big changes in government seat counts. A proportional system, and/or one where every citizen must vote, would help insulate us against this particular threat of bad values pairing with advanced technology.
Also consider our feeble “checks and balances” to the power of the PMO. The Canadian political system is not prepared for the event of a disreputable Prime Minister with a majority of loyally whipped MPs. The PM appoints the following people who could put a check on his power:
- Governor General *At the behest of the monarch
- Senators
- Supreme Court Judges
- RCMP Commissioner
- Chief Electoral Officer
- Your Mom – (are you paying attention?)
Only the Government is allowed to secretly monitor Internet activity and respond to what they disagree with. (As Conservative troll RedJefff humourously points out, the monitoring isn’t “secret”… because we know about it now.)
==
Remember that PM now stands for Paranoid Minister Stephen Harper.
Saskboy's Abandoned Stuff 
Har har har!!! Some ‘secret monitor(ing)’ it’s a “pilot program the Harper government paid a media company $75,000 to monitor and respond to online postings about the east coast seal hunt.” (from your link)
Seriously did you even read the article you linked to or did you just, as is your habit, make up the conspiracy angle yourself? As a proof I expect better than UBC Computer Science professor and President of the BC Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, Richard Rosenberg’s OPINION that it “seems to me going beyond a reasonable action the government should be taking.”
Presenting opinion as fact makes you look a tad vacuous.
Oh and by the way, pertaining to checks and balances, there’s a thingy called the Canadian Constitution. You can google it if you are unaware of this document! ;)
Duh, it’s not a secret once they’re caught. Show me the press release where the government proudly announced this additional ‘fact correcting service’ to the public, and you might have a point.
Help explain how the Constitution helps us here, we’re eager to know what your opinion is (yeah right).
In my best Gleiksonian language… show me the press release where they didn’t ;) ! I’ve made the accusation it’s true untill you can refute it!!!
As for the Constitution, you do know it’s the law of the land…. don’t you?
Oh, and your cite is about the seal hunt not as implied political surveillance. Unless, of course, you are saying the environmental controversy over the seal hunt is purely political in nature!
Wiggle wiggle wiggle!
“Gleiksonian language”
You write in a way that only insiders could possibly understand what you mean, and even then they’d still have to dial back their view of reality a few notches to get into your delusional headspace to really understand what you’re getting at.
It’s not easy to see what you mean, when what you say is based on the apparent perception you have that everyone is much stupider than you are. We don’t accepts lies as truth, and your ridiculous claims (like I don’t know the Rule of Law or Constitution after quoting it numerous times on my blog that you’ve read) are not reality.
If I wanted to read dumbass comments all day, I’d still read Small Dead Animals. You’d be much happier with the group-think going on there I suspect. Please dial back your enthusiasm in conversing here, you’re less than welcome.
Interesting that you would bring up the subject of “group-think”. All the while I read a leftist blog and challenge people on their opinions. It’s called open democratic debate. I know, I know, its a subject near and dear to your heart… it just doesn’t seem that you like it when it becomes inconvenient. In addition you have shown more than willingness to restrict it if expedient.
My question becomes ‘do you define “group think” as anything outside your own group’?
PS I don’t believe “that everyone is much stupider than you are” but I do know a couple of folk that are!!! ;)
So, I take it that “The Biggest Political Fraud In Canadian History!!!” isn’t quite catching fire with the general public? Elections Canada is *not* going to declare the last election invalid and call for a new one? So sorry to hear it…
(I *did* tell you this would happen, and why, didn’t I?)
You have a lot to learn, Saskboy. Lots of growing up to do, as well.
You are right Fred. The only ones interested in this ‘scandalette’ are those of the pertpetually victimized class using it for their own partisan political points gain.
Not unexpected.
We’ll have to see how the 7 court challenges work out I guess. Might be next-to-moot if the PM resigns over the F-35 fiasco like he should.
It’s more than a month later, and the big newspapers are still talking about RoboCon. That’s a coon’s age in newspaper attention span, and I know it’s longer than yours, but I’ll be here to tell you “I told you so”, when this wraps up a few years from now.
saskboy says:
We’ll have to see how the 7 court challenges work out I guess.
You mean those 7 nuisance complaints? About the same as all the others, would be my prediction.
Might be next-to-moot if the PM resigns over the F-35 fiasco like he should.
Very funny. :)
It’s more than a month later, and the big newspapers are still talking about RoboCon.
They are? Where?
That’s a coon’s age in newspaper attention span, and I know it’s longer than yours, but I’ll be here to tell you “I told you so”, when this wraps up a few years from now.
No you won’t. You won’t have anything to tell me, other than the fact that it all amounted to nothing, just like I said it would. You’ll conveniently forget that I also told you *why* it would amount to nothing, too, won’t you?
Fred from BC,
So your idea of maturity is to call yourself “Pierre Poutine” and call your opponents supporters and tell the polling station moved to some out of the way location in the hopes of discouraging them to vote?
Imagine if all parties, and not just the morons and thieves in the Conservative Party of Canada did that?
My idea of maturity is to communicate your party’s platform as effectively as possible in order to convince enough of your fellow citizens to vote for your vision for the country to win enough seats to form the government.
I think, Fred from BC, that it is YOU who has some growing up to do. But first you have to WAKE UP from your state of utter delusion.
Ha ha Thwap!!!! How can you say “My idea of maturity is to communicate your party’s platform as effectively as possible in order to convince enough of your fellow citizens to vote for your vision for the country” when a number of Quebec Dipps didn’t even campaign in some of the ridings they were running in???? One gal went to Vegas and partied instead!!!!!!
Yah, that’s maturity all right!
Perhaps then Redjefff, he wasn’t referring to those particular MPs as mature since they don’t fit the definition he gave. I know you can’t understand that someone could possibly be speaking without complete partisan blinders on.
“I know you can’t understand that someone could possibly be speaking without complete partisan blinders on.” would only be remotely believable if I’d never read one of Thwaps comments before!!! Ha ha!!
thwap says:
So your idea of maturity is to call yourself “Pierre Poutine” and call your opponents supporters and tell the polling station moved to some out of the way location in the hopes of discouraging them to vote?
Don’t be ridiculous. Where have I ever defended this person, or called his/her actions “mature”? It’s quite the opposite, in fact…which is what makes it so damn funny that you and your kind think this is such a heinous criminal act.
(don’t look now, Thwap, but your desperation is showing….;)
Imagine if all parties, and not just the morons and thieves in the Conservative Party of Canada did that?
See, there’s that “maturity” thing again. Name-calling will only get you laughed at, kid…
My idea of maturity is to communicate your party’s platform as effectively as possible in order to convince enough of your fellow citizens to vote for your vision for the country to win enough seats to form the government.
Mine, too.
(see, now that wasn’t so hard, was it? You made yourself sound all grown-up with that last comment, didn’t you? Good for you!)
The Conservative Party did exactly that when they WON the last election. People voted for them for that very reason
I think, Fred from BC, that it is YOU who has some growing up to do. But first you have to WAKE UP from your state of utter delusion.
That’s nice.
Next time, before you choose to butt into a conversation and start tossing gratuitous insults and accusations around in lieu of actual debate, make sure that you have the intellect to pull it off first, okay?
I have no doubt that you think of Saskboy here as a friend, but that’s no reason to get dragged down into his fantasy world, is it? That just can’t end well for you now matter how hard you try, sorry.
THINK before you post. Not after. Before.
Pompous Ass From BC,
Let’s trace your mental train-wreck, shall we?
“Don’t be ridiculous. Where have I ever defended this person [‘Pierre Poutine’], or called his/her actions “mature”? It’s quite the opposite, in fact…which is what makes it so damn funny that you and your kind think this is such a heinous criminal act.”
Where did you defend “Pierre Poutine”? Why, my dear Pompous Ass From BC, when you defended his employer, the Conservative Party of Canada!
“The Conservative Party did exactly that when they WON the last election. People voted for them for that very reason”
You see, the tragic thing is that we just don’t know whether or not the Conservatives won their majority, because of all the electoral fraud! The Conservative’s majority was based on a very small number of votes and their systematic attack on the integrity of the electoral process has caused sane people (note: NOT YOU) to doubt the outcome of that election.
What’s that you say? The Conservative Party of Canada has nothing to do with Pierre Poutine? But then why did claim to know who he was? [Michael Sona, a former employee of theirs who rejects the accusation?] Why is all this filth seeming to stick to the Conservatives? I’ll tell you why: It’s because they’re guilty.
Why does my kind [decent, democratic Canadians, as opposed to stupid , lying pieces of shit such as yourself] think this is all such a heinous crime? I’ll tell you. First of all, it’s because the calls directing supporters of rival candidates to the wrong polling stations were ILLEGAL. So, that makes them CRIMES. You fucking dunce. Second of all, they were heinous because they were an assault on the heart and soul of a free and fair election. The foundation of any representative democracy.
“Next time, before you choose to butt into a conversation and start tossing gratuitous insults and accusations around in lieu of actual debate, make sure that you have the intellect to pull it off first, okay?”
Moron. It’s a comments section on a blog! If you want to have a private conversation with Saskboy (not that he’d necessarily indulge you) you’re going about it the wrong way. Holy shit but you’re stupid.
The unmitigated gall you have! You lying piece of shit! Covering-up for electoral fraud! The day I take a lesson in etiquette from a thug such as you is the day hell freezes over by the way. I stopped giving out awards for shameless conservative hypocrisy. There were too many contenders. You’re evidence of that.
I rather enjoyed Thwap’s summary.
This is enjoyable too, seeing Fred commenting on the Blogging Tory blog of the man recently accused by LaRue of being Pierre Poutine.
http://canadaconservative.blogspot.ca/2010/07/iffys-musings-on-cancelling-f-35-widely.html#c267371300005942906
What’s with all the sarcasm and “biting”? We can and do have different perspectives about “topics of the day”. What really matters (in my mind) is that Canadians come together against corruption and fascism that is undermining our DEMOCRACY. THAT would be maturity on a grand scale. (IMHO)
@redjefff… thank you for your post. I had no difficulty understanding your writing. Fred from BC… nice to meet you, I’m in BC too, and saskboy, I am interested in your perspectives if they are posted with respect.
Sandra, you may not have read the history of Redjeff here, but he started out commenting at my blog with the explicit purpose of trolling to push my buttons (which he confessed to doing amongst his climate change denying buddies). His intentions are not honourable, or without malice.
If you’re sincere about wanting Canadians to come together against corruption and fascism that is undermining democracy, you may not want to give Redjeff, or Fred from BC more than the time of day. https://saskboy.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/parade-of-disgraceful-conservatives/
Hi Sandra! I hope to read more of your comments and opinions in the future. We may not necessarily agree with each other, but I’m sure it will provide us with mutual learning experiences!
Thank you for taking the time to be heard and showing concern!
All the best….. Jeff
Smells like a sock-puppet.
No direct evidence, but the circumstances, and the out-of-character response by RedJeff is suspicious as you say. I’m willing to grant the benefit of the doubt anyway.
In case you wondered, Redjeff could look like Martin Short
saskboy says:
I rather enjoyed Thwap’s summary.
Me too. :)
Not as much as I would have if he had lasted one or two more posts before his meltdown (that seems about the average : shoot down their argument, they counter, shoot that one down too, they get nasty, laugh at them, they go ballistic, etc, etc…). Oh well, it wasn’t as much fun as it could have been if Thwap had…umm…more to work with, intellectually speaking, but it was fun while it lasted (in a slightly guilty, “picking on the retarded kid” kinda way…;).
Looks like Redjeff must have gotten bored and wandered off already. Can’t say i blame him…
This is enjoyable too, seeing Fred commenting on the Blogging Tory blog of the man recently accused by LaRue of being Pierre Poutine.
Umm…okay…not sure why that would be relevant, but feel free to search for any of my previous posts anywhere you like, if that does something for you (?)…
Um, what the fuck are you talking about grandpa?
Hi Fred!! How are you? Don’t mind Thwap, he’s a little angrier than normal today as I’ve been exposing his lack of basic knowledge on economics. He’s wound tighter than a tin-toy car right now ;) !!!! You may need to cut him some slack!!!
All the best….. Jeff
Hey gramps, … I wonder, if in your infinite senility, you’d like to re-visit this:
I said: “My idea of maturity is to communicate your party’s platform as effectively as possible in order to convince enough of your fellow citizens to vote for your vision for the country to win enough seats to form the government.”
You said: “Mine, too. The Conservative Party did exactly that when they WON the last election. People voted for them for that very reason”
Aside from the fact that anyone with half a brain could tell that wasn’t the case at the time, I wonder if, now, with the benefit of other people having done the heavy lifting for you, if you STILL think the harpercons honestly made their case to the electorate?
Have you read this editorial by the conservative columnist Andrew Coyne? http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/Andrew+Coyne+project+fiasco+from+bottom/6414103/story.html ?
Basically it says that the harpercons refused to honestly state the true cost of the F-35s to our representatives in Parliament. They then lied about it to Parliament. Now it’s obvious they were deliberately underestimating the cost by at least $10 billion.
Is that your idea of parliamentary democracy grandpa? Refuse to give Parliament the official cost estimates of your policies? Instead, give them false data. Appeal to the electorate with these fake numbers?
I might have a potty mouth grandpa. But I have more respect for parliamentary democracy than you have. Your contempt for democracy makes your pearl-clutching over my use of profanity particularly nauseating.
I would almost believe in your ‘respect for democracy’ if it wasn’t for your constant begging and pleading to Saskboy to ban outright others whos opinion differs from your own. This may be your defenition of democracy, clearly it isn’t the dictionary one. The fact you lie in quoting economic figures and principles while attempting to shout down your opposition is a much better gauge of the ‘respect for democracy’ you possess.
I do find it hilarious that when you say “Aside from the fact that anyone with half a brain could tell that wasn’t the case…” you basically admit you only have “half a brain”… a full brain would see differently!!!!!
Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
You can’t see the difference between banning trolls from your personal blog and violating the fundamentals of Canadian parliamentary democracy?
Can I come over to your house and insult your family for as long as I want? (And accuse you of threatening my right to freedom of speech if you try to evict me?)
Your obvious attempt to change the subject, coupled with your inability to put things into perspective, shows that you’re not worthy of serious consideration. … fuckhead.
Hahaha Thwap! You already do that!!!! Hahaha!!!
So, what do you think of the way the harpercons treated Parliament with regards to the F-35 cost estimates?
Thwap, you don’t seem able to understand the basics of simple concepts, be it economics, law or for that matter common sense. How do you possibly think you will understand military issues?
You are simply too young and naive. As you get older you will gain experience in a great many of lifes realities. This, in turn, will allow you to understand the world away from your sheltered existance.
Until then, your age is showing!!! ;)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
You always got the shit kicked out of you in dodge ball, didn’t you redjeff?
Hahahahahaha!!!
You don’t know what to say now, so you just spew stupid bullshit.
The sick thing is, you really think your bullshit is precious free speech and the world would be a poorer place without it.
Tell you what asshole, … enlighten this blog’s readers (don’t worry about me) and explain the “military issues” that you imagine are somewhat relevant to this question. Show us how brilliant you are.
Thats better Thwap!!! Back to cussin’!!! You’re the king!!!
You empty-headed piece of garbage. You’re beneath contempt.
Well, at least you’ve shown me, once again, how worthless you right-wing scum are. You and grandpa “Pompous Ass from BC” can go wallow in your own shit.
I can hear you now: “Hahahahahaha!! This is GREAT!”
Bye forever.
You can have the last word, insect.
Hahahahahaha!! This is GREAT! I don’t have to say a thing for you to prove my point!!!!! Good luck in the seal hunt!!!!
Last word? Ok…. Hahahahahahaha!!!!