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Wanna read. https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-am-an-independent-impartial-judge-1538695822 Kudos to Brett Kavanaugh for being a badass and not collapsing under the Democrats onslaught of lies.

Take cover - Senator Collins who is considered a moderate who sometimes votes with the Democrats, is voting yes.. and one Democrat will vote yes. I actually watched her speech which went on and on, but my goodness, I was impressed (favourably) she went over many of his cases and how he ruled on them showing that he was fair and impartial - and showed that he was more than likely to uphold Roe v Wade; also talking about due process. Sen. Collins took a stand today for America literally in the face mobs outside her office and threats to her and her office staff. She said no to mob rule and intimidation and halted an aggressive unethical character attack the likes of which we don't want to see again. As far as churches go, we have separation of Church and State, so they have no say. If you listened to her speech with an open mind, it would be hard to vote no.

The Democrats have overplayed their hand, giving political coverage to any wavering senators by insisting on a FBI investigation of the allegations, which found no corroboration of Ford's committee testimony. In retrospect, the Democrats may have had a better chance of blocking the confirmation with a full Senate vote at the peak of the controversy last week. As for the gender politics, Kavanaugh displayed anger and emotion, the very same things that feminists champion when wronged.

I have some high-level ideas that I would suggest go into directives to government and crown corporations: Re-design the parliamentary legislative process to be faster, and engage with people through online public, nonymous accounts. We need less Question Period as it's irrelevant. Political Parties should be repurposed. Instead of providing answers and plans, they should reflect more "world views" of the people who vote for them. They are more like boards of directors for people who do the actual work, and the actual solutions should from collaboration between the parties, experts and the public. We should encourage more in-committee solutions to problems, and solutions from ministries and crown corporations and take problem solving away from parties. This means all should connect with the people who pay for and use services. Simplify everything so more people can understand the affairs of government. Push services off to contracted 3rd parties to deliver, and insist on constant improvement, and lowering of costs. Get government out of managing... anything. Recognize that government is about practical matters as well as matters of the heart. Make Canadian values into what we do and not what we talk about, which means being practical and pragmatic, and delivering: Generally, costs should go lower over time and services improve. Politics and talking about things needs to lead to action and not just more talking. --------- This should be manifested across the board, but especially in bureaucracies like Indian Affairs, Veteran affairs and so on. There are large bureaucracies that are entirely disconnected from people who pay for the services and people who use them. The way to fix it is to build a new service alongside the old one, and as the new service grows the old one will die out.

I ask you honestly.....if you were completely innocent......and all this stuff was dumped on you - ruining your lifelong career, your family.....knowing that they sat on the accusation for well over a month instead of investigating.......knowing that they waited till the last moment to spring it on the committee.......knowing that somebody leaked the Ford letter that was supposed to be private and confidential......knowing that the democrats referred her to their chosen activist lawyers.....knowing that these same lawyers did not tell her that Grassley had offered to meet her request of going to California to question her in private.....knowing that the Julie Swetnick accusations were so outrageous that even the major print media couldn't bring themselves to run with it......knowing all this and more - and knowing you were innocent - yet seeing your life being dragged through the mud.......would you not be emotionally pissed? As I said before, the only way he could have remained "cool" is if he was guilty. You're entitled to your opinion of course - and I've been in agreement with you on several other issues - but on this one, I think you're way off base. My opinion of course.

History books will reflect that Sen. Flake actually saved the Kavanaugh confirmation...Democrats should be careful what they wish for. If/when Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed and joins the Supreme Court bench, it will be a spectacular win for President Trump and the GOP...a crushing defeat for the Democrats. Midterm election results will be anti-climactic in comparison.

Can't have it both ways....Judge Kavanaugh's critics want impartiality and objectivity....except when it comes to abortions !?

Indeed...Judge Kavanaugh was previously confirmed in 2006 by the U.S. Senate and all of the sudden he is no longer qualified ? Sen. Collins accurately described the partisan context and framework that has defined justice confirmation hearings for a generation. Even Justice Clarence Thomas was confirmed 52-48...by a Democrat controlled Senate !

First of all, I would like to thank Michael for such a thoughtful post a few above related to how politcos, our government and its agencies are so disconnected from the citizens. It is a huge problem and very much part of this specific problem. We have to stop and ask ourselves why we have armed forces in the first place. One thing - defense of the nation - is fairly obvious. Now, the ONLY country to openly violate our sovereign (colonial) borders is the one directly South of us, and what they seldom recognize is that they were sent packing - by the Brits. Since then, we can consider the Yanks our closest and most trusted ally. Even so: when you realize that being a country with any credible status within the world community means having various treaties and organizations that can and will use military force to defend what the greater community at large decides is in the best interest of the world. When Eyeball (and a lot of other Canadians) see Canadians going "where they don't belong" or some such, it is ALWAYS with the endorsement and request of our allies and the UN. No country as small as Canada (in population) could ever hope to defend itself from a superpower military onslaught - we MUST be able to rely on the rest of the world and in particular our treaty allies to participate in our defense. With that comes our obligation in return to defend others. The other thing our armed forces (both regs and reserves) do is "aid to civil power" (yeah, I am so old I still use that term). Floods, fires and civil insurrection (from Riel Rebellion to Quebec crisis) are times that civil governments are in distress and call upon our military to put themselves in harms way for the nation. I am more than a bit biased, having grown up within the military world, having a son-in-law who is a regimental DCO (will be CO soon) who is also a decorated Afgan vet and having a HS classmate/friend who rose to similar rank within the procurement side and being very well acquainted with one MND . I was a reserve in my youth (artillery), and we have many family members who serve in that capacity today. While we don't need to worry about the 49th these days, what few realize is that we have some very unsettled Northern boundary issues - with one particular country that is even more resource dependent than we are - and who has no hesitation to claim or occupy territory with full political, diplomatic and military support. What we largely ignore is that we really need to establish and maintain our presence in many of those remote areas, and it is the job we assign to our military to do so. Reality is: the Liberal and other left side of our political spectrum has relentlessly attacked the military - who are by their very sworn service to stand in support of the country's government are not able to defend themselves. It began with the ultimate best example of all Liberals - Paul Hellyer (who today is a UFOlogist - how's that for an elevator that doesn't go to the top floor?). Canada it is often said was "borne" on Vimy Ridge as a "real country" on its own account. Our military really showed its stuff in WWII - putting Canada in a situation postwar in which the military had an extremely high profile and respectable reputation both at home and abroad. The Liberals felt this a threat to their desire to absolutely dominate Canada, so Hellyer did as he was told and tried his level best to destroy that reputation and the institutions in which it was vested. When Trudeau #1 came to power, Hellyer found a perfect home as Minister to carry out such treachery, and Trudeau found the avenue to use his power to turn the military from a military force into an element of his socially engineered "just society" (which pretty much meant that if they had their way, all Canada would have left is "just" society - run by the LPC). And that brings us right back to another Liberal government - led by none other than the son of he who first made such a profound effort to destroy our military - that once more wants to dictate their airheaded version of absolute control over the country. Takes us right back to Michael's post above. The only reason Liberals (and Red Torries) have ANY use for our military is to continue to use procurement as a tax-funded sot to Quebec - where military and civil spending is directed without any other reason except to pacify and subsidize (with no doubt a considerable amount of "bleed back" to partisan contribution$$). We NEED an effectively trained and equipped military to meet our needs for sovereign defense, disaster support of civil governments and our obligations to the rest of the world. And, we are demanding that they do so with virtually NO support from the government, its bureaucracies and even the people for those who serve and those who have given of themselves and their families in service.

Perhaps, but Apple and other Big Data hardware vendors have already been busted "spying" on customers and/or enabling surreptitious monitoring and collection of private data as a business strategy.

This is great ! Democrats haven't been this crazy mad since Donald Trump won the 2016 election....and when Republicans freed their slaves !

It may sound harsh to those on the left,but immigration policy should first and foremost be designed to benefit the country as a whole.It should not be used as a tool for getting votes to remain in power which is what is happening now.Immigration levels should be tied to the strength of our economy as well,strong economy,more people,weak economy,bring in less.Pierre Trudeau surprisingly did this back in his day.Being able to immigrate to Canada has pretty much become a right and not a privilege as it once was. A real screening process would be most welcome too. The Khadr family anyone?

Or try change both. Call me naïve but we need people to join the political system and armed forces and change both. The only way to have that happen is to openly question and engage in critical challenges. Its easy to come on this forum and giggle about what he said. The gigglers giggle because they have the fatness of privileged sheltered lifestyle to jiggle about. I never thought I would live in a country where people turn terrorists into multi-millionaire privileged elitists and leave soldiers to rot. It makes me puke. I want it changed. I support what Argus says.