SpankyMcFarland

Naughty, naughty: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-carney-liberals-conservative-buttons/ It does show where some Liberals think the Tories are vulnerable. Frankly, I think it is a vulnerability in the current political atmosphere.

Can you imagine being this stupid? https://apple.news/A3Hn_3MF8SAqJl52XZPjmxQ

Nonsense or not, I’m sorry I didn’t buy it way back when, though. I know one reputable guy online who invested in 10k of it. We followed the ups and downs of it for months until his wife made him sell when he’d doubled his bet. Last time I looked, that investment was worth 27 million which must make for some interesting conversations at home. With the benefit of hindsight, I listened to the rational arguments and failed to appreciate the growing distrust of our financial system among younger people. Of course, I’d be penniless if I’d invested in every wild new stock over the years.

Here’s the good news: tariffs will make a man of ya. https://www.yahoo.com/news/tariffs-put-hair-chest-fox-233236384.html

We are, of course, which is why I said ‘may have initiated’, but there is no question he has damaged that credibility.

In normal times there’d be a call for an investigation into the potential for massive insider trading here but it’s not the main story. In the 1956 Suez Crisis, Eisenhower threatened to sell sterling bonds, forcing the British to abandon the canal. It was the end of Britain as a great power. Incredibly, Trump may have initiated a loss of trust in the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. He feels it’s overvalued and he may get his wish. What an agent of chaos and ruin he has always been. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/bond-market-moves-raise-fears-growing-bets-america-rcna200936

This does not sound like the action of an ally: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/12/us-demands-control-from-ukraine-of-key-pipeline-carrying-russian-gas

An easier way to proceed might be with a national sales tax. That would provide money to narrow the deficit and also curb consumer spending. There’d be no need to get involved in fights with any foreign country. Of course, Trump and Co. would have to be honest about raising taxes and that seems to be a no-no down there.

Even the way Witkoff talks about well-established oblasts as “so-called four regions” is gratuitously insulting to our side, the Ukrainian side.

If what you say is true why isn’t Poilievre winning easily? Or maybe you believe he is? We are not talking about the same thing here. I’m talking about likeability in particular and you are talking about perceived integrity. They are not the same. Every candidate needs to work on their weaknesses to maximize their appeal. Obviously Carney has many such vulnerabilities but Poilievre has had years to improve his appeal to female voters. I’m assuming you are male and older. Do you really think you are in the best position to judge how Poilievre comes across to female voters? Polls have had some problems in recent years but to claim there’s a deliberate bias in them is paranoid. Poilievre does not claim that himself. How am I to judge these matters without polls? I can also rely on what I see. What you like about Poilievre - for example, his ability to to come out with sharp rejoinders - may not appeal to everybody. Are you even open to seeing these things in your candidate?

Although Trump and Carney arrived like meteors into our political world, Poilievre should still have been better prepared in both style and content. His likeability was an obvious weakness from the day he became leader but was only a potential problem as Trudeau sank in the polls. With the benefit of hindsight, he should have been working constantly to improve that. Committed Tories are a little more than a third of the electorate. In the absence of a big NDP/BQ vote they have to make inroads into the right flank of Liberal support and there hasn’t been enough of that. The clear statement on abortion was one example of what is needed. If Poilievre wins he will have done so despite making it harder for himself. How many seats do you think they are going to win in Ontario? It needs to be a big number.

Imagine sending a real estate guy to negotiate a Ukraine deal with Putin. Witkoff is a brilliant businessman, whose paternal grandparents were born in the Russian Empire, but he fell at the first fence when talking to Tucker Carlson, being unable to name the four eastern Ukrainian regions under dispute. Needless to say, this did not go down well in Ukraine: https://kyivindependent.com/editorial-what-steve-witkoff-doesnt-get-about-ukraine-and-russia/

I would just add the tiny caveat that a foreigner can be a cultural Russophile, admiring Russia’s extraordinary achievements in music and literature, or a lover of the country’s vast steppes and forests. Any northern Canadian is a comrade of the boreal forest.

Give me lucky generals, as Napoleon is supposed to have said.

Elections usually provide at least one opportunity like this…I see David Beckham has been tucking into the poutine since he moved to the island. No mention of Posh. https://www.saanichnews.com/local-news/saanich-gulf-islands-liberal-candidate-has-deep-connection-to-the-land-7901150

This ain’t good. Not good at all: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-liberal-candidate-accepted-invitation-from-china-to-celebrate-peoples/

What do BC posters think of Steve Fuhr’s chances? He has never smoked a joint, apparently. I thought it was compulsory there? https://www.pentictonherald.ca/news/article_d0837822-d909-44c9-974b-04e473c30be1.html He’s none too keen on the F-35 by the looks of things.

Poilievre is going to have to considerably exceed current expectations in Southern Ontario to have any chance of a majority win.

One of the best photo-ops for a campaign comes when you reluctantly pause it to do serious prime ministerial things and defend the nation from a foreign foe: https://globalnews.ca/news/11125232/donald-trump-tariffs-canada-election-campaign/

Americans should be very careful what they wish for. At the moment, foreigners are selling them stuff they want and putting many of those earned dollars into IOUs from the US Treasury. If that commodius vicus of recirculation were to stop suddenly, God help us all.

Carney is the PM, though. He matters right now. People are often going to demonstrate when he turns up.

They didn’t look desperate - they are paid to have opinions that will spike debate, after all - and the polls don’t either.

There’s no question that rallies attract more committed voters. Most Canadians aren’t going to wait five minutes to hear some politician talk.

Interesting perspective on the CBC panel today - Poilievre’s big, boisterous rally crowds are turning off the centrist voters he needs.

Who cares about that out there in deepest Canada? It’s not a core issue for most Canadians. Carney’s going to make mistakes. He’s new to this game. As the MAGA crowd used to claim in 2016, one can say ‘he’s not a politician’ as he runs to run the country.