shoop

Either you don't have the first clue what the word histrionics actually means OR you are presenting some very witty and biting satire. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and applaud you on your comedic instincts sir.

It would be worth the laugh to see him win. More and more a Conservative majority in the coming election is being seen as inevitable. So watching how badly Rae could do in the election would be fun. Then he resigns and someone a little more reasonable takes over...

This was announced over a month ago. I'm pretty sure that it did make National news, albeit as a pretty minor story.

It isn't. Just histrionics to as an attempt to try and justify his rage at the OLA.

You gotta love the Calgary inferiority complex. Let's take a look at the actually weather numbers from Statistics Canada. Avg. Temp HI LOW Cold mth. HI LOW Warm mth. LOW HI Edmonton 8.7 -1.5 January -8.2 -17 July 23.0 12.0 Calgary 10.3 -2.6 January -3.6 -15.7 July 23.2 9.5 Boy, what an unbelievable difference in the weather. You'd swear they were different countries.

I don't really have much issue with CBC radio. What about privatizing just the television wing?

If they actually dropped that view of the Canadian public then many of the criticisms would rightly go away. They are showing no indication of moving in that direction and will continue shrinking as a result. I don't actually believe they are getting better at developing programs that people actually like. Wasn't that "This is Wonderland" supposedly an example of that. How long did that one last? Canadians actually like to watch the Olympics. Too bad CTV outbid them for 2010 and 2012.

In this respect Canada and the US are mirror images of each other. Harper didn't have to become *Liberal* to win. He just had to moderate. I find great humour in the Canadian Left's embracing of Bill Clinton. He ran a far more right-wing Government than anything Mulroney ever did, or Harper has done to date. I find no contradiction in supporting the Democratic Party in the U.S. and the Conservative Party in Canada. But, I am foolish enough to read platforms and follow what politicians actually do once in office...

Too true. I gave a half-arsed attempt at researching provincial parks in Alberta and couldn't find any support for that either.

You are probably correct. Better that the CBC should continue to shrink in importance than weather the nightmarish storm that would result from any attempts at outright privatization.

I have no doubt the OLA is pricey. But $700 Billion? Come on. That seems insanely high. It fails the laugh test. You are basically saying that if Official Bilingualism didn't exist Canada would have NO National Debt. Any support at all for that figure?

That is the key point. While these National Press Gallery whining pieces will continue, they aren't gaining much popular support. The Prime Minister is communicating to the public. He is just choosing to do it differently. i.e. using local media far more than usual to communicate to the electorate. It is very interesting. People see these complaints from the media in the same news broadcasts with the PM, or a local Minister/MP being interviewed on the issue of the day. The cognitive dissonance really means that people won't buy into the equation that Harper changing the relationship of the PMO effects their daily lives.

Privatization of the CBC will definitely not happen in this mandate. Very, very unlikely in the next. Far, far too controversial...

Abandoned his base? The budget delivers more tax cuts than the last FOUR Liberal budgets combined. Any cries of abandoning the base are either wishful thinking on the part of opponents OR people who have an unrealistic view of what the party can do. Tax cuts are vote buying? How exactly did he abandon his base?

In 1951, when the U.S. had almost won the Korean War, Douglas MacArthur recommended that the U.S. should cross the Yalu River into China and use nukes if necessary. Truman overruled him. MacArthur went public with his recommendations (definitely about going into China, not sure about the nukes), very inappropriate and unprofessional. Truman fired him. That's what lead to Truman's low poll numbers. Truman took the blame for making the right decision.

Puh lease. With almost as good a first 100 days as could be hoped for, I definitely do not see the SES numbers as saying what I want. I trust the SES poll and think "what more does Harper have to do?" I would be much happier to see the Government in the 40s and the Liberals in the mid to low 20s.

OK ... It's a little confusing when sometimes you use the word *poll* to mean an actual opinion poll, then sometimes you use the word *poll* to talk about keeping track of constituent feedback. I think you originally started talking about opinion polls. Did you change to keep track of feedback when faced with how prohibitively expensive the use of opinion polls you *claimed* was taking place would be? Hmmm, this time which sense of the word poll are you using? What do you meant by *target groups* are you actually talking about focus groups? Which again are far too expensive to be used regularly by MPs. Just because aides prepare background information for MPs it doesn't mean they are adding their own *spin* on the information the MP receives. MPs are ultimately responsible to the voters. Do you honestly think they would hold back their own views because somebody on their staff told them to present themselves differently. How would anybody who did that ever win re-election? Why wouldn't good quality staffers, who have the able to come up with such great *spin*, just run for office themselves? I'm guessing the money would be better...

Point made. But look at the OP and then the post I linked to. Almost identical. A few words was added to one of the posts...

I started this thread because the Rabble site is currently down. I go there (and to FD) rarely just to poke around and see what's up. I was wondering if Rabble's current situation is permanent or a temporary situation. I completely agree that the "coffee-klatch" boards serve a purpose. I find this board to be much better for getting a cross-section of opinions. To me it seems like posting on a board where the fast majority of posters share your board is akin to intellectual masturbation ... fulfilling in the short-term but ultimately unsatisfying.

There was a thread on this tiopic, but it kinda got off track. Anyways, does anybody know if Rabble is officially dead? Seems like we are starting to get some cross-posters from the Babble strike board here to start some trouble.

OP. Do you prefer no1important or Canadian? One of the rules on this board is no cross posting. Almost identical babblestrike thread. Here's the rule, just sorta FYI NO CROSS-POSTING Cross posting is defined as posting the same information in more then one forum on the Internet. It is also considered cross posting if you post the same information in different areas of these forums. If you want to propose a new topic, find the appropriate category and only post once. All cross-posts will be deleted without warning.

Wow. I think the board you are looking for is www.rabble.ca

That's just rude, and needlessly arrogant. That too. At least this sounds like you have a reasonable idea of the situation. I do think you overstate a few things like the level of preparedness for most MPs in media appearances and constituency events, for example. The cost of polling is far too high to be used as often as you believe. Motivation for the job is tough to peg down, but MPs should be prepared to deal with the issue that they face. So it would be far more than to just make the MP look better. It might actually be to help the MPs do their job better...

To lead you need to be in power. By your definition Joe Clark showed strong leadership in 1979/80. He made some choices that were clearly in the best interest of the country, but lost power as a result. Would you like to see Harper try and repeal the OLA only to thrust another decade of Liberal government on us? For 12 1/2 years the centre-right has won a lot of moral victories. Alas, that is all they can claim. I read the article. Yes, it is a good thing that separatism is waning in Quebec. A repeal of the OLA would definitely move the province towards *moral assurance* of winning the referendum.

While we *could* have a majority government for four years .... it is very, very unlikely. Once the five priorities are fulfilled, what is the raison d'etre for the Government staying in place? Let's take a quick look at the five priorities. 1. GST has been cut. 2. Federal Accountability legislation has been introduced. 3. Tougher mandatory prison sentences for gun crimes legislation has been introduced. 4. Choice in Childcare promise has been fulfilled. 5. Patient wait times guarantee will be THE main topic at the First Minister's meeting in the fall. I personally think an election will be held in 2007 for a number of reasons. The PM could decide to "pull a Chretien" and call an election before the new Liberal leader has much time to get settled into his new job. If the budget, Accountability Act or the gun crimes legislation gets held up in the Senate it will give the Conservatives a very valid reason to go back to the electorate - and an issue (Senate reform) they would feel comfortable fighting the next election on. The Liberals are still lagging far behind the CPC in fundraising. The drain of Liberal party donations to leadership campaigns will mean that the Liberals can't hope to start catching up anytime in the next eight months or so. This is advantageous to the NDP, and to a lesser extent the Bloc, as well. If the Government were to stay into a second or third year you would also see the social conservatives pushing for more and more of their causes. That would work agains the party and Harper knows that. The only party that is really helped by an election in 2008 or later is the Liberals. Do the CPC, Bloc or NDP really want to help the Liberals?