gerryhatrick

G & MThat makes perfect sense to me You forgot this part: "PMO will have final approval for all communications products — even Notes to Editors or Letters to the Editor," Straw man. This isn't about "special assistants shooting off their mouths". It's about elected Cabinet ministers being told they can't talk about anything or write anything without PMO approval.

Since the track record of rightwingers is to care about little other than themselves I guess. So, long time now. How about the Bush admin...removing funding in the fight against AIDS because a small part of that funding included condom distribution. Real nice. Most rightwingers; although most would only admit it on anonymous forums, would be happy to see money against AIDS spent on other things. They think it's a gay/drug user disease and the world would be better off without them.

Or we could debate about the value of a farrightwing "think tank" masquarading as some kind of credible entity. The Fraser "institute". What a joke.

Ah, I see. He's protecting the rookies from a hostile press. How thoughtful of him! Funny, the press seems to have been fawning over Stephen Harper lately. Which press is eager to tear down the Conservative government? Sounds a little over the top to me. No, I think he's just being himself. He wants to control the message, and it will backfire on him.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...08.DTL#sections Jeezus H, our PM has been doing the same thing lately!! Did KKKarl Rove move to Canada to escape prosecution and find a job with Stephen Harper's government?

Another thread about Harper muzzling his Cabinet.

You're making this outraged judgement and you don't even know it was a female Senator. Sort of shows the rest of us how serious you are about the truth. And oh yeah....boo hoo hoo you rightwing bleeding heart!

Same question for you that I asked Hick. On what do you base your belief that torture provides useful information?

On what basis to you make that claim? How is torture saving lives? Be specific please.

Are you in favor of his muzzling of his cabinet then? Why is he doing it, because the "average" Conservative Cabinet member "isn't bright enough" to speak on their own?

I thought it was quite the show. Three days, press in tow, photo-ops...but, whatever. Welcome to Mr. Harpers government. The warning bells went off for me when I heard he'd decided to stop answering questions for the press with two days left in the campaign....and some reporter was man-handled trying to speak to one of his candidates. I'm not a conspiracy theist as a rule, but this smells like Karl Rove message control. I agree, and would respect him for that. Unless he fires whoever is steering his spin bus I doubt it will happen.

Find contact info for your MP here: http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliam...rent&Language=E Ask them to question the government about detainee policy and guard training for Canadian soldiers (if they'll be gaurding detainees). We also want to know if detainees will ever be turned over to other nations, and if so under what assurances. This needs to be talked about now to support our soldiers.

Great idea. I'm doing it now.

Too much coffee for you today? I don't recall saying any of the things your questioning me about, so I won't bother responding to it. It appears rhetorical anyway. I want to know what the policy is. I want it clearly stated so there's no F-ups. Is that a threat to you? You seem angry about it.

One more thing betsy.....demanding that the policy on detainees is vocalized by our leadership IS supporting our troops. You talk about "damaging our soldiers morale" but obviously haven't considered the damage that the torture pictures did to the morale of the US forces. And then to have thier civilian leadership blame them for a policy of "softening" that they asked for. Not exactly a morale booster. And all for nothing, since testimony indicates no real useful information ever came out of all that "softening". The only result was a tripling of enemies and a loss of respect worldwide. I would also like to hear that our troops who are required to guard detainees have suitable training. I find your complaining above to be "fluff" and pseudo-something. Certainly not logical or thought-out at all. It's just more partisan nonsense.

Why should everything be spelled out for everyone to know??? Especially when it comes to war?? What "guarantees" that there won't be any tortures do you need to hear? A promise? A swear on boyscout's honor? If given, will you then go back peacefully to pretend that this kind of reality does not exist anymore? I want to hear Stephen Harper tell Canadians that detainees will be treated humanely (according to the convention we're a signatory to) and never turned over force without assurances (prefereably written) that they will be treated in the same manner by them. I sense that many here are either unaware of the profound damage Abu Garaib has done to the USA or they're just cavalier about it....dwelling in a "it can't happen to us" mentality. I realize anything can still happen, but hearing our PM speak publically about it would stamp the idea on every citizen and soldier and help protect against the worst case scenario. If it even came out that our forces had turned over detainees who were mistreated by the Americans then you can kiss any goodwill they've earned goodbye and start digging 5 times as many 6 foot deep holes. Beyond all that, maybe you can explain your opposition to me? What possible reason do you have to be against Harper clarifying our policy on this issue? Do you think making this information public would be a threat to the operation?

Maybe you don't care about Canada. I do. So?

shortly before the election his campaign turned off media access. They reversed that decision, but only after they realized they would be critisized. What I want to know is this: What happens to detainees our soldiers capture? Will they be handed over to US forces? Are there guarantees that torture will not occur? No more "we won't cut and run" quotes please, just tell us the facts.

A fetus has no value except for medical research.

Well Krusty/Drew, you seem to confuse the term "draining" with the phrase "giving up". It's undeniably true that the Iraq war is draining resources. That fact stands alone, independent of the Presidents resolve. Resources are being drained and the US military is being battle worn. That makes the enemies of the US happy.

The Lancet survey was never discredited. It was questioned, but not discredited. It's pointless to argue the extra Iraqi deaths caused by the US invasion. It's obvious they're happening. Just the other day 11 people - mostly women and children - were killed by a bomb. Oh well, huh?

What's your reaction to the argument made by Congressman Murtha about resource depletion? There's no question Iraq was a mistake now. The quesiton is how wise is the continuation of a US presence.

It's a shot at liberals and non-rightwingers. He's making the false argument that people left of center are against capitalism. The dumb thing about Montys cheap shot is that Bill Gates is very socially conscious. He's over in Africa helping fight AIDS and involved in all kinds of lefty-type activities. Silly me thought this would be a non-political post, but of course Monty can't post without taking a shot at his imagined enemies.

Well then, we have a problem at the moment. Harper or his MOD need to step up and make a public comment about the policy.

So if a Canadian soldier falls into the hands of the "enemy", any mistreatment is justified. Mistreatment in order to extricate information. Which is fine with me. Just general mistreatment is not however. But theres nothing we can do about that besides just keep the prisioners ourselves, which is fine too. I think Black Dog iwas trying to make the point that if you torture it will encourage your enemies to torture your soldiers. I for one (and I think a poll would reveal I relfect the huge Canadian majority) do not want the people our troops captured to be tortured in any way. Canadians are smart enough to know that torture does not work, and that the damage to reputation and the negative reaction from enemies is not worth it anyway.