Joesixpack5

I should have expected the knee-jerk Neo-Con denials. They are incapable of measuring the actual effects of their dogmatic policy handbook.

The modern left isn't the old school left, and the quality of life in Scandinavia and Europe proves it. They have more economic stabilty and far lower poverty rates than the US. Remember, almost everyone disagrees with Neo-Conservative policy, and anyone who votes for Neo-Con economics in light of the evidence of vast bankruptcies and collapse, has fully subscribed to faith-based economic insanity. The Neo-Con right is WRONG.

8 years of Bush + 2 years of Harper = underregulated markets, crisis, bankruptcies, massive debt, corporate greed, growing poverty rates, corruption, tainted/poisonous products (due to lack of inspectors) etc. The CEOs have done incredibly well. But they make up less than .1% of the population. The bottom 2/3rds of society deserves to blame Harper & Bush for their right-wing authoritarian corporatism/militarism, and subsequent economic collapse. In just 2 years, Harper (and his buddy Bush) have plunged Canada towards debt, economic stagnation, a housing crash, growing bankruptcies, rising energy and food costs, all while giving BILLIONS of dollars to the military and corportate elites. Harper & Bush/McCain must be penalized for their faith-based corporatism and militarism. They must take responsibility for the effects of their applied economic policies. They must be voted against by all reasonable North Americans. Center-left Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark) and most of Europe has recently had FAR less economic difficulties then the US and has avoided the North American Neo-Con economic collapse. But they still feel the repercussions. If we vote ABC : Anything But Conservative : we can voice opposition to Neo-Con corporatism, militarism, and blind, rampaging destruction. A vote for Harper is a vote for Republican policies : tax cuts, corporate welfare, national debt, cuts to social programs and greatly increased military spending. If Canada follows the Bush-Cheney path, we'll experience the same effects.

NATO policy and action is to be forever scrutinized. Military tactics and strategy are to be as well. But a blind bush-cheney supporter believes in Fascist allegiance and zero scrutiny. It's important to note the foreign policy of the US under 8 years of Bush, Cheney, Rove and Rumsfeldian rule is drastically different than that applied by Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark over the last few decades. If the US had adopted the rationally pragmatic, humanitarian foreign policy of Scandinavia over the last 30-40 years, the world would have more peace, and the US wouldn't be collapsing economically. Terrorists would have less impetus. But under Neo-Con rule, the US is a rampaging military-industrial-prison-torture complex monster. Eisenhower warned you. But 100's upon 100's of international bases later, and 100's of 1000's of deaths later, you are still blind to empirical reality, and are immune to any and all rational discourse.

Some promote the fallacy that simply because the Neo-Cons are economically not at the right-wing purist extreme, they are socialist. Note : 3 to 4 notches to the right of center is not socialist, it is predominantly capitalist. If you support 10% corporate taxes and 15% income taxes on the rich, and use most of the gathered tax revenue to fund militarism and corporatism, you are authoritarian-capitalist / militaristic-corporatist (IOW, Fascist). http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2008

If you are a blindly dogmatic bush-cheney fan, then you have no hope of understanding the proper exposure of Neo-Con destructionism.

Harper is a deceptive, dishonest and ruthless politician. Just like Bush (who promised no nation building, and promised to be a compassionate conservative). Even in minority gov't status, Harper & Co. have shown ample flip-flopping, broken promises, corruption, incompetence, scandal and policy obfuscation. Imagine what Harper & Co. would do if given an 8-year Bush style majority.

Anyone who is willing to vote for NeoCon Harper, and his blind support of Republican style governance/policies (and his hero Bush), should wake up and smell the coffee.

Harper & Co. supported the Iraq war from the get go, believed that Kyoto was a vast socialist conspiracy to extract wealth from the capitalists, put forth Fascist bills in the form of C-26 and C-52, and have never once criticized ANY policy or action of the Bush administration. They have a Christian evangelical base, are tied to the Alberta oil patch, want to defund "offensive" art (according to their puritanical religious standard), fully support the US war on drugs, and have cut the social safety net (women's programs for example). Harper & Co. = Bush & Co. But Harper PRETENDS to be a moderate, given the minority gov't restraints and election scrutiny.

Neo-Cons are right-wing authoritarians, not socialist, as they don't redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor, but do the opposite. They apply double the tax rate to the middle class compared with the millionaires and billionaires, they give 100 Billion+ dollars per year in corporate welfare, cut social services, privatize health care, etc. Neo-Cons have gov't involvement for the benefit of the upper class capitalists, corporatists and militarists. Their mantra is tax cuts for the rich, and less safety net for the poor. They are OPPOSED to redistribution of wealth from the upper class to the lower class. They are OPPOSED to any socialist model, and are opposed to even semi-socialist models on the ground in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Sweden. The Semi-socialist Scandinavian countries have 85%+ unionization, the Neo-Cons OPPOSE unionization, and unionization rates in the US are 15% or less. Neo-Cons OPPOSE the welfare state, oppose socialized medicine, universal free education, drug liberalization, and all tax schemes aimed predominantly at the rich. Bush and Harper are both right-wing Neo-Con authoritarians. They are ANTI-socialist, as they are ANTI-left economically. But, they are FASCIST (Authoritarian) in their domestic social and foreign policies. http://www.politicalcompass.org/canada2005 http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2008 Layton and May are ANTI-Fascist (Libertarian), semi-socialist. Harper & Bush are true Neo-Cons, Authoritarian corporatists (predominantly capitalist). Another distinguishing characteristic of Neo-Cons is their aggressive and ruthlessly imperialistic foreign policy. Also, don't forget about their desire to legislate morality (by banishing drugs they don't approve of, by taking over control of a woman's reproductive system, by embracing a church-state fusion, by banning gay marriage, by prosecuting swear words and nudity on TV, etc.) Harper & Co. gave us a glimpse of their true, authoritarian corporatist intentions with bills C-26 and C-51. The fact that Harper & Co. have NEVER ONCE criticized ANY policy or action of the Bush administration, shows very well how far to the upper right they will take us if given free reign.

Another chickenhawk warmonger ? Laughing at mass death ? I thought right-wing extremists were pro-life...

1000's of dead soldiers and 1000's of dead civilians is NEVER funny.

Don't dare criticize authority or protest. The 'zap' you hear and feel is your final warning.

You are a Neo-Con apologist, and are facilitating the media makeover duping of the Canadian populace. We've seen the flip-flops, lies, obfuscations, crisis and secrecy. The income trust scandal, alcohol smuggling candidates (in BC), breaking their own election law, muzzling Neo-Conservative outbursts, repressing media access, the attempted Cadman sway/bribe, Schrieber connections, the Arar case, the Listeria outbreak, plunging Canada toward debt, Taser mayhem, economic instability, higher cost of living/inflation, superfical and cosmetic election commercials, and never ONCE criticizing ONE policy or action of the Bush administration. Non Neo-Cons knows what this means : it means that Harper & Co. are attempting to provide a MISLEADING image, duping the public into thinking that they are not extremists. But their unconditional support of the US war on drugs, the Iraq war, earth destruction for oil and corporatism, shows that they ARE Bushian Neo-Cons.... BENEATH the misleading, cosmetic surface. Vote ABC - ANYTHING But Conservative !!!

They mimic the Republicans war on drugs by proposing a 6 month minimum sentence for ANY Canadian who grows 1 pot plant. They mimic the Republican party when they showed willingness to participate in the Iraq smashing as soon as it was eminent. Harper was all ready, set to go. They mimic the Republicans by being driven by the Alberta oil patch (Canada's Texas). They have a hardcore Christian Fundamentalist Stockwell Day and the support of the entire Alberta bible belt. What you're not seperating is *how much OF that Neo-Con agenda they'll publicly support given the constraints of minority government status and an impending election*. They will pretend to be soft, approachable, compassionate and moderate, via the current media makeover (which is a FRAUD). But then, they will ram through Neo-Conservative destructionism after a majority is attained, via the brutal and authoritarian policies based on corporate greed, moral persecution, incarceration, torture and war.

It is part of the Bush-Cheney preemptive-aggressive war mentality to TOLERATE a certain number of civilian deaths in the general strategy of "bad guy targetting". The other countries are mimicking that approach. The only solution is discourse, compromise, treaties and withdrawl via political reconciliation. Either that, or keep up the relentless preemptive war strategy, and decimate the entire population, which puts one in the same cataegory as a genocidal Hitler.

60% of Canadians want weed to be decriminalized and/or legalized. An even greater majority want our preemptive, Bushian war mode to STOP. Every time you kill an innocent civilian with generalized bad guy hunting, you CREATE 2-3 more terrorist prospects via orphanization, tragedy and disdain.

Harper is Bush and Cheney's robot, not their poodle. Poodles display exuberant emotions, and behavioural spontaneity. They have empathy, and learn from Bush's brutal mistakes.

Remember, Harper faithfully supported the Iraq smashing from the get go. He's a blind, Republican puppet, with a glazed smile ...... he's oblivious to the destructive manifestations of Bush-Wacko Neo-Conservative mayhem.

Stop the ad hominem slop, and rationally attack the ideas and policies of libertarian social democracy instead.

I'm human and fallible, but I try to speak boldly. I genuinely admire the older era moderate conservatives (like Joe Clark). They are not social democrats like me, May and Layton, but they are flexible, rational and non-dogmatic. The moderate conservatives are secure and pragmatic, realizing that when you go to the ultra-right extreme, you cause major damage. The Neo-Cons have effectively hijacked the Conservative party, destroying it's 1980 identity, and have rendered it Neo-Fascist WRT social, economic and foreign policy.

That's an excercise in rational discourse, c.r. IMO, 5-10 parties in a system of proportional representation as they have in Norway, means that every single vote counts and extremist ideologies are diminshed greatly, along with related corruption. Scandinavian countries score highest in media transparency and lowest in political corruption. Currently, the NDP style social democrats run Norway, but they don't *rule* it, as the other parties, namely the Conservative-Libertarian opposition, keep it in check and prevent it from implementing a too far left agenda. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_polit...rties_in_Norway When you look at their configuration rationally, the ideal parliamentary configuration is a center-right conservative party moderated by a center-left opposition, or vice versa. Scandinavian countries function much more pragmatically and effectively, with less extreme ideological polarity. They have far lower poverty rates, far lower violent crime rates, far lower incarceration rates, and economically are very competitive with extremely well educated and healthy populations.

There will always be partisanship, anyone who pretends otherwise ignores human nature. The question is, should voters try to expand the political spectrum BEYOND the fraudulent and false alternatives offered historically ? "Vote Neo-Liberal OR Neo-Conservative" is a fallacy which has set up a 2-party monopoly/dictatorship in North America decade after decade. It's time for some rational 3rd/4th alternatives. The Neo-Lib vs. Neo-Con false alternative fallacy is the cause of most of the problems seen in North America and the cause of alot of international instability, poverty, conflict and death. The empirical evidence from Scandinavia and Northern Europe proves that center-left policies reduce poverty, reduce war, reduce persecution, enhance behavioural liberty and solves problems pragmatically/scientifically.

NDP and Green party voters don't give a darn about the old, 2-party dinosaurs. Center-Left Libertarian Social-Democracy is the fastest growing political philosophy. Cons are stuck in the 1950's, and many Liberals have no identity at all.

Transparency is a virtue, I agree. That's why I suggest the NDP and Green Party as alternatives to corrupt, waffling Paul Martin type Neo-Liberals. Maybe Soft Stephane is more honorable and integrity-based than Martin, and maybe his charisma is slightly greater than zero, but that is yet to be proven.