David Frum Blames Right-Wing Commentators for Heathcare Passing

[Smallc]

On the bright side, it's now very inexpensive...or..it would be, if the licensing fees were actually being charged.

[waldo]

It was and still is a project management fiasco....in the IT industry, we use the Canadian Gun Registry to teach project managers how effed up things can get.

(waldo bait...let's see if he bites!)

hook, line and sinker. Should I post links to pertinent posts within that MLW gun registry related thread where I ran you ragged and showcased your 1950's era IT expertise? Ah... memories!

[Michael Hardner]

Sure...those Americans blew a big wad on their Gun Registry...LOL!

That's a great example. Another one is eHealth. The people kind of shrug and say "oh well, the government spent some money on something". One March break I was in Florida, listening to a local call-in show and the people were asking why a police officer was being paid to watch road construction.

I agree that that's pretty anecdotal, but I welcome opposing anecdotes at this point.

[Smallc]

Michael, was it not found out that them money was misspent? I disagree that people shrugged it off. There literally is nothing they can do about it this point anyway.

[Michael Hardner]

Michael, was it not found out that them money was misspent? I disagree that people shrugged it off. There literally is nothing they can do about it this point anyway.

It was indeed found that money was misspent. With the gun registry, the electorate published the Liberals by re-electing them 2 or 3 times after that scandal broke. With eHealth, and the waste of over a billion dollars for no results, the item appeared in the Toronto Star for almost two weeks and CBC even reported on it for a short while before it disappeared from view.

This is, in case you're wondering, a bitter and sarcastic post.

[Jack Weber]

Michael, was it not found out that them money was misspent? I disagree that people shrugged it off. There literally is nothing they can do about it this point anyway.

In the case of Ontario,that's correct.The Lib's have a majority.The election in this province will be next fall.It'll be than that the populous will render a verdict on Mr.McGuinty...

[Jack Weber]

Back on topic...

Keith Olbermann agrees with Frum's contention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlHLSE-M_y0

I'll await the usual suspects that will dismiss what he says as biased,partisan tripe.He maybe a Dem mouthpiece but it's hard to argue against what he's saying here.

[Michael Hardner]

This is what happened in the 1960s when the John Birch Society took over the Republicans and alienated the mainstream. We had 8 years of Democrats then too.

[Jack Weber]

This is what happened in the 1960s when the John Birch Society took over the Republicans and alienated the mainstream. We had 8 years of Democrats then too.

Are you calling Barry Goldwater a kook????

[bush_cheney2004]

This is what happened in the 1960s when the John Birch Society took over the Republicans and alienated the mainstream. We had 8 years of Democrats then too.

"We" did....interesting choice of words out of Canada....natch.

[waldo]

Back on topic...

Keith Olbermann agrees with Frum's contention.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlHLSE-M_y0

I'll await the usual suspects that will dismiss what he says as biased,partisan tripe.He maybe a Dem mouthpiece but it's hard to argue against what he's saying here.

Oy vey! Right... conservatives have no voice in the media... it's all a vast liberal left-wing conspiracy to deny conservatives a voice - yes, clearly, Olbermann could have gone on and listed another dozen+ examples of prolific conservative right-wing shills and they would all, collectively, make a demand for the "equal time" that, apparently, they're not getting... while at the same time, all blatantly ignoring their prominence - their dominance within the media!

[Michael Hardner]

"We" did....interesting choice of words out of Canada....natch.

Two comments on that:

1 ) US presidents have a larger impact on Canada than any other leader, I would say.

2 ) Canada and the US are two of the closest countries in the world.

When GWB spoke on Sept. 11, I didn't look to him as a foreign leader but as the leader of the west.

[bush_cheney2004]

Two comments on that:

1 ) US presidents have a larger impact on Canada than any other leader, I would say.

2 ) Canada and the US are two of the closest countries in the world.

When GWB spoke on Sept. 11, I didn't look to him as a foreign leader but as the leader of the west.

Yes, yes, I get all that....it would seem that some Canadians are rather fluid about such things and wildly embrace the American body politic on one hand, while staunchly declaring independence on another. This is probably the most important thing I have learned here at MLW. Or to use an old divorce joke, what's hers is hers, and what's his is hers.

Americans do not embrace Canadian leadership in such a way...it is....Canadian.

[BubberMiley]

This is probably the most important thing I have learned here at MLW.

It's nice that you can satisfy your eternal quest for knowledge on all things Canadian on this board, but it's funny when you "discover" things that are just common knowledge to Canadians. I would have thought that with all your time spent on this board, you would have developed more insight than the rudimentary basics by now.

[bush_cheney2004]

It's nice that you can satisfy your eternal quest for knowledge on all things Canadian on this board, but it's funny when you "discover" things that are just common knowledge to Canadians. I would have thought that with all your time spent on this board, you would have developed more insight than the rudimentary basics by now.

I didn't say when I learned it, just that it is fundamental to how some Canadians think (and act). Their's is a world that eschews nationalism when it is to their advantage, and rejects complicity with others when it is not. They are "homeless" in the political sense, finding neither comfort or power in Canada, while reaching to other dominant nations for leadership and answers.

Some will say it is the predominance of US media, economic power, political power, etc.,...the usual "mouse-elephant" paradigm uttered by Trudeau. But that context was/is on a different scale, and doesn't explain things at the individual level.

I hope Canada gets The Cup back soon....for their sake.

Edited March 24, 2010 by bush_cheney2004

[BubberMiley]

And it's nice to hear the elementary observations you've derived from your obsession with Canadian culture, but they don't provide any real insight to those of us who live here. We've known this for years.

[bush_cheney2004]

And it's nice to hear the elementary observations you've derived from your obsession with Canadian culture, but they don't provide any real insight to those of us who live here. We've known this for years.

What Canadian culture? It has yet to be defined in terms other than not American. Real insight is your domain, even if it means peering at what the Americans are doing..over and over....to find out what that means.

[Smallc]

What Canadian culture? It has yet to be defined in terms other than not American.

Get over it already. Canadian culture is real and defined.

[bush_cheney2004]

Get over it already. Canadian culture is real and defined.

Oh it's real allright.....real dependent on the US as a foil. The real meaning of "We" is clear...and necessary.

[Smallc]

Think whatever you like. Canada doesn't need your approval. In fact, it's probably better off without it.

[M.Dancer]

I'm priviledged. I grew up in montreal in the 4 channel universe. 2 french, 2 english, no american. American programming was sparse....Pierre Burton ran in Prime Time, so did Don Messer. Occasionally we watched the Beverley Hillbillies or dragnet. On saturdays the hockey started near the end of the first period and Canada's Pet, Juliette sang her heart away.

American TV didn't even enter the picture till the mid 70s....with cable.

To me America will always be a foriegn nation.....that costs more to see cause you need cable.

[bush_cheney2004]

...American TV didn't even enter the picture till the mid 70s....with cable.

To me America will always be a foriegn nation.....that costs more to see cause you need cable.

Likewise....Montreal, Quebec was always the most Canadian to me at that time....Toronto or Vancouver were also rans.

[bush_cheney2004]

Think whatever you like. Canada doesn't need your approval. In fact, it's probably better off without it.

Has nothing to do with my approval...just my nation's existence. Better off? That will never be known.

[Smallc]

No, it has everything to do with some type of insecurity that you have about your own country. I'm quite happy with mine, and so I don't need to compare it to yours.

[bush_cheney2004]

No, it has everything to do with some type of insecurity that you have about your own country. I'm quite happy with mine, and so I don't need to compare it to yours.

Then why do "you" do it? Just today a business report related in another thread goes on as usual with comparisons to....the US of frickin' A (e.g. growth, productivity, demand, interest rates, worker access to technology), a nation with ten times the population.

It's really not anything you have control over....it is the prevalent mindset and conditioned behavior.

I'm working on the equations.....WE = me + (whatever void the Americans can fill)