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Dog-Whistle Politics


waldo

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the tightening 2015 election has brought out the best worst of dog-whistle politicking. The tactic surely suggests something about just how far its practitioners are prepared to go... to keep... or secure victory. Of late, the Harper Conservative politics of division and religious wedges... fanning the flames of anti-Muslim sentiment:

Stephen Harper’s dog-whistle populist politics

Calgary Mayor calls Harper’s position on niqabs and Syrian Refugees ‘dangerous’ ‘dog whistle politics’ and ‘disgusting’

Niqab ban for public servants would be considered: Stephen Harper

The niqab has become ‘dog-whistle’ politics

seems to be working quite well right here at MLW - recent snapshot of the top 3 threads in the Federal Politics forum:

ePaR60L.jpg

mission accomplished Harper Conservatives?

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Yes, the Niqab issue is a complete dog whistle. Now let's get back to more important issues, like whether the term old stock Canadians is appropriate! Lol.

that phrase was just another Harper point of division: Who are 'old stock Canadians'? - The Star asked some people with deep roots in Canada what they thought of Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's controversial phrase. And you MLW member Shady... which stock are you? A handy guide:

Rrydben.jpg

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Let's get back to a more interesting question like how many seats the Liberal government will have after the 19th.

Although the Liberals are polling 5 or 6 points more than the Conservatives you know very well it doesn't mean they'll win a plurality of seats. A week in politics is an eternity. A lot can change until the 19th to the benefit of either of the 2 front runners.

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Although the Liberals are polling 5 or 6 points more than the Conservatives you know very well it doesn't mean they'll win a plurality of seats. A week in politics is an eternity. A lot can change until the 19th to the benefit of either of the 2 front runners.

I think they'll win a plurality. Not a majority, but enough to form a government.

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Although the Liberals are polling 5 or 6 points more than the Conservatives you know very well it doesn't mean they'll win a plurality of seats. A week in politics is an eternity. A lot can change until the 19th to the benefit of either of the 2 front runners.

The latest Polltracker has: LPC 131, CPC 122, NDP 80. And now having the RCMP investigating what's happening at immigration won't be good news for Harper.

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oh my! When Harper Conservatives have lost the Baron Black of Crossharbour, Conrad Black ... notorious for his outspokenly conservative views:

This government has scraped the barrel in its symbolic pandering

It is astonishing that, with barely a week left before the federal election, pollsters seem to agree the principal issue between the main parties is whether the face-covering niqab can be worn by a handful of women when they take their oath as new citizens of Canada, having privately satisfied authorities of their identity. It has now potentially broadened to all government positions, but the numbers are still insignificant.

This government has scraped the barrel in symbolic pandering: building new prisons and hiring new hosts of correctional officers as the crime rate declines, dispensing with elemental safeguards to due process in Bill C-51, claiming the right to expel and revoke the citizenship of dual citizens found guilty of terrorist offences, all in the name of enhanced public security, and now conducting the concluding phase of a general election campaign on an issue of no relevance involving a trivial number of people.

Of course public security requires that everybody be identifiable, but that is not what is involved here. Since the inductees into citizenship in these circumstances will have identified themselves and will have passed all formalities required for that right to be conferred, and government employees can wear authenticated identification, we are dealing only with an electoral impulse by a hard-pressed incumbent regime to set up a cultural struggle for supremacy between the values of citizenship and minority sectarian fervour.

.

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I guess Harper Conservatives got what they paid for... some weeks back when their campaign was floundering/lacking focus & direction, they made a call for the "Wizard of Oz", Australian Lynton Crosby to get more actively engaged in their campaign.

the term "dog-whistle politics" is said to have originated in Australia in response to the tactics used by the Crosby led campaign teams to secure conservative John Howard four successive election victories using highly divisive tactics... and then he subsequently played that divisive approach again, emphasizing immigration/border controls, to secure a recent spring 2015 win for David Cameron in the British general election. Lynton Crosby - dog-whistler extraordinaire!

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These Conservative ads are becoming intolerably frequent. How much of this are we expected to take? I may do violence to my poor TV yet. Harper trying to smile is one of the most pathetic sights in all creation; he has seen other people do it, he KIND of has the mechanics right, but the result is something that looks like it's about to rip your leg off.

Edited by SpankyMcFarland
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These Conservative ads are becoming intolerably frequent. How much of this are we expected to take? I may do violence to my poor TV yet. Harper trying to smile is one of the most pathetic sights in all creation; he has seen other people do it, he KIND of has the mechanics right, but the result is something that looks like it's about to rip your leg off.

Perhaps they inadvertently used a panel of blind people for their focus group?

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Harper trying to smile is one of the most pathetic sights in all creation; he has seen other people do it, he KIND of has the mechanics right, but the result is something that looks like it's about to rip your leg off.

Yeah, he does look rather wooden doesn't he? And I don't doubt if he could chew the media's leg off, he would. :lol:

You know what rubs me in a similar way Spanky? It's Justin when he answers questions from the media during a campaign stop. When the question is from a woman reporter, he looks at her and bats his eyes all the time she is posing her question. But I guess that goes with his pretty boy persona.

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These Conservative ads are becoming intolerably frequent. How much of this are we expected to take? I may do violence to my poor TV yet. Harper trying to smile is one of the most pathetic sights in all creation; he has seen other people do it, he KIND of has the mechanics right, but the result is something that looks like it's about to rip your leg off.

This thing called democracy is a horrible burden upon us all.

Edited by poochy
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Yeah, he does look rather wooden doesn't he? And I don't doubt if he could chew the media's leg off, he would. :lol:

You know what rubs me in a similar way Spanky? It's Justin when he answers questions from the media during a campaign stop. When the question is from a woman reporter, he looks at her and bats his eyes all the time she is posing her question. But I guess that goes with his pretty boy persona.

Yeah, but he's likeable. Harper isn't. That's quite an extraordinary handicap for a politician which he has overcome amazingly well. Until now. Now he's not looking so good.

At least you have the insight not to argue about that bizarre rictus Steve puts on to impersonate a friendly person.

Edited by SpankyMcFarland
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Yeah, he does look rather wooden doesn't he? And I don't doubt if he could chew the media's leg off, he would. :lol:

You know what rubs me in a similar way Spanky? It's Justin when he answers questions from the media during a campaign stop. When the question is from a woman reporter, he looks at her and bats his eyes all the time she is posing her question. But I guess that goes with his pretty boy persona.

That's all ya got? And you want to be taken seriously? Trudeau can certainly throw out a talking point when he wants/needs to, but Harper has had nothing but, ad for a long time.

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