Harper bids media a 'bon voyage'

[scribblet]

Check out Lorrie Goldstein today, its a hoot

http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/...23/1592890.html

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I'm Lloyd Newman-Mansbridge and it's time for the national news.

"A new poll tonight shows support for the Stephen Harper government slipping in its ongoing war with the Parliamentary Press Gallery.

"The poll, done exclusively for the press gallery by the polling firm 'Opinions 'R Us,' was taken after the prime minister's recent announcement that the media will be moved from their existing offices near Parliament Hill, onto a barge in the middle of the Ottawa River.

"However, the survey was completed before Lloyd Robertson and Peter Mansbridge chained Kevin Newman to the front doors of the House of Commons in protest.

"And the results are bad news for the Conservatives as they show that while 5% of the public support the prime minister on this issue, 3% side with the Parliamentary Press Gallery.

"Meanwhile, 92% of those surveyed offered no opinion, or, as they put it to the pollsters, 'obviously you mistake me for someone who gives a s...'

"We now take you to Ottawa for more on this poll and its startling findings from our parliamentary reporter, Ego Maniac.

"Good-evening, Ego. We'll get to the mood in Ottawa tonight in light of this new poll in a moment. But first, you appear to be standing fairly far away from Parliament Hill. Could you explain to our television audience why that is?"

"Yes I can, Lloyd. Early this morning on orders from the prime minister, our offices and equipment in the press gallery building were moved to Kingston. All we were told is that there isn't enough room for everyone on the barge in the Ottawa River and so the prime minister is making the tough decisions necessary after 12 long years of corrupt Liberal rule."

"I see, Ego. But isn't forcing you to do your broadcasts from Kingston, Ontario a little bit extreme on Harper's part?"

"Actually, I'm in Kingston, Jamaica, Lloyd."

"Oh ... Well in any event, Ego, what about this new poll?"

"Lloyd, as you know, the poll shows a sharp spike in public support for the Parliamentary Press Gallery in this dispute.

"Our ... Oops, I mean their poll, shows support for the media has risen from 2% of Canadians surveyed to 3% since the Jan. 23 election. Meanwhile, the Harper government is stalled at 5% support, while the undecideds, or, in the words of the pollster, those who responded, 'don't you ever !!@$?! call me at this !!@$?! number again, you stupid !!@$?!', have dropped from 93% to 92%. This shows that as people start to get their heads around this issue, they are deciding in favour of the media."

[Naci Sey]

Where DO you find these gems, scriblett? Hilarious.

[Montgomery Burns]

Ha ha.

I've got another funny, although this is actually supposed to be serious news:

RCMP buys a new SUV. Reporter Tim Naumetz and NDP's Pay Martin comment

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motorcade has acquired a presidential look. But one MP says the big black SUV now cruising at the rear of the entourage is a bit too remindful of President George W. Bush. And its gas-chugging potential raises other issues, even for a prime minister who ditched the Kyoto accord, says New Democrat Pat Martin....The drivers are armed RCMP officers, but the addition of the SUV makes the entire motorcade look like a Secret Service operation. Bush has had black SUVs in his motorcade for several years....As has been said of the SUVs in Bush's procession, the new black wheels add an air of intimidation to Harper's motorcade.

"It looks like something Darth Vader would be driving," says Martin. "We've got this gas-guzzling behemoth touring around with the prime minister. It looks tough, it looks quasi-military. Is that the kind of image the prime minister wants to project?"

A spokesman for Harper said the RCMP is in charge of security measures. "All security stuff for the prime minister, we don't have much say on it," explained press aide Dimitri Soudas. "I don't know what they do, why they do it, how they do it."

BUSHARPER!!

Seriously though. I expect this from an NDPer because they detest the successful capitalist USA, but I'm disappointed in Canwest's Tim Naumetz. Usually Canwest/Global TV is pretty balanced even though it is owned by the liberal Aspers--who come across as "blue" liberals.

[August1991]

A spokesman for Harper said the RCMP is in charge of security measures. "All security stuff for the prime minister, we don't have much say on it," explained press aide Dimitri Soudas. "I don't know what they do, why they do it, how they do it."

That's the easiest out - "I had no choice" - and it's also BS. The PMO is perfectly aware of (and has control over) security. The fact of the matter is that arriving with a motorcade impresses people. It works.

IOW, Sharper has passed on the message to security to do whatever it feels necessary.

"Meanwhile, 92% of those surveyed offered no opinion, or, as they put it to the pollsters, 'obviously you mistake me for someone who gives a s...'

*giggle*

I think it's not only the federal Liberal Party that will have to go to re-education camp but also the English-language national media. All these years, all these people think they've been leading the parade and now they've just looked behind to discover nobody's there.

The Ipsos-Reid survey of 1,003 voters gave the Conservatives 43 percent support, compared with just 25 percent for the opposition Liberal Party. It was the highest level of support for the Conservatives since 1988.

Reuters

[Montgomery Burns]

That's the easiest out - "I had no choice" - and it's also BS. The PMO is perfectly aware of (and has control over) security.

Bull. The RCMP makes the decisions as to which vehicles to purchase and the RCMP makes the decision as to how to protect the PM. Harper has better things to do than advise on security protocol; he likely just accepts whatever the RCMP recommends.

IOW, Sharper has passed on the message to security to do whatever it feels necessary.

Yeah, I'm sure Harper told the RCMP to go out and buy a great big SUV so he can look like George Bush. That's just silly beyond comparison. Plus I suspect the procurement of a specialized piece of equipment like this takes longer than 3.5 months.

I'm trying to find an article by Tim Naumetz or a complaint by Pat Martin lamenting Clinton's usage of SUVs in his motorcade, but so far no luck.

[Montgomery Burns]

WARNING: Spew Alert

Official Liberal-Left PMmobile

[scribblet]

Guess the liberals are getting pretty desparate for a good story - if this is the best complaint they can come up with, we should be able to maintain that majority territory.

[August1991]

That's the easiest out - "I had no choice" - and it's also BS. The PMO is perfectly aware of (and has control over) security.

Bull. The RCMP makes the decisions as to which vehicles to purchase and the RCMP makes the decision as to how to protect the PM. Harper has better things to do than advise on security protocol; he likely just accepts whatever the RCMP recommends.

I don't want to make too big a deal of this but I had a similar disagreement with Thelonious (I think) concerning Bush Jnr's whereabouts on 11 Sept. (The Secret Service did not decide where Bush Jnr went that morning. Bush Jnr himself decided. The buck, as another President once said, has to stop somewhere.)

The PMO (or White House) decides where the Top Guy goes, with whom and how. The PMO (or White House) are obsessed with optics. They have to be. (Think of Sharper's trip to Afghanistan and how the optics played.)

Giscard d'Estaing famously used to disappear leaving only an envelope and a phone number. Trudeau used to have fun losing his RCMP detail and kicked the RCMP off the Harrington Lake grounds. (Don't tell me it's different now - the greatest perceived threat ever to a PM occurred in October 1970.)

With all that said, Sharper has probably told the RCMP to do whatever is necessary and the RCMP love their toys so they've added an SUV. Sharper can hide behind the "RCMP decides security" BS answer. Underneath it, Sharper likes the idea of a big motorcade: it makes him look important.

MB, government in many ways is a facade, and governments understand advertising better than any corporation. Just think of Versailles or our own imposing parliament buildings.

[Montgomery Burns]

You can try to cloud the issue with Bush, 9-11, Trudeau, and Afghanistan all you like, but I know (unless things have changed) that it is the RCMP that makes the decisions as to which vehicles to purchase and it is the RCMP that makes the decision as to how to protect the PM.

Edited to add: (unless things have changed) and I am quite sure that Pat Martin and the Ottawa Citizen reporter know this. They are playing politics and trying to tap into the rampant anti-Americanism in this country (much of it perpetuated by our state-run hard left CBC).

Edited May 24, 2006 by Montgomery Burns

[Montgomery Burns]

Guess the liberals are getting pretty desparate for a good story - if this is the best complaint they can come up with, we should be able to maintain that majority territory.

To be fair to the Liberals, it wasn't them who were complaining about the SUV looking too Bush-like, it was Pat Martin from the NDP and the Ottawa Citizen writer. I just used the Official Liberal-Left PMmobile title because that was what on the photoshopped picture.

As for majority territory, a poll was released yesterday (CanWest-Ipsos Reid, I think), that put the CP at 43%, Libs 25%, NDP 15%, BQ 9%, and Greens at 5%. And in BC, where the CP had lost substantial ground in the election (38%), they are now at 48%. I know it is only a poll, but it gives me cause for hope.

[Black Dog]

With all that said, Sharper has probably told the RCMP to do whatever is necessary and the RCMP love their toys so they've added an SUV. Sharper can hide behind the "RCMP decides security" BS answer. Underneath it, Sharper likes the idea of a big motorcade: it makes him look important.

You're dead on about cops and their toys, August. If it was up to the RCMP, they'd probably have an Abrams tank or something similarily ostentatious and pricey. And Harper, if he is indeed the regular, middle class chlub his acolytes say, is easily impressed and flattered by such displays.