Stephen Harper reaches a new low

[DaShi]

It's hard to do the right thing.

[Wezil]

Originally posted by Flubber


To me this one depends on the feelings of the military in general and the particular families. If the families say they don't want that coverage, I would hope the government would try to respect that

This of course was the government's spin. I might even considering accepting that if they had even consulted with ANY of the families before making the decision. They did not.

This is just another attempt by this pathetic government to muzzle the media and prevent images from reaching the public which would lower support for this mission any further.

If the mission is valid and just why can't the government convince the citizenry?

[Wezil]

So where's the NYE thread on the softwood "framework"?

Something else for Conservatives to be proud of today.

[St Leo]

The bigger WTF of the two is the permanent gag order on pictures of coffins. This is from the same party that screamed bloody murder over the temporary press gag on the Gomery proceedings instituted for standard judicial reasons. It's so brazen that there isn't even a semblance of a plausible excuse. Bah.

[Wezil]

I remember the Joe Clark government and have been getting the same feel from this disappointing crew.

Stephen Who?

[St Leo]

Originally posted by Wezil
I remember the Joe Clark government and have been getting the same feel from this disappointing crew.

Stephen Who?

Stephen Whose approval rating just hit 41%, majority government territory. I am assuming it will drop once the Libs pick their new leader in November -- go Gerard Kennedy, go! Bill Graham isn't the most appetizing Leader of the Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition ever.:P

[Wezil]

Polls at this time are meaningless. The next election will stir up the bad vibes this government has generated in its short life.

I will not vote for Harper next time out and probably not even for the party if they were to change leaders since Conservative MP's did the trained seal response and supported the bad decisions (with the exception of Garth Turner).

And I'm on the right and voted Conservative last election. Good job Mr. Harper.

[Flubber]

I'm still amazed at the apparent attempt to pin this military foray on the Conservatives when it was an action of the Liberals.


I have seen enough press coverage that it appears the families generally want filming of the military ceremony. I would therefore continue with no dropping the flag at Parliament but rescind any media ban except in instances where the family requests one

[Flubber]

As for Harper, I'm still in the give him a chance camp-- Heavens knows that the Liberals were awful in their final years so I think I'll give this crowd more than a couple of months before I determine what I think of them

[Wezil]

Integrity was my issue and Harper failed that test miserably on Day 1.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Wezil
So where's the NYE thread on the softwood "framework"?

Something else for Conservatives to be proud of today.

What don't you like that Ont and BC are both in favour of?

As for the flag policy... I'm mixed. It's a nice gesture when we have a few blue helmets out there, but it's not really very productive during major combat, is it?

As for the media televising 'home comings', again mixed, although I have heard that soldiers in Afghanistan (and some families) are against it, and again, do we really need to allow the media the 'freedom' to undermine national morale?

Can you imagine the effect of TV when the coffins came home after Dieppe in 1942? Wait, forget it. We didn't get the bodies back.

Are you familiar with the effects of the lists of the dead posted between 1915-18?

Now, make a major TV production out of it.

[Fve Crathva]

I've decided that I like Stephen Harper. He's a crummy politician, because he's a pragmatist. I can appreciate that. I hope he shakes things up a bit.

People should relax, it doesn't really matter if things turn out less than ideal, and the Tories can't destroy the country with a minority government (nor with a majority, for that matter). Give it time, and things will generally work out just fine. Maybe after the NDP and Liberals unite the left, win an election, and cancel the ban on gay marriage.

SP

[Tingkai]

In a democracy, people need to know what is occurring so that they can make informed decisions.

If the sight of too many soldiers coffins turns Canadians against the war and forces the government to pull the troops out than this is not an undermining of national morale, but rather exercising of democratic rights.

But that may not happen.

Canadians knew about the debacle of Dieppe during the war. Throughout the World War II, they saw the daily casualty notices and obituaries. And yet depsite this information, Canadians never wavered from the fight.

Canadians have the right to know the cost of war and they need to know the price paid for decisions made by the politicians they elect.

Harpers is trying to censor something that he thinks will embarrass his government.

[notyoueither]

It was the previous government that committed us to this course of action.

The easy thing would be to show the consequences and then pull out.

The hard thing is to do the right thing while living up to our reponsibilities.

And you're loonie if you think that our populace was kept happy during either WW. There were riots afterall, and that was before TV making a spectacle of the slightest incident.

[Tingkai]

During WWII, there were two groups against the war and neither were the result of casaulties: The isolationists in Quebec, who didn't want anything to do with the European war and the people who were against being forced to fight. Among the latter were people who volunteered to fight, but who saw conscription as being undemocratic.

As for who committed the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, yes it was the Liberals, but Harper has used the military to drape the flag around himself and to show that he's a "tough" guy. We now know that he is already running scared.

If Harper was a true leader, he would make the case for Canadian involvement in Afghanistan -- a case that can be easily made. If he was a true leader, he would have faced the consequences of his decision to keep the troops in Afghanistan, but instead he was nowhere to be found when the bodies came home.