Sister Sage's Musings

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It seems  just like yesterday I began my first post when SSM was at blogspot, back in the days with those rather boring looking cookie-cutter themes. I noticed Blogger has improved on that since then.

What’s funny is that I had never meant for Sister Sage’s Musings to be a political blog.  When I first opened the account in June, 2009, I had originally meant it to be more of an online journal of my trials and tribulations as I hit middle age; more of a personal nature.  Maybe some thoughts of the news I had heard earlier in the day or week, but nothing more. I had put up a few posts which I had since scrapped and come to think of it, they  don’t seem important anymore and I had given up on blogging altogether, but kept the blogger account open.

It’s funny, I was one of those (somewhat) politically apathetic folks.   While I always voted at every election since I was old enough to do so, as I believe that we don’t have the right to bitch about the government we have if we don’t vote, I believed that all politicians & the two main parties; Liberals and Progressive Conservatives were pretty much the same although, I kept a higher watch as I observed the growth of Reform and the merger of the Cons and, like so many Canadians, stared at the TV with utter horror and disbelief as I saw ol’ Stevie spiteful get elected as PM, but never believed it would last as long as it has.

I was also one to take a lot for granted, that Steve would never get his majority, that would never lose medicare or any other of our social programs, etc. I woke up for the first time after learning about the Shona Holmes lawsuit against her own government, as well as slandering Canada to unsuspecting Americans. It was my first taste of political discussions on line; on Facebook and then Twitter much later on. Observing and reading all the current events, as well as being introduced to political blogs from both sides of the borders was the beginning of my wake up call; that lesson on how we can’t take anything for granted because anything can happen if we allowed ourselves the luxury of being lulled into a false sense of security.

The first Canadian political blog I followed regularly was A Creative Revolution.  Pale & Dr Prole introduced me to something; straight talk. Two average, concerned women expressing their concerns for what is happening to Canada and the world out there without the usual increasing Harpercon-friendly bias in the usual corporate media outlets I was discovering.  Pale and Prole  were providing an alternative; voices from women who don’t owe anything to anyone; no editors to change their words beyond recognition (hell,  that happens to letters to the editor!), nobody pulling their strings; thus more credible opinions.  How refreshing! I would be introduced to others of equal quality and entertainment later like  Dr Dawg and The Galloping Beaver. I thought to myself, Hell! I had so much frustration for that corporate media with their right winged slant and Harpercon sympathies, How clever! Put your own opinion out there and perhaps even add some truth where corporate media may have left out.   That’s when I decided that Sister Sage’s Musings would become a  political blog, for the most part, due to my frustration with corporate media.  That, of course, was the easy part.  I had no idea what kind of trials and tribulations I would be up for. So many lessons I’ve learned. Sometimes to the point where I had entertained even leaving blogging altogether. Battle fatigue and migraines were but a few issues.

I’ve met a lot of interesting people once my blog was aggregated at Progressive Bloggers. I liked, and still do, like the information sharing. For an introverted individual who thinks socializing should be reserved for work only, I have found much of the interaction fun.  Many history & economics buffs, whom my dad would have loved to meet, having taught both those subjects himself during his teaching career.

Then, through Canadian Cynic, I had been introduced to the dark side, the Blogging SupposiTories. I had learned why CC was so amused by them. Wow! I had no idea this was what conservatism was about.  Having been raised by a regional union rep for the Montreal Teachers’ association and a staunchly left winged mother, and their friends, for the most part all seemed to be like minded, I don’t think I was ever really exposed to Conservatives, well, those who voted the old Progressive Conservative, but I never remembered them being as stupid, or as demonic or (in some cases) as psychotic as the Blogging SupposiTories, nor do I remember them ever promoting greed above all.   I still ask myself if this is a new phenomenon or is this the way they’ve always been, only now they’re unplugged?

I got tired and took a brief hiatus before Christmas, as many remember. I had decided to quit smoking and was battling other health issues, as well as a change in my job description at work. This was not conducive for battle.  Being nicotine deprived also gave me blogger’s block (I don’t call myself a writer. I’m too dyslexic and I also  create digital art as many have seen to reflect my thoughts on current events.  Besides, I have noticed that many bloggers tend to be auditioning for careers in journalism or other professional writing gigs or are already established; this is not my case. I have no interest in that whatsoever. That would defeat the original purpose as to why I started my blog in the first place), among other hideous withdrawal symptoms.  By the by, for those who haven’t kept up, I finally fell off the wagon end of June/early July, when my brother and his girlfriend came to town and I decided to light up with them.  Not the end of the world. In fact, I feel like my old self again.

I eventually did decide to go back to blogging, but not on blogspot. I wanted to design my own site & be self-hosted. I really didn’t like the cookie cutters offered at blogger. WordPress had much cooler theme designs and more to choose from, but I wanted my own designer original that no one else had.   As a graphic artist, I have photoshop and Illustrator skills to come up with something cool, just a dummy at coding.  I looked through tutorials until  my husband downloaded Artisteer for me for one of my Christmas gifts. That application provided the templates, but I could provide my own backgrounds, pics, icons, rss buttons, so  I still got to put up my designer original.  Hey, I got green hosting services to boot!  Sister Sage’s Musings’ new home was finally unveiled New Years’ Eve. New Year-new start-new site.

I still had a challenge though; how to blog without cigarettes?  I somehow managed though, prorogation was happening and I joined the Montreal anti-prorogation  rally planning committee.   The rest came on its’ own.

I eventually had  a co-blogger who provided a different progressive view and a much different style.  I wanted other co-bloggers because I wanted to branch out to other projects.   The Left Hand, of course, is welcome to come back and blog here anytime. I’m still looking for a  progressive co-blogger to blog in either in French or English.  I have to say that having guest contributors and / or a co-blogger has been a positive experience for me.

Many firsts. Many situations I didn’t know how to handle. One such example was when  I blogged my response to the passing of President Obama’s heavily watered down health care bill; the post ended up being  marksteyn.com’s reader of the day.  With that came a bunch of traffic.  Problem was, did I want that kind of traffic? My comments section was bombarded; suffice to say, some of them had strange ideas as to what a love letter consisted of. I remembered being in a total panic, emailing a fellow prog blogger, ‘what do I do?’  But after  reading his advice,  I realize that there’s no such thing as bad traffic, but it’s more how one handles the trolls that decide to spew their toxic venom.  I still have trouble have trouble with that to this day. I laugh about it now.  Jokes like Sister Sage went to the wrong side of the tracks and stuff like that. I have to admit, it is funny.

Speaking of trolls and having difficulty cutting them off and dealing with them, I learned how toxic some can be and how persistant.  I learned that sometimes having the best of intentions and wanting to encourage debate and freedom of expression,  sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way and yes, I had to ban a few folks.  Discourse can’t be had with those who think General Pinochet is their hero, or  those who believe victory is using sock puppetry.  Yes, I had no idea how much evil there was, here in Canada, before I joined the blogging world. I wish I never discovered them, but at the same time,  I know I had to, because ignorance is not bliss in this case.

I think what’s been hardest for me in the past year, were disagreements with fellow progressive bloggers. Not the minor skirmishes; those are to be expected.  After all, Progressive bloggers are a mix of people from socialists to red tories.  I’m somewhere in between the two these days. As much as I like socialist ideals, I know most of Canada is not that way and they fear it; they’re in the center.  No, what I mean are some of the more serious disagreements I’ve had with a few of them over certain issues, be it current events or even over the handling of certain trolls.   Some, regrettable, and I think moving past those,  and looking back, I’m not proud of myself.  Others, while never easy, are sometimes unavoidable.  It is my goal to come to some kind of truce, but at the same time, I know conflicts could come up again when certain issues elicit such passions.

Now, here I am, exactly one year later. I obviously still have a lot to learn.   I am still meeting interesting people throughout the blogosphere and some, rip-roaringly entertaining, if nothing else. Sometimes, one has to laugh at the Blogging SupposiTories (most of them, anyway); as my Dad would say, if they had half a brain, they’d be dangerous.

Will I still be here next year, doing battle? I don’t know.  But, honestly, I never believed Sister Sage’s Musings, as a progressive political blog would have lasted this long, given all that has happened in the past year.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those who have provided moral support, encouragement, advice and cared enough to  let me know when I was on the wrong track and to quit while I was behind via email. You all know who you are!

Either that, or he must be making a list of all those “rabid lefties” and “anti-semites” over on Twitter.  He has just left us with a warning about his new Sun column come this Tuesday.  Wait a minute! Didn’t he and the Sun part company in 2007? Ah yes, this is the new guard which advocates “locking and loading”; he should be their star.

Anyway, he is ranting about George Soros, a billionaire who spends his money on left winged agendas. More specifically, ol’ Ezzy’s got his intestinal tract twisted in a pretzel because of Soros’ supposed  ”Nazi” activities during the Holocaust. He is referring to this interview on Sixty Minutes.

KROFT: My understanding is that you went out with this protector of yours who swore that you were his adopted godson.

Mr. SOROS: Yes. Yes.

KROFT: Went out, in fact, and helped in the confiscation of property from the Jews.

Mr. SOROS: Yes. That’s right. Yes.

KROFT: I mean, that’s — that sounds like an experience that would send lots of people to the psychiatric couch for many, many years. Was it difficult?

Mr. SOROS: Well, of course I c — I could be on the other side or I could be the one from whom the thing is being taken away. But there was no sense that I shouldn’t be there, because that was — well, actually, in a funny way, it’s just like in markets — that if I weren’t there — of course, I wasn’t doing it, but somebody else would — would — would be taking it away anyhow. And it was the — whether I was there or not, I was only a spectator, the property was being taken away. So the — I had no role in taking away that property. So I had no sense of guilt.

Mr. SOROS: Not — not at all. Not at all. Maybe as a child you don’t — you don’t see the connection. But it was — it created no — no problem at all.

KROFT: No feeling of guilt?

Mr. SOROS: No.

KROFT: For example that, ‘I’m Jewish and here I am, watching these people go. I could just as easily be there. I should be there.’ None of that?

You see, Ezzy, of course, will believe anything his beloved Ann Coulter spews.  His beloved Ann, who, as we remember, believes that Jews need to be “perfected” and I imagine ol’ Ezzy is included in this badly needed improvement category.

Rich for ol’ Ezzy to go neanderthal on a scared 14 year old in hiding and doing what he needed to do to survive while losing much of his family and watching the attrocities around him.

Really rich for Ol’ Ezzy, considering he so proudly and vigorously defended Marc Lemire,  a known white supremacist who worked with  the likes of neo-Nazi leader,  Paul Fromm, called a bigot by the NattyPo’s  Johnny Kay, of all people, for Gawd’s sake and former president of the Heritage Front, a Neo-Nazi organization, until it disbanded in 2005, against a  Canadian Human Rights Commission, striking down Section 13. Yes, kids, he was feeling festive about it and probably still does to this day.  All about free speech, supposedly.

What a hypocrite! He chastises George Soros for events he had no control of as a teen-ager, but vigorously defends thugs like Marc Lemire, who chose their own twisted, psychotic, bigoted paths in life and would more than likely defend other such neo-Nazis and holocaust deniers in his quest to stay relevant and attempt to close down Human Rights Commissions.

Between his defense of white supremacist neo-Nazis, his known bashing of B’nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress, & his pathetic school boy admiration of Ann Coulter, one has to wonder who the anti-semite really is?

One also has to wonder if ol’ Ezzy would still be turning purple over Soros’ past if he were funding the tea-bagger movement along with the Koch brothers and/or World Net Daily instead of Media Matters?

I wonder if this will get me on his Anti-Semite hit list now? I’m starting to feel lonely.

H/T Rusty Idols

Pierre-Karl Peladeau and Gilles Duceppe, as well as the mayor of Quebec City, Regis Lebeaume, all have one common goal; to bring an NHL franchise back to Quebec City. In order to accomplish this, NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman has made clear to Lebeaume that a new arena is essential before he can even consider a new team for Quebec City, a deal needs to be in the works for the construction of a new arena. La Colisee is old and falling apart; same problem that existed when the Nordiques left in 1995 for Colorado.   They all want and need federal dollars to build this new arena. Furthermore, they argue that this new arena would help them in yet another bid for the winter Olympic games in 2022. Yeesh! When will they ever learn?  Sweater vest Steve has not committed either way to this project.

Last night, I read an interesting column from Norman Spector. Now, normally, he writes insipid drivel, but this one offers an interesting theory as to why Pierre Karl Peladeau is so gung-ho about getting his Fox News North out on the airwaves in spite of the fact many critics wonder if such a conservative outfit can even get the sponsors and even make money. Spector, basically, seems to think that Peladeau’s 24 hour Harpercon brown nosing channel will get the federal dollars to pay for this arena.  Furthermore, He gives a precedent where this kind of journalistic brown nosing helped Asper.

What’s been missing from the discussion of an additional all-news network in Canada is the quid pro quo: what does Pierre Karl Péladeau get out of this? Surely, this is not just about getting the right to introduce another cable network in Canada, which, even if it succeeds – a big if – will not make megabucks. And, while everyone would like to have the influence that comes from having your own media horn to toot – which, in Mr. Péladeau’s case, includes tooting back at Paul Desmarais and his family – there must be something more to it.

There is.

For the Asper family, ownership of the Conservative-friendly National Post was the ticket to government funding for a human-rights museum in Winnipeg. (Who knows what other funding would have flowed had Izzy lived longer?) Mr. Péladeau’s personal priority is pedestrian: the return of hockey to Quebec City. The price of his support for the Conservatives is a new arena in that city, which is the NHL’s price of admission for the franchise Mr. Péladeau would like to own and converge with his media properties.

Ok, fine, it’s also not the first time we’ve heard Junior expressing interest in bring hockey back to Quebec City, as well as Gilles Duceppe and the Mayor Regis Lebeaume. I’m sure many fans want the same thing. However, is this all simply a romantic notion and very little to do with business smarts? Let’s take a trip down memory lane and get a reminder as to why the Nordiques ended leaving for Colorado in the first place, shall we?

For the 1994–95 season, Marc Crawford was hired as the new head coach, and Forsberg was deemed ready to finally join the team, but first there was the problem of a lockout. In the shortened season of 48 games, the Nordiques played well and finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference. However, the team faltered in the post season and was eliminated in the first round by the defending Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers.

The playoff loss proved to be the Nordiques’ swan song in the NHL as the team’s financial troubles increasingly took centre stage, even in the face of renewed fan support over the previous three years. The league’s Canadian teams (with the exception of Montreal, Toronto, and to a lesser extent, Vancouver) found it difficult to compete in a new age of rising player salaries, which was made even more difficult by a weakening Canadian dollar (the Canadian teams’ revenues are earned in Canadian dollars, but player salaries are paid in US dollars). Quebec City was also by far the smallest market in the league, and the second-smallest market in North America to support a major-league team (behind only Green Bay, Wisconsin). Additionally, Quebec City is a virtually monolingual francophone city. Unlike in Montreal, nearly all public address announcements were only given in French. Then as now, there were no privately-owned English-language radio stations, and only one privately-owned English language television station. The only English-language newspaper was a weekly. These factors severely limited the Nordiques’ marketability in the anglophone market even in their best years. While the Nordiques had a fairly loyal fan base, it was not enough for them to be viable in the new environment.

Aubut asked for a bailout from Quebec’s provincial government, but the request was turned down, as few were willing to be seen as subsidizing a hockey club that paid multi million-dollar salaries. In May 1995, shortly after the Nordiques were eliminated from the playoffs, Aubut explained that he had no other choice but to sell the team to a group of investors in Denver, Colorado.

Well, don’t most of these issues mentioned above, still exist today?  New arena or La Colisee?  Public relations specialist and former aid to Marcel Aubut, Luc Ouellet believes the market in Quebec City is just too small for an NHL team in Quebec City and that folks just won’t pay 100$ for the admissions.

So, to get this straight, Peladeau is insistent on having a Fox News North which would be a 24/7 infomercial for the Harpercons which many believe will not get the subscribers, nor the sponsors necessary to be profitable just so he can get the federal government to cough up the dough needed to build a new arena so he can have a new NHL team in Quebec City, which would also more than likely, not make money?  More evidence that perhaps Junior is not the savvy businessman many would lead us to believe he is. And he really isn’t, you know.

Junior did have to declare bankruptcy in his first year of business with the old man’s premier asset, the printing company, Quebecor World. Ok, fine, the printing industry is dying due to the changing technology toward an electronic world.  However, was running that printing empire into the ground deliberate on his part? When I was in training in estimation and management for the printing industry, my estimation instructor knew old man Peladeau quite well, or so he told us.  The instructor,  much like the Peladeaus, was an anti-union, anti-labor law, Mario Dumont cheerleader wingnut who spoke fondly of the old man, but never had much use for Junior.  Every so often in class, he would express disappointment at how Junior for his mishandling of Quebecor World.

Also, Fagstein briefly goes over some of Junior’s business failings in his posting from May 14, 2009.  Click the link, it’s worth the read.

Is this a case of simply a spoiled brat wanting his toys at any cost?  That seems to make the most sense to me.

And what a hypocrite he is!  Forget that he wants every cable and satellite subscriber to pay for his Fox News; not very conservative or libertarian of him. Never mind that obviously typical Conservative hypocrisy of demanding tax payers to fork over millions of dollars to build something as frivolous as an arena (I mean, really, Junior, didn’t Daddy teach you the free markets were supposed to take care of that?).  But how about that failed bid to buy the Montreal Canadiens in 2009? That anti-union boss who has kept Journal de Montreal writers locked out and by-passed Quebec’s anti-scab laws to keep the paper going, was being supported by none other than the Fonds de Solidarite of the FTQ - FTQ  one of Quebec’s biggest labour unions! Needless to say, that bid didn’t go over well with many factions. No matter, the Molson brothers entered the bidding war late and won.

This leads me to my next question. Had Peladeau’s bid for the Habs been successful, would he even be interested in purchasing some financially insolvent NHL team from the southern United States to bring to Quebec City? Would he be pushing so hard to put his televised blogging supposiTories on the airwaves?

And for another angle, what if the Liberals were in power? In an elaborate effort to suck up for federal dollars for his arena, would Junior be pushing a channel that was Liberal-friendly?

But there is another player. Gilles Duceppe also wants an NHL team back in Quebec City and is also pressuring the Harpercons to fork over federal dough to build this arena. But for him, the motivations are more tranparent than those of Junior Peladeau. It’s all about Quebec Nationalist Pride.  One must question, how badly does he want this? How does this serve him? The NattyPo’s Kelly McParland seems to think that Gilles Duceppe wins whether master Steve forks over the dough for this arena or not.

The guy can’t lose. He gets to march around his home province, the only one he cares about, railing about how Quebec gets shafted because it doesn’t have an arena in the National Capital (that being Quebec City) because the filthy federalists are too busy spending their simulus money (argent stimulusse) in parts of the country where they speak some foreign language like English. Everyone listening to Radio-Canada nods and agrees: “That’s right! If we were independent, we’d have a great big arena in Quebec and our team would only speak French and we’d win the Stanley Cup eight times out of 10, because when you’re independent, you win the Stanley Cup.”)

That’s good for Duceppe. It’s also good for Duceppe if Harper says no, pointing out, for instance, that Edmonton would also like a new arena but is doing its best to find a way to pay for it without begging Ottawa to play sugar daddy. And when Winnipeg decided it needed a new arena in hopes it might lure the NHL back to town, it just went ahead and built one.

For a conservative non-Quebecer, McParland seems to get the workings of a separatist mind some of the time. It’s true that they think that if we were independent, our hockey teams would not only be solvent, but win every Stanley Cup. Hell, didn’t the separatists use the performances of Quebec athletes at the Vancouver Olympics as another argument for sovereignty? They even managed to turn the Harpercons’ promoting of federal parks to eighth graders into a federalist plot.

Yes, for Duceppe it is win-win.  I think that Steve will agree to footing the bulk of the 400 million dollar bill, courtesy of the beleaguered tax payers, yet again as pork barreling is what Master Steve does best. Most of his Quebec seats are in and around the Quebec City area. As McParland points out, Duceppe can take full credit and make new friends. I might also add that if Steve says no to the project, that honestly, I hope he does (Sorry Hockey fans, the Nordiques weren’t solvent before; the market wasn’t there before; I don’t see anything that has changed that. We’re in a recession. I can think of better ways for the tax payers to spend 400 million dollars. If Peladeau wants that arena bad enough, then he should get a consortium together and bankroll it himself, like a good con should),  Duceppe still wins. He has more ammunition to fuel his sovereignty cause and, dare I say it, perhaps even be able to unseat some of those Harpercon  Greater Quebec City area seats in the next federal election?

But is it that simple? If Stevie Spiteful oks this pork barreling, which I’m sure he will, what will it cost Duceppe?  In spite of the fact that this funding would pretty much ensure that he keeps his Quebec City seats, he would surely demand something of Duceppe. Would Duceppe prop up the Harpercons’ poison pills until the spring when the predicted date of a federal election would take place?  If an election were held sooner rather than later? What if the Liberals won?  Would Iggy,  agree to spending 400 million dollars on an arena in Quebec City? Whether or not the Liberals would go for that would depend largely in part whether or not the NDP would support it or not. I’m not so sure that they would.  We can pretty much guess that a Liberal government would let the chips fall where they may with the CRTC regarding whether or not Fox News North comes to light or not.

As I’ve mentioned above, I hope that tax-payers are not left footing the bill for this arena. Bidding for the winter olympics is a bad idea.  We only finished paying off the Montreal summer games a few years ago.  Our stadium still continues to be a safety hazard and many (myself included)  are now advocating for blowing the damned thing up.

The good citizens of Vancouver will have many years to pay off their six billion dollar winter olympic boondoggle and they can’t seem to sell off their Olympic Village condos in an attempt to recoup some of their losses.  Not to mention, Vancouver’s most vulnerable ended up suffering the most.

Why do we want this?

Sidenote: I wonder if any of the new Quebec Tea-baggers; the Reseau Liberte Quebecois will question Kory at their inaugural luncheon in Quebec City the true Libertarian-ness/conservativeness of his boss demanding the tax payers foot the bill for this frivolous arena? Or better still, will one of them have the balls to throw Junior’s former partnership with the Fonds de Solidarite de FTQ when they were bidding for the Habs in his face?

Well, the Reseau Liberte Quebecois, aka The Tea-bagger hit parade, the Quebecois edition, as I’ve mentioned, is having their launching luncheon at Hotel des Gouverneurs Ste-Foye in Quebec City come October 23.  For those who haven’t caught the details of this extravaganza, details here.

Now, if I were catering the event. I think the most fitting meal that can be served would be….

Feeling green around the gills yet?

That meat, green; moldy and oldy just like Steve’s and those tea-baggers’ politics and ideologies. That oughta war their hearts (if they had any) and stick to their ribs.

Only fitting a meal, naturally. For the extra 10$ the meat won’t be as green, perhaps.

The pork is, of course, cured at the same butcher shop as  Steve’s meat baloney.

Whew! After creating that monstrosity and having seen the package of Steve’s baloney over at Pale’s, am I glad I don’t eat red meat! Yeah, I know, pork is considered white meat. It crawls on four legs, it’s gross; I don’t eat that neither.

You all remember  Gary Breitkreuz, right? That yahoo who, through the use of a sock puppet, who is now long gone (naturally), basically threatened to beat Iggy black and blue? Oh yes! Gary Breitkreuz, just a “Good ol’ Boy!” But, unlike Waylon Jennings’ theme to “The Dukes of Hazard”, he really does mean harm, just like the rest of those Harpercons. Well, he just got dumped by NDP MP Charlie Angus, who previously supported Mullet-head Hoeppner’s bill.

We all remember Breitkreuz, the brute sending an email ‘proposition’ to the NDP MP of Timmins-James Bay; that email that pretty well pushed Angus to change his mind. In an odd sort of way, the gun nut, who once advocated for  new regulations that would make it a-okay to carry restricted firearms like hand guns and semi-automatic assault weapons in cars in cities, may well be the one to sink Mullet head Hoeppner’s bill. What an idiotioc redneck!  Brute Breitkreuz probably couldn’t even shoot the broad side of a barn.

According to the Toronto Star, it seems that the other 11 rural NDP MPs have also a distaste for the behavior of the Harpercons as of late.  It seems that they will either change their vote or at the very least, be absent from the day of the vote.

“You’ve got the Conservatives turning off our rural guys,” said Brad Lavigne, national director of the NDP. He added that two “very real options” are available to rural members — stay away or reverse their earlier support for the Conservative bill.

Charlie Angus correctly points out that it’s the Harpercons, themselves, that are portraying rural Canadians as  uneducated hillbillies. Something Angus and his other rural colleagues, I’m sure, wish to dispell.

“The Conservatives are unfortunately creating an impression that rural Canadians are somehow nut jobs, but they are not. For me, at the end of the day, I just don’t want to be standing beside these guys,” Angus said.

“At this point I am going to vote against this bill because I think the Conservatives … are treating Canadians as if they are fools on this.’’

Will the rural NDP MPs take heat for this? Perhaps.  Could they lose their votes to Harpercons? Maybe not. If they can persuade their constituents with the reports from the RCMP showing that the gun registry is not only useful, but also cost efficient.

Also, there must be other things, besides the long gun registry,  these rural NDP MPs can sell to their consituents that would address their other concerns better than the Harpercons ever could. I mean, were they really voted in because they promised to help Stevie spiteful kill the gun registry?  Not likely.  I would think that they were voted in because they convinced their constituents that they were better trusted to look out for their interests than the Harpercons. These NDP MPs should stick with that.

Look at it this way, Jack’s stubbornness at not whipping his caucus to vote against Mullet-head Hoeppner was most certainly not winning him any appreciation from Stevie Spiteful in addition to not winning him and his party any favor with many Canadians, including much of his own base.

“In effect, rhetoric aside, both Coalition leaders intend to keep the wasteful and ineffective $2 billion long-gun registry,’ the Tories say. They conclude that neither the NDP nor the Liberals care about rural voters. “Rural Canada: either its voice is important, or it isn’t.”

Note that the above quote came from an article that was published one day before the little email exchange between Brute Breitkreuz and Charlie Angus was published. At that time, things still looked like those MPs were going along with Mullet-head Hoeppner.

No, Stevie, and the other rednecks, the NDP rural MPs did and still do want their constituents to have a voice in Canada. They just prefer that their constituents have all the correct information before them; the good, the bad and the ugly.   Facts, figures, evidence, truthiness, all inconvenient  pesky details that go against Stevie and his flunkies’ agendas.

Stay  classy, Harpercons! ,Jack Layton and his party were risking  losing urban seats to align himself with the mullet-head she redneck herself and this is the thanks you give him?

No matter, Jack, looks like your MPs are saving you in spite of yourself.  But really, those Harpercons and their own stupidity and redneck ways are what would kill the Mullet-head’s bill in the end. Talk about your ironies.

It ain’t a political party…yet! But, when one of the six founders is, get ready…Blogging SupposiTory, the Rancid Dr. Jabba the Roy, hisself! And he’s just all ga ga giddy over it!  I guess the Lucides movement was just too Progressive Conservativise-ish/not enough soCon-ish tea-baggy enough, was it?  What a circus! Here’s the site if you dare! If Jabba the Roy is involved, as well as the .ca, the Reseau Liberte Quebecois – Quebec Freedom Network. Now don’t that just sound Tea-baggish?

I remember Jean Lapierre telling Andrew Carter quite often on CJAD that there is now a vaccuum in Quebec politics and he believed that this one would get filled, however, he has his doubts this particular far-right movement will warm the hearts of Quebecers. I believe that he’s correct, but then, I never thought that Canada, east of Manitoba, would embrace Steve’s sharp right socon tea-bagging bull-shit. Lapierre,  too, believed that any new party that may have come to light would be a more centered party. 

What’s even more bizarre is that Lucien Bouchard of that clear eyed movement is endorsing this motley gang of misfits which touts among other tea-bagging goodies, climato-skepticism. Hmm, wasn’t Bouchard an environment minister in Brian Mulroney’s cabinet before going off to form the Bloc Quebecois? But then, Bouchard has proven, over the years, to be a walking self-contradiction.

Prepare for shale gas exploration, I mean, don’t let facts and truthiness like  pesky reports, warning of environmental concerns like  carbon-dioxide emissions, encroach on wildlife habitat and sap freshwater resources get in the way of that tea-bag agenda, now.

They’re going to “redefine nationalism”. I would tell you what they mean, but, frankly, that is indicated on their site, that it is “to come”. I wonder if they even know?  If Jabba the Roy is involved, the pro-monarchist, with his love of titles like “HM PM” (what a brown nose!), count on it pushing for Quebec to be beaten to submission by Steve and the Harpercons.  Insidious ways of decimating the Bloc Quebecois would definitely be on the menu.  After all, if  King Steve can’t win Quebec even by pork barreling,  they’ll find other ways to cheat, right?

Jabba the Roy is involved with five others: Andre Pratte of La Presse, a Harpercon friendly writer; Ian Senechal (please note, I had site translated via yahoo Babelfish, so language would leave something to be desired); Joanne Marcotte, who Radio Canada’s Simon Durivage referred to as Quebec’s Sarah Palin; Gerad Laliberte and Eric Duhaime; who worked as an advisor to the now near-decimated Action Democratique Party of  Mario Dumont and in a previous life, worked under ol’ Stock Day when he was leader of the Canadian Alliance.

As much of a monarchy suck up as Jabba the Roy is and I will guess that, like most French Quebecers, his partners in crime are anti-monarchy; as well as other differences to come, I’m sure, I wonder when this will collapse like a house of cards?

Another part of their mandate? To “defy the media establishment”; yes, they must do something to  get Quebec media to work in their favor; it’s too slanted to the left for their tea-bagging sensitivities;   not to mention, their aversion to things like balanced journalism and actually facts and data.

Perhaps like Steve, they would like a media monopoly a la Pierre Karl Peladeau? A French version of Fox North? They will be holding a shindig  come October in Quebec City and the keynote speaker will be none other than Kory Teneycke hisself! I wonder if he speaks joal?

“It is a great pleasure for me of collaborating with the team of the Freedom-Quebec Network”, affirmed Mr. Teneycke, who intends to explain to the audience the importance of the project that it sets up at present at English Canada. “A fall of the Canadian audience of news televised uninterrupted, a mentality of herd among the journalists and a frankly skewed cover of the topicality explain well that the Canadians are badly served by the media “mainstream”, he adds. “It is time to offer an alternative and it is what we intend to do with SUN TV News.”

Getting cocky, aren’t we, Kory?  There might be a little snag with your mentor’s appointment of Luc Lavoie. Once again, a little problem with legalities here. Details.

Here, of course, are  more of the their tea-bagging goals:

“We all agree on one common ground — the fact that the state needs to be smaller in many many ways,” Duhaime said.

“Some of us are going to push on health-care reforms, some others are going to talk about tax reforms.”

Well, tea-baggers, no matter what language they speak or where they live; they’re nothing, if not predictable.

Yes, for about 25$ or 35$ you can get in to watch Kory lead the clown car brigade at it. I wonder though; what does one get for 10$ more? Poutine? The peas are unfrozen? The rubber chicken is actually cooked? Or one gets to not get touched by Jabba the Roy?  Scary that we would want to be led by idiots who look like their mommies dress them every morning.

Each of the six founders, apparently, coughed up 500$ to start up this little tea-bagging cult.

And folks, if you’re in the Quebec City area and if you wish to crash the party, it is being held at Hotel Gouverneur de Ste-Foye on October 23. Their site is here, but in French. No, they don’t have an English version. Funny, given that Jabba the Roy is one of those idiots who shriek about English rights in Quebec.

I wouldn’t be too surprised if these clowns actually actually made it easier for Duceppe to promote sovereignty in Quebec. As mentioned before, Quebecers are center. Some, particularly in rural areas may even be socons to some degree. However, most of them are elderly and do remember living through the hell that was the Periode Noirceur of Maurice Duplessis. I’m sure they don’t want to live through that again and they certainly wouldn’t wish it on their children and grandchildren.

Well, we all know about  Kory and Peladeau’s whining to King Steve to go knock some heads off at the CRTC to get their Category one license.

Now, thanks to a tweet from Liberal MP, Carolyn Bennett, it would appear that the ministry of Canadian Heritage and Official languages under James Moore has been funding a whole host of community papers and periodicals:

GODERICH, Ontario, July 14, 2010 – On behalf of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, Ben Lobb, Member of Parliament (Huron-Bruce), today announced funding for 11 community newspapers in the Huron-Bruce region.

Ah, Can you say “Pork Barreling”?  I knew you could! I wonder how many other community papers the Harpercons are funding in their other ridings?

“These federal funds will ensure that these newspapers remain a vibrant source of information for years to come,” said Mr. Lobb.

Translation:  “News” that only praises King Stevie  and his flunkies all of the time; where journalism is one colour: yellow. Unbiased, responsible reporting with actual data and facts will simply not do here.

“The grant from Canadian Heritage is critical to the viability of small newspapers like ours,” said Dave Sykes, Group Publisher, Sun Media. “It ensures that people in rural areas have access to local news.”

BINGO!! Damn, shoulda read it twice! Sun Media. Shoulda known!

Well, well, well!  The take over of print media by Kory and Pierre-Karl Peladeau with the strong arm of King Steve: all paid for by the tax payers. And what do we hear from the Blogging SupposiTories and other Harpercon cheerleaders? Whining about the tax payer funded Ahem! (cough! Cough! Gasp! Wheeze!) ‘Liberal’ CBC??  Yeah, right…As you were.

A few days ago, a commenter dropped by my place with some worry that I found to be rather trivial. A progressive, but one in the highly “I hate Iggy and the Liberals brigade”. No, he’s not a blogger, at least, I’ve never caught Hopeful Joe around Prog Bloggers. This particular commenter to me sounded so off reality that I could almost compare him to a kissing cousin of the Blogging SupposiTories. The left wing of the Blogging SupposiTories if you will.  Yes, I’m very well aware of  what an oxy moron that sounds like.

Let’s start with a particular quote that left chills down my spine, but would warm the hearts (if they had any) of the blogging SupposiTories.

I truly believe that the Canadian electorate needs the wake-up call of a Harper majority to remind them to pay attention, participate and vote. It’s going to be a painful four year and it will likely take us 10 years to rebuild all that Harper destroys. Disaster wakes people from their slumber and from it, real leaders are born.

I don’t have to construct a list of what’s really wrong with the above paragraph, do I? However, this is the first who is supposedly “progressive” who actually seems to embrace the idea of a Harpercon majority for reasons that seem to border on typical Harpercon sadism to me. Hell, it begs the question  if he would even vote for Stevie  in the next election

My question is, how many progressives actually share his views and actually embrace a Harpercon regime?

When I read and hear the lament of how the opposition, namely the Liberals as they had swallowed most of  Stevie spiteful’s packed poison pills (even though, if they hadn’t, I would be curious to know how often the NDP would have jumped in.  NDP have the luxury of hammering the Liberals as we’ll never have the answer to that question),  never voted down the Harpercons, I have to ask, is the decimation of the opposition and a Harpercon regime really worth it?

I understand the frustration of this opposition seeing no option but to go along with the Harpercons, even though I understood why it had to be done.  With the media in lockstep with Stevie Spiteful for the most part, shoving the majority center to the right and the dismal polling numbers for both the LIberals and the NDP, what choice was there? With Liberals polling at only the mid-twenties up until now and the NDP never really deviating from between 15% – 20%; the Greens and the Bloc always hovering around 10% and less, the Harpercons were well primed for a majority.  Discount the polling numbers as having come from con shills all you like, but those  numbers are all those parties have to work with and it is those numbers pundits and columnists are spinning to the Timmy Hortons crowd. Why would anyone risk a Harpercon majority? To say that would never have happened was and is to be in denial.

This brings me back to my question for the many progressives who are determined to hate Iggy and the Liberals to the bitter end, or who hold pie-in-the-sky-pipe dreams for what will never be, is it worth a Harpercon majority for more hideous bills and legislations and policies just to see the Liberals vote against them?  Do you agree with Hopeful Joe’s comment above?

Already, things are starting to get ugly. The Liberals have come off this bus tour more confidant and expressing an aspiration to be more oppositional and already the pundits are chastising them, Harpercon cheerleaders, as are the Bloggging SupposiTories are accusing them of being too arrogant (apparently, like Mary T, they don’t like any opposition parties, getting, well oppositional)  and the progressive “I hate Iggy brigade” have turned up the heat full throttle.  

This leads me to my next question, if Jack Layton decided to whip his caucus to vote against Mullet-head Hoeppner, and cooperated with the Liberals toward the common goal of keeping Canadians safe,  would NDP supporters have as much animosity toward the Liberals as to keep a closed mind where they’re concerned?

I would be curious what the answers to these question would be.

It would be really nice folks, if we can all get Stevie spiteful out of office before he ruins us beyond repair. You think he’s bad with a minority.  You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

After reading Dr. Dawg’s post, dripping with sarcasm,  a  take on the mentality of many Canadians regarding those four men arrested on terrorism charges earlier last week which included a Canadian Idol Reject and McGill University Med School Grad, Khurram Sher.  A very accurate take as Dr Dawg usually has with these things. DeBeauxOs drives it home in about ten words or less in Dawg’s comments section (sorry, I can’t link the Echo comment box for some reason, but you can find it at his post):

Trial by media.

The way things are going, Harper’s New™© Government can abolish the court system and send alleged criminals directly to their mega-jails.

Well, yes, that is more than likely exactly where Stevie Spiteful and Super Toews are headed. Trial by media; more to the point, trial by NattyPO,  Kory Klan, and other Harpercon friendly outfits.   Guilty until proven innocent is the mantra of the day being taught, particularly regarding non-whites, specifically, Muslims and accusations of terrorism and related charges.

And a devoted student following this order of the day is none other than Blogging SupposiTory, Ottawa’s Bimbo & Military trophy wife, Rightchik, Tammeee, the Tammy-Faye Baker look-a-like herself!  Yes, I caught her little open letter to none other than the Canadian Council of Immams.  Here goes. I will inserting my own quips in brackets in regular typeface, italics are her words ):

Gentlemen – it is time for you to speak out and condemn armed jihad (Translation, ex-communicate them and lock them in a dungeon if they don’t comply with this). Condemn all jihad that would use violence, deceit and threats to any and every non Muslim (I guess she means it’s ok if they use violence, threats and deceit on other fellow Muslims, though). Tell your congregations that the only way to convert someone is through dialogue (Really? Conversion? To what? Christianity?). Any other method is unacceptable. And if someone does not convert then it is the will of God (so you’re admitting that a die-hard jihadist who refuses to listen to reason from his Immam or community is in God’s hands?).

Preach a message of acceptance (They are! It’s you & your ilk that don’t accept them, or any other non-white for that matter!) . Every Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Pagan, Hindu, Atheist. Agnostic and everyone else should be loved and embraced as a neighbour, friend and brother (Really? Then practice what you preach, little girl. It seems to me you only love and embrace the God of Prada or Nine West or Gucci and faces that come from jars).

Issue a press release not only condemning the men who have been recently arrested – condemn their motivations and actions. Speak loudly and clearly as you denounce all violent jihad. (Ok, here is a classic example of what DeBeauxOs was talking about when she commented over at Dawg’s: trial by media; or in this case, trial by middle-aged barbie doll. Barbie ain’t alone, sadly. Classic example when shallow right wingnut  Barbie Dolls who have no life outside of being a military trophy wife are let loose with a keyboard. Dawg has links here and here of other wingnuts with their accusations and how they think these defendants as well as any other future off-white defendants should be handled.)

I’m going to let you in on a little secret – we’re not as stupid or gullible as you might think. (Really? Oh, this would take a novel, so I’ll just move right along here; remember, she thinks she’s no one unless she’s in 5 inch heels and 5 inches thick of make-up ) In spite of what our music, movies, politicians, liberal media (what Liberal media?) or guilt ridden lefties (guilt ridden? I’m a lefty, I can assure you, I ain’t guilt ridden! Why on earth for? I haven’t done anything to these folks or anyone else for that matter. I’m not the one preaching bigotry and injustice. Embarrassed would be a more accurate description of my feelings today)  would lead you to believe, most Canadians are very, very different (many, anyway, and not in a good way).

We’re tolerant, we’re patient and we will give anyone a chance (Really? News to me). You’re getting yours right now. But we’re not ones to be pushed around. Look at our history (Well, Tammee got one thing right; we did push Native people off their land, stripped them of their livelihood, forced them to assimilate,  kidnapped their children and hid them in Gawd awful residential schools under unspeakable conditions and forced them to convert to Christianity).

Do the right thing. Show us that you are truly Canadian (yes, do show Tammee and her friends and tough military hubby what a great ‘Canadian’ you are;  publicly humiliate and ex-communicate any member of your congregation even so much as having the same last name as someone on a terror watch list).

What I was trying to point out in the little excercise above was Tammee’s own hypocrisy and that of many who share her views, like those of the Blogging SupposiTories and other Harpercon cheerleaders.

Dr. Dawg did a fine job proving  DeBeauxOs correct  in his follow-up post, Oil on Troubled Flames, citing many of the right wingnut bloggers with links to prove this. This is troubling for Canadian society; a supposed democracy to say the least. Where would it end? Who or which group would be the next targetted? By the looks of things, it could well be the new Tamil refugees if they’re ever released from detention and allowed to stay.  Thanks to the Harpercon propoganda machine, bigotry is on the rise and now, since these kind of cases are being splashed in the media with all the  yellow journalim characteristics we’d find in some tabloid like the National Enquirer, more and more; each new case being reported with increasing degrees of sensationalism and innuendo without even hinting what evidence police or the prosecutors may have or may not have.

Those of us who dare to  vocally express our beliefs in “innocent until proven guilty” or allowing all criminal defendants, yes, including those accused of terrorism,  to a have a fair trial are given the label from these wingnuts, as bleeding hearts who would practically welcome Charles Manson in our homes.   No, gotta fill Uncle Steve’s mega prisons and how dare we speak against the great man. How dare we point out logic? In a Harpercon Utopia, I guess Defense attorneys, crown prosecutors and Judges would all end up on the unemployment line.

Over at wingnut, Jay Currie’s place of white worship,  he accuses Dr Dawg of being in denial. No, Jay, it’s just that these four suspects don’t really fit the terrorist criteria.  All four seem to be well adjusted, educated,  productive young men, who seem to enjoy life in Canada. It seems unfathomable that they would be sucked into even contemplate ruining  their lives; the lives of their families; everything they have for the sake of a terror group who doesn’t give a damn about them.   Haven’t we heard in the past that generally, the profile of  Jihadists are generally uneducated, disenfranchised youth who feel they haven’t much else to look forward to in life?

I’m not saying those four suspects are not guilty, nor am I saying they’re guilty.  We haven’t seen or heard all the evidence; the real evidence; not the vaccuum the right slanted media and the Blogging SupposiTories are only too happy to fill with their innuendo. Nor is it for me, or anyone else for that matter,  to judge.  That is up to a judge and jury of the defendants’ peers (if they can find an impartial one that is).  If they’re guilty, then let the judge assign the appropriate sentence. If they’re not guilty, then set them free and let them get on with their lives in peace, just like any other defendant in any other criminal case, be they white, off white, or yellow with purple polka dots.    I’m sure that statement to the wingnut element would  brand me as a Taliban sympathizer no doubt. Fine, so be it. They’re going to think what they like anyway, it’s what gives wingnuts  like Rightchik Tammeee  a reason to get up in the morning; far be it for me to begrudge them of that. There, some more of my lefty charity.

Another thing, I’m no legal expert, nor am I going to even attempt to pretend to be one, so, if there are any lawyers or even law students knowledgeable on the subject, please feel free to answer my following question in my comments section.  The defense attorneys for the accused must realize that their clients can’t get a fair trial with half truths and yellow journalism trying them before the court of public opinion, not to mention potentially poisoning a potential jury pool for the eventual trials; why haven’t they demanded a publication ban? Can they? Or has legislation changed on that too at the demand of  Kory and his Klan of Fox North?

What is is it with white conservative losers when they don’t get their way invoking Martin Luther King? We, in Canada, saw it not long ago with the bimbo, Sa-wah Palin look-a-like, Sarah Landriault when she discovered she couldn’t jump to the top of the employment ladder with no marketable skills, certificates, education or experience. That was nothing short of dispicable.

Then, we saw not only Glenn Beck and Sa-wah Palin, herself, scheduling their wingnutty hate festivities on the anniversary of Dr. King’s march for civil rights in the US, but actually invoke him to push their all white, Christian, intolerant, far right agenda. Man, Dr. King must be turning over in his grave about now. As Boris over at The Galloping Beaver describes this ironic message of Palin (and Beck’s):

It doesn’t need to be said that Palin’s “restoration” would seek a return the America that squeezed the trigger on MLK.

Disturbing doesn’t even begin to describe the theme of “Restoration of Honor”.  What I don’t get is why Alveda King would’ve even entertained the idea of speaking at Beck and Palin’s hate festivities. She must be the relative they don’t talk about.

However, unlike the 9/12 festivities of last year, I don’t think this tea-party had the energy. In fact, it’s to the point where I wonder if the tea-bagging movement is becoming a passing fad.

As yet another Glenn Beck extravaganza drew nearer, this time with Sa-wah Palin, I was looking forward to checking out the colourful misspelled signs of all shapes and sizes with such hateful, yet such stupid slogans as to be somewhat amusing. Call it morbid curiosity, much like the way many will stop to watch the aftermath of a car crash or train wreck.  I would learn that Glenn Beck had banned signs for the occasion, but that didn’t seem to stop a few from doing just that. Check out the link: a great diary with some amusing slogans.

I was checking the Twitter feed and the American blogs as well as some online media pages for some mishap or misstep, but, again, not much. Checked out Sa-wah Palin’s speech; but turned it off as I felt a migraine coming on. Honestly, she just has one of those voices that can feel like she’s drilling nails in your head.  She was just boring this time. Stupid can be funny, but Sa-wah has ceased being funny since comparing herself to William Shakespeare last month.

For me, to summarize the Glenn Beck / Sa-wah Palin extravaganza; boring! One big snore! And I don’t seem to be alone, neither. So much for all of Beck’s predictions of this extravaganza being the “turning point” and  “defibrillator on the heart of America”. I suggest you click that link and read Glenn’s predictions on how “miraculous” this event would be: I think that’s the most entertaining part of it: it all just went to snoozeville from there. Much of the audience looked like they could use a jolt of that defibrillator. So boring!

Other than the fact that Glenn Beck was wearing a kevlar vest under his shirt, his speech at first didn’t seem to offer anything of entertainment value and the audience was quite subdued. Then I read Jymn’s piece last night, where he observed Beck changing directions; one toward the more evangelical. I listened to the speech again and I have to say that Jymn is probably on to something.

He has turned his evil upside down so that it looks smiley face Stepford wive-ish. He has presented his rally as an open book (mostly the bible) for all people to join. The only stipulation it would seem is that you are all very, very religious, preferably Christian. He asked attendees to leave their signs at home (like true Beckbots, most did – great response from NAACP: “Dr. King never had to ask his followers to leave hateful signs and guns at home”.)

Beck made pains too to make the rally about the troops, of course. All immaculately planned and organized, Beck’s rally positions the tea party and the radical right to further their goals in turning the US into a theocracy.

Well, if as Jymn suggests, Beck is going from pathetic pundit to Revvin’ Reverend, I don’t think even that will succeed for too long. Hell, his message might have sounded outrageous and hateful, but he didn’t say anything different than what other American televangelists over the years have been spewing. He offered nothing original.  He bawled his eyes out, as usual. Big Deal. He has always done that.And by the by, the secret to Beck’s crocodile tears, apparently, is Vicks Vapo Rub. Take a look a the video here, if you dare, you will see that even his eyes and nose are starting to develop a tolerance toward the strong smelling cold remedy.

I remembered growing up, on Sunday mornings, before the days of satellite and digital cable; the days when we could access but a handful of channels and Sunday tv was pretty dismal, my partents would tune into American Televangelists like Popoff and Ernest Angley for the entertainment of it. We used to laugh at how these people would miraculously ‘rise from their wheelchairs’ or their ”cancer and diabetes and blindness was mysteriously cured’. We would chuckle at how these buffoons would hit people on the forehead, as it was suppposed to be a ‘touch from God or Jesus’ and they would all drop and faint on cue. Couldn’t Glenn Beck at least have done that? Would have made it more entertaining.

The point I’m trying to make here is that while there will always be an audience for evangelism and the preaching to bring America back to “fundamentalist values”, I think Beck may well have shrunk his own audience.

This brings me to my next point. After watching this non-event; Sa-wah playing the mom of a vet which was nothing more than her parading her kids into the spotlight, as she usually does, and Beck turning into Reverend Beck and sucking badly at it, the seemingly much lower than projected turnouts, I have to wonder if the American tea-bagger hit parade is becoming a passing fad?

There will always be that fringe Christian Evangelical far right element who will always attempt to push their agenda on everyone else and in American politics. There will always be tea-baggers whining that same refrain of “less taxes-smaller government”, grossly misusing words like ‘socialism’. They’re never going to go away completely and yes, they will more than likely make a splashy come back as they did when President Obama was about to introduce health care reform, but for now, I think they’re just a tired, pathetic movement.  As this Daily Kos blogger, who was at the ‘restoring dishonor’ festivities  put it:

In giving credit where it is due, they were mostly well-behaved and teh crazy was at a minimum.  They may like to speak of “revolution” and “replenishing the tree of liberty with the blood of tyrants and patriots,” from the safety and comfort of their dial-up internet, but I don’t see that happening.

I would say that would sum it up best. I think the numbers have dwindled. Perhaps because they are tired of being shown to look like idiots when they can’t answer even the simplest of questions when asked by reporters as we’ve seen on YouTube at various Tea-bagger events in the past.  Maybe  they’ve (with the exception of those usual wingnuts where hope springs eternal and will die trying; those must be kept an eye on; very dangerous people)  even discovered that they can never move back to ‘restoration’ or ‘fundamentalism’ or ‘Christian reconstructionism’.

This time last year, Sa-wah and the newly self-proclaimed Reverend Beck along with bloated bleached buffoons like Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Bachman, were all brainwashing an already paranoid, uneducated American population with the impending end of the world if President Obama passed health care reform.  That was the main catalyst (certainly one of the tops) for the surgence of the tea-bagger hit parade.   Now, Obamacare, such as it is, has passed and I think most, no matter how against health care reform they may have been and still may be, they have seen that the sky hasn’t fallen down.

Sure, many Rethuglicans are planning to repeal the reform following the 2010 elections, but first, this motley assortment of misfits the tea-baggers have voted through various primaries have to get elected.   With the exception of the bible belt and states like perhaps Kentucky, I can’t see too many of them getting elected.  If anything, the tea-baggers are victims of their own success…or failures, depending which way you look at it.

I expect that mainstream Americans rude awakening is already happening, as they begin to see exactly what the shrieking of “smaller government and less taxes” brings them–paved, unlit streets in their cities and towns, as well as a rapidly deteriorating public education system.

I suspect that many Americans, after extended periods of unemployment and no prospects of future employment despite all efforts to find work, are now seeing that that whole “Anybody can achieve the ‘American Dream’ of prosperity if they simply worked hard and didn’t rely on their government” is nothing more than bull-shit propoganda.

Again,  while Beck transforms from potent pundit to roarin’ reverend representing the evangelical Christian far right sub-culture, while worrisome and never to be underestimated; I would also take this as a sign that  the weepy Glenn Beck may well be on his way to becoming a has been, as mentioned above, the Vicks Vapo rub ain’t even working anymore. I noticed that in Sa-wah as well during what little of her speech I heard; don’t know about you, but I got the feeling that she was straining to stay relevent. She talks about being the parent of an Iraq war vet. Big deal, so are thousands of people in America today. Many of whom have lost their children in these senseless wars, yet we don’t hear most of them shrieking her stupidities. They’re too busy trying to somehow pick up the pieces of their lives.  She offered nothing new. Not even any fun stuff like cheat notes smeared all over that white suit jacket!

The blogger from Daily Kos concludes this:

Put simply, this is a crowd of mostly older, white-folks-in-lawn-chairs™ who fear change, even if for the benefit of themselves, their families, and the country at large.  They are the heels in the sand of progress and like it or not, we progressives will drag them forward, kicking and screaming, to a better day, as we have always done.

I wish them all the luck in the world with this endeavor.   Lord knows they’ll need it.

Go read Apost8′s diary at Daily Kos, many fun pics and a poll over there.

Sidenote: Good to see that there was another group led by Reverend Al Sharpton, who not only continued to honor Martin Luther King’s memory and reminded the next generation of what he did and how they must continue his fight for civil rights and equality for all, but also   didn’t  allow Beck’s and Sa-wah’s  desecration  and perversion of  Dr. Martin Luther King’s memory. Turns out, both events simultaneously happened with little incident, other than the usual taunting between the two groups. Little skirmishes like:

“One woman from the Beck rally shouted to the Sharpton marchers, “Go to church. Restore America with peace.” Some civil rights marchers chanted “don’t drink the tea” to people leaving Beck’s rally.

Sharpton basically appealed to his group to take the high road; to not take their bate.

“The folks who used to criticize us for marching are trying to have a march themselves,” he said. He urged his group to be peaceful and not confrontational. “If people start heckling, smile at them,” Sharpton said.

After reading the above quote as well as the rest of that passage in the Huffington Post story, I got the feeling that Sharpton as well as the other civil rights’ marchers,  may almost (“almost” being the key word here) feel sorry for Beck and the tea-baggers.  I could be wrong, but that’s my impression, thus further giving me the idea that the tea-bagger hit parade in the US may well have hit its’ peak and is dwindling, that is, until their next crisis, whatever that may be.

Now for something entertaining. No, no painful videos of either Glenn Beck or Sa-wah Palin. How about a little segment of Psycho Talk with Ed Schultz , demonstrating how both Sa-wah and Beck have a combined IQ in the single digits.