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Phil_King
91p605 comments posted · 13 followers · following 3
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Looking north (II) · 1 reply · +1 points
It's simply a round about way of suggesting he's not patriotic. That he doesn't "care" about his country, and is merely seeking power or money while exhibiting his ignorance.
It's a mean spirited and baseless attack, and everytime I see something like this, no matter who it's aimed at, I'm disgusted.
But what bothers me the most is the willingness of political parties to use what is essentially subliminal messaging to alter public opinion.
Human beings have a large portion of their brains dedicated to facial recognition. Project enough negative facial shots of an individual, and eventually you're going to end up with some sort of pavlovian conditioning.
24/7 messaging is a great way to do that. It should be banned outside election periods.
I suppose somehow I just expect better of ourselves in this day and age, but at the heart of it, we're still a terribly irrational species, organizing in clans for emotional safety and comfort.
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Ch-ch-changes · 0 replies · +1 points
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Ch-ch-changes · 0 replies · +2 points
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Ch-ch-changes · 2 replies · +2 points
Channelling "Hitch Hiker's Guide to Galaxy" to some degree eh?
Didn't you know the plans for this change has been on display at the Alpha Centauri office for six months now? LOL
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - "That's kind of the se... · 0 replies · +3 points
Allow me to paraphrase your comment: "I don't like what you have to say Andrew, so I hope you burn in hell"
Nice. Real nice.
Sheesh.
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - "That's kind of the se... · 1 reply · 0 points
As though we simply CAN'T expect any better, and thus have given up hoping for better.
And while I recognize that people voted in large numbers for the NDP based on their positive messaging, it drove enough people to vote FOR Harper that he actually got a majority.
40% is a significant number of voters for a single party to gain in a five way split afterall, and unless the NDP suddenly moves further right, or unless another competitive party rises closer to the center, you're looking at multiple conservative majorities in the future.
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - The West is in and Ont... · 1 reply · 0 points
I lived through the Harris years, and while many were flabergasted that he got a second term, he had provided fairly good government and people didn't see a solid/stable alternative.
Ontarians just want government that works and isn't in their face too much. Not too far left or right and given that option, they take it.
That's why so many Ontarians, previously wary of Harper and thinking the Liberals provided solid/stable/not in your face governing, were so suddenly moved when it looked like any coalition would have Jack at its head. The Liberals seemed to have ceased to be an option.
IMO of course.
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - The West is in and Ont... · 0 replies · +1 points
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Will Canadian politics... · 3 replies · +8 points
In fact sometimes I wonder if this minority situation didn't seriously contribute their decaying state.
If Harper had won a majority earlier, they could've counted on a few years of down time, instead of having to focus on the next possible election and putting up the pretense of being ready for it.
To me that explains their obsession with finding "the right leader" more than any other single factor. They didn't want to risk looking weak, which they were, and the time they should've spent rebuilding was wasted, undermining them further.
That said, they've still got the machinery of a national alternative, the branding in the minds of Canadians and a few years to work it out.
The only thing left is to hope the NDP can't climb the incredibly steep learning curve they're facing over the next couple years and there's hope for Liberals on that score too, given that the NDP is the only opposition. All the focus is going to be on them, at a time when they need to learn and grow stronger too.
12 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Will Canadian politics... · 3 replies · +4 points
If anything, in their search for the majority center vote, both parties are likely to get less polarized than they've been.
That said, I have serious doubts about the NDP ever moving right enough to win a majority.
They're fightning 50 years of their own history as heavy spending socialists after all, and were barely able to run 308 candidates, the quality of which is certainly wanting. They're going to face intense scrutiny as the only viable opposition, while most of their MPs are from Quebec, so they're going to have to seriously change their issue focus to reflect that. That's a steep bloody learning curve if I ever saw one, and Quebec voters are not very forgiving. They've got this one term to get it right in my opinion.
Experiment