The Rants of Issachar

Yesterday, Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh accused the NDP of being in an unholy Alliance with the seperatists and the Conservatives. Oh please. Will you stop the FUD now? It's stupid and it's ticking me off. I mean it would just be pathetic if it weren't so corrosive to our democracy.

The NDP is not in an alliance with the Bloc. The Conservatives are not in an alliance with the Bloc. The Liberal Party is not the sole guardian of all things Canadian and when you try to pretend that any of these things are true, you're polarizing the electorate to your own benefit and the nation's detriment.

Every time I read that kind of crap it makes it every less likely that I'll ever vote Liberal. If you want to be the FUD party, just keep doing what you're doing.

Posted by:  Valerius

I'd be annoyed with the liberals too - if they were the only ones doing it. The Tories have used their fair share of FUD in the past, and will probably do so again. Probably all the parties do it in one form or another. I usually just shrug it off as part of the normal election style bs.

BTW, that reader location map is great. You even have a reader in China I see.

Posted by:  issachar

Yeah, that's the response I usually get from people.

I don't buy it though. It strikes me as a cop out. (No offense intended honestly). I hate the FUD and I won't vote for people who try it. Most recent perpetrators of it are the Liberals. They also happen to be the best at it. Harper has a hidden agenda, a vote for the NDP is a vote for Stephen Harper, the Conservatives are in bed with the separatist bloc, (because we'd all forgotten the bloc were separatists), if the Liberals don't get a majority nothing will ever get done in parliament, (oddly enough the Israeli's and others who always have coalitions seem to get things done), they're burning crosses on the lawns of Prince George, and by the way Stephen Harper eats babies! (Okay, I made the last one up).

I'm sick of it.

Posted by:  issachar

I probably shouldn't post when I'm sleepy, but I felt like doing it anyway.

Does anyone else think that "stop the FUD" would make a good campaign slogan? It would work for either the NDP or the Conservatives I think. The Greens might like it, but they haven't really been smeared (yet).

On another note, long time no talkie Valerius. I saw your post on Carla's blog. Glad to see you didn't drop off the map! :)

Posted by:  pasivirta

yo, good post, and its interesting to see that the liberals are pissing off just about everyone, I didn't imagine you would remain in their camp (if I remember correctly...) anyways. how goes the grind?

Posted by:  Valerius

You forgot a few, Issachar: The Liberals are working with organized crime, all Liberals are corrupt and stealing your money, Paul Martin supports child pornography, gay marriage legislation attacks religious freedom and/or will force churches to marry gay couples.

(oh yeah, and don't forget Jack Layton waving around his credit card while talking about health care, just in case you thought I was only picking on the Tories)

Liberal FUD works so much better because the Conservatives keep playing right into it. There always seems to be someone in the back row comparing abortion to the holocaust, or something equally surreal.

Issachar said:"I don't buy it though. It strikes me as a cop out. (No offense intended honestly). I hate the FUD and I won't vote for people who try it."

This may seem strange but - I agree, in a way, it is a bit of a cop out. But one based in the fact that if you refuse to vote for a party that uses FUD, how are you going to vote? Green? You'd have very few options.

"stop the FUD" would be a good slogan, but I don't think it should come from a party. Maybe some independent organization, like a Canadian version of factcheck.org (if one doesn't already exist)

Posted by:  issachar

Valerius,

Point taken. The Conservatives do FUD too, although somewhat less effectively as you noted. "Organized Crime" is classic FUD. The "oh, they're organized and they committed a crime" excuse was pathetic.

I may be wrong though, but I find that both the Federal NDP and the Conservatives resort to FUD a lot less than the Liberals. Chretien was a grandmaster at it, and it won elections. It isn't surprising that they would continue with a winning strategy.

I'm not sure the FUD works because they play into it. I think it works because a lot of people are either too stupid or lazy to think.

What really gets my goat on this is that the one Canadian politician that I know of who never resorted to FUD as far as I know was deemed "unelectable". That would be Preston Manning. What's most disappointing is that he wasn't unelectable just because of his policy. Far too often it was irrelevant things like the timber of his voice. Or the fact that he wouldn't go for the jugular.

I refuse to give up though. It doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to vote for the lesser of the two weasels. I demand better.

The Conservatives are getting my vote this time but they don't have it locked up for the next election. I really am quite concerned they're going to descend back into "whatever it takes to get elected". That's when they lose me. What I'll do then I don't know, but I'm not voting for "same swill - different trough".

And don't discount Green. At some point, you have to stop voting for bums. If all you've got on that day is Green then that's who you should vote for.

Good thought on FactCheck.org. I should find out if one exists. If it doesn't how'd you like to start one with me?

Posted by:  Carla

haha, Issachar, as if you'd ever vote Liberal. Federally, that is of course...

Posted by:  issachar

Carla,

Would I ever vote Liberal? Not at the moment, but if you think it's impossible, you're wrong.

Unlike you, I actually was a Paul Martin fan. I didn't think it was possible to balance the budget as quickly as he did when he was Finance Minister, but clearly I was wrong. Granted he did it in no small part by dumping spending responsibilities on the provinces while keeping all the best revenue methods federal, but the fact remains that he balanced the budget. That's big and I was impressed. Competence is a big reason to vote for someone. It's not the only reason though. Right now the cons outweight the pros by a hefty margin. Particularly because his lack of awareness during the sponsorship scandal, as well as the mess of the HRDC have seriously undermined my belief in his competence. But right now it's the FUD that's bothering me the most.