It’s been stewing for some time now -- my resentment over what I like to call the Liberal-not-so-lite tone of this so-called Conservative government and the not-so-conservatives who support their wishy-washy, I-wanna-get-elected agenda. I’m not the only one, but you’ll have to forgive me if sometimes, I start to wonder. With very few exceptions, I have heard little more than resounding silence from those among us who were so vocal, when it was the Liberals slathering our hard earned tax dollars on every small-minded, big-budgeted piece of nanny-state garbage.
Where are those voices of protest now?
Where are the condemnations for promises broken? Where are the demands for the Conservatives to hold themselves to the principles they campaigned on? Where are the expectations that the Conservative Party would govern like – oh, I don’t know – Conservatives?
Did the definition of conservatism change without me knowing it? Or have I simply misunderstood what it meant, all along?
Last I checked, it wasn’t about banning light bulbs, punitive taxation on our most productive, signing on to crackpot international income redistribution schemes, and bolstering the cause of the perpetual whiners in the “nation” of Quebec. We’re not supposed to find it acceptable to buy off the provinces where we need the most votes, for the sake of winning the brass ring of a majority.
And for the love of all that is holy…can someone please tell me why the Conservative Party’s website has more pictures of Stephane Dion than anyone else? And his name is everywhere. Is this some colossal subliminal campaign, orchestrated by subversives within the party? Or have we really just become the "Anti-Dion Liberal Alternative Party"? (oh my, isn't that catchy!)
Conservatives I know – my nearest and dearest included – have tried to lull me with promises of some “great turnaround” once we get a majority. But my question is…when did it become acceptable to trick the voters with a mushy-middle stance, only to pull the rug out once we get the power? Do we really have that much-touted hidden neocon agenda?
Another common excuse is that in the uber-compassionate socialist backwater that is Canada, a truly Conservative agenda is all but unelectable, that we would resign ourselves to political oblivion, for even trying. Well, why the hell bother then? Let’s just give up now, and suckle ourselves to sleep on the teat of government largess, content in the knowledge that no matter what is right – it’s all about the votes!
Here’s a hint for Stephen Harper – when the Canadian Press Gallery and the NDP are wasting inordinate amounts of time, sussing out the daily routines of your stylist, and the exact hue of your skin tone, it’s a sign that you’re not doing quite enough to piss them off about the really important stuff. And if you’re not pissing these guys off well, you’re clearly doing it all wrong.
I have been told many times, to look at things more pragmatically and I have oft been criticized for being an ideological purist. My answer to that is -- When did pragmatism become a virtue, to which all principle should be sacrificed and when did ideological purity become a bad thing? We have had decade after decade of ideologically void vote-whores and pragmatic political crooks. Look where it's gotten us. I'd say we could use a little less pragmatism and a little more ideological purity, for a change. This country deserves it.
If the Conservative Party of Canada wants to continue along the path of pop-culture fad-directed social engineering schemes, happy-faced fiscal gouging of the taxpayer and enthusiastic abandonment of all declared principles, more power to them. But they may find there's a lot of competition in this country, for that crown.
Maybe they should try on a new one, instead. Unless of course, it never fit in the first place.
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