Substantiating The Smear Campaign Against the Conservative Party of Canada ~ Read this Dean!

Have We Finally Found that Smoking Gun?             

Good Saturday Morning Canada. 

This is a Wakeup call.
Hit snooze [][] if you'd rather read.

Have we found the evidence that will finally see us reach the tipping point that so many us have been waiting for? Many of us have waited a long time for such evidence, and as accusations that the Harper Government  systematically bent or broke many of the rules during the May 2011 election swirl around the country, the Conservatives are crying foul. They say that "There is nothing to see here" or that they are the victims of a smear campaign. Well, one thing that happened today was a Huge Substantiation of the main thrust of the oppositions claims that Harper Broke the law in a Criminal way. They've been calling them Unsubstantiated smears for a while now. Day after day! But it turns out that we now have all the ammo we need to Finally wake Canadians. 

 Greg Perry Cartoonist ~ The Toronto Star

Trying?
What Does That Mean?  

How could they "try" to smear the Harper Government and fail to do so? The evidence that these no-longer Progressive Conservatives are all too willing to do anything to gain and keep power is everywhere. The evidence that they are incompetent on all files in all Departments is everywhere. The evidence that these ReformaCons are absolutely in lock-step with the Grand Old Party of America is everywhere. The evidence is all there for honest and intelligent Canadians to see.

Smearing it All Over the Canadian Consciousness
Should be a Cakewalk.

But it has not been. And the reason is simple: Canadians simply do not believe that anyone could be so dishonest, so deceitful, and so very guilty of such things as election fraud and still be the Government. 

Canadians, or so the story goes, would never be 'fooled by criminals into electing them'. Canadians are in fact quite mistaken in this assumption and it is all due to the fact that dishonesty, deceit, denial and obfuscation are so foreign to us and the very cornerstones of the Conservative Party of Canada. And those are not the ways of most of us, so we are reluctant to believe that they are really cheating us.

But, if the evidence that CBC's Terry Milewski released Thursday night, is what it appears to be, then that cheating and that election fraud is systemic and systematic and apparently they are very good at it!

 

Dean Del Mastro Conservative MP has used the phrase 

"Unsubstantiated Smear Campaign" 

over 50 times in the last two weeks. 

WHAT IS CIMS?

THE EMERGING PATTERNTERRY MILEWSKI SPECIAL REPORT ON ELECTION 41

Seriously, is this just a smear campaign?

Personally, I have been Smearing the Conservatives Ever Since I First Noticed Stephen Harper.
But None of it went Unsubstantiated.

I first started to spread this information just before Harper broke his own Fixed date Election law back in late August of 2008. I wrote this list right off the top of my head ~ it contains over 60 issues that pointed to their regressive ideology, and their dismal incompetence. That was almost four years ago. I had not, at the time come to realise the extent to which they were linked to American Right Wing 'Think' Tanks. But that is all public knowledge now. See next blog post.

Here's a comment from CBC.ca referencing that 2008 list!

A link to that CBC.ca Article ~ Now Archived

The very first issue on that long but incomplete list is "In and Out" and it refers to their having cheated democracy during the 2006 federal Election by diverting Money from local campaigns to the Federal one. That was completely outside of the Elections Act and after over five years of saying over and over and over again that it was "an administrative dispute." The Conservatives paid a $52,000.oo fine and just last week dropped their appeal and are paying back $230,000.oo to Elections Canada.

Hell, they even scream "Smear" 
when anyone suggests 
that they are not above racial slurs.

In the Current round of the Harper Government's claims that they are being victimised and are the object of unsubstantiated smears, most Canadians now seem to understand that that is not the case. Does that mean that Canadians are actually getting to know Mr. Harper and his dysfunctional caucus? How I wish it did.

Not until there is a full Public Inquiry into the RoboCon Affair that gets to the bottom of the tactics used and sheds much needed light on  the elements of the Conservative Party that owe their campaign tactics to one of Americas leading right wing hacks, Karl Rove, and leave them and those tactics naked and known to be what they really are,  will we have satisfied our curiosity. At that point I believe all those "smears" will have been substantiated. Most previous smears of this Government's name have been.

If you are not familiar with Karl Rove and his Political views, This may help!

As far as giving any more information on him and his connection to the hard Right NeoCon Machine here, it is too easy to find out all about him at Wikipedia, to need to say much, but I can show a short clip that illustrates some of the vibe that surrounds him.

 

Have we been Smearing them when we have said that we worry about their take on Woman's Rights? 

Was this video producer Smearing him or his Party? 
Or is it an indignant but Satirical Statement of Fact? 

~This Would have Already Happened ~
In a Perfect World!
Milewski Schools Our Mr. Harper
a short but rather interesting cartoon by: Kim_Leaman         
at ttSm

I mean it is still possible to smear someone, 
in an effort to make a statement.

I Owe Dean an Apology, but just this One!
I am in no real hurry, he Owes us all a few.

HEY Main Stream Media ~ Stop Comparing Voter Suppression to Public Service Announcements

Releasing These Important Details
About CPC Candidate ~ Marty Burke
WAS NOT A CRIME
it Was in Fact, Practically a
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

What the MSM has yet to tell us if they even know it, is that prior to the May 02, 2011 Federal Election a right wing lobby group Campaign life Coalition sent out questionnaires to every candidate in the country to see how they all felt about the issues that are near and dear to the Nutters on the Right. Now you can feel free to call me a Nutter on the left. I can live with that, But I can tell you this much, I would have wanted to know about this!

VISIT THIS SITE

One of the Series of Questionnaires
that was Mailed Out to Conservative Mark Burke
Came Back With This Frightening Result!

VISIT THE SITE and click on Questionnaire to View

I realise that the man who authorised the phone calls to non conservatives that gave them this information and who went on to win the riding, Liberal MP Frank Valeriote should have made damned good and sure that this message went out with his name on it, but he says he overlooked it.

No one in the Main Stream Media seems completely satisfied with that, but it does not apparently occur to any of them that it would obviously be known to the recipient of the calls that it was Not the Cons doing it. As I type this I am listening to a vacuous (name withheld) CBC announcer talking about it as if it is some great and powerful transgression that shows that the Liberals were doing something illegal and that that favours the Cons in there effort to cloud the discussion. That is Nonsense. 

Yet they just keep discussing it as if Dean Del Mastro had a clue about any of the subtleties of this and that he may be right in saying what we have all heard him saying and repeating endlessly and mindlessly for days on end. That Dean Del Mastro was being sincere is not even a possibility. 

Why did it NOT occur to any of them that by not identifying themselves, they left the door wide open for the householder to mistakenly think it may have been the NDP that had called them? Now stay with me here.  There are only two possibilities. 

1.) The householder receiving the call was passionately anti-choice. And you can call it pro-life if you prefer, but to me it is anti-choice, and that is another argument that we can have later ~  In which case they would not be swayed from voting conservative, and may even have switched to the conservatives from another choice that they had already somewhat decided upon After all only the conservatives are anti-choice, and not all of them are of course, but had they been, they would definitely have been CPC.

2.) The householder who received the call was pro-choice. In that case they would want this information, which as you see above was accurate, and actually was provided willingly by Mr. Burke These people would have, especially after hearing this,   voted for anyone but Mark Burke. They may even have been thankful for the information and voted for the party that provided that information. But since they forgot to identify the calling party, that vote could just as easily have gone to any other party, including the flying Spaghetti monsters.

So, in reality it was a disadvantage to Valeriote to have failed to self identify. And certainly Not some cunning scheme to cheat anyone.

But if this robocall affair (which I prefer to call the RoboCon Affair) has raised another concern, it may just be that it is time that we abandoned, or at the very least, demanded much more from the MSM than we have been getting from them lately. The Conservatives are doing their best to muddy the waters and the main stream media is doing nothing to provide the clarity that we all need and deserve.

That brings us to one other little thing. How many times a day do you hear the MSM say that we are not engaged, or that we are in the dark, or that we just do not care, or that this kind of issue tends to leave us not caring? Five? Ten? Twenty?

Don't laugh. I counted 35 times yesterday, and so far three times today, but hey, I spend 12 to 16  hours a day tuned in to MSM politics while on-line being heard and listening to and interacting with Canadians from coast to coast. And I can tell you this much. 

Canadian politics will start to heal only when we the people get off of our asses and help it heal and far from being a reason to disengage, the state of politics in this country, and the sad fact that the conservatives, at least the Big C ones, are no longer progressive and the obvious fact that they are connected to American politics, ideology and scandalous tactics is not a reason to give up on Canada and it's politics. 

If anything, it should help to crystallize in our minds the absolute need to become engaged, if not enraged, more aware and not be caught sitting back while others with far less to lose steal our fragile and vital democracy.


Most of us do not have to answer to an editor, an office manger, and advertiser, a board of directors, or share holders or political bullies, but there are those among us that do. And there is no way that we should ever feel that we have to answer to them.

We need to help change that dynamic and we need to let it be known that it is we citizens to whom the debt is owed. I want  a mainstream media that is either driven into the background or who evolves and  becomes a catalyst  for our re engagement.

They really should know enough and be free enough from interference to inspire us to get involved, but many of them are also on the side of the vote suppressors, whether by choice or by circumstance.

Oh, I gotta go. That odd daytime CBC lady just referred to Harper's "pledge to pass the Omnibus (more at Ominous) Crime Bill" which is IMO more of a threat than a pledge. and so should our awakening be more of a threat to wake up every Canadian than a pledge to support the dismal political atmosphere created by this dismal Harper Government!

I may be one of the few that sees reason for hope in the abject hopelessness that is the Harper Government. 

It Is Definitely A Reason 

And a Clarion Call To Rise.

And while you are at it. Please help us to Pressure Elections Canada to release the name of the despot or despots who thought it would be within the rules to divest anyone of their right to vote. And Please join with other Canadians to get the harper Government to call a Royal Commission to get to the bottom of this an fix it so that Nothing Like this ever happens again!

If  the so called Pierre Poutine did indeed come forward yesterday, as he said he would, and if he did indeed confess to something that everyone in the country knows to be a crime, then charge him immediately and unless he is a minor, Release his Name. We have waited for the answer to his identity long enough as it is.

And Yes this Really is Dean Del Mastro trying to defend
what he does not have the skill to defend.

The longer this farce goes on the longer the sheep that never get angry at, or frustrated with these Cons will be able to nod their heads in agreement as they listen to their hero Dean Del Mastro spouting ridiculous talking Points and whining that he and the Cons are the real victims in this affair. That too is nonsense.

Not that he can not sometimes be the victim, he is not exactly known for his glove hand, nor his stick work, after all, Lol!

**********************************************

This Just In:
Fake Video of fake Michael Sona? Surfaces

It is Definitely a Fake says the Montreal Gazette.  

This Whole Damned Story just Keeps Getting 

Curiouser and Curiouser

Vic Toews' 'Messy Secret' was No Secret at all ~ But he Plays the Victim.

Dim and Dimmer

 Well, this is a Riddle.

There has been a huge debate over the 'recent' leaking of documents concerning Conservative MP and Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews' divorce proceedings and the affair with his family baby-sitter as well the motivation and fallout from said divorce. It was released long ago, but some, including Mr. Toews, say that that leak demands to be investigated, some say it was already public knowledge.

The info of course, was released this past week through an anonymous Twitter account, @VikiLeaks30 (now taken down) set up by a secret non-admirer of Mr. Toews. There is however a mirror site with all the content re-issued verbatim and showing all 91 Tweets. 

I went looking for proof that details of it had in fact already been made public and I found it reasonably easily and actually remember having read it back when it was recent news. At any rate, it is only a small reference to the affair with a family babysitter and the subsequent divorce and is contained in this article about rumours that were flying at the time over what looked to be a very suspicious Judicial Appointment for Vic Toews. It is a story worth reading.

By Don Martin

"......But the 55-year-old Toews' public face of self-righteous morality is now clashing with his troubled private life. An MP dubbed the "minister of family values" by Liberals is embroiled in a messy divorce after fathering a child last fall with a much younger woman.

That's his business, frankly, yet it might explain why Mr. Toews was demoted to the Treasury Board and immediately cloaked by invisibility, stewing in question period silence while his junior parliamentary secretary juggles tough questions on election financing irregularities.

But if a judicial appointment is being used to ease a problem minister out of government, it only increases the galling patronage of the appointment.

And if they brazenly go ahead and hand him the $232,000-plus job and announce it in the dead of summer when nobody's looking, it will underline the optics of this government behaving no differently than any other. Justice Vic Toews would be a huge sign this government, even having become thoroughly Ottawashed, is still dirty.

dmartin@canwest.com
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc."

The riddle is this: The site offered me the opportunity to be the first to comment there. Seriously? The First? I seized that opportunity, but used it to point out that it did not seem logical that it would have gone without comment for all of these nearly four years and that given the recent furor over the problem of Bill C-30 and the even bigger problem, namely what is to be done with Vic Toews?

Had no earlier comments been made? Were there comments previously that had been removed?

The only comment there now is this:

To View the comment or to add one Click Here

So, now I guess we have to see why this is so. Why were their no comments? A Tweet or two might shed a bit of light on it.

There is also this story from the Summer of 2008

This was in 2008. As it turns out these 4 years later,
many of us are in fact quite worried

And oh, by the way, in case you had missed it above, the entire text of the @Vikileaks30 Tweets is still available on Twitter at a newly minted Mirror Account.  

Vic Plays at Being the Helpless Victim

An Open Letter
"To My Constituents

          Dear Constituents,

Over the last few weeks I have been subjected to an extensive personal attack by my political opponents as a result of certain legislation that I have introduced in the House of Commons on behalf of the federal government.
These attacks, which have included criminal acts and threats of criminal acts against me and my family, have been referred to the police for investigation. Any further criminal activity or threats of criminal activity against me or my family will also be referred to the police.
As my constituents I would like you to know that the personal attacks, criminal acts and threats of future criminal acts against me will not dissuade me from carrying out my responsibilities as an elected Member of the House of Commons and as the Minister of Public Safety for Canada.
The personal attacks against me are based on allegations contained in affidavits filed in the course of my divorce proceedings a number of years ago. The affidavits are on the public record and filed with the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench. These allegations have been the basis of prior personal attacks against me and I assume they will form the basis of attacks against me for many years to come.
I want you to know that I have never responded publicly to the specific allegations made in these affidavits nor will I ever do so. I will be fully accountable for any responsibility that I bear for the breakdown of my previous marriage but that accountability is not something I owe to the public generally or to my political opponents in particular. It is a personal accountability which I cannot avoid nor do I seek to do so.
However, I do want you to know that I have a spouse and a young son who I love more than life itself.
The other night, while I was reading my favourite poet, William Butler Yeats, I came across these lines:
‘Yet they that know all things but know That all this life can give us is A child’s laughter, a woman’s kiss.”
No words could ever describe my love for my young son and my spouse any better. What a fortunate man I am to have them in my life. 

Sincerely,
Vic Toews
MP for Provencher " 

 And just to set the record straight, I responded to a usually sensible blogger who has let Vic Toews off the hook ~ based it appears, solely on this somewhat soulless letter!

WOW! Just when you think it is all over... This Just In!

"A "gag order" written into the government's proposed Internet snooping bill makes it an offence for telecommunication companies to tell customers whether their personal information has been handed over to investigators, police or government, according to one privacy lawyer.

The contentious and dense piece of legislation intends to make it easier for government and law enforcement authorities to get warrantless access to personal information of any Canadian using the Internet, under the pretence of protecting children from online predators."


Last Word:

I am still wondering if Vic Toews is actually getting the message.  I wonder if he knows that Twitter is a public domain open to any with an account?  I wonder if he gets that it is possible to follow all of his Tweets, or address any Tweet to him or use a hash-tag to chat about him endlessly. he actually changed the name arbitrarily on a piece of legislation that he apparently never read, what are the chances that he even knows how twitter works.

So, good old Vic, after taking a full day to lick his wounds and write that letter, or have it written for him, is right back on Twitter today Twittering away all by himself. 

All the while, people from all over the world are still addressing him over and over through his handle: @ToewsVic and using the Hash-Tag #TellVicEverything as he ignores it all and acts as if all is right in his world. It is obviously not.

According to his Account: He follows 72 other accounts. And also according to Twitter, many of them Are Just Like Him, lol! Sadly that is the truth and a search of this blog using the word Amygdala will explain all of that. 

See Who Vic Toews is Following

He is now saying that he is being threatened and the RCMP have been called in. It really never seems to stop.

Would Stephen Harper Qualify to Become a CPC Member?

Does

If you don't ask, I won't tell.

A good friend of mine over at C.R.U.S.H. ~ Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, asked a question today. And yes, it is the same question that any Canadian, ^NOT entirely in the dark about 'dear leader' asks every other day:

"What needs to happen to rid this country of Stephen Joseph Harper"?

So, we batted around the same tired old ideas, all of which could potentially work and in fact should work, but none of which succeed for various reasons.

Those tactics have included, among other things; defeating him in a General Election, having him arrested or rendered (a word that many governments use when someone is kidnapped by them. Of course if we did it it would be called kidnapping) and have him sent to The Hague in Switzerland, along with his old friends George W. Bush and Dick Cheney to face justice at the International Criminal Court. We considered also, getting the 'owned' and generally myopic, non-testicular, (having to do with the lacking of balls) and willingly sycophantic (sadly having to do with the Licking of balls) Canadian Mainstream Media to co-operate, and the waking of Canadians to political realities and the now 1200 reasons (here are 100 of them that were compiled back when it would have been easier) that he is ^NOT a leader and how how and why he simply can ^NOT be trusted.

But today was somehow different. Something was suggested that I had not heard before, a tactic so unthinkable, so repulsive as to have gone without consideration by anyone at C.R.U.S.H. for the last two years. It was a tactic that would require brashness and bravery, a very strong stomach and the willingness to work with some very unsavoury characters. It was suggested that we consider joining the Conservative Party of Canada en mass and bring it down from within. It was suggested that we become as it were, a Trojan Horse or as a more modern mind would put it, infiltrate the borg. Well, that was certainly ^NOT on my agenda, but since I have not yet given up and will never succumb to the notion that resistance is futile I agreed to consider it.

So, I decided to see just who qualified to join the Borg. I quickly found this information:

Founding Principles eh? Well, I doubted that I could possibly agree with them, I am no Conservative, but it might be worth a look. What harm could it do,  just to have a look?

And as I read them it occured to me that many of them do not seem to be principles that I would ever have attributed to Stephen Harper. Lets just pick a few that help to add the light of day to those doubts.

1.) "A balance between fiscal accountability, progressive social policy and individual rights and responsibilities" ~ Well, that is the first one on their list, and although I agree with it, does Harper?

Are they fiscally accountable? 

No. They were forced to reveal the numbers last Fall and even then they faked most of them, and ended up being charged with contempt because of it. They still have not released any real numbers since they took office. They are in aconstant fight with the Parliamentary Budget Officer over exactly that.

Are they in favour of progressive social policy?

No. they want to jail as many Canadians as the existing prisons will hold, and then build more prisons. Every expert in Canada says that this will lead to higher residivism rates and that it will all contribute to poverty and despair.

Are they defenders of our Indivdual rights?

No. Individual rights have begun to deteriorate under harper. Even as a minority prime minister, he started limiting personal rights. As I write this he continues to allow Canadians to be arrested and abused simply for assembling in peaceful protest and has been much less tolerant of dissent than any other government in our history. His imprudent use of Toronto as a backdrop to the 2010 G20 was an exercise in state power and control. 1130 persons were hauled off to spend an average of 24 hours in cages that just happened to be there for the purpose. The Occupy Movement has only highlighted his contempt for th eindividual rights of Canadians. His party is the only one to show no signs of even admuitting that their is a difference between Billionaires and the homeless.  

Individual responsibilities?

Hell yeah, that part he agrees with. Never in our history has so much time, money and effort been levied against us to teach us about our personal and individual responsibilities. There is very likely a second recession on it's way and it is going to be our responsibility to ride it out while we suffer cuts and fewer services. The fact that it is not our doing does not stop it from being our responsibility.

That is just the first bullet point above and already it is apparent that Stephen Joseph is not qualified to be even a member of the party, let alone it's leader.

The list of requisite conservative beliefs goes on to include a belief in our Parliamentary institutions, a respect for the rule of Law, a belief in the Environment, a belief in the equality of all Canadians, a belief that good government is responsive and attentive to the needs of it's citizens.......

The list is long and none of it confirms that Stephen Harper is qualified to be a member of that party in any real sense. I could go on,  and over the next few days, I will probbably flesh this thought process out a bit, but my point is already made. I can add lnks to the web that demonstrate all of these concerns, and I may do that, but It may be time that those who wrote this charter and founding principles actually took them to heart, and considered how very far off the mark that this little man has taken them.

So, No, I was wrong above and could easily join a party that stood for all of these great principles, but if anyone in the know thinks that it is possible for a party to do so with this fopp at the helm, they are either sadly mistaken or taking a page out of the Neo-con book and lying!

That, I believe is exactly what Stephen Harper has been doing for the past 15 years. It should be obvious that he can ^NOT be trusted. I mean seriously, if he really cared in the least about the values listed above, would he put up with the likes of  Tony, 'hands in the till' Clement? 

Please feel free to comment below. I will have little trouble answering any of your questions. The proof is everywhere if you open those baby blues.

Meet the First Harperland Cabinet ~ A Simple Photo Opportunity?

Mark My Words Folks, the next four years are ^NOT going to be good years for this country. Not on your life. Late last year, back in Canada, when it was announced that the name of the government was being changed, I was against formally calling 'The Government of Canada', "The Harper Government" and made myself heard on the subject But this new twist, this strange new twist, has me thinking that I would be very much in favour of renaming this Great Country, so long known as the Dominion of Canada, to the more appropriate "Harperland". Welcome fellow Harperlanders (it's OK you'll get used to it) to the first few days of a Harper Majority. Hold onto your hats, hide the silverware, and remember:         Take ^Notes.

 
       So, WELCOME TO HARPERLAND!

No, I haven't completely lost it, ( just yet) but I want it to be easy to keep this four and a half years separate from the first one hundred thirty four years of Canada's proud history, at least in people minds. I want everyone to know that this is ^NOT the Canada of Diefenbaker. This is not the Canada of; Pearson, Trudeau, Clark, Campbell, Mulroney, Chretien, Stanfield, Martin and this is not the Canada of the "Minority Harper Government".  No, this is a brand new entity. This is ^NOT Canada as I recognize it.

Neither am I suggesting that we forget the lessons learned during the Minority Harper Government, as it is obvious that these lessons were never really learned. The information is still there though, and even the over zealous Stephen Harper will ^NOT be able to hide it. He will however, double, re-double and again re-double his grip on Harperland and most of that in the next 100 days. I will be doing my best to chronical at least some of this huge undertaking.


The New Harperland cabinet was announced today, may 18, 2011, although a lot of it, was released last night, as harper was bursting at the seams like the suitcoat he bought last fall is now bursting at the seams, to get the Good News out there. (see the previous blog post, just below)

                         ~ The first Harperland Ubercabinet ~
        ~ A Photo-Opportunistic Adventure in Pomp & Metaphor ~ 

I have just got to admit that I see pure metaphor in the image behind this group of Harperland's Founders.  In this beautiful bewitching painting (see below for details) the local people are gathering, coming from all directions, from far and wide, their mouths agape, their innocent faces turned upward, on an up hill climb, staring awestruck at the huge figure of a big blue Bird, who is itself being seemingly adored by another closer, darker group. Am I reading too much into it? I sure hope so.

If you are new to this, start with this smaller group:

        So, Keep busy, Stay awake, Take notes, Hide the silverware. I'll be back!


But, Before I go, I want to reassure you that although I have no real faith in Harper or anyone in his cabinet, I am aware that there are still real heros in the world. And that brings me back full circle to the Painting behind the man behind the curtain!
(thanks to Karen C for the reminder)

This painting was done by a man who never set foot in Harper land. He spent his entire life as a Canadian and he was a beautiful Canadian. He was an amazing painter.

please have a look.


Seriously, I'll be back. thanks.

The Truth about Canada: Mel Hurtig

In Victoria on May 21, 2008 in support of his latest book, "The Truth About Canada", Canada's premier Nationalist, Mel Hurtig, dishes the dirt on the media, corporate corruption and even the disappointing and embarrassing performance of Canada in comparison to other countries of the OECD. Mel even names a few names as he covers the garage sale, bargain-box sell-off of our once proud nation. © 2008 Lazarus Productions


Mel Hurtig: The Truth About Canada   (55:06)

There Are More than 300 Reasons to Unseat the Cheat! Harper Must Go!

This Guy Has Had Enough!



I've had Enough as Well!



This Just In: Harper's Dyslexia Leads to Debate Faux Pas! Not Beiber, Stevie,  Beaver!

I think that that says Most of it, But there are Many Many more Issues than These. Join CRUSH NOW!

Polls Are For Trolls and Fools ~ Just Ignore Them!

Or Better yet, just stop taking them!

The Nik Nanos interview on CTV's Power Play  on Sunday Feb 20th (see the Nanos interview at the 1:38 minute mark) should have been billed as a Conservative Infomercial, or at the very least, a Con Game. And since it was not, I think some might have taken it seriously, the way Canadians do. Not that they tend to take it so seriously that they look at the disclaimers at the bottom of the stats, or even more importantly, the light that was made to shine on it just last week in print, and on "AT ISSUE" by Allan Greg. He is always described by Mansbridge as a long time Conservative Pollster, so it was refreshing to hear his refresher on the subject.


Allan Greg speaks to "The House" on CBC radio via CBC.ca
At any rate, The Cons are not worried, nor will they be until the Pollsters stop hyping them. Nik Nanos like all pollsters who insinuate that polls can be trusted, simply can ^NOT be trusted. And an increasing number of those of us who like to do a bit of math when we have doubts, see that the numbers are more political than scientific and our oddly widespread faith in them makes them much more able to affect outcomes than predict them. Polls don't just let us know who is going to win, they help determine it.

I Call in to "The Week" ~ A Sunday NOON ET show on CPAC with a few Questions and a few comments including one about Greg's idea that these Polls are now unreliable and as always an exercise in political interference. I ask them why in light of this, they still insist on pushing poll results.

Watch it Here ~ I'm on at the 23 minute mark,
but the whole show is well worth a look.

Pollsters call a few thousand or so (that's one in every 70,000 or so voters) mostly folks on land lines, only 15 to 20% of whom will talk to them at all and blithely come up with numbers which are (19 times out of twenty) somewhere ( according to them) within +/-3.4% (That's a possible 6.8 points off of, (-) or added to (+) the total spread) and rely on our being too damned lazy to do the math.

We could simply subtract that 6.8% and know that the current (supposed) 14% spread might only be 7.2% but they never bother to do that little bit of the real math on our behalf.

And don't forget that one in Twenty polls where even that huge inaccuracy is multiplied by built in error. (nineteen times out of twenty, remember)

Now Keep in mind that these polls are pretty much weekly and given the 52 weeks that is a year here in Canada, we are fed this twentieth poll two or three times a year. They don't bother to make that clear. Like I said they leave us to do that math. Why?


Is it because they know that it would show them to be irrelevant and leave them much less useful to the political parties that pay for them? I am afraid  that that is a sad and distinct possibility.

Food for thought.
A Review BY ALLAN GREGG of"
"Harperland" ~ The Politics of Control by Lawrence Martin published by Viking Canada