WARNING!
This post contains some "Industrial Language."
Just as the Conservative Party has done on eight other occasions including their ridiculous
Omnibus Crime Bill, since they became a 'Split-Vote Majority', they have stated recently that they would also seek
Closure on the Budget. No more discussion, just push it through as quietly as possible. These guys like their stealth. There is no doubt that this Closure will happen, and that all debate will stop, in spite of the huge flaws in everything this government authors, the time for sober thought is over. Or so said the government.
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"The best laid plans of mice and men
ofttimes go astray" |
It all seemed to be going along so well, just as the prime minister had hoped. But any thoughts that the PMO had that the issue of these repeated and so obviously undemocratic forced closures would escape the somewhat myopic Canadian main-stream-media were suddenly dashed on the evening of November 16th 2011. That was when Pat Martin decided to 'tweet' to the world, or at least to his relatively few followers on Twitter, (at that point he had only about a thousand) and in his usual raw and passionate style, he said exactly what was on his mind.
Upon a quick reading of that tweet it is not so very hard to sense that he was 'somewhat frustrated' with the way that our long and proud democracy is relentlessly being attacked in the frightening new and still unfolding 'Harper Land.'
When asked repeatedly if he intended to apologise he simply said "No."
He stated very succinctly that he had no intention of retracting any of it. Apparently, unlike the prime minister, Pat Martin knows that it is wrong to make apologies that would not be heartfelt expressions of contrition. Good for You, Mr. Martin, good for You!
And what has become of all this in the first 24 hours?
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| 8:00 pm Thursday |
Well, for starters, Pat's
Facebook profile has been getting a lot of friend requests, his
Facebook page has been collecting a lot of 'likes', both have been getting a lot of traffic as has his Twitter account. It is gaining followers by the hundreds. I took a screen shot at 8 pm. and another a few moments ago, which is only about 6 hours apart. As you can, see the number of his followers has grown by over 1400 in that short time.
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| 2:00 am Friday |
And of course, it was a trending topic on Twitter in Canada, if only for about 18 hours or so. That may make Canadians seem somewhat fickle, but nothing changes quite as fast as Twitter's trending topics.
To see real-time stats on Pat Martin's Twitter feed, to see what the fuss is about, or to Follow him
Click HERE" The (twitter) exchange was monitored by Martin's (at time of publishing) 1,600 followers and caused a stir throughout the Twitterverse. Martin told the Free Press (Winnipeg) this morning he was surprised by the uproar and admitted he'd had "hundreds" of calls since the tweet last night. "I can't believe that," he said.
He also said that most of the comments he is getting from his own caucus colleagues are supportive because they too are so frustrated by the repeated closure of debate by this government.
It (closure ~ttsm) has happened numerous times this fall including on the omnibus crime bill and the bill to eliminate the monopoly of the Canadian Wheat Board. (And I will add my compliments here to Pat for being the Opposition's most effective speaker on that subject. ~ ttsm)
"It (the original tweet) happened while I was voting. I was looking across at them and thinking they don't even know the damage that they've done," he said of the Conservative MPs. "It took the Liberals 13 years to get this arrogant." (it has taken the Harper Government only 6 months~ ttsm)
Interim NDP Leader, Nycole Turmel is not asking Martin to apologize though she doesn’t agree with his words. "His language was not appropriate and could have been offensive to some. That said, the Conservatives' actions are not appropriate in a democracy and offensive to all Canadians."
Martin is known to be one of the most colourful MPs in the House of Commons and has come under fire numerous times for his comments. "
He also said that it was "industrial language" and that having come from a background of construction work, he knew that it was the way many Canadians talk. He also pointed out that the word (fuck) was in fact in the dictionary,
which of course it is, and that he felt no apology of any kind was necessary.
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| Go Pat Go! |
I agree Pat, there is no need to apologize, and certainly not to me. I cannot imagine having to work so near the prime minister, or any of his raucous caucus, on a daily basis and not wanting to lash out at the mind-numbing idiocy and ideology that has overtaken this once rather civilized country. The time for passively taking Mr. Harper at face value has long since passed. It is time to stand up to this bully once and for all. It is time to expose his every shortcoming. It is time to see him as he really is, and if one has to be that rude to get the attention of the press, then so be it. I say: Bring it on.
Personally, I just wish that the Corporate owned Media would finally clue in to the fact that all is
^NOT well in Harper Land. They need to understand that the cumulative effect of such a dismal leader's presence among us ( or rather, above us) is more important than their constantly myopic 24 hour news cycle. They really do not seem to 'get' that history is a continuum, that one thing builds on another and that there is a responsibility on their part to see each day in the context of those days, weeks and years that came before it.
Hell, I am still fuming over the "Income trust scandal", The "In and Out Scheme" and all those other 1200 or more issues that have arisen since Mr. Stephen Joseph Harper has come onto the Canadian political scene.
The real story in Canada remains the Harper Government's very
well documented contempt and ignorance of our parliamentary process. That is the story that needs to be told.
That may or may not happen. But it certainly begs the same old question:
What does it take to wake up a Country when their own so-called main stream media sleeps so soundly, as their own Democracy is under such a threat?
It reminds me of some sedentary and yet,
very well-paid Rip Van Winkle.
~ With sincere apologies to Pinky. ~
~ The Brain, I'm afraid, is entirely on his Own ~
