Be careful not to damage your hearing Mr. Simpson.

Your cognitive dissonace is deafening.


I personally find it difficult to comprehend that there is a "base" of people that are still in the thrall of minimum sentences over pot but this seems to be the case.


Among many editorials slamming the omnibus bill to Harperize Canada, the one by Jeffery Simpson stands out. It is a good smackdown of the bill in particular. And Harperism in general with money quotes like this:

The Harper government has this weird contempt for solid evidence. It pops up from time to time when, in the face of expert evidence, the government just barrels ahead in another direction. Recall the government’s abolition of the long-form census, a move opposed by statisticians and groups that rely on the most accurate statistics possible. Recall the government’s insistence after the 2008 recession had begun that no recession was under way. Recall in the matter of criminal justice the parade of judicial spokesmen, lawyers, criminologists and prison experts urging, even imploring, the government to cease and desist.

Couldn't agree more.  But didn't your paper twice strongly endorse Mr. Harper well after this trait was made clear?

Even scarier is Mr. Nicholson’s assurance that “this is not the end; this is just the beginning of our efforts.” He promises that “we’ll introduce other legislation as well.”

Some day, many years and many failures from now, it will fall to some other government to undo these measures.

Mr. Simpson, along with Lawrence Martin et al., have often displayed their cognizance of this destiny under a Conservative government.  How will we get rid of a patently incompetent government if commentators with the gravitas of Messrs. Simpson and Martin have employers who emphatically support Harper?

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It is a bad strategy to fight a two front war

It is axiomatic in warfare that you should never get involved in a war on two fronts.

A key feature of Harper's strategy since 2006 has been to frame the new Liberal leaders before they had a chance to frame themselves.  These relentless ad campaigns were unprecedented, repellent and, unfortunately, successful.  Only a fool would expect that a similar fate did not await the next Liberal leader.

The incipient NDP leadership campaign adds an additional facet to this.  Now that the Liberals and the NDP will have quasi-contemporaneous campaigns, which new leader will the Conservatives attack?  The Liberal or the NDP?  Or both?  While the latter may appear more likely, how effective will a two front campaign be?  Will spewing that much poison backfire?  How much will it cost?

I have no idea what the answers to these questions are.  And I expect the Conservatives don't either.  But there is a high probability that they won't be able to resist a second front.Recommend this Post