Andre Molnar 2.0 - Politics

File under: American Legislators are Clueless

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 08:17:18 -0700

House Misfires On Internet Safety
US House passes bill to restrict social software

The internet itself is social software. The power of the network is the network of people and their ideas it creates. If you take away the 'social networking' tools, what are you left with? Boring one way 'broadcasting' services and a lousy shopping mall that can't include customer product reviews.

The bill doesn't stop social networking sites from existing, but stops people from accessing them from public spaces like the library or schools.

How stupid is that?

andre

Belinda Stronach for PM?

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 06:15:44 -0800

Paul Martin has said he will not be leading the Liberals in the next election. This of course means that there will be a Liberal convention to choose a new leader of the party.

Names like Brian Tobin have already come up, but I'm kind of hoping for Belinda Stronach.

Socially progressive and fiscally conservative, Stronach would have a good chance of leading the party to victory. And she's not hard to look at.

I mean come on Canada, wouldn't you want to be known as the country with the hottest leader in the free world?

andre

No winners

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 05:50:50 -0800

We may have a new Prime Minister in Canada, but none of the political parties can claim a real victory.

Conservatives:
They managed to pick up more seats, but they fell well short of a majority. Canadians wanted a change, but not radical change. The result of the election also highlighted the source of conservative votes: rural Canada. This is a sociological pattern seen everywhere in the western world. If people live close together (large urban cities) they tend to be more progressive. Where people live farther apart they tend to be more conservative.

Its not enough for the Conservatives to move closer to the centre of the political spectrum. They have to move left if they hope to capture seats in cities like Toronto.

Liberals:
They lost power. A loss can rarely be regarded as a victory.

They did not, however, get blown out completely. Some Canadians may have been frustrated with Liberal scandal, but a great number of them still believe that the Liberal platform is more "Canadian" than the alternatives.

Conservative's Conservative values

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 00:44:22 -0800

The Toronto Star asks Is religious right poised to set Harper's agenda?.

Good question. The answer, IMHO, is yes.

andre

I may have spoken too soon: Harper certainly has

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 00:09:29 -0800

Just the other day I was saying, "This time around Stephen Harper is mum about [forming a majority government]."

Well, today Harper's lips got a bit looser. He has started to muse about a conservative victory and the jinx may be let out of the box.

The polls had already started to show that conservative support in voter (and seat) rich Ontario was moving away from the conservatives. Fear of a conservative win may just push some more key swing voters further away from Harper and company. And nothing is more frightening than actually hearing Harper say, "I'm gonna win."

The truth is that many Canadians want change for the sake of change. But, at the same time they don't want too much change (and the Conservatives certainly represent 'too much' change). So, for many this election may be about choosing the devil they know vs the devil they don't. Or, they might just vote NDP and give the two leading parties a 'thanks but no thanks.'

Harper may be quiet - but his supporters wont shut up

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 05:50:08 -0800

In the last election Stephen Harper started speaking about a majority Conservative government when polls indicated that the Conservatives had started to move ahead in the polls. But, a few days later the lead had eroded. It was over. The Conservatives formed the oposition in a minority government - and all fingers pointed at Harper's comments - as if they had 'jinxed' a sure thing.

This time around Stephen Harper is mum about the topic. No matter what the polls have said, Harper has been very quiet on the subject of a majority government lest history repeat itself. And, previously outspoken members of his party have also been very quite (not just about a majority government - quite frankly about anything and everything - lest they slip up and reveal the true agenda of the party). If they just keep quiet....

Well, it doesn't matter what Stephen Harper says or doesn't say. The conservative media in Canada can't control themselves and won't shut up about the possibility of a majority.

Copyright: Liberal won't sign the pledge

Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:28:22 -0800

Online Rights Canada has a pledge proposed by Michael Geist that basically asks that if as an MP are going to work on copyright law in the Heritage ministry - that you wont accept campaign contributions from "(i) a copyright lobby group, (ii) its corporate members, or (iii) senior executives as well as (iv) a copyright collective".

The problem is that Sam Bulte wont take the pledge - but will take campaign contributions - and its creating a lot of buzz in her Toronto riding - and around the world.

andre

Liberals on the attack

Wed, 11 Jan 2006 21:53:24 -0800

Well, the Liberals have pulled out all the stops and have gone after Stephen Harper in a major way.

Two of the ads I could have written myself. 1 makes reference to the Washington Times article I featured a little while back. The other talks about a speech Stephen Harper made to a group of right-wing nutbars from the states... where he gushes over how great the conservative movement is in America.

But, I'm not sure if the ads will work. I mean I hope to god they do. After all they are all so very true. Stephen Harper wants Canada to be like Bush's America. I think that a lot of Canadians really need to know that before they cast a vote against the Liberals. If they are pissed at the Liberals, they shouldn't cast a vote for the Conservatives just 'to get even.' Instead of giving the Liberals the screwgie they're going to end up fucking themselves... and me along with them.

Americans would like to see Stephen Harper be Prime Minister

Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:48:55 -0800

I think that a recent Washington Times opinion piece accurately describes how happy George Bush might be if Stephen Harper were to win the January 23rd, 2006 election. The piece does a good job of pointing out how Stephen Harper and the Conservative platform shares the current U.S. presidency's view on the world. Pro Iraq war, anti-Kyoto, and socially conservative.

Its true. Stephen Harper couldn't be more like George Bush and the Neo Conservatives if he tried.

If you like that sort of thing Stephen Harper and the Conservative party of Canada is for you. But if you are like 73% of Canadians that have an unfavourable view of George Bush you might want to seriously think about not casting a vote for the conservatives.

That's right. Innovative Research recently polled Canadians finding that 73% had an unfavourable view of the U.S. President. No real surprise there. The shocker is that Bush's dream candidate (Stephen Harper) could form a government a month from now.

Layton Surges ahead of None

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 19:13:11 -0800

A recent SES poll shows that Jack Layton's performance in last weeks debates has helped the NDP leader gain some ground. For the first time since the begining of the campaign Layton has moved to 4th position displacing None as the choice for best PM.

The popularity of Unsure doesn't seem to have wavered as Unsure holds steady in 2nd place behind Paul Martin. Harper is unchanged in 3rd.

Best PM
Martin – 26% (-3)
Unsure – 23% (+10)
Harper – 22% (NC)
Layton – 13% (-3)
None – 9% (-2)
Duceppe - 5% (-2)
Harris – 2% (-2)

Keep checking back for my continued analysis of the campaign and the best PM polling.

andre

Nobel Prize Winner Tells it like it is

Mon, 19 Dec 2005 19:39:26 -0800

How does the United States get away with what it does? How can it do what it does in good conscience? Why does the world turn a blind eye? When will the United States be held accountable?

Harold Pinter asks these questions and others in his Nobel lecture (and indeed offers some answers). But, the real theme is the distortion of reality. What is truth? What is a lie?

A must read.

andre

Unsure Surges Ahead in the Polls

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 19:40:22 -0800

Harper and Layton continue to slide, but Unsure is making big gains.

Canadians know what they want - and its uncertainty. If the election were held today - and if Unsure could form a party and have candidates run in all ridings, Unsure just might be the next leader of the opposition.

Best PM
Martin - 28% (-1)
Unsure - 22% (+9)
Harper - 19% (-3)
None - 12% (+1)
Layton - 10% (-6)
Duceppe - 6% (-1)
Harris - 2% (-2)

The full story: (From SES Research)

If the election were held Sunday night, it would have likely yielded the exact same result as the previous election. Based on the tracking completed Sunday all three major parties registered the same support as the election in June 2004 (Liberal 37, Conservative 30, NDP 16).

The Bloc as of Sunday night registered 13% support (one point higher than the last election) and the Green Party 5% (one point higher than the last election).

Sunday was a particularly good day for both Stephen Harper and Jack Layton. Their performance scores for Sunday were up while the Paul Martin's daily evaluation slid. Also of note is that the percentage of Canadians who are unsure who would make the best PM has continued

A summer of Liberal rule

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 11:10:41 -0700

Well, the governing Liberal party of Canada will continue to hold onto power at least until the end of summer.

So says Peter Mackay deputy leader of the Conservatives. Yup, he's read the same polls I have, and the Conservatives know they would have no chance of winning an election even if they did topple the government. So, they'll wait until the political winds change.

Even though they wouldn't want to topple the government, it seems that if Bill C-38 (the same sex marriage bill) would come to a vote the government would fall whether anyone wanted it to or not.

Now this is troublesome to me. MPs have said they would vote against the bill because they are personally opposed to it. Pat O'Brien even left the Liberal party because of his own beliefs on the matter. So, even though nobody wants an election - and even though this isn't about the oppinion or personal beliefs of individual members of parlement - the government would fall on that vote.

Reality check people: Its 2005. 'Marriage' is a label. And, if we choose to use that label to describe two people that share a life with one another - we should have no restrictions on who those two people should be. Everyone IS equal under the law.

Conservatives take a beating in a new poll

Thu, 09 Jun 2005 04:07:26 -0700

A recent poll shows that support for the Conservative Party of Canada is slipping. And this double digit drop doesn't look like a blip.

It was only a month ago that the Conservatives were confident enough in their polling to try and topple the government with the aid of the seperatist Bloq. Their message, "Canadians are ready for a change."

Well, maybe not so much. But, if they are looking for a change, it doesn't appear they are looking towards the far right of center.

National support for the Conservatives now sits at 23%, just 2 points ahead of the NDP.

They say that things change quickly in politics. Much can happen in a couple of days and a month is a life-time. These numbers seem to support that idea.

andre

Anti-climax

Sat, 21 May 2005 21:09:42 -0700

It occurs to me that I didn't write about the fact that the Government has the confidence of the House.

I suppose its because its such an anti-climax to the events of the past two or three weeks, I didn't even think to write about it.

Well, it happened. Chuck Cadman voted with the government... as did Belinda Stronach... as did the MP that got booted from the Liberals for calling George Bush a Moron. Good for all of us.

The budget has passed and now we can look forward to increased spending on cities, child care the environment... and a whole lot of other things that are good for Canadians. Who says minority goverments are bad things.

andre