Upcoming Canadian Federal Election?

Question

Regarding the possible upcoming Canadian federal election, I saw an interview on CTV with NDP Deputy Leader Thomas Mulcair, saying that Harper wants the election before the U.S. election, because if the U.S. elects a "left-leaning" Obama, then Canadians will not want a right-wing extremist like Harper.

Does anyone else, besides me, get antsy when they hear things like this? I have written about this before.

Obama is a RIGHT-WINGER in Canada - so are most of the Democrats, maybe except Dennis Kucinich. He is pro-death penalty, anti-g*y marriage, pro-war in Afghanistan, anti-single payer health care, anti-relations with Cuba, etc. He is not "left-leaning," as Mr. Mulcair claims.

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

Where things get confusing, and I think this is more confusing for the Americans themselves, because they can't step back and take a look at the situation, is that compared to politicians in most of the world, American politicians are all conservative. There are so many things they are not allowed to say out loud... if they support a woman's right to choose, they can't say that. This issue has been solved in the rest of the West for decades, except for Ireland, but in the United States, it is still an open wound.

American politicians can't say they don't support the right to bear arms by private citizens. They can't do anything to shut down gun stores in American cities and towns, not even right after sensational mass murders.

They get tarred and feathered for suggesting that Americans might benefit from free public health care, such as in Canada, Europe, even Cuba, all places where people are healthier and live longer than in the United States.

It is very sad, but Americans are so confused because they are being lied to and the lies they learn on tv, they repeat to each other. They are forced to watch useless and harmful news programs on CNN and Fox and their ridiculous local news programs which do little to educate and explain things to people, except through the narrow prism which defines the limits of political discourse in the United States. These news programs are one half talk and the other half commercial time - there is nothing substantial there.

The level of education is so poor... you can't have a discussion with an American and include his country in with the liberal democracies, because he won't understand what you're talking about. He will claim, as somebody actually did to me once, that 'America isn't a democracy, it's a Republic!' <shakes head sadly and pours a strong drink> And of course, they don't agree with the word Liberal.

Obama is not a leftist. He is not even a liberal, at least not in the sense that is meant when Americans use the word - Liberal is a swear word in the United States... to an American, 'Liberal' means anti-family, anarchistic, lazy, drug-friendly, communistic, anti-American, weak, effeminate, and willing to accept being part of a community rather than attempting to pretend that you are completely on your own with zero ties to anyone or anything else.

The word Liberal was originally used in the context of the reformers who took on the pre-industrial revolution aristocracies of Europe, overthrew these aristocracies, and set up representative governments supported by free-trading economies and run by the people themselves, not by iron-fisted monarchs. Liberals were those who stood for freedom, democracy, the pursuit of happiness, and liberty - not just for themselves, but also for others. Liberal is a noble word with noble meaning.

Modern Americans, with no knowledge of history and little interest in it, have turned this noble word into a curse.



Now, no American politician dares to be called a liberal. It leads to sudden political death.

Name-calling, calling someone a Liberal, now seems like an old-fashioned witch hunt like in 17th century Massachussets. Call somebody a witch, and if they don't give a satisfactory response, then they must be one.

Barack Obama is no more of a leftist than John McCain is. The policy differences between them are slight... they occupy the same region of the right-left political spectrum.

I would be very surprised to see any major shifts in the trajectory of the United States if Obama becomes the President. Is Obama going to bring in free public health care for all? No. Is he going to ban private possession of handguns in all the states? No, he can't. Those are state laws. Is he going to end the unequivocal US support for Israel? No. Maybe President Obama can prevent China from overtaking his country and becoming the largest economy in the world? I wish him luck, but I don't think he's capable of that. What about getting serious about encouraging Americans to use public transit, or at least to buy more environmentally friendly cars? If you believe that, I've got the world's largest gold mine, in Indonesia, for sale, you interested?