Did We Move Here Too Late?

All of the newscasters are predicting a win for Stephen Harper and the Conservative party. He’s making a final campaign stop in Windsor, Ontario, which up to now everyone had assumed was not winnable (that’s in Parliament seats, I guess). I suppose it would be the equivalent of Bush making a final campaign stop in New York City or Boston.

Some conservative Canadian bloggers emphasized the fact that Harper is not Bush-lite when you ignore the scary Liberal attack ads that say he is. Nevertheless, I have to admit that his constant repetition of tax cuts has me very worried. That’s what got Bush in the first time around. I have to believe that Canadians are not so easily swayed by some wad of cash waved at them that they’ll have to spend at Walmart. Needless to say, I don’t buy it, and if I ever actually got a wad of cash as something I didn’t pay on taxes, I’d never spend it at Walmart. (In fact, I’m proud to say that I’ve never set foot in a Walmart and don’t ever plan to, unless dragged in by force.) If Harper starts to do the kinds of things that Bush did, you can bet I’ll be joining others in a move to get him kicked out via another election as soon as possible. Power here is not as concentrated into the Executive Branch the way it has become in the US (Executive Branch? Let’s call a spade a spade: For all intents and purposes, the ‘Executive’ in the US is a Dictator, surrounded by Military Regalia and propaganda merchants.) There’s a long road that Canada would have to travel down before we reached the level of corruption, fascism, religious extremism and militarism that defines the US today.

I subscribe to some local events calendars, so events in dark green appear as if by magic on my iCal window. Yesterday I noticed that Darren Barefoot is hosting a ‘Drown your Election Sorrows’ party at the Library Square Public House tomorrow. That’s a heck of a way to find out who’s ahead in the polls. As Darren put it: “I believe local election coverage won’t start until 8:00pm, but you may want to get a head start on your wailing and gnashing of teeth.” If I weren’t going to be at a Gamelan rehearsal (now Mondays and Tuesdays every week until our concert in February - ouch!) I’d be there. Not being able to vote on this makes me feel almost as helpless as I felt in the last two stolen US Presidential elections.