Canadian Right Wing Welcomes Bush

There is a little group of right-wing Conservatives here in Canada who are holding a welcoming rally for Bush when he visits Ottawa next week. This is from the Globe and Mail:

Connie Wilkins of Free Dominion is baffled by the extent of American-bashing among Canadians and even some politicians. She co-founded the on-line forum that offers about 5,000 members a place for right-wing views but is not officially linked to any political party, she said.

“We stand behind the United States and we stand behind their President,” Ms. Wilkins said in an interview. “We consider them as our allies and their country as our friend.

“If it had been the CN Tower that had been bombed instead of the World Trade Center, the U.S. would have been right there.”

I have a lot of problems with how she frames things. First disagreeing with Bush and the policies of his administration is not America bashing despite what Bush would have us all believe. Second when the WTC and the Pentagon were attacked Canadians in droves sent all kinds or material goods and money to NYC to help out. We also were first in line to go to Afghanistan where we still are today. So how are we not helping. Oh, that war in Iraq. Actually despite what our government says we do (did) have warships helping out in the Persian Gulf, but in anycase our government chose not to participate because it was felt that there was not a strong case justifying an invasion and that in fact the invasion was very likely a criminal act. Should we be torturing and disappearing people too just because Bush and his ilk think it's fine? Of course not. This is a tactic that the Canadian right-wing loves to employ. Make those who do not back Bush feel guilty for letting our neighbours down, as if everyone in the US just loved their government. So it would be interesting if some of you go to www.freedominion.com and let Connie Wilkins know how you feel about matters concerning the Bush Presidency. No doubt she will question your patriotism and label you a liberal as she falls in love line with Bush.

No longer willing to share toys...

At the federal level, it's pretty hard to dispute that the Republicans have a mandate. They control the Presidency, the Senate, the House, and the Supreme Court. Since the election, I've had the feeling that Kerry would have ended up being a lame duck president anyhow, with so much opposition in Congress and that the best thing to do is to let the Republicans do their worst with the mandate they've been given. Maybe that is what it'll take to get people in poor states to realize that they are not exactly voting in their interests.

As this article points out (drawing on some of the excellent point first mentioned in Fuckthesouth.com) the Republican platform of small federal government and (except in the event of disputed elections) strong states' rights, could actually be used to make things a little easier for those of us who would rather pay taxes than tithes.

Of course the Bush administration has governed over the largest expansion of the federal government in recent memory, but that's perhaps an issue the Democrats could have worked a little more.

Voting Fraud?

Here's an interesting piece on voting fraud from the Orlando Weekly News

And this from the Oakland Tribune

Fight the Power . Bush vs CIA

Mr.War President has disturbed America's intelligence machinery so deeply that there is almost an outright revolt against the administration. Details

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and finally from two years ago. What was obvious to every man woman and child outside of the USA
"the director of the CIA admitted that the only reason Saddam would use WMDs against the United States was if he was backed into a corner -- due to a strike by the American military"

The Colonialisation at Work

Under new legislation Iraqi farmers can no longer save their own seeds. They will have to purchase new seeds from US companies.

When the new law - on plant variety protection (PVP) - is put into effect, seed saving will be illegal and the market will only offer proprietary "PVP-protected" planting material "invented" by transnational agribusiness corporations.

Urban Indulgence

So, I just read through this edition of The Stranger, and I feel a little better. I think that many of us are thinking just the same things. So, you should check it out for yourselves, but here are some choice quotes:

"To red-state voters, to the rural voters, residents of small, dying towns, and soulless sprawling exburbs, we say this: Fuck off. Your issues are no longer our issues. We're going to battle our bleeding-heart instincts and ignore pangs of misplaced empathy. We will no longer concern ourselves with a health care crisis that disproportionately impacts rural areas. Instead we will work toward winning health care one blue state at a time."
"Liberals in big cities who have never seen the inside of a Wal-Mart spend a lot of time worrying about the impact Wal-Mart is having on the heartland. No more."
"If red-state dads aren't concerned enough about their own children to put trigger locks on their own guns, it's not our problem. If a kid in a red state finds his daddy's handgun and blows his head off, we'll feel terrible (we're like that), but we'll try to look on the bright side: At least he won't grow up to vote like his dad."
"We officially no longer give a shit when family farms fail. Fewer family farms equal fewer rural voters. We will, however, continue to support small faggy organic farms, as we are willing to pay more for free-range chicken and beef from non-cannibal cows."
"'Cause we fucking founded this country, assholes. Those Founding Fathers you keep going on and on about? All that bullshit about what you think they meant by the Second Amendment? Who do you think those wig-wearing, lacy-shirt-sporting revolutionaries were? They were fucking blue-staters, dickhead. Boston? Philadelphia? New York? Hello? Think there might be a reason all the fucking monuments are up here in our backyard?"
"Arrogant? You wanna talk to us Northeasterners about fucking arrogance? Maybe I wouldn't be so fucking arrogant if I wasn't paying for your fucking bridges, bitch."
"The next dickwad who says, "It's your money, not the government's money" is gonna get their ass kicked. Nine of the 10 states that get the most federal fucking dollars and pay the least... can you guess? That's right, motherfucker, they're red states. And 8 of the 10 states that receive the least and pay the most? It's too easy. They're blue states. It's not your money, assholes, it's fucking our money. What was that Real American Value you were spouting a minute ago? Self reliance? Try this for self reliance: Buy your own fucking stop signs, asshole."

What Mandate?

I think that it is important to remember that Bush assumes a lot in his smugness. He won the popular vote by as tight a margin as it gets and he only won Ohio by less than a tenth of a percentage of all votes cast. I realize this doesn't change the fact that the Republican agenda is on the tableand that they hold the balance of power but there is a large population out there whose resistance can be mobilized.

Essay from common dreams

i erected this blog for a number of reasons... i'm moving across the country and i'm afraid i won't have as many people to vent with about politics, for a while at least. i'm very angry about the outcome of this election, and the bush administration's actions over the last four years (but i've been angry for longer than that), but most significantly, i see a momentum right now and i don't want to see it die. melissa talks about this often, but public discourse is a dying art and a sacred and important element of democracy. our lives are fast and busy, it can be hard to remain on top of all things political in the U.S. i'm hoping this blog can be a place for us to quickly post articles we come across, or news items we overhear. it can also be a place for good minds to think about actions we can take to change the direction of this country and prevent bush's crap from going through this time around. we can keep eachother informed, and hopefully get some good dialogues going.
all of you were invited for a single purpose, our minds working together can make greater changes than apart.
that said, the following is an article from common dreams, which dana showed to me yesterday. it really matched my sentiments.

Published on Monday, November 8, 2004 by Common Dreams.org
The (Un)Concession Speech That Could Have Been
by Megan Tady

In typical Kerry fashion, his concession speech on November 3 was disappointing. Although it’s being touted as moving and forthright—perhaps because we don’t have much else to praise—I found it predictable, mind numbing and insulting.

A few minutes before his speech, a friend turned to me and sighed, “I hope he doesn’t tell us to come together.”

He did, and I turned off my radio.

“Just, for once,” my friend said, “I want a leader to get up and tell us this is all bullshit.”

The last thing we needed was someone telling us—before all the votes had even been counted—to unite with people who voted for an entire set of values that is contradictory from our own: corporate greed, racism, pre-emptive war and hatred.

We needed, instead, very desperately, a denouncement of the foul play in this election, of the media and of Bush, as well as an unmistakable call to action from Kerry.

Here’s what Kerry could have said that morning:


“Fellow Americans, the Bush Administration is saying they’ve won Ohio, and that therefore they’ve won the election. Republicans across the country are beginning victory parties. The media is running headlines that say Bush has been elected as your president for a second term.

Don’t believe them.

This is, in fact, all bullshit.

At this time, it is still unclear who won the election. What is clear, however, is the evidence of voter fraud and disenfranchisement all across the country. Exit polls do not match election results. Thousands of provisional ballots haven’t been counted. Punch cards ballots, with hanging chads, are once again being pushed into a closet and swept under the rug. Absentee ballots from our soldiers overseas are still coming in. Polls were closed with people still waiting in line. Computers spat out results that did not correlate with voters’ intentions. Registered voters were turned away from the polls on, and before, Election Day. The list goes on.

I repeat, do not believe the hype.

Do not accept Bush or anyone as your president until every vote has been counted. This was my pledge to you, and I will stand by it.

I will not lie to you. This is a catastrophe. The future of our country lies in the balance. For this reason, I need your continued support, and I need your help. This is my call to action:

Get in the streets. Leave your houses and get in the streets. Stand up. Start marching and don’t stop.

Don’t go to work. Strike. Bring business as usual to a halt. Shut down the airports, the seaports, the subways, the toll booths, the banks, the factories, the super centers and the drive-thrus. Don’t give in.

Stop buying. Spend money only on necessities: food, water, shelter. Do not go to the mall. Do not use your credit cards. Do not buy gas. Boycott.

Don’t watch the news. Turn your TVs off. Instead, go to the television and radio stations. Bang on the doors. Gather there and demand their accountability as journalists and gatekeepers.

Gather again at polling places. Demand a recount. Do not leave until every vote is counted.

Keep marching.

Write poetry. Write songs. Write letters. Don't stop.

Sing. Scream. Chant. Dance. Make Noise. The Whole World is Watching.

Keep marching.

Converge in Washington, DC. Gather at the White House. Spill onto the sidewalks, fill every city block. Do not let the inauguration happen. Do not let Bush come home. Disrupt the administration’s plans for a smooth transition to a second term. Make nothing easy.

Do not be a mandate. Do not be “political capital.” Do not roll over and wait for four more years to pass.

Do not stop until we have the answers, until we know the truth. You are the superpower, and you can demand a just and fair election. But you are also a citizen of the United States of America, and you deserve a just and fair election.

Some may say I’m calling for anarchy, for chaos. I disagree. I am calling for something much more potent and dangerous: unbridled democracy.

They've taken the country without firing a shot. Take it back the same way.”

Megan Tady (megtady@yahoo.com) is a freelance journalist in Western Massachusetts whose work has been published by AlterNet, WireTap, The NewStandard, Yes! Magazine, Reuters, and Maisonneuve. Her article "Youth Have Swung it Before" is included in the book "Storming the Polls: How to Vote Your Views and Change the Rules" published by WireTap.

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One Iraqi Voice

This comes from Baghdad Burning a blog by a women living in Iraq.

To the red states (and those who voted for Bush): You deserve no better- I couldn't wish worse on you if I tried. He represents you perfectly... and red really is your color. It's the color of the blood of thousands of Iraqis and by the time this four-year catastrophe in the White House is over, tousands of Americans, likely.

To the blue states (and those who were thinking when they voted): Condolences. Good luck- you'll need it.

George Orwell - "In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

Yay! I like saying America fucked up almost as much as the -2's this post will produce.

I can't believe that the popular vote came out to be in Bush's favour this time. What are you all thinking? Have you all been confused into believing that because Bush is your leader you must support him? Hell, I'm an Aussie and I don't give a flying fuck what you say about my Prime Minister John Howard. He's a daggy cunt with bushy eyebrows that have caused a rash on the inside of Bush's colin cause Jonny has his head rammed up Bush's arse.

I'm not going to bring up the war in Iraq which was a load of shit because by now everyone's made up their mind and won't listen to me, but I just wonder why you would re-elect a leader who sacrifices your liberties (for any reason). Ben Franklin once said that "They that can give up essential liberty to obtaina little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." This is America today. You have sacrificed what you hold to be America.

Australia has a shitty constitution, which I admit is nothing to the standards of America when it comes to the rights of citizens, but here we do not give in our liberties even if they aren't in writing. We have adopted "implied" liberties from our laws and shit. But USA PATRIOT act takes that away from Americans. Without the liberties that you hold dear what is America? It's just a whole big country that sits between two big arse oceans, sandwiched between Canadians and Mexicans. It's nothing. You have lost the symbolic core of America through the abolition of your rights for your safety. You are now little more than just a powerful country. You have strength and money and power, but America has lost it's soul.

If I was American, I would be a proud American, just like I'm a proud Aussie. But don't support Bush just cause he's your leader. Support the ideas of America that your president is there to uphold and defend. Something which Bush certainly has not done, taking away the rights of American citizens all in the name of "safety against terrorism".

If you are a nation willing to sacrifice your rights and liberties for a bit of safety, then by all means -2 me. If you think you should lose your liberties because you think that safety is more important then I take back all I've said. But, if you are a nation that is proud of it's values, a nation proud of it's liberties, a nation proud of the freedoms that the Bush regime has taken away in the name of safety under the aura of fear, then prove it. Do not support your president if he is a tyrant, which he is. That is in your constitution too! PATRIOT act has taken it away but fight back.


Note: This post isn't intended to be anti-American, and if you interpreted it as such then you're the kind of idiot I'm speaking out against. This is to tell you that your president is NOT America and you do not need to support him like sheep.

Hi PK, thanks for inviting me in. I'll also start with a quote.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." -- MLK Jr.

Citizens of the world unite against ignorance

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." Albert Einstein




"If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation." Abigail Adams