I'll Have the Pork, with a Side of Small Potatoes Please
Sometimes I hear right-wing folks complaining about how their political opponents lump together Stephen Harper with George Bush and, to be fair, they have a point. Take this latest example, for instance:
Can you imagine George Bush invoking bogus concerns about national security, just to spread around a little political pork? Of course not. When Bush spuriously invokes concerns about National Security it's so that he can detain and torture innocent people in violation of both domestic and international law. It's so that he can get Eastern European gulags back to what they were built for. It's so that he and his administration can lie their way into a disastrous war, killing tens of thousands and costing hundreds of billions.
To suggest that Harper, with this kind of small potato pork project is in the same league as George Bush is an insult to Bush and all that he has accomplished as President while hiding behind supposed concerns about national security. There simply is no comparison.
"The Conservative government has used an extraordinary 'national security' clause to take control of $8-billion in recently announced military spending, allowing it to dole out contracts to the West, Quebec and the Atlantic.
The federal government lost the power to steer contract work to specific parts of the country with the 1994 signing of the Agreement on Internal Trade with the provinces. But as part of the continuing purchase of new planes and helicopters, the government has decided to invoke a national-security exception (NSE), which effectively removes these contracts from reach of the agreement.
A federal official said the net result is that Ottawa will be able to impose regional quotas on the economic benefits of the contracts."
Can you imagine George Bush invoking bogus concerns about national security, just to spread around a little political pork? Of course not. When Bush spuriously invokes concerns about National Security it's so that he can detain and torture innocent people in violation of both domestic and international law. It's so that he can get Eastern European gulags back to what they were built for. It's so that he and his administration can lie their way into a disastrous war, killing tens of thousands and costing hundreds of billions.
To suggest that Harper, with this kind of small potato pork project is in the same league as George Bush is an insult to Bush and all that he has accomplished as President while hiding behind supposed concerns about national security. There simply is no comparison.
posted by Declan at
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
4 Comments:
Come now Declan, give Steve time..he's new at this and he needs to get stated slowly. Wait 'til the fall when he can start using Security Certificaes against people at will (after using the nothwithstanding clause, of course). That'll show em.
By
Mike, at 6:38 AM
What do you mean? I don't have to imagine George Bush using national security as an excuse to spread around pork. As far as anyone can tell the DHS has been a giant pork machine from day one.
No, the difference here is that Stevie is probably just using national security because it happens to be the clause that lets him spread the pork and not for any greater reason...
By
Anonymous, at 7:21 AM
I see this not as a Harper = Bush thing, more of a Chretien/Martin = Harper thing.
Think about, the Liberals used Quebec sovereignty to give money to their friends. Now the Conservatives use national security as their excuse.
By
Daz, at 2:14 PM
Mike, time will tell, as you say, it hasn't been that long yet for Harper, but I don't think he has it in him to pull a full on George Bush routine.
Kevin B. - yes, it is a bit of a hole in my argument that national security related pork is arguably one of the biggest industries in the U.S., but still, Bush has done so much more than mere pork!
Kevin G. - your welcome. I've never read much Doonesbury, although what I have read, I generally liked.
Daz - nobody is denying that the Liberals know their way around pork, but the issue here is the creative use of the national security dodge, which seems to be more of a right-wing specialty.
By
Declan, at 9:33 PM
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