In harper's world, we are Legion

There's harper, the god who knows better than we do what is good for us.  He makes some rules but being god is himself above them.  If he lies, it's not a lie.  It's simply that we can't presume to know his ways.  They are mysterious, and they are all part of his plan.

To be allowed to bask in the radiance of his glory, followers can sin, lie, cheat, but they must be completely obedient and loyal, and love him above all others, without question or criticism.

Then there is the devil, and he is Legion.  That's everyone else.

harper needs Legion because he can then take credit for all that's good, while blaming Legion for anything he messes up.

harper promised Senate reform.  Still promises it.  Gains support from his base by promising it, and if it ever comes, will take credit for it.

Meanwhile, rather than reforming it, he uses it for personal political gain by appointing cronies not only to keep their butt licking loyalty, but to have another powerful tool, paid for by Legion, to shove through his godly will.

Sure, the optics are bad, sure his recent appointments are so contrary to what he promises and so blatantly partisan and wasteful, but one who sits high in harper-god's favour tells us it's really Legion's fault, and it's up to Legion to reform the Senate.

Mr. Kenney responded to criticism, notably by some provincial premiers, of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to appoint three losing candidates in the May 2 election to the upper chamber of Parliament.

Critics said the move shows the Tories can’t be trusted to reform the chamber.  Speaking on CTV’s Question Period, Mr. Kenney said: “(The provinces) can fix this by bringing in provincial elections for senators.”

So harper-god wants to reform the Senate, but it's really the provinces holding things up.

As to needing three more ass kissers appointed to the Senate under the pretense harper-god needs a majority there to reform the Senate (when he already has a majority there), we simply can't presume to know his ways.

About that media speculation over steve relaxing, spontaneously turning into something akin to human

I’d say giving every single Canadian an unabashed fuck you before the House even sits, and not having the courtesy of announcing it personally should pretty much slap all of you incredibly stupid people upside the head.

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In the party where liars and criminals are elevated, why not losers?  Even two-time losers?

Stephen Harper wasted no time in bringing back three defeated candidates, appointing former Quebec cabinet minister Josée Verner to the Senate and reappointing Larry Smith and Fabian Manning.

Smith and Fabian - you remember?  Those two harper appointed senators who used their time as senators to prep for their MP campaigns, quit the senate to run, then were rejected by voters?

Can you think of a more unapologetic screw you to all of us?

Can anyone seriously still doubt that steve has absolutely no sense of ethics?

This is what we face for the next four years.  Longer, much longer if the press in particular keeps treating him like a mildly disobedient golden child, gently chiding him while bragging to all who will listen just how terrific and oh so special he is. 

Oh...and you journalists who want to make amends by keeping tabs?  Kind of need access to the guy you all endorsed for that.

Minutes after he finished answering questions from reporters about his cabinet shuffle, the Prime Minister’s Office sent out a release announcing the three appointments. So Mr. Harper did not have to address the issue in public.

I am anxiously waiting to hear about steve’s plans for senate reform.  Really.  Just so excited.

Creative Politics 101

harper is fast-tracking Senate reform.  None of that Parliament debate and lengthy passing of a Bill for him!  No!  He's workin' hard!  Gettin' the job done!

And he's going to make at least one of his appointed Senators work hard, having expanded the role of the Senate to include springboarding and funding for federal candidates.

Over a month ago, harper tried to recruit Larry Smith as a candidate for the next federal election in the Lac-Saint-Louis riding.  A month after turning that down, Smith accepts the appointment as Senator, and the very next day announces he will run as a federal candidate after all.

It's pretty obvious what went on in his talks with harper.  Around the time harper approached Smith, he suddenly resigns as president of the Alouettes.  People were puzzled since there had been no hint from Smith that he had been planning to quit, and no hint that he had been pursuing another career.

Can anyone really believe he'd drop a successful career with nothing on the horizon?  Of course not.  But running against Liberal MP Francis Scarpaleggia will be expensive and Smith needs to develop a political profile there.

harper tried this once already with Mike Fortier, who as we recall, actually opened an office in the riding he planned to run in, using it to promote himself, MP style.

Now Smith gets to do the same:  promote himself politically - on our dollar -  in the riding he will run in.  As his focus is on running in the next election, he will be doing little more as an actual Senator than collecting a nice big paycheck - also our dollar - as he uses his appointment to prep and self-promote so that harper can perhaps win a Quebec seat. 

The seat means a lot to harper, so he wants to use every advantage he can to win it.  He's counting largely on Smith's high profile among sports fans, and riding president Marc Damant announced the CONs intend to spend  the full amount under federal election laws. 

And harper has managed to boost that spending amount considerably by allowing Smith to use his ridiculously short Senate appointment to promote himself as part of his pre-election campaing. 

Using the Senate for such purposes degrades it even further, as difficult as it might be to conceive how harper could have made it a bigger travesty than he already has.

And it is yet another way the CONs can cheat election rules.