BushHarper

This is what I saw advertised on Facebook - and it's authorize by the LPC. Are the Liberals really that desperate?

Truck Bomb In Islamabad

Ostensibly in retaliation for Pakistan's crusader support of Israel.

Say Whaaaaaaat?

"Nude pics no problem for B.C. Conservative"

Well, Harper did promise us more transparency in government.

Owning Your Brand in the Internet Age

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A Nova Scotia Liberal MP accused his Tory rival Friday of subverting democracy through unethical use of the Internet.

Mark Eyking said he was stunned when he learned someone had purchased a domain name that features his name, but directs users to the campaign website for Conservative Kristen Rudderham.

The two are contesting the Cape Breton riding of Sydney-Victoria, which Eyking has held since 2000.

Eyking said he realizes the practice is legal, but insisted that it amounts to sabotaging communication between a candidate and the electorate.

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Mark Eyking, I simply have no sympathy for you. You have failed to learn the most basic of political rules - namely "In politics, image is everything." You have to own your brand in order to succeed and you have failed at it miserably. 

In the year 2008 AD there is simply no excuse for a candidate for public office to not own their own name on the web. Indeed, from the moment you were picked as a candidate you should have had your name registered as a domain name so that you could convey your message and platform to - I don't know - everyone? 

Hearing a Liberal candidate complain about a Conservative doing this is especially amusing in light of the fact that this has been done to Conservatives before.

Mary Harquail Flaherty - April 6, 1916 - September 19, 2008

Mary Flaherty, mother of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, has passed away at the age of 92.

Our condolences are extended at this time to Mr. Flaherty. We will keep him in our thoughts and prayers.

National Newswatch - Putting on the Ritz

May I make a suggestion to whomever runs National Newswatch?

Today, you've got no less than seven (7!) opinion columns in a row on Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz's comments on the Listeria outbreak. Yes it's news, but surely you could throw some variety in there?

I'm just saying.

Green Shift Swept Under Rug

I don't know who Stéphane Dion thinks he's kidding when he tells us the Green Shift was never an election platform plank - if anything, it was supposed to be the centrepiece of his platform and it still has equal billing with Stéphane Dion himself on the Liberal Party's website menu.

I also don't know who the Toronto Star's Richard Brennan thinks he's kidding when he describes this as a "slight change in approach." Even Richard's colleague at the Star, Les Whittington, described the Green Shift as "Dion's signature election plank." 

When you abandon a "signature election plank" it is, by definition, much more than a "slight change in approach." 

Like I said, I don't know who Brennan and Dion are trying to kid, but I'm guessing they're both hoping we've been heavily medicated these past few months.

Open Mouth, Insert Foot:

This is, at best, embarrassing and unacceptable from a cabinet minister (You don't want to hear what I would call it at worst).

Seriously?

Making light of 17 deaths resulting from a public health disaster and crudely joking that you hope a political opponent is one of said fatalities? I thought we were finished with amateur hour in the CPC. Someone in the Tory war room needs to start cracking a few skulls to remind people that we are trying to form a government here and would you please help by kindly shutting your mouths tout de suite?

Hillary Rodham Clinton...

...never had to deal with this kind of crap, that's for sure. 

Liberals love supporting women's rights - just not when misogyny's more convenient.

h/t National Newswatch

EDIT: Huh, I scooped Drudge on this. 

Memo To Monsieur Dion

Today, Dion touted the Liberal record of fiscal management under former Finance Minister Paul Martin and former Prime Minister Jean Chretien by stating that under the Liberals, the country had a "twelve billion dollar surplus."

It is not a good thing to have twelve billion dollar surpluses. One can argue that it is prudent fiscal management in that it means one is not in the red, sure, but you can similarly argue that your physician is a good doctor because he hasn't killed you. 

If the government is taking in a twelve billion dollar surplus, that means that they have overtaxed Canadians by twelve billion dollars. That is not only exorbitant, that is obscene. 

Putting more money in the pockets of Canadians allows them to spend more and that spurs growth in the economy. Sequestering twelve billion dollars of our money every year doesn't really allow us to do that.

Any fool can cut a deficit if they tax the people to death. That's not sound fiscal management, that's being mugged with a cocked and loaded legislature pointed straight at you.

Garth Turner Responds

Yesterday, I sent an e-mail to Garth Turner with several questions regarding "Turnergate," the recent scandal where Garth and his campaign manager were caught trying to deceive CPAC into thinking that they were filming a random door-to-door encounter with a constituent when they were actually meeting the son of Turner's campaign manager Esther Shaye. The letter can be seen here:

Last night I received a response, although it was not the one I was hoping for:

 Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:48:14 -0400
 From: turnergarth@gmail.com
 To: uncommontruths at hotmail dot com
 Subject: Re: A few Campaign Questions, If You Will
 
 http://www.garth.ca/weblog/2008/09/16/my-mistakes/
 

 Regards,
 Garth
 

That's right, instead of answering any of the questions I asked, I was simply referred to Garth's blog where he gives his excuse for why his story differed so radically from that of CPAC's without even the courtesy of a "hello." I didn't expect to get a response from Garth's campaign at all, but this is essentially the same thing - you didn't answer any of my questions, Garth.

So I fired off another letter:

Mr. Turner,

I have already read the reply you have posted on your website; you have not answered my questions. I would appreciate it if you would answer the questions I have sent you.

Thank you,

Dante

I'm not holding my breath for another response, believe me.

A Letter to Garth Turner

I have sent an e-mail to Garth Turner asking for answers to several questions regarding "Turnergate," the recent allegations by CPAC that Turner and campaign manager Esther Shaye deceived CPAC into thinking that they were following Turner to the home of a random constituent - when in fact they were visiting the home of Shaye's son. 

The following is the e-mail. If Garth has any respect for Canadians I urge him to reply to my e-mail and answer my questions regarding this scandal. We will keep you posted if he does.

Hello, Mr. Turner.

I have two questions for you, and I would appreciate it if you could take a minute or so to answer them. I thank you in advance for your time.

In regards to the recent alleged scandal regarding you and door to door campaigning as was covered by CPAC:

1. You have suggested several conflicting stories regarding the CPAC affair; in one instance you claim that CPAC reporter Jonathan Craven (on assignment in Manitoba) was actually in Halton and had met Michael Shaye (your campaign manager's son) outside of his home. Can you explain why Michael Shaye claims to have met a CPAC reporter outside of his home when the reporter was actually in Manitoba at the time?

2. You referred to yourself as "not the architect of this incident" but as simply a "doorknocker." Can you explain why you used the term "architect of this incident," and does it imply that something untoward was going on?

3. Why did your campaign manager, Esther Shaye, tell CPAC anchor Peter van Dusen, on air, "Peter...don't...do this?" when confronted with evidence suggesting that her version of events was not truthful? It clearly sounded as if she was pleading with Peter to not expose this story to public scrutiny. What is Shaye tryng to hide?

4. Will you withdraw from the Race in Halton now that it appears that your campaign has attempted to deceive a national broadcaster and the voters of your riding - and indeed, all Canadians?

5. Will you and Esther Shaye issue a public statement apologizing for engaging in such deceitful behavior?

Thank you for your time,

Dante

"Peter...Don't...do this..."

BUMP: As usual, a comment I left on Garth's blog about this controversy has been deleted. Surprise!

Garth Turner's campaign may have officially imploded upon itself after CPAC discovered that Garth and his campaign manager allegedly staged a random door knocking event for broadcast on CPAC - at the house of the campaign manager's son. 

In a video, posted here at Stephen Taylor's blog, Turner and his campaign manager Esther Shaye come off sounding like scared schoolchildren caught in a big lie by their teacher - only in this case, the 'teacher' is CPAC anchor Peter van Dusen who clearly was not interested in being played any further by Turner and Shaye. 

What I want to know is this: if Turner and Shaye intended on being duplicitous with CPAC, why on earth would they have picked someone so close to the campaign to pay a visit? A random supporter would have passed muster at least, but Shaye's son? Such a decision seems almost as half-witted as attempting to be dishonest in the first place.

One almost wonders: is it so bad in Halton for Turner that he and Shaye had to resort to visiting Shaye's son in order to get a positive response at a voter's door? 

Keen observers will note that secretly using family and party members as political props on television is nothing new to the Liberal party. 

Daily moment of desperation: Check out 9:29 in the video where Esther basically begs Peter not to destroy the campaign and whatever reputation she and Garth have left. 

We here at Uncommon Truths have never been fond of Mr. Turner - we view him as a crass opportunist. We now ask Mr. Turner to give a full accounting for why his campaign's story of the event differs so greatly from that of Canada's independent political news coverage channel CPAC. Furthermore, should CPAC's allegations prove to be accurate, we demand that Garth Turner officially announce his withdrawal from the race in Halton and issue a statement along with Esther Shaye apologizing to the voters of Halton for attempting to deceive them on national television.

"For those I love, I will sacrifice"

Pte. Chad Horn, who gave his life for his country when his vehicle was attacked on September 3rd, was honoured and remembered by his friends and family today at his funeral. CTV has a brief snippet on his funeral that contains the following stirring words:

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A friend, Zach Jilg, spoke of Horn's sense of humour, his love of dancing and driving fast. He said Horn always wanted "to live free".

Jilg said his longtime buddy was proud of his many tattoos, especially his latest additions, a Maple Leaf on his chest and the words "For those I love I will sacrifice" on his back.

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Two of Horn's comrades, Cpl. Andrew Grenon and Cpl. Mike Seggie were also mortally wounded in the attack. Please remember them all in your prayers.

Stand easy soldiers, you've done your job. Rest in Peace.

On The Subject Of Polls...

Back in the days when I was working at my MP's office for a summer job, one of my wise co-workers (he handled the communications aspect of the job) told me that it's not the polls you have to pay attention to, it's the trends. That being said, I wouldn't worry too much about this article claiming that a Conservative lead is slipping. For one thing, the Tories are still far ahead of the Liberals in this race and that is a trend that remains constant. Also, the supposed Tory 'drop' of three points being read into this poll is quite close to the margin of error of this poll - and this is just one poll out of many.

Believe You Me

Suggesting Bob Fife is a Conservative partisan is silly. While we often complain of media bias (and some times it is quite real), other times it is the product of our overactive imaginations. National Newscasters, both here and in the United States, get accused of bias from both liberals and conservatives alike - often, simultaneously.

Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader, Bob Fife Edition

No more than a few seconds into the report, Bob Fife shows a remarkable ignorance of Canadian Geography - and he keeps making the mistake throughout the report.

For the record, Bob, St. John's is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador. Saint John is in New Brunswick. 

Oh. My.

UPDATE: When Senator Clinton was running for the presidency, the mantra of the left was that people should vote for her simply because she was vying to be the first woman candidate for President. Today, some liberal friends of mine were discussing Sarah Palin and were knocking her for being a 'token woman.' 

What an astounding disconnect.

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The Obama Campaign, increasingly showing how poorly Barack performs without a script, has just made a terrible gaffe that is sure to open Obama up to even further accusations of sexism:

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Obama poked fun of McCain and Palin's new "change" mantra.

"You can put lipstick on a pig," he said as the crowd cheered. "It's still a pig."

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Is Obama referring to Sarah Palin as a Pig? If so, he should immediately apologize to the millions of American women he has just offended.

Those planning on voting for Obama should listen to the Messiah's own words:

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"You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still gonna stink."

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h/t Drudge

Hearn, Emerson, Solberg Bow Out

Well, this is certainly sad news. As I'm sure most of you have heard by now, it appears that in addition to David Emerson, both Loyola Hearn and Monte Solberg will not be seeking re-election once the writ is dropped. It was widely expected that Hearn and Emerson would be bowing out and rumours had been floating around for months to that effect. All three have demonstrated admirable performance as government ministers and their years of experience have brought much to Harper's table. 

Hearn in particular is noted for his role in facilitating the merger between the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties, thus helping to bring an end to years of internecine warfare (which led to 13 years of Liberal dominance in parliament - we owe him a great deal for that). He's also a genuinely wonderful human being in person and is known to for being active with constituency work. As for Emerson, it goes without saying that Harper benefitted greatly from his experience running various departments over his career, particularly considering the dearth of experienced ministers in cabinet after the election. His steady hand will be notably missed.

I think I'm most saturnine about Solberg's departure however. Monte was a hard working, capable, yet under the radar minister who, as I understand, brought thoughtful, efficient and competent leadership to his portfolios. He is viewed as an all-around polite and classy guy and I for one will be sad to see him go. On the bright side, however, there might be a silver lining to his departure; perhaps we will be lucky enough to see the return of his long-missed blog. I was sad to see him discontinue it and I would be tickled pink if he were to resurrect it from the dead (hint, hint, Monte). 

McCain wins nomination, CNN makes a little gaffe.

Anyone catch this on CNN? John McCain just clinched his nomination as Republican presidential candidate, with the Republican delegates from Arizona casting their 53 votes in his favour. Before the Arizona delegation's representative had finished speaking, however, a caption popped up on the screen informing viewers 'John McCain clinches Democratic nomination'. 

Heh. It's always the little things that add flavour.

"In A World" Without Don LaFontaine...

In what is sad news for movie-goers everywhere, Don LaFontaine, the famous voice of movie trailers has passed away:

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(CNN) -- Don LaFontaine, the voiceover king whose "In a world ..." phrase on movie trailers was much copied -- and much parodied -- has died, according to media reports. He was 68.

Don LaFontaine was featured as "that voiceover guy" on a recent Geico commercial.

LaFontaine died Monday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, according to ETOnline, "Entertainment Tonight's" Web site. He died from complications from pneumothorax, a collapsed lung that causes air to build in the pleural cavity, his agent, Vanessa Gilbert, told "ET."

LaFontaine, who was born in Duluth, Minnesota, began as a voice actor in the mid-1960s while working as a recording engineer, according to his Web site. His strong, slightly gravelly voice was featured on trailers for thousands of films, including "The Godfather," "Fatal Attraction" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." For a time in the late '70s, LaFontaine was the official voice of Paramount Pictures.

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Rest in peace, Don.

I Love This!!

Sarah Palin is the monkey wrench that is going to stall Obama's campaign. Up to now, he has practiced a very disciplined delivery of his message, but this is something his advisors definitely did not suspect ("The Republicans choose a woman?!"). As a result, it seems that the Obama campaign is having difficulty reacting to her selection.

Who knows, maybe their views of the GOP clouded their expectations as to the idea that McCain would choose an outstanding woman like Sarah Palin instead of a male VP candidate. In any event, she's thrown them off script - today's Drudge headline tells of Obama touting his experience over Palin's, which should open him up to a great deal of mockery. This will be a great talking point for McCain as well, should he choose to use it - while selecting Palin would seemingly take away from McCain's claims that Obama has no experience (since Palin is not as politically experienced as most veep candidates we've seen lately), McCain can still nail Obama for portraying himself as experienced, something which just isn't true.

Media-wise, this campaign has been all about Obama. The selection of Sarah Palin, however, has taken that media focus off the Obama camp and has planted it squarely back on the GOP. Even the supposed 'scandal' of Palin's daughter's pregnancy will end up helping the campaign - average Americans will look at it and will relate to Sarah Palin, and will be more inclined to vote GOP come November.

The dynamics of this election have changed, and they've shifted towards McCain and Palin.