Half-Masked

(I received a request for my thoughts on some recent political happenings in Canada. Perhaps I’m not the one to talk to about Canadian politics[I didn't vote in the last election, after all]. I generally try to avoid it, because like most political backdrops, Canadian politics has all of the dignity and intellectual honesty of a circus. Where none of the trapeze artists rehearsed their routines, and where the elephant is seriously pissed off about something and craps on the audience.

Whenever I see those Parliament meetings on tv, our “representatives” always seem on the brink of having one of those childish slapping fights with each other instead of getting anything done[at least in Congress they just resort to giving each other the stink-eye and talking s%@! about each other behind their backs].

That said, don’t expect my thoughts on the Coalition matter to be very reliable. In fact, my views on political issues are probably even more retarded than my thoughts and opinions on Batman, so don’t say I didn’t warn you)

After some light reading on the subject, it appears the other parties are being sore losers about losing the election. Not that I can blame them. Harper’s done some stupid crap(or rather, failed to do very much in some cases*COUGHKyotoAccordCOUGH*). But I think the reasons why he was re-elected comes down to two key points:

1. Despite his inherent crappy-ness, he’s still managed to screw up considerably less than most of us tend to expect from the Conservative party.

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2. He doesn’t look like a cartoon character, that creepy uncle who touched you in your bad place that one Christmas eve, or the guy who may be a figment of Montreal’s collective imagination. It doesn’t matter if these guys would make for the best leadership Canada’s ever seen, there is something to be said about image, and that affects the voter’s perception of the candidates they have to choose from. It’d be like if Barack Obama wore a ballerina’s costume and a fake moustache to every speech. I can’t take these people seriously. They’re hilarious. A lot of people were fed up with Chrétien as PM, I don’t know why getting someone wackier would be a good idea.

Frankly, the reason I didn’t even register to vote is because that whole election was like choosing between the electric chair, lethal injection or a firing squad. And for all of Dion’s and Layton’s talk, I really don’t have any confidence in either of them to run this country. I get the feeling that them voting down every bill the Harper government tries to pass, and maybe dismantling his leadership would cause Canada more harm than good. I don’t like that Harper won, but he won. I’m not opposed to the idea of Liberal leadership, and I’ve been wrong about these things before, but right now I wouldn’t trust Dion or the NDP with my laundry, let alone my country. =/

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~A.H.