The mainstream media does not like the idea of a coalition
government, that much is clear.  After all, they were the bunch that
promoted Steve, the Sweater Guy, into a second Minority term with all
their glowing editorials about him, despite his many faults -- faults
they acknowledged.




So, now that Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition has teamed up with the
other parties in opposition and signed a guarantee of 18 months of
stable governance following Mr. Harper's recent ideologically motivated
attack through Minister Flaherty's Economic Update, the media is doing
its best to attack democracy.  Here's a brief summary.




	

	"Whole bales of comment seek to rhetorically delegitimize
	a clear-cut succession with considerable Commonwealth precedent; in the
	Post, Don Martin growls about a “putsch” and John Ivison sneers at an incipient “banana republic”, the Globe editorial
	mutters about “averting this politically illegitimate coalition”.
	Others, more troublingly, contort constitutional logic to legally
	delegitimize the idea of majority rule in a hung parliament. In the
	Citizen, Randall Denley calls it a “virtual coup that is perfectly legal” (and thus, not a coup at all); in the Post, L. Ian MacDonald rants near-identically about “a perfectly constitutional coup, endorsed by the Westminster tradition” (ditto)."
	





It's as though they've taken the Conservative's Talking Points and
memorized them. Or maybe it's that they wrote them, being that the MSM
is supposed to be comprised writers and editors and not propagandists.
Take a look at these:




	

	Opposition lacks mandate to take power
	

	

	* This fall, Canadians gave the Conservative government a clear mandate to continue taking action on the economy.
	

	

	* During a global downturn, the last thing our country needs for
	Opposition politicians to claim entitlements for your tax dollars and
	ultimately, to take power without a mandate from the people.
	

	

	* Under Stephen Harper's leadership, our government was ahead of the
	curve in anticipating the global economic slowdown. We are injecting
	billions in stimulus through tax cuts, investments in roads and
	bridges, and we are protecting the banking system.
	

	

	* Our focus is the economy, but Opposition parties have their own
	priorities. While all Canadians are tightening our belts, they feel
	entitled to make taxpayers pay for political party staff, polls and
	advertising. They want to replace the elected government, just to
	preserve $17 million worth of entitlements.
	

	

	* This is clearly unacceptable for a modern democracy.
	

	

	* The Speech from the Throne was passed by the House of Commons
	yesterday - after the details of the Economic and Fiscal Update were
	known.
	

	

	* After approving the Speech from the Throne, the opposition now is
	trying to orchestrate a backroom deal to "take" power rather than
	"earn" it. It would be fundamentally anti-democratic for the Liberals -
	after their worst popular vote showing in history - to:
	o Offer up a surprise leader;
	o Offer up a surprise coalition; and
	o Have such a coalition backstopped by a party that wants to destroy the country.
	

	

	* Furthermore, neither the Liberals nor the Bloc have any mandate to form a coalition as they explicitly campaigned against it:
	

	

	* During the election the Liberals told voters they could not govern
	in coalition with the NDP because Layton "does not understand the
	economy".
	

	

	* The Bloc also told voters during the campaign that they
	categorically rejected the possibility of forming a multi-party
	coalition to stop the Conservatives.
	





If you listen to talk radio call-in shows, read letters to the
editors of newspapers or frequent comments sections or blogs online,
you'll already be familiar with those points.  But now we have some new
ones.  And they are nastier:




	

	"Sputtering with rage in the Post, Michael Bliss
	goes so far as to demand that the Governor-General reject any
	no-confidence vote supported by the Bloc — and if she doesn’t, it
	amounts to “an abuse of vice-regal power” that raises “fundamental
	questions about Ms. Jean’s loyalty to the Constitution and to Canada”."
	





I had expected the attack on the Governor General to come, just not
so soon.  I thought they'd denigrate her after she'd decided on the
course she must take.  Perhaps this is simply an encouragement to take
that line of attack.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm no Monarchist, but
until we change our system, well, I can live with it.  What this attack
does, however, is show how desperate the Stephen Harper supporters are
to cling to power.




They will do whatever it takes.  And we can be sure that's not good for Canada.








crossposted from the regina mom
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Bernadette Wagner

Regina Bernadette Wagner is an award-winning writer, a community activist and a singer. Her work has been published in newspapers, magazines, chapbooks and anthologies, on radio, television,...