Thanks to Don Martin of the National Post, who was writing about something entirely different, I found a sentence that so exactly sums up what happened in Ontario in order for the Fiberals to pass breed specific legislation.
"That's the beauty of securing a conviction in the court of public opinion -- optics, hearsay and circumstantial evidence can instantly gas chamber the innocent with no avenue of appeal."
That is exactly what happened in Ontario. The Fibs, with taxpayers' money, tub-thumped fallacies about types of dogs and their owners until the average person on the street, inundated with Fib propaganda, would unthinkingly repeat these fallacies. The Fibs used the media wisely - well, hell, they have unlimited access to the media and OUR money for PR people to devise campaigns, we anti-BSLers usually can't get arrested by the media (which is why so many of us started blogs) and have only working folks' money. What's left, that is, after the Fibs have finished pillaging our pockets for their PR.
The sham Committee hearings on Bill 132 were a revelation to me. I'm a cynic, but the Fibs surpassed even my low expectations. The Fibs sitting on the Committee looked like bobble head dolls, nodding when their POV was being presented, obsessively checking their Blackberries and smirking when it wasn't. It was disgusting. Michael Bryant didn't attend one day of Committee hearings and, before the final witnesses had presented, was courting the media with an announcement that he would pursue breed specific legislation.
Then the whipped Fibs, with a majority government (what idiots voted for them?), with the exception of a few who could only abstain from voting rather than vote against the Bill because it was tabled by a cabinet minister, passed the legislation that made innocent, responsible dog owners' lives living hell, legislated them into second-class citizenship, and set in motion the wheels that would kill thousands of dogs solely because of their shape. The Fibs hurt innocent people and killed their dogs.
Worst of all, I still have to tolerate the smirking, smarmy face of McSquinty in the papers because the majority of Ontarians are morons and voted them back in after a Fib campaign that stank of subliminal xenophobia against a minor plank in another party's platform. Personally, I'm hoping that if McSquinty steps down mid-term, the internal battle for leadership among Smitherman, Bryant and other heirs apparent decimates the party and leaves it in shambles. That would be a good alternative to the "govern by flailing", unthinking platitudes, patronizing tone or unwarranted aggression, and unceasing spin doctoring to which we're currently subjected.
Anyway....nice line, Mr. Martin. Hope you don't mind that I borrowed it.
1 comment:
Excellent post. I'll be linking to it.
McGuinty and his cabal got 46% of 50% of the popular vote, yet they returned to their former number of seats.
They have a majority, but not a majority of popular support. In fact, they garnered 23% support from the total electorate, so I hope they understand what that means.
The minor parties, like the Greens, the FCP and others sucked 11% of the vote. People should vote for one of the Big Three in an election because otherwise they are just throwing their vote away.
That 11% would have come in handy last October.
And yes, it was just fear-mongering about ethnic minorities of the worst kind. But, it was incredibly stupid of the PCs to put anything to do with religion/culture in their platform.
Duh all around.
You got suckered, folks, by people who will manipulate you and do anything to hang on to power.
Have a nice 3+ years and if one more person complains to me about the Fibs, I might lose it.
G-r-r-r-r
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