Only the Grits have the right to offend
It seems that Garth Turner’s sensibilities have been offended by Stephen Harper’s use of the word "screw".
This from the man who called the Prime Minister of Canada a ‘political whore’.
And anyway, if "Young People F*cking" is an acceptable title for a Canadian film worthy of tax credits, then I really don’t see the problem.
Or is this yet another example of Liberal ‘entitlement?’
* * * *
Update: Hunter has the offensive video here. Get the kids away from the computer first though. You don’t want them to hear terrible language like this. They might use it in the schoolyard!!!
Please also check out Return of the Trusty Tory - Calling a spade a spade. Great comments too. Wilson posts a link to a quote by Montreal financial wizard Seymour Shulich:
"…We could all live in igloos and ride bicycles and it won’t make a difference. Everyone is aggravated by the price of oil and gasoline and what is this beauty going to do? He’s going to raise the price of your heating oil and your gas for some mythical objective…"
And I sure do hope that Garth doesn’t get his shorts in a knot over this one - Dear Diary: Stephane Dion. Anyone for a mooTEENy?
June 21st, 2008 at 8:59 am
Yet the Liberal hero, Trudeau, dropped the F-bomb in public on more than one occasion..not Prime-Ministerial?
June 21st, 2008 at 9:23 am
This is going to be one looooong election campaign.
Mr Harper has to get his message out now. It has to be direct and dirty, because, after about 2 weeks most Canadians will tune out. Mr Harper cannot let this election be about numbers, or, tons of GHG emissions. The Left will whine and bitch, but, the there is no doubt that the word “screwed” was talked about and debated before it was inserted into that speech. And…speaking of whine and bitch…how can any Liberal supporter complain about untruths or misleading statements??…your party didnt stay in power for all those years without being ruthless and cunning and misleading, so its a bit rich to hear people cry foul over the word “screwed”. Let the games begin.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:50 am
They whine and bitch because the tables have turned and now they’re the ones taking up the *ss. They don’t like being on the receiving end of the purple spear and it shows.
BTW, I think you’re spot on with your analysis billg. The liberals are running around rubbing their hands with glee exclaiming how the imperturbable, cool, and controlling Harper has uncharacterstically lost it. It’s not very likely, though, that somebody that with that much self-awareness and personal control is just going to ‘lose it’. I think this is totally in character and Harper is once again controlling the message.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:59 am
billg
The election has not been called yet and when it is called there is a very good chance that Dion’s tax grab will not even be on the agenda.
The Conservatives are now the governing party so they need to be careful that they do not over respond to Dion’s brain cramp. The Conservatives must set the agenda and let the Libs respond.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:04 am
Sandy has a list of the govts accomplishments. Now we need a list, and video links, to all the stmts made by liberals in the past two years, using bad language, amd words that could be offensive when describing the PM. Also a list of movies and other things the liberals have supported.
You mention a few of them in this post.
Dion is going to be surprised this time, as we will not sit back and allow the liberals to walk to power by screwing the west and Canada as a whole.
We will be prepared for the blog attacks by gayle, jason and anonhaha, but that will just prove how desperate the liberals are, and how bankrupt of ideas they are. All they want is power to steal from us again.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:11 am
Joe: I’m pretty sure you knew that I knew that an “official” election hasnt been called…the un-official one started on thursday and is ramping up right now. And if you dont think that the Liberals Green Carbon Tax Shift agenda wont be the main issue and probably the only issue then you really havent been paying attention, because it is now, it will be in a month and in 6 months, the agenda has been set, it was set by the Liberals…governments very rarely set election agenda’s. And, for Cons out there, dont think for one minute that Mr Dion’s idea wasnt polled and researched, dont fool yourselves, there must be at least 35 to 40 % receptive polling numbers out there for this to be released as their platform. This is no slam dunk for Mr Harper.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:13 am
The Conservatives must set the agenda and let the Libs respond.
Really good point, Joe. In fact I recall Graham Richardson saying that a Liberal MP mentioned to him something to the effect that “This is our rink and we’ve stolen the puck!”
The CPC needs to quietly explain the pitfalls of Dion’s plan and then move on to other areas that showcase their strength, such as being tough on crime, security against terrorism, etc.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:16 am
CTV’s Question Period displayed the full version of the title.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:37 am
I dont think that can or will happen Joanne. The Liberals have been absent for the past 12 months. They’ve been an opposition disaster. They pass bills they say they hate, they abstain, and yet, they are virtually tied with the Cons right now, so, if crime, security and terrorism coupled with a strong economy cant get you a lead why campaign on it? IMO, if Mr Harper wants a majority he needs to make this “un-official” election and the actual election about Mr Dion’s Carbon Tax Green Shift policy. John Tory set the agenda in Ontario, tried to back off, and, a very smart Liberal campaign team wouldnt let him….Harper has to do the same.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:59 am
Thanks for the link! I think PM Harper is right in calling it crazy and to tell it like it is, it will “screw” everyone, not just the west. How can Dion come to Alberta and convince us it is not another NEP II? Are the Liberals so intent on getting Toronto to vote for them, that they are willing to give up all rural, northern, western and even Atlantic votes?
Are they so power hungry that they would ruin our economy to get back into government? Will middle class voters let them? Wonder where I can find a “Say NO to NEP II” bumper sticker.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:59 am
Garth should know that in politics, shift happens. Sometimes I wish he’d just FLICK OFF.
June 21st, 2008 at 11:00 am
Garth Turner is the closest thing this country has to an official village idiot. On a recent posting on his blog, he defended Trudeau’s NEP with these words: “…so Canadians could benefit from resources located within our country’s own borders.”
Like most eastern elitists, I guess he believes Nickle, Copper, Iron, Zinc, etc. are considered as not being within Canadian borders but only within the boundaries of Ontario and Quebec. I don’t recall these commodities being subjected to price regulation. These elements that are the basic raw materials for drill stem, piping, farm equipment, etc. were free to float on the world markets.
Of course, from Mr. Turner’s point of view, when you inhabit the centre of the universe it is only proper that the folks in the netherworld should sacrifice for the good of the elite.
June 21st, 2008 at 11:11 am
The green shift is NOT an enviro plan,
it is a tax reform to fund Liberal promises
(that’s why Baird is not the Cons front man)
-no mention of Kyoto
-no ghg reduction targets, nothing
-no targets and NO regulation for industry (David McGuinty said so on the radio)
-no alternatives available in advance of the tax so as compliance is even possible
This is nothing better than what the Liberals have done for the past ten years,
wish, hope and dream.
The Green Shift is completely VOLUNTARY.
PMSH can make it simple:
(predictions of) $200 oil is more aggressive than any carbon tax a government could impose.
This is not the time to burden Canadians and the economy with another tax, especially one that picks winners and losers.
Though Canada is responsible for only 2% of global emissions, we have taken a lead in working with large emitting countries, like the US, to ….
June 21st, 2008 at 11:12 am
I just posted a comment on Garth’s blog. Watch the pile-on begin with Garth’s loyal followers quickly attacking my audacity to question the Garth-One.
June 21st, 2008 at 11:35 am
Two Stephanie D-Yawn quotes from yesterday after releasing his “Shift’ that speak volumes on the level of confidence in the Lieberal camp.
“The first objective is to continue to exist – to not disappear,” Dion said in an interview with the Star yesterday, a day after he released his politically risky plan to increase taxes on carbon.
“It’s so difficult to exist when you are leader of the Opposition,” Dion says.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Just read a few of the comments on garths blog and come across one of his replies to a poster. That stmt plus Dion having to look in his book to answer JVD is proof positive that thay no not what they speak.
Garth re 1.40/l for gas said, only .10 cents of that is federal excise tax plus gst. Sorry, the gst is added on after the 1.40 you pay. If the gst was in the price at the pump it would read, 1.47/l.
And did you catch gayles defense of dion having to look up the answer in the book. “he was just showing that all the answers are in the book” at TT.
The attempt to defend this plan by the gayleclan are really very funny. But, it did take her several days to come up with any response.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Half of those pilers on are The Garth himself, paulsstuff.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I think it’s instructive to look at who Dion’s main advisors on this plan are : John McCallum, Garth Turner and David McGuinty.
The smart people like Iggy and Bob Rae are keeping as far away as possible.
June 21st, 2008 at 12:54 pm
The smart people like Iggy and Bob Rae are keeping as far away as possible.
I think you’re right. They will make a token effort at selling it, but you can tell that they don’t believe in it.
They are waiting to pick up the pieces of the party when Dion’s little misadventure is over.
June 21st, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Sometimes when something’s so bad you have to just tell it like it is and not sugarcoat it. Canadians need to hear the truth and not a prettier version of it.
Good on the PM for being a straight-shooter.
June 21st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Sometimes when something’s so bad you have to just tell it like it is and not sugarcoat it.
Pretty hard to sugarcoat a big pile of shift anyway.
Oh, sorry Garth! Did that offend you?
June 21st, 2008 at 1:21 pm
How come garth was not offended when he put this on his blog? After all, he is a representative of the government of Canada, no?
http://www.garth.ca/weblog/2008/01/07/screwed/
June 21st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
And to top it all off, he was actually referring to the Conservtive’s and climate change!!!
“The more significant story is the climate change crisis and weather-related events that are probably upon us. As I said last week, 100 million people live within one metre of the seas, many of them in cities like Halifax, New York and London. Sea levels are rising, and it’s estimated within ten years many of these people will be environmental refugees, and their priceless real estate worthless in water.
Maybe that will get John Baird’s attention. In retirement. The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy certainty could not get the man focused on Monday when it came to an interesting conclusion: We’re screwed. (I paraphrase.)”
June 21st, 2008 at 2:13 pm
The obvious original analogy to “screwed” was not sexual in nature. Just as other popular words have developed double meanings sexually [scored, laid], the original word has an entirely innocuous meaning. If one were to feel squeezed by a carbon tax, could that not be like “tightening the screws”? Should CBC not say “He shoots, he scores?” Should the Discovery channel use another word for “the Arctic tern has laid her eggs”…
June 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Good catch, Paulsstuff!
June 21st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
I think I’ll just go out and buy that SUV I’ve been craving right now…
June 21st, 2008 at 9:51 pm
As a visible minority (a raving Liberal loon), perhaps Garth Turner should complain to the Canadian Human Rights Commission that PM Harper’s analysis of Dion’s economically damaging “carbon tax” could lead to future “contempt” for Liberals.
Liberal-supporting-lefties across the country are whining about being called out on their “carbon tax” plan - a new tax to pay for their previously announced new social programs, disguised as an environmental program. (”CSCAM”?)
For example, on Friday night June 20, Ron Corbett, CFRA’s latest addition to its leftward-moving talk radio line-up, led off his show by sniffling about the inappropriateness of the Prime Minister’s remark, and that Stephen Harper was an “elitist” who was “pandering” to the public. (Podcast here)
(As an aside, Ron Corbett is the very first person I’ve ever heard accusing our middle-class Prime Minister of being an “elitist”. Where have I been???)
Corbett even tried to shift the context of the PM’s words by repeating variations of the phrase “screw this, screw that, screw everybody” several times during the show.
(Cluck-cluck! Cluck-cluck!….)
When Corbett opened the lines, much to his dismay, the first eight or so callers all strongly defended the Prime Minister’s remarks as being appropriate and useful!
(Bummer, man!)
Finally, Corbett got a call from a frail sounding lady who foresaw the Prime Minister’s comment as the beginning of The Hidden Agenda.
(Thank-you, God! I do have an ally out there!)
It’s interesting that Ron Corbett has such a thin skin for strong words, since on June 8, while guest hosting on the Gerry Cammy Show, he suggested that the Conservative “Tax trick” ads were somehow similar to Robert Mugabe’s brutal regime in Zimbabwe!
After getting called out on that outrageous absurdity by a caller pretty damned quickly, he tried the argument that “mothers” wouldn’t “approve” of the tax-trick ads.
(When all else fails, try the trusty “Mother-wouldn’t-approve” defence)
If Ron Corbett gets turfed from CFRA, there’s always Al Jazeera. I think he’d fit right in.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Ha-ha! Thanks, Aek. That was quite entertaining.
Mike Duffy brought up the inflationary aspect of Dion’s plan yesterday. If the costs of everything goes up, then the interest rates will have to go up to stave off more inflation, which means that your mortgage will go up when it’s time to renew, etc.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Dion is calling this vulgar? How old is he, 6? Screwed is not a vulgar word it’s common language; but Dion doesn’t know anything about us commoners does he?
OT but you have to read this; it makes my blood boil. They are breaking just about every Parliamentary rule on the book not to mention the deep legal no-no of messing with anything that is CURRENTLY BEFORE THE COURT! They have silenced debate and gagged the committee from speaking about the other parties doing the same bloody thing! They’ve hijacked the committee for partisan purposes again, and this time they have really gone too far by banning any factual evidence. It’s not a fair fight if the other guy is handcuffed!
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=184de797-8ae5-4b71-92dd-3e1c4dbf9c51
June 21st, 2008 at 10:13 pm
By the way; did the media bat an eyelash during Paul Martin’s “mad as hell” tour?
June 21st, 2008 at 10:23 pm
May, I read that Ottawa Citizen story this morning. It’s shocking that the three opposition parties could force that kind of situation.
Time for Dion to put his money where mouth is and bring down the government. Of course, that can’t happen until the fall now.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Another reason for a majority conservative government, to stop these gotcha (and failed) scandals. Maybe the ethics committee with a majority of conservatives could then investigate adscam, sponsorship, steamship money, hotel and golf course deal, and recind the motion to seal all trudeaus deals re peto fina for fifty years.
Questions re Petro Fina would be great to ask Justin as he campaigns. Is he enjoying the money his day conned out of us taxpayers.
Petro Fina, sponsorship, adscam and not the shaft plan, that is quite a record to defend.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:30 pm
That should be and NOW the shaft plan.
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:56 am
[...] However, now that the pressure of having to decide whether or not to bring down the government is safely over for at least the summer, the Wizard of Ozttawa seems to have finally granted Stephane a pair. (Sorry, Garth. Was that offensive?) [...]
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:02 am
Apparently silence from Danny Williams indicates that he is in favour of Dion’s wild plan-’FLAG IS STILL FLYING in NFLD-labra’. Is he still going to vote liberal?
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:18 am
I forgot to mention in my previous email, I heard Dion distinctly say on PETER VAN DUSEN that his caucus, ‘all of them’ worked together on this plan. So I find it most odd that Iggy and Rae and others are not around to take part in the discussion to praise the so-call environmental plan which they and dion worked together.
Dion is playing pay back time to his own caucus for what they are doing to him personally. That is why he involved his entire caucus on this crazed plan, because he knows if he goes down they go as well.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Late in on the discussion of the strong words from PMSH…Raphael has provided a definition of the term. Does anyone remember the name attached to the GST?
“Gouge and Screw Tax”