Is Machiavelli alive and Well?

 

Certainly his deviousness must be as evidenced by the Tories calling for a broad audit of Senate Expenses.

(This Blog will be short and to the point)

From my perspective, there can be only two reasons why the Tories have called in the Auditor General to review Senate expenses.

Either it is an indication that they have folded in the face of public criticism and just want to buy time and by so doing get the issue of the front pages for now.

Or, they want to run on this issue in the next election and hope to use the AG’s Report to support their platform to either reform or deep six the Senate.

If they have done so for the former reason – they are sorely mistaken since it may accomplish taking  the issue off the front page for now but it will be back stronger than ever when the report is released.

And, there will be many more examples of misused government funds albeit both Liberals and Conservative Senators will be implicated.

Not a great strategy given that the Report’s release will occur closer to the time of the next Election.  One could even call it dangerous.

Or, two, if they are indeed counting on a very negative AG Report which they can use to muster support for an election plank dealing with the Senate, it may in fact work to their benefit and hence most Machiavellian.

I do not know which reason is a work here but I fear if one were to peel back the onion, number one would prove to have been the motivating factor.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

A Tale Of Three MAYORS…

 

Let’s start with the biggest story, in more ways than one … – Mayor Rob Ford.

Let’s be honest, Ford has been a great disappointment in his time as Mayor of the City of Toronto.  I won’t get into his many miscues only to say, these past few years, he has brought neither credit to himself nor to his office.

I wrote in a former Blog that he lucked in when a Court ordered his removal as Mayor a year or so ago for the nonsensical reason that he had failed to recuse himself from voting on a $3k grant to a football team composed of disadvantaged youth.  Ford’s sin?  He was the coach of the team.

He had shown himself incapable of doing the job of Mayor by then and I suggested in my blog that the court ruling was manna from heaven since it allowed him to quit the mayoralty post with his head held high.

Not surprisingly, Ford did not see it that way; he appealed successfully and the rest – as they say, is history.

Next on my list is former Ottawa Mayor Larry Obrien.

Obrien, unlike Ford, was a novice to politics having made a name for himself in the very competitive tech field  He wanted to revolutionize city government by making it leaner and meaner and in so doing, mirror private sector organizations.

He too went from one gaff to the next and very early on showed that he could not work with others – the ‘others’ being professional (read ‘long time’) city councillors.

He also campaigned on a ‘zero increased budget’ and yet with the very first budget, he voted an increase.  (Great way to motivate your base). Indeed, in his 4 years as Mayor, realty taxes increased by over 14%.  His campaign promise of ‘zero means zero’ meant …zero.

And then we come to the guy who put Larry Obrien out of his misery … current Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson.

Unlike the first two Mayors, Jim Watson is a consummate politician.  He has known nothing other than politics since he graduated from University.

Where Ford and Obrien have demonstrated they do not play well with others, Watson plays his council like a fiddle.

He campaigned on realty tax increases of no more than 2.5% and through sleight of hand he has convinced the public of having done so, i.e. no need to include user fees and the like in the final total.  Indeed, in this his last full year of office, Watson is now promising an increase of no more than 2%.

The guy is a shoe in for re-election and if he was not a well known liberal, even I might have voted for him.

Okay, so we have two failures and one success.

Why so?

Well judging from the above, skill set play a very distinct role and as the professional politician, Watson has the advantage.

But that said, many of us are tired of professional politicians – we see them as being too steeped in the status quo and accordingly are most unlikely to do what is needed to get municipal government debt – like all government debt – under control.

Simply stated, we are reaching the tilting point when it comes to more new taxes.

And let me continue to be candid here, I voted for the genuine novice, Larry Obrien in the belief that as a successful businessman, he would get our finances under control.  Call me naive.

In retrospect, Obrien failed for two main reasons, one being that he as a successful businessman his management style is ‘top down’ which works in industry but not in politics where compromise is the watchword.  Obrien would have been much more successful had he hired and listened to experienced political operatives to get his agenda through.  More on that perhaps another day.

But it is with respect to the ‘second’ reason that I would like to focus ….  ingrained self interest.

Both Ford and Obrien lean to the right and in so doing attract the enmity of the powerful public unions and left wing biased media. 

Indeed it was a Union Leader who pushed Obrien into court on trump up charges which by the time the court had thrown them out …the damage had been done.  Obrien was toast.

In Ford’s case, his main adversary has been the Toronto Star which, since his election, has been on a vendetta to totally discredit him.  Unfortunately it has been most successful in its efforts.

Conversely, Watson is a keeper of the status quo …and thus big government, big debt -  with unions and the press vying for the privilege of lending him their support.

So what are we to take from these three case studies?

I am glad you asked:

First, if a novice runs for mayor, he had better be a people person who is good at reaching consensus;

Second, even if he has such attributes, he needs to hire very experienced staffers to help make up for his or her inexperience;

Third, in order to gain the support of the powerful public unions and the media, you had better be of the liberal or ndp persuasion;

Finally, let me propose a solution for you.

Given that some cities now are bigger that several provinces;

And given that debt at the municipal level is unsustainable;

And given that Mayors have little more power than the average councillor;

I propose that party politics be introduced into municipal politics especially at the city level.

This would allow voters to vote in a slate of candidates under the Mayor enabling a focused sustained effort to address the issues of the day.

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

The Little Man In The Whitehouse …

Called for the end of the War on Terror this week and he was right to do so.

Why?

Because the concept of ‘terror’ has little or no meaning.

But that is not why the little man (L.M.) made his pronouncement.

He simply wants to move on and put 9/11 behind him …but of course, as we all know, it is not that easy.

Let’s talk first about the misleading name ‘War on Terror’.  It is only recently that the L.M. started to even use the word ‘Terror’ in his speeches.  Rather, for most of his presidency, he has talked around the word.

Regardless, the Public was left without really knowing who fell into the enemy category;  was it minute men hiding in the Ozarks; a lone deranged gunman who shot up his local high-school; was it Basque separatists; was it Al Qaeda; was it Islamists generally; or a nutty neighbour next door?

Whoever it was, the L.M. now wants the ‘war’ to cease.

But how can you end a war without knowing who the enemy was?

And how can you end a war when there is a certain group out there that continues to hate your guts and wants you dead.

But that is just what the L.M. is trying to do.

In fact, we all know, as does the L.M. who the real enemy is …it is Extreme Muslims everywhere.  There is no need to give examples since we all read about them virtually everyday in the newspapers and see them work their wicked will on television.  They hate everything about the West, our beliefs, our societies, even our right to breathe.

No dear Reader, the War on Terror a.k.a. the War against Extremists Muslims will be with us for a very long time to come.  And, sadly, it will last all the longer due to the L.M.’s refusal to honesty and courageously address it in his 8 year presidency.

This failure on the L.M.’s part is not his biggest … his most grievous failure is his failure to reel in the debt / deficit which now stands north of $17 Trillion Dollars.

But it is his second greatest failure and when combined with the first, condemns America to a very bleak future.

As I see it…

“K.D. Galagher’

 

Yes Virginia, There Is A Satan Claus

 

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from one of my younger readers inquiring as to whether or not there was a Satan Claus.  She had just seen on television the horrible aftermath of two muslim radicals beheading a young 25 year old soldier, husband, father and wondered how and why this could happen.

Following is my reply to this young girl:

Yes, Virginia, there is a Satan Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and he appears side by side as the evil that is unfortunately in us all. 

He relishes the fact that Western Democracies spend themselves into massive deficits plaguing innocent generations with this debt for years to come;

He rejoices in the fact that millions of babies never see the light of day and will soon to be joined by legions of euthanized seniors and the infirm;

He chuckles as he watches our youth waste away their lives playing vacuous and often violent video games;

He beams as our mass media successfully spreads pornography widely throughout an unsuspecting and very naive society;  

He is proud that the top leader of the Western World loathes calling terrorism for what it is and finds all kinds of excuses for their terrible deeds;

He is mute but smugly complacent in the face of vicious and oft times deadly discrimination perpetrated against Christians and Jews throughout the world;

He cannot believe his good fortune when the Province of Ontario pays green energy providers over 80 cents per kwh in order to produce enough power to pay other jurisdictions to take it off our hands; all the while the poor among us are forced to choose between warmth and food;  

He loves the scandals of governments everywhere where dollars are pocketed by their friends and cronies;

He is puzzled, yet delighted, when Canadian oil is spurned by the West for being ‘dirty’ while those same western governments gladly accept oil from  countries which are on record as wishing their destruction;

He is tickled when otherwise most privileged citizens, such as our Senators, claim money for which they are not entitled, from the pockets of the much less fortunate;

He is most proud of those of us who, like David Dingwall, covet their entitlements;

He is encouraged by those amongst us who supposedly serve the taxpayer, do so for twice the pay, twice the benefits and twice the job security;

He is cheered on when our politicians think there is nothing wrong with cavorting with drug dealers and smoking crack cocaine;

He cannot stop laughing when we in Canada actually pay separatists to work toward the destruction of our country;

He is a fan of Justin Trudeau who, if push came to shove, would choose his native province over his native land;

He is beside himself with good fortune knowing that natives will continue to blackmail the rest of us and by so doing bankrupt themselves morally and us economically;

He is overcome with joy in the knowledge that the family and marriage, for centuries the backbone of our society, has in recent years gone out of style;

And, He is at peace when he looks upon our society where, more and more, there is no place nor room for God.

No Satan Claus?  Nonsense, he will live forever; A thousand years from now, maybe 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to corrode the hearts of our children and adults alike.

But take heart my little one, a wise-man named Edmund Burke once said nearly 300 years ago, that evil can only triumph if good people do nothing.

Thankfully, Virginia, there are lots of good people living amongst us today who will not sit idly by and let that happen.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’ 

Postscript:  I am indebted to a number of people who, unknowingly, helped me in the writing of the above.  To them I say a most sincere thank you.  K

 

Who You Go’na Trust…

 

Well it certainly is not Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.

Ford gave a press conference earlier today where he was to come clean on whether or not clandestine photos of him smoking crack existed.

All well and good save for the fact that he did not address that issue.

Rather he talked on and on about the good folks of Toronto etc and spent mere seconds on the issue of the day – his alleged smoking of crack in the presence of druggies.

And then he took off like a shot refusing to take questions.

In the case of Harper and whether or not he knew of the payment to Mike Duffy in advance – one is left having to give him the benefit of the doubt since he unequivocally said at his conference that he did not.

In the case of Ford, and the little time he gave the issue, one would have to believe that he likely in fact did partake of the drug.

So having waited so long and produced so little – Ford might just as well have gone fishing.

He has guilt written all over him and it will be most interesting now if the photo of him purportedly smoking cocaine ever surfaces or has it been forever lost.

Ford spoke today like he was saying goodbye.  Hopefully for his own good and the good of Toronto – he does just that.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

 

Harper is Toast …. Part 2

 

In yesterday’s Blog, I predicted that Harper would be toast if it turns out he knew about the $90k payment to Mike Duffy in advance.

I stand by that – even more now, given that today he came out and said unequivocally that he had not known.

We are now left with having to give Stephen Harper the benefit of the doubt i.e. that all along he played no part in the Wright / Duffy fiasco.

That said, if it yet comes out that he did have advance notice, he will most definitely be finished - – his credibility totally shot.

And dear reader, there will be lots out there trying to make the connection, starting with CTV’s Robert Fife, so let’s hope Harper has at last come clean.

And in that respect, it leaves me most puzzled why it took the Prime Minister some 8 days, and now while in a foreign country, to make the statement everyone had been expecting.

The other strange fact is the wording of Nigel Wright’s resignation where he says something along the lines of the Prime Minister not knowing the method of how the payment was made.  Don’t you think a simple ‘the Prime Minister had no knowledge whatsoever of the payment’ would have sufficed?”

I for one am suspicious but again Harper deserves the benefit of the doubt and I will give it to him … for now.

postscript:  one I forgot … if Harper was so incensed at upon learning of the actions of his former chief of staff, as he verbalized yesterday in Peru, why was his first reaction, upon hearing the news 8 days ago, to express “full confidence” in his then chief of staff?

And one other unrelated item that niggles at me… why was his new chief of staff allowed to live over the garage at 24 Sussex?  Small point I admit but wouldn’t we all love to be able to call 24 Sussex home for even a short time.  Twenty four Sussex is the Home of the Prime Minister and his or her family and is not for his or her staff.  ‘as I see it’

As I see it…

‘K.D. Galagher’

 

 

A Day Late and a Dollar Short …

 

As in the Prime Minister’s speech to his Caucus which just moments ago concluded.

A recap:

He said it was his Party which has come out first for the need of Senate Reform;

He reminded everyone that it is the two Opposition Parties that have been frustrating this effort;

He told his Caucus that he was going to redouble his determination to see this reform through and that if any of their Tory Senators were not fully supportive in this, ‘they’d best leave the room’.

All hard, tough stuff and yet …

He did not mention the resignation of this Chief of Staff Nigel Wright nor did he mention the $90k paid to Mike Duffy.

More importantly, he did not address the elephant in the room – i.e. ‘whether or not he knew anything of the payment prior to its being made’.

And now he heads off to Peru.

To me his omission tells me that he did in fact know about the payment in advance; if not, there is no reason I can think of as to why he would not say otherwise.

If that is true, Harper, dear reader, is toast.

Indeed, he may be gone even before dear Duffy.

As I see it …

‘K.D. Galagher’