The Conservative culture of lying

If one thing this past week has made clear, it is that the Conservative Party of Canada under Stephen Harper has developed and fostered a culture based on lies and deceit. From the lowliest back bencher to through cabinet ministers to Harper himself, it has been quite clear this week that pretty much any time any of the Harper Conservatives open their mouths, smart money is on that a lie will spill out. Bev Oda is only a symptom of a larger rot that exists in the halls of power under Stephen Harper as evidenced by the fact that Harper and Baird are now openly lying in the House of Commons. The initial question of course is why are they doing it. The answer to that is quite simple. First the Conservative base will believe anything that comes out of Harper's mouth so there's no one on that side of the political spectrum to hold him to account as the lies that Harper and his merry band of Conservatives spew out tend also to fit the Conservative mythology. A mythology that for the most part has the sound theoretical underpinnings of the tooth fairy and Santa Claus. Second, Canada's largely Conservative media has, until recently been willing participants in the liefest. So with a largely uncritical and supportive media, it is very easy to get away with lying as the only information that most people get is from the media and of course the media is more than happy to parrot the lies. The laughable point here is Kenny lying about the one media source that doesn't just parrot the Harper line as lying. That is, by not spreading the Harper Conservative Party lies, a media outlet, in the mind of Harper and his Conservatives is lying. With that much of a skewed view of the truth, no wonder Harper and his cronies couldn't speak the truth if their lies depended on it.

Of course the Canadian public holds some complicity in permitting the lies to continue. By not punishing the Harper Tories at the ballot box or at the very least a massive letter writing campaign, the lies of the Harper Tories have spewed out at a rate that would make Il Duce and the agitprop blush in shame. Combine the lies with the attempt by Harper to keep all of his government's actions secret and it's no wonder that Canadians haven't done anything about it.

The lies are all part of Harper's attempt to maintain a grip on power. All indications are that Harper sees himself as "president for life" of Canada. His actions are those followed by many right wing tinpot dictators the world over. That is, prevent the population from getting any information as to what the government is doing or stands for, all under the guise of "national security" or "cabinet privilege", villainizing opposition groups by labelling them as terrorists or supporters of terrorists or claiming they are illegitimate. Bully tactics against anyone who expresses a contrary opinion. Ignoring the will of elected bodies and attempting to prevent them from meeting. The constant stream of lies both in the House of Commons and to the media and the various astroturf campaigns on media websites. Preventing opposing viewpoints from speaking and rounding up and arresting those with opposing viewpoints. It is at the point where when Harper loses an election, I'm not even sure that he'll give up the reins of power but will declare a "national emergency" to remain in the PMO.

Of course Harper's supporters, the Conservative voter, would love that to happen, their hero, in power, forever. No need for those nasty and expensive elections anymore. People with opposing viewpoints placed safely in jail where they belong. It would be a Conservative dreamworld and Harper's supporters will follow him and his lies to what would seem to be Harper's ultimate goal of a totalitarian dictatorship.

At this point it is important to remember that all the lies that Harper and his party spew out, all the misinformation and propaganda spewed by his party and the government under his control is solely the responsibility of one man. The dear Conservative Maximum Leader himself Stephen Harper. Harper has concentrated so much control in the PMO that it is at the point where even cabinet ministers don't go to the bathroom with out the PMO's permission. This means that everything they say has been either scripted or vetted by Harper and the PMO. Everything that the Conservative Party says and does is done with the expressed consent of Stephen Harper. Due to his maniacal control tendencies, there's no plausible deniability for Harper. All the lies, all the deceit, all the mad quest for power lie at his feet.

Now I'm fortunate in that the anonymous war room Conbots don't visit here so I suspect I won't get the usual talking points about this that they seem to be spewing at other blogs and media outlets where "well the Liberals did it first" or that "The media lies too". It's all too much like a drug addicted teen trying to deflect blame for their actions. That's the final part of this that makes this all truly scary. That Stephen Harper and his Conservative followers and supporters seem to truly believe that they are above the law, that the rules and laws of our society don't apply to them, just like someone who's just been arrested blaming the police for arresting them, and not taking a good long look at their own behaviour and seeing why they got arrested in the first place. Unfortunately our country and democracy are not safe while Stephen Harper is in power. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be able to get rid of him. It's a sad time for Canada.