Subtitled why a Harper majority would be bad for the Conservative party. Now we know that a Harper majority would be a disaster for Canada, but what isn't as well known is the damage to the Conservative brand that a Harper majority would do.

... you might get it. So the Grits have taken down the ad with the Harper "misquote". The problem for Harper and his Conservatives is that Harper has a big mouth and there's plenty of other quotes that the Liberals can use to beat Harper over the head with his disdain for public health care.

Instead of trying to shout down Coulter, we should be giving her national air time. Why you might ask? Well, if her comments were given a national airing, along with all the Harper Tory flapping seals cheering her on, the damage to the Conservative brand outside of Alberta would be impressive.

... anonymous Conbot war room commentators who think that our forces don't have to follow the Geneva conventions when it comes to the Taliban better get on over to Esprit de Corps Magazine and correct them on this. After all, they're just a bunch of retired soldiers and what do they know?

This past weekend the members of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives elected a new leader. Since they're the party in power, Ed Stelmach will become premier. Of the three choices between Ted Morton, Jim Dinning and Ed Stelmach. Stelmach was probably the least offensive non-Calgary candidate. The fact that Stelmach wasn't from Calgary was probably a factor in the final ballot.

Now a grain of salt is needed given the source, but if Garth Turner is to be believed, our suspicions about how Harper runs the government are indeed true. It would appear that the Tory caucus isn't allowed to discuss anything. Policy is presented to them as a fait-accompli and any discussion is quashed. So another nail is driven into Canada's New Government's promise to be more open and accountable. Harper doesn't even feel accountable to his own MP's, let alone party members or the people of Canada.

Between work and my cadet commitments, I've had little time to blog the past couple of weeks. So I've missed the federal Tories totally messing up our foreign affairs. This is, of course, what I've come to expect from conservatives when it comes to international relations. Tory black and white thinking doesn't work very well in the messy world of international diplomacy. For now I will leave the foundering federal Tories and look more at their Alberta Cousins. For those of you who live outside of Alberta, the Alberta Tories are in the middle of electing a new leader. A field of eight lackluster candidates have been stomping around the province trying to engage the enthusiasm of their party's members.

So with the Democrats sweeping into control of the House of Representatives, things are changing in the US. Donald Rumsfeld resigned as Secretary of Defense and George Bush's rhetoric has turned to conciliatory remarks. Will this mark more fundamental change in the US government? Or will there be deadlock?

It is often apparent that what a given word means varies from person to person. For example, what I define as fun may not be what you see as fun. Generally these variances in definition are in the application of the word (such as fun) than the literal meaning. So I see the word democracy as a government that is chosen by the people (all the people). This government governs through consultation with the people to ensure that what the government is doing is what the people want. Further, this government doesn't act in secret, for if it does, the people can't make a proper decision on if the government is doing what the people want. So basically, in my view, for democratic government to work, there must be openness on the part of the government so that the people can hold the government accountable for its actions. The people must also be free to express their views without fear of bullying from the government and its supporters. With this in place, democracy can work and work for the people. Unfortunately, the action of the current federal Conservatives seems to be contrary to this view of open and accountable democratic government.

I've set up a new poll question about when you think the opposition should pull the plug on "Canada's New Government (TM Pat. Pend)". So click here to get to this site's main page and the poll is on the right hand side.