Kirkhill,
Infanteer I am going to apologize now for something I just posted on another thread but I am right royally pi**ed off right now.
Don't apologize, you're allowed to be discontented, this is a democracy after all... ;D
And NuLL for Brains comments are of no help at all. Conservatives are supposed to be considerate of those left brained twits out there at the same time as gormless scunnering wee gits like him ramble off at the mouth about their perceptions of the attitudes of Conservatives. B*gger them all.
It works both ways, I've heard enough banter against gay people from the Conservative camp (which I feel is completely inappropriate for a political doctrine) to know that consideration is the last thing to be found in that dirty game of politics. It just looks like the left-wing crowd played the pipes a little better this time around. Look at Conservative Diefenbaker's anti-American campaign when his minority was chucked out of Parliament, just as deceitful and ridiculous.
You get along fine in this flaming country as long as you get the groupthink mindgrope party flaming line. And God help you indeed if you choose to think for yourself and come up with an alternate opinion.
I don't happen to agree with Randy White or even my new MP on family values. I also don't happen to agree with Paul Martin or Jack Layton or even my Wife.
Regardless I respect their right to have a different opinion. I would like to be shown the same consideration to myself and all others.
I'm not following the logic of your rant here. nULL was simply pointing out that Canadian's voted freely and fairly.
The problem in Iraq and Iran is not that the fundamentalists have an ideology it is that they impose the ideology.
The problem in Canada is not that some Conservative canadians have beliefs AND ARE WILLING TO LET A MAJORITY OF CANADIANS DECIDE IF THEY AGREE WITH THEM, it is that the LEFT wing accepts NO beliefs beyond their own and will impose them on society at large by WHATEVER MEANS POSSIBLE.
There are radicals on both sides. If all we have imposed on us is the penalty of paying more tax money to put in the pockets of others, than I think we are okay for now. I don't think there is any conspiracy going on here.
You tell me who is closer to the flaming Ayatollahs.
I'd say those outspoken Conservatives who want to use the not-with-standing-clause to push forward a Christian agenda (White), or compare abortion to the beheading of Nick Berg (Gallant). I voted Conservative, but I came away with a bit of an ugly feeling of who also happened to be very vocally throwing their lot in with me.
To be honest, I'd be no more at ease voting for the New Democrats, who refused to rebuke a candidate that authored anti-semite garbage. Or the Liberals, who have been caught doing every unethical thing in the book. But please don't reduce Canada to Iran.
Goober,
Most people on this board seem to be right of center, most seemed pissed off over the election,
Yes, you're safe in assuming that.
and claim that the general public are lemmings, twits, or whatever other derogatory word they think of to try and vent their anger.
I stand behind my statement that the general population is quite ignorant on most matters of the state. You can look at the peacekeeping myth that surrounds the Canadian Military (and I defy you to prove that myth). This extends into most other areas of the government; one only has to look at the figures to figure it out. Look at the common myths of health care, foreign policy, social spending, cronyism, and taxation. What pisses me off is the politicians failure to address these areas with serious debate during this election (The Greens did it, Harper did it to some extent, until he was booed off the stage was scare tactics). What pisses me off even more is that citzens of Canada are too lazy or too stupid to bother looking into these things to any extent to ensure that their votes counted.
This vote was the lowest turnout ever. Either people were too lazy to exercise their sovereign estate, which means they are typical spoiled Canadians, or that they disdain politics to the degree of apathy, which I think is quite unhealthy. Obviously, whoever is left to vote in Canada for the most part is content to give the country over to socialist bureaucrats administering a handout monster and union bosses who seek to subjugate the economy. Don't come complaining to me when the trough dries up and you're in the hand-out lineup.
Hoser,
Hmm, where to begin.
First, thats an awful way to look at a democracy. "Only the Winner's opinion matters". Obviously if that was the case, we may as well do away with the House of Commons, and just let Paul Martin decide everything on his own.
I'm sure you wouldn't be saying that if the Conservatives one. Remember the golden principle of majority rules? That was central to the idea of peace, order, and good government; the winners of Majority governments are able to effectively move forward with their Mandate. Obviously, this isn't the case, since a minority government is in place; the opinions of others will matter.
Also, I hate to burst your bubble, but the majority of 60% of Canadians that went to the polls didn't vote Liberal, as you so candidly suggest. The majority of voters voted for something other than Liberal, which does say something. Obviously you can take liberties with the defnition of majority (i.e. "The larger group"), but with our political system and the terms used in it, this is only a method of misrepresenting the facts.
You're right, but 55% voted for what I feel was a left-of-center government, while another 13% voted for a separatist party run by a former Communist party member. It looks like the majority has spoken to which way they want things to go.
I refuse to be angry at Canada's democracy for not electing a Conservative Government. They only had 30% of the popular vote. I may be displeased with an ignorant electorate that votes emotionally rather than rationally (Jean Chretien said that), and I may be disgusted with tactics that have no place in public discourse (from ALL sides). However, this is the nature of the beast. The system allows for things like this, so they happen. I willingly accept that most Canadians are willing to throw their fate to socialist ideologues, fear mongering demagogues, and separatist traitors, all for the sake of denying the floor to social regressives. Unfortunately, we who want to honestly do something right (from ALL parties) are caught in the middle of it.
Finally, if you look at the popular vote, and the representation, you'll note that "nobody" is a rather significant portion of Canada.
That's the way the system works. We must be doing something right to have almost 140 years of a continuous peaceful, liberal democratic government. I think the system could be fixed as well, but it's far from shot.
P.S. Even though you add the "non-smart-ass" disclaimer, that doesn't make your post so. The tone and nature of your post suggests that you wanted the liberals to win, and are quite happy to gloat about this. Go ahead and do so, I don't care, but don't pretend you wrote something other than what you did. An argumentative post has far more substance
Am I a smart-ass too?
All in all, I think we are overreacting here. It is a minority government. We won't be foisted into communes or forced to take part in a gay pride parade tomorrow. As well, we won't be forced to attend Church. Canada's democracy, although not as healthy as it could and should be, is still there. Almost two years ago, I had to spend the day checking on polling stations and party headquarters to make sure Bosnians didn't kill each other over their first National Election. I'm glad I don't have to do that here.
The demagoguery that persists in todays democracy is the price we pay. It was prevalent in Athens where crowds could be incited to imprison their leaders. Canadian politics has had low and high turnouts, good and bad governments, and good and bad policies. I guarantee you these same arguments were being chucked around when Tommy Douglas come to Ottawa, yet the standard of living is much higher than it was then. As long as their isn't catastrophe (I haven't seen one in our history yet) I'm sure we'll be around to argue about these same things in the next election.
Anyways, I am going to bed...without having to worry about someone who hates me shelling my neighbourhood.