Jack’s Jump the Shark Moment
I’m calling it: Jack Layton has jumped the shark.
OK … maybe many others have called it earlier (if even by a few days), but there’s no going back from the mess that Jack Layton has created for himself and I’m going to pile on to that point of view.
Suggesting that the NDP can’t be blamed for the death of the gun registry is akin to saying that your heart doesn’t help your blood flow.
For those of you looking for a solution to the Gun Registry situation, Scott Tribe posts a compromise recommendation for Jack and Michael to consider.
However, I am concerned that Jack will continue to play games with Stevie as opposed to creating real solutions that all Canadians will be proud of.
The image above reminds us that Jack Layton has been working to keep Stephen Harper in power for some time, not just as a result of the gun registry, but ever since he got bluffed by Stephen Harper into making a grab for a few more seats in 2006 and helped defeat Paul Martin’s Liberal government.
(NOTE: For the record, I am not a Liberal or an NDPer. I’m lost as far as who I would trust to earn my vote.)
As Jack Layton or members of the NDP continue to prop up the Conservatives, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the ‘socialists’ are just henchmen for the Cons.
Failing to differentiate the NDP from the most right-wing organization in Canada is a massive error and will cost the NDP dearly, both in terms of financial and voter support. Their efforts to find concession will result in the Liberals being seen as Canada’s only progressive option.
Jack Layton needs to stop looking at the Liberals like they’re competition. Jack Layton needs to start developing a plan for getting rid of the Conservatives, including concerted marketing effort across all opposition parties (including the Green Party) to remind Canadians that coalitions, even including separatists, are OK.
Jack and Michael need to work together to defeat the Conservatives at every turn before the DNA of this country is turned to mush (although it may be too late for that). They should figure out every possible political angle they can to maximize the number of seats that they can get in the next election, including the removal of candidates in key ridings.
If Jack fails on this, the urban population will dump the dippers in droves and the NDP will be caput.
If the NDP survives this, there should be a leadership review for the NDP, but we know that will be pointless because the NDP is run by the unions and individual members will be shut out.
As such, the NDP is done as a party in Canada.
The Liberals know it and they’re distancing themselves in a big way from the NDP politically and likely in the polls as well.
All of this brings us back to why Stephen Harper will be in control for a very long time. The Liberals and NDP refuse to play nice and bring the government down. They are sworn enemies and will do anything to avoid concession, including returning democracy to Canadians.
Because Jack and Mikey won’t be able to play nice, we’ll all be screwed by Stevie.
“Because Jack and Mikey won’t be able to play nice, we’ll all be screwed by Stevie.”
… and you think that you are playing ‘nice’ with this post!??
This post is so full of errors (I will call them errors not lies in order to give you the benefit of the doubt) … but you are wrong on so many items here it is ridiculous!
“As Jack Layton or members of the NDP continue to prop up the Conservatives, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the ’socialists’ are just henchmen for the Cons”
.. EXCUSE ME!! THE LIBERAL CAUCUS HAS VOTED WITH HARPER OVER 100 TIMES SINCE 2006 … WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!
Everytime a Liberal shows or links to those posters they drive us Law abiding Gun owners into the the NDP or Conservative Camp. NO LAW ABIDING gun owner has an AK-47 and NO HUNTER would ever hunt with one. Those are illegal and a gun registry would never help control those. YOU KNOW WHY? Because you can not own one. Hand guns aren’t in the long guns and posting those posters shows me your agenda.
It is to paint us Long gun owners, who use guns to hunt legally to provide food for our families as some crazy militant types. We are not. We use guns because they are a way of life and I don’t expect someone from Toronto where those posters are made to understand that. You live your way and I don’t want to change the way you live, I don’t want to paint as some elite. I accept you don’t want to live where I live or how I live. I don’t tell you how to live. I expect you to respect the way I live.
Those posters show me the Liberals are different they want to paint me, my family and those who live the way I do as some sort of Monster. I am not an NRA type, I do want to go back to the 50s, I don’t want an armed up rising. I am progressive, my wife works, my kids go to University, I believe in a womens rights, in native rights, and the Conservatives are taking this country in the wrong direction. Stop being misinformed! Stop acting like I own an AK-47, I do not, I own a hunting rifle. I guess hunting rifles wouldn’t paint the picture of me you are trying to paint but you have insulted me with your ignorant posting of posters made my ignorant people in the Liberal party.
A good article on the issue. Just to quote you on a couple of points.
“The NDP is done as a party in Canada.” (I hope so)
“Stephen Harper will be in control for a very long time” (I Hope not)
Cheers
Hi Jimm,
Thanks for the feedback! I love your point of view and I’m glad you took the time to write. Your’s is a very real perspective that an urbanite like me loses when talking about the Gun Registry. That said, you’d be surprised how quickly I’d consider living away from the urban life in exchange for something a little more real, but you’re right … it’s a choice I’ve made.
I suppose the issue remains: if you register your car, yourself and dozens of other elements that affect your life on a daily basis, why do you oppose the idea of registering your gun?
Hey Leftdog,
Thanks for your feedback – it’s much appreciated.
I’ll concede that there are inflammatory comments in my article, but it comes out of extreme frustration at how Stephen Harper sets up legislation just to put the NDP and the Liberals at each other’s throats. And they go for it every single time. He knows how to manipulate the progressive vote like Pavlov and his well-trained dogs.
At the core of this sense of frustration is the abysmal failure of progressives in this country to rally around central ideas that will end the Conservative rule of Ottawa. I’ve tried many times to suggest ways in which ‘progressives’ should try to get along rather than continuing to prop up the Conservatives – be they Liberals OR the NDP (or even the Bloq). However, every time I do, I get people pissing all over me saying it’s the Liberals fault or the fault of the NDP.
I know the Liberals have supported the Cons. They’re just as much to blame for the ongoing existence of the Cons as the NDP have been (if not more).
However, I don’t care any more and the gloves are off when it comes to the so called ‘sanctity’ of the leadership of either the Liberals or NDP. Both parties are failing us and both parties aren’t worthy of support.
The cost of all this? We’re all just having this constant bitch fest while our country falls apart at the hands of the Cons.
So, in the interest of finding a solution, I’ll concede that there are accusations made, but the reality is that the NDP has become a party without a platform. If they had a platform that said “We do not support guns or gun violence” than those who vote for them should not be surprised when they vote for the Gun Registry. There would be no gray area and nothing to vote for as far as constituents are concerned.
I’ll also concede that I’ll vote for a party and I’ll throw everything I’ve got – my support, my ideas, my money – behind an organization that lays out a platform that appeals to at least part of my daily life and that of others and sticks to it. So far, the only people that have done that are the Conservatives and I don’t like their politics.
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