InstituteVille
Canuckistan's gift to Rovianism, David Frum, the fine fellow that coined the term 'Axis of Evil' and acted as Caspar the Friendly Ghost(writer) to the Prince of Darkness himself, Richard Perle, is pretty darned happy with this past week's turn of events.
Here are few pearls of wisdom from his latest bit for the Fraser Institute's much bigger southern cousin, the American Enterprise Institute:
"Washington D.C. will be very, very glad to see the back of Paul Martin, and for much the same reason that Canadians voted against him. After years of investing him with all their brightest hopes for change, they came to see him as a weak, vacillating leader whose word could not be trusted."
Gosh. If didn't know better, I might think that a lot of folks in Washington, a growing number of the more reasonable Republicans among them, might be saying the same thing about Mr. Frum's old boss, George W. Bush.
"Throughout the election, Canadian reporters called down to Washington trying to entrap unwary American conservatives into saying something overly euphoric about Harper. (The headline sought: "Harper 'one of us,' U.S. right-wingers say.") I myself did a taped interview for French-language CBC in which I was asked literally six consecutive times whether President Bush would not be made ecstatic by a Harper victory.
Behind all these stories was an unstated premise: that bad relations with the United States were somehow in Canada's interest. In this version of reality, a prime minister who cannot get his phone calls returned deserves credit as a bold Captain Canada--while a prime minister with the credibility and clout to solve problems is some kind of vendu.
Canadians saw through this kind of anti-American manipulation in 2006, as they saw through it in 1988. That creates very positive atmospherics for Canadian interests in Washington."
To which we say - codswallop!
Anyone who has been paying attention knows that Stephen Harper helped assuage swing voters' fears by doing exactly the opposite (ie. by running away from the Twig). And he's still doing it (cynically) with his post-election statements on Arctic sovereignty.
"Unlike Martin, Stephen Harper truly does know the difference between one's neighbour and one's nation. His foreign policy will be guided not by his feelings about America's domestic policy, as Chretien and Martin too often allowed theirs to be, but by his assessment of Canada's enduring international interests. That's the way mature countries comport themselves. After years of childish self-indulgence under two old men, this young prime minister will at last lead Canada back to the grown-ups' table. That change will be welcomed in Washington. It should be even more strongly welcomed where it matters most: in Canada."
Sure, Mr. Frum.
Sure.
It's all about America's domestic issues, you bet.
It's certainly not about naked agression and hard power (ie. killing machines) that are unilaterally being dropped on the heads of people living in (formerly) sovereign nations.
But, speaking of domestic issues and welcome mats......Is there any truth to the rumour that the true believers behind Mr. Harper's mask will soon bring you home so that you can dismantle your mother's CBC?
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