Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Evil That Ms. Clark Does.

TheBottomOfThisWellIsFilled
WithMoreThanPoisonVille


_________

Newscyle+8 Double-Secret ProbationUpdate....Good perspective piece by Paul Willcocks, here
Newscycle+2 Update... At bottom of post
_________

Les Leyne, in the VT-C, weighed in today on 'Christy's' atrocious attack ads on the feeble, but poll numbers rising, leader of the BC Conservative party, Mr. John Cummins.

And Mr. Leyne is correct.

The ads from Ms. Clark and her political party are atrocious.

But I do not agree with Mr. Leyne's assessment that these ads, and the website that they direct people to, are nothing more than a bad strategic mistake and 'clumsy'.

Why?

Because, clearly, Ms. Clark and her handlers considered all options before they decided to throw every last shred of integrity that she, and they, still have left out the window so that they could go negative and offensive, unprovoked.

But why would they do such a thing?

I'll tell you why.

Because, as right-sided American Pols of a certain rat-f*cking kind have demonstrated over and over and over again for the last two generations , the 'Politics of Destruction' works.

In real-politick, nut-cutting terms that is.

And now, in the wake of the more recent, but just as effective, tactics of Stephen Harper and the Ford Bros. in Toronto, Canadian pols know that it works up here too.

Which is why the proMedia calling this crap 'clumsy' is just not enough.

Not by a longshot.

Instead, it is their duty to get up on their hind-legs and call this stuff what it really is, which is pure, straight-up, pre-meditated, soul-destroying double-speak that is designed to win elections by sucking the heart right out of the of the real-life body politic.

A real-life body politic that is....

Us.

And not a group of cynical, morally-bankrupt pols with nice ties, straight teeth and big fat media-manipulation contracts in their back pockets.

Not to mention a complete and utter contempt for the real citizenry.

****

And what will happen if we don't call this stuff out for what it truly is, right here and right now?

Well, once we become a citizenry that is has known nothing but the despicable politics of destruction for an entire generation (and make no mistake, we are almost halfway there right now in this country), we soon will be completely incapable of telling right from wrong, truth from lies, and myth from fact.

And once we reach that point the cynical, morally-bankrupt ones will be able to tell us anything they want and know we will cheer, even it means turning negative, for real, on our fellow citizens.

Like, say, this......

_______
And do not think that we who have been paying attention did not notice that these attack ads, which actually don't even make any sense on their face (i.e. does any thinking person actually believe that Mr. Cummins is NOT a conservative?), did not notice that they include taking a shot at Mr. Cummins for using his 'offspring' as political cover....Can you imagine the reaction if, for example, a dirty-rotten blogger was to make such an accusation about the current (not)Premier?
Sunday NewsCycle+2 Update: The emergent conventional proMedia pundit wisdom that this strage(r)gy was 'dumb' appears to be hardening....In other words, there has been no real analysis about how this signals a move by the BC Liberal Party braintrust to go all in with the politics of destruction...Interestingly, however, on Sean Holman's radio panel this morning, Eleanor Gregory did manage to get an unaknowledged zinger in, almost under her breath, which was...."Sometimes dumb works."...I very much agree...Especially when the punditry doesn't move past the horse race issues and really nail pols to the wall for deciding to go with the corrosivity of willful dumbness committed with nonsensical negativity and malice aforethought....And no, saying things like...'Whoever thought of this should be fired!' is not the way to deal effectively with this because this is clearly a concerted effort by the folks running the show behind the BC Liberal Party's magic curtain...How else to explain the ads, the website, AND the coordinated attacks from Mary Polak?...Thus, this is not some little rogue operation that was launched by some maverick Segretti-type operative working as a lone wolf deep within the bowels of the propMachine...Instead, this IS the propMachine.....OK?
Regarding the embedded clip, above, of American Tea Party supporters cheering to let their fellow citizens die if they get sick without health insurance...Jody Paterson points us toward an excellent and insightful OpEd in the VT-C by a Toronto paediatrician that demonstrates that we up here in the Great White North may not yet be actively cheering for the demise of those less fortunate among us who get sick, but we are, especially with our willingness to support politicians whose policies are designed to promote the steady increase in income inequality, turning a blind eye towards it...I, like Ms. Paterson, do not believe that we, as a body-politic, would have allowed this to occur even a generation ago...Which, I guess, is the real point of my rant above.

.

9 comments:

Rod Smelser said...

I just don't think this ad is effective, in negative politics terms. John Cummins, like most Lower Mainland MPs, had little profile outside his own riding, except perhaps for groups of people interested in the fisheries or other conservation issues he pushed.

So they're shooting at an unknown, not connecting with a pre-existing opinion, and into the bargain giving his name a bit more currency than it had the day before.

I also have to wonder if the language was lawyered. Calling someone "unprincipled" when 95%+ of the public have no opinion on that person is more than a bit questionable. When you add that to the obvious "pot-kettle" questions you've got a real schmozzle.

RossK said...

You really think that Rod?

You don't think they don't have internal numbers, in ridings where 5% could make all the difference in the world, especially if it gets to say, 8%, that have them scared crapless?

Look.

I think they are playing out a 'search and destroy' strategy right here and right now on Mr. Cummins precisely so that they don't have to worry about him 12-18 months from now when they turn their guns on the leader of the oppo and call him an uprincipled pol who may or may not have harboured a love of a renegade cougar named Charlie in his heart when he was the child-aged offspring of a father, who may or may not have been a card-carrying member of a labour union, and thus, of course, must, maybe, but actually really, surely, don't you think(?), be a no good commie-lovin' baby squirrel killer.

Or some such, 'When did all of Madame (not)Premier's political opponents stop beating their wives kind of thing'.

Regardless.

The effectiveness is not the issue.

The issue is that the people handling Mdme (not)Premier are willing to to go with this corrosive, citizenry-destroying codswallop just to drive up the negatives on a politician of little real consequence.

And do not think that does not send a signal to folks who are on the fence that might be thinking of throwing in their lot with Mr. Cummins' as potential candidates.

.

Anonymous said...

negatives work and that is why we will see/hear more of them going forward

RossK said...

Anon--

I agree that they work, but...

Does that mean we should just let them happen?

And let them destroy our ability to see demonstrable falsehoods for what they really are in the process?

I honestly think not.

.

sunsin said...

Hm. I don't agree with all of what you're saying, but it makes a good deal of sense. Negative attack ads can backfire, but they often don't.

Plus if the center and left come to the defense of this obscure Conservative politician, there are a number of collateral benefits. For one, they can establish themselves as principled without any nasty "they don't like the attack because it's true" backlash. For another, they'll make the person they're defending poison to his most rabid and paranoid followers, who will begin to look askance at him when he is defended by the left -- even on a matter of principle, not content.

Anonymous said...

I am no political guru. But, what I hear in supermarkets, doctor's offices and around town is, nothing but contempt for the Campbell/Clark BC Liberals.

There is outrage at, Campbell's appointment of High Commissioner to England. There is fury about, Campbell being awarded the OBC. Campbell has the most corrupt and putrid political record, in Canadian history.

The BC citizens have no respect for Christy either. She refuses to clean up Campbell's theft and corrupt sale of the BCR. Her family's first, is so far from the truth, it makes a person gag. I

If anyone is unprincipled, it is Campbell/Christy and the BC Liberals. They have no ethics or morals, what-so-ever.

I am sure Christy is worried about her Liberal members, walking across the floor to the Conservatives.

G West said...

I think this one's going to backfire - when Les Leyne (who's frequently an apologist for the Liberals - someone who almost always 'qualifies' his attacks on them with a few weasel words mentioning Glen Clark etc) picks up the conch and flays Christy and her gang at the get-go, the ad is toxic.

Furthermore, as others (besides Leyne) have been mentioning, the Clark connections to certain ad groups in Toronto may tend to ruffle feathers here as well.

All in all, another bad week for Campbell in a skirt.

I do think you're right about the reasoning though Ross - the internal polls aren't just saying that there are troubles in Liberal land because of Conservative inroads. I think there are lots of ridings where the message is that Christy Clark can't win - John Cummins notwithstanding.

West End Bob said...

And what will happen if we don't call this stuff out for what it truly is, right here and right now?

You allude to it, but I'll come out and say it, RossK: We'll become the Excited States, is what will happen. The more our media becomes like foxNoise south of the 49th, the more uninformed the Canadian populace will become. Not a good thing at all.

Thanks for what you do in pointing out the foibles and failures of our Corporate Media - We need to be ever vigilant . . . .

Anonymous said...

Mary Polak will likely have to face John Cummins during the next election here in Langley. She is extremely unpopular even among the strongest Liberal supporters. John Cummins has 18 months to raise money and to raise his profile here in the community. The smart money would be on Cummins to have a strong showing and thereby eliminating one of those safe Liberal seats. The NDP might even come up the middle to win. Adrian Dix has been in Langley on several occasions during the past few months - ? coincidence.