#Elxn42...And Now A Word From The Trenches.

AllTheSteepletonElectionNews
ThatFitsVille


Don't know about you but I always enjoy Mr. Beer 'N Hockey's dispatches from the perspective of party volunteers doing the sherpa work along the campaign trail.

Recently, his stuff from Alberta was both fun to read and illuminating (caution, reading Beer is not for the faint of heart):

...If you have never worked, really worked, a campaign, I am talking 14 hour days. We had to drink fast in the evenings because you cannot drink and sleep at the same time so far as I know.

Who we met in one campaign headquarters after another were people who really care about their province's future and backed that up by being willing to do something about it. They were no different from most of the Albertans I met. They care, they are responsible and they are willing to put in the work to do a job right.

On Election Day (which should be a paid holiday by the way) after our work door to door reminding people to get the f*ck to the polls we spent an hour or so on the phone making our last voter contact before the corsair captain in charge of our zone house set us free.

"Go get drunk you dirty pirate motherfuckers," she told us before she returned to campaign headquarters to watch the vote tallies come in with the other captains and the candidate.

We went straight to the party...

****

Now, Mr. Beer is back home working on, and writing about, the federal campaign from the heart of Lotusland's bible belt buckle:

Election news anybody? Here on the ground we are not sensing any enthusiasm for the Conservatives. Nor are we getting doors slammed in our face...

{snippety doodle-dandy}

...The Conservative's supporters are weary of supporting them and unsure where to turn. They get queasy looking at their Naked Emperor. People in my town are not real keen on politicians and when it turns out their guy, the guy they thought was good, is worse than most and perhaps the worst of all and that by voting for him and his local stooge once again they are pissing on what is left of their own old time values, and that his undoing is paving the way for the NDP (the f*cking NDP!) to take over just like they did in Alberta, it makes a man sit up and pay attention...

Can't wait for more.


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#DuffyTrial...Did The Cover-Up Come Before The Crime?

ToThePlumbersGoThe
SoiledSpoilsVille


The NaPo's Andrew Coyne, whose reading of the Email trail leads him to conclude that the pay-off was invoked to ensure that the co-optation of both the Senators and the audit remained a secret, seems to think so:

...It wasn’t just on his housing expenses that Duffy wished to be absolved of any wrongdoing. The emails from his lawyer are explicit in demanding that all of his expenses be found “in order.” It wasn’t enough that the auditors should punt on the housing allowance question. The audit had to be called off altogether. And there was yet a third demand: the government was to promise not to refer Duffy’s expenses to the RCMP.

It is to the credit of Wright and his co-conspirators that none of these demands were met. It is very much less to their credit that the rest of the fraudulent scheme went ahead. The decision to pay Duffy’s expenses, on its own, might be written off as an error of judgment or even, as Wright would have it, a good-faith attempt to return the money to the taxpayer.

But once it is seen as part and parcel of a broader effort to tamper with a supposedly independent audit, to rewrite a (Senate) committee report and hoodwink the public, it takes on a rather darker hue...


All of which is bad enough, and pre-emptively Nixonian, in and of itself.

But Mr. Coyne, at least in this piece, refuses to step into the real CREEP(M)y abyss.

Which is that deep, dark place where the Plumber-in-Chief's Senators were systematically strip mining the country to fill the CPC's massive campaign war-chest.

And doing so on the public's dime.

OK?


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At The End Of The Day The Tried And True Chord Progressions Of...

...Our Neil Still Slay Me.

The Whackadoodle and I were taking our nightly walk around the block last night.

I had the old beach guitar with me and it was still warm after the sun went down.

And suddenly I found myself playing an old 'new' tune of Mr. Young's.

Which got me thinking about days gone by...

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Some people ask me (well, to be perfectly honest, only one or two actually)...If you're playing the guitar and you're walking the dog, what do you do with the poop bag when it's full?...Answer: That's what the capo is for...OK?


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#Elxn42...The Absolute Uselessness Of The Robocall Registry.

PagingMrOrwell
FairElectionsActVille


The former blogger previously known as Sushiboy (i.e. Glen McGregor) has the story in the OCit.

Here is his lede:

The names of more than 150 registrants listed on the much-vaunted “robocalls registry,” intended to prevent fraudulent calls to voters, will be kept secret until after the federal election.

The Conservative government created the Voter Contact Registry last year as part of the Fair Elections Act, in response to outrage over pre-recorded calls in Guelph that directed voters to the wrong polling location in the 2011 election...


But wait, there's more.

Essentially it is that new FedCon elections 'law' that is preventing the citizenry from finding out what's actually going on:

...The registry is now up and running but voters will have no way of consulting it to see if the calls they receive are legitimate until at least a month after the Oct. 19 election.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commissions (CRTC), which administers the registry, says it is prevented by law from disclosing the registry until 30 days after balloting.

“As the timing of the publication of the registration notices is specifically set out in the Fair Elections Act, the decision to publish the list after the elections was made by Parliament,” wrote spokesperson Patricia Valladao in an email...

****

Look.

Here's the thing.

The fine folks currently running the show don't care what happens AFTER the election as they have already demonstrated, in both 2008 and 2011, that any and all allegations can and will always be taken care of.

Which is why the 66% of us Canadians that want a new government have to work together to make sure that it is not even close on Oct 19th.

OK?


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#DuffyTrial....In Mr. Harper's Own Words, Allegedly.

RedactTheIrrelevant

WheneverPossibleVille

“...This issue is about $'s, not this..."

Stephen Harper 

On senatorial residency and expenses all that

As noted in an Email by then Principal Secretary to PM Ray Novak, Feb 19, 2013 (see pg 40)

Now, assuming that Mr. Novak, who once worked for the always honourable Mess'rs Manning and Anders, was telling the truth in this Email sent to a most interesting group of folks...

Are we not done here?


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And what was the '$'s' reference referring to?...Well, based on the evidence I am of the opinion that it is not unreasonable for a reasonable person who has been paying attention to hypothesize that it refers to...This.

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#Elxn42...Why The Latest Round Of Polls Scares The Beejebuz Out Of Me.

AllThe(Potential)VoteSplittingThat
FitsVille


On a recent comment thread we got to kibbitzing about how weird it would be, if late on the night of Oct 19th, it all came down to South Vancouver Island.

Which is why that rising green bar above 'British Columbia' from the latest IPolitics/EKOS poll scares the crap out of me.

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And as for the possibility that that little green bar is making some robo-dialing daemon's trigger finger located in some hidden bunker somewhere a little itchy?...Well...Never forget the location of ground zero.

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This Day In Clarkland...The MCFD Double Down.

ThisIsNotMy
BritishColumbiaVille


With their own 'investigation' in place (which has, essentially, shut down Child and Youth Advocate Mary Ellen Turpel Lafond's ability to do anything), the Clarklandians are doubling-down and going back to court.

And according to Ian Mulgrew, who has, by far, done the best job of covering this story in the VSun, they're going after the Mom.

Here is his lede (but go read the entire piece):

The B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development has all but declared war on the mom at the centre of scathing court rulings hammering social workers.

The provincial government wants to prevent a cost award in the scandalous six-year-old case until it has a chance to impugn the judge’s fact-finding and reasoning.

While Minister Stephanie Cadieux maintains the family isn’t the focus of her damage control, the mom was told in a letter sent Wednesday that pretty well everything Justice Paul Walker said in his blistering decisions will be disputed.

“I expect there will be grounds of appeal that put in issue the factual and legal foundation of Justice Walker’s liability findings, including bad faith, breach of fiduciary duty, special costs, etc.,” wrote government lawyer Karen Horsman in correspondence provided to The Sun...


Here's the real question...

No matter the specific details, or even the shades of grey (which, based on what we know so far, do not seem to even exist), how can a government, a government acting in our name, be so heartless?


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The details of how Mr. Plecas' appointment has been used to neutralize Ms. Turpel-Lafond, the INDEPENDENT children's advocate, are also in Mr. Mulgrew's piece....Man, I hope Mulgrew talks to Ted Hughes about this.


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Pierre Poutine(s?) Revisited...That Was Then & Thenner...This Is Almost Now.

WhereaboutsNoLongerUnknown
AllegedlyVille


That was then (i.e. pre-Poutine trial in April of 2014):

Former Guelph Conservative campaign worker Andrew Prescott has given evidence related to the alleged involvement of two other campaign staff in the “Pierre Poutine” robocalls case, sources say.

With an immunity agreement in place, Prescott gave evidence to prosecutors regarding the only person accused in the case, Michael Sona, as expected, but also provided information about Ken Morgan, who was the manager of the Guelph Conservative campaign...

{snippety doo-dah}

...Sources say Prescott gave evidence that Morgan, the campaign manager, asked him to log into a robocall account on his computer. Prescott also told investigators he later destroyed that computer...


That was thenner (i.e. post-Poutine trial in August of 2014):

...Judge Gary Hearn said in his decision that he believed Sona did not act alone in arranging the calls made by someone using the pseudonym “Pierre Poutine.”

Hearn said there was reason to believe that, based on testimony in Sona’s trial, another campaign worker, Andrew Prescott, may have been implicated.

Prescott, however, cannot be charged because he was given an immunity agreement from the Crown in exchange for testimony against Sona — testimony that, ultimately, Hearn found unreliable...

{snippety doo-dah}

Ken Morgan, the campaign manager, has refused to speak to Elections Canada investigators and moved to Kuwait during the nearly three-year investigation. He has not been charged. His current whereabouts are unknown...


This is almost now (i.e. January 2015), according to Scott Tracey writing in the Guelph Mercury:

Ken Morgan, manager of Conservative candidate Marty Burke's infamous campaign and a figure with alleged links to the robocalls scandal, has been spotted in Guelph.

Morgan was seen entering a south-end restaurant Sunday morning. A short time later, fellow Burke campaign worker John White confirmed by telephone his friend is in the area, but would not reveal where Morgan is staying.

Efforts to contact Morgan directly for comment have been unsuccessful and he has not returned messages left with White.

White said late Monday Morgan had gone to Montreal and will be returning to Kuwait, where he teaches English, within days.

It's the first confirmed visit by Morgan to Canada since he moved to Kuwait, in August 2012, at the height of Elections Canada's investigation into the bogus calls which falsely notified thousands of Guelph voters their polling location had moved on election day 2011...

****

As I said the other day...

The hubris, eh?


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#Duffy...Isn't Patriotism Supposed To Be The Last Refuge Of A Scoundrel?

NigelJustNeedsThatHelpingHand
XTCNotJohnsonVille


From the CP's report of today's cross examination of the good Mr. Wright by the Duffmaster Flash's lawyer Mr. Blayne:

...Wright said he was trying to quietly do a “good deed” when he gave Duffy $90,000, then privately notified the prime minister’s director of issues management.

Wright, a devoutly religious man, also told court he was following the advice of a Bible passage that counsels “righteousness,” but warns against doing it in front of others for the sake of self-aggrandizement.

“This is sort of Matthew 6, right?” he told court, citing Scripture.

“You should do those things quietly, and ‘not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.'”...


Gosh.

Is it possible that Mr. Wright composed Emails to the PM with one hand and Emails to his minions with the other?


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Subheader worming it's way into your ear?....This!


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#Elxn42...Mr. Harper's Media Clampdown Brings In Kory Teneycke.

AllTheSensitivitiesThat
FitVille


Finally, a big proMedia outlet has asked the CPC to respond to CKNW reporter Shelby Thom's claims that she was kicked out of a Harper rally in Richmond B.C. Tuesday because she had the audacity to ask party supporters if they agreed with the leader's stated position on the (non) legalization of marijuana.

Andy Blatchford got Kory Teneycke on the record in the NaPo, not to address the actual incident but instead to do a bit of deflective dissembling worthy of the former head of a propaganda network:

...Asked about the incident, Teneycke said nothing prevented the reporter from speaking with people outside the venue...

And then, strangely (or maybe not when you think of the base that matters most to Mr. Harper) Mr. Teneycke kinda/sorta made like Donald Trump talking about Megyn Kelly sans, of course, for the hemoglobin:

...“I think it’s just someone maybe being a little hypersensitive,” Teneycke said...


Imagine that!



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And, as to the previous 'explanation' from a lower level CPC spokesthingy that things were closing down....Ms. Thom has indicated that, firstly, she was badgered repeatedly and, secondly, that there were still dozens of people milling around when she was ultimately hustled out a side door by a CPC staffer...And none of those dozens were kicked out also.


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This Day In Clarkland...Mr. Bullock Speaks.

SomeServantsAreMorePublicMindedThan
OthersVille


Evan Duggan has the story in the VSun:

Richard Bullock, the former head of B.C.’s Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), wears his firing from the provincial commission in May as a badge of honour.

Just over two months after getting ousted by the government, Bullock, an outspoken defender of farmland and a multi-generation fruit farmer from Kelowna, shared his reflections and vision for B.C.’s farmland with a packed lecture hall at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Richmond...

{snippety doodle-dandy}

....On developing farmland only as a last resort: “I think communities have to have a real look at how they want to grow within their own boundaries. Have a look at what they have for inventory — land inventory — and find places to put it. The one thing I insisted upon was: don’t be looking at agricultural land as the first option for development. Look at it as the last. But it is an option, and that option must be looked at, but look at it critically.”...

{snippety doodle dandiest}

...“One of the reasons I may have gotten fired is because I thought I could lead the charge and get them (the Clarklandians) to move in a direction that they didn’t want to do. I took it as an honour to get fired quite frankly … I really don’t know. There’s probably 100 reasons, but what was the one that tipped the boat? I’m not sure. But I take it as a bit of a sign of honour that we were standing up for agriculture, and certain parts of the province weren’t maybe appreciating some of the things we were doing or did, and there you go. If you push back hard enough and long enough, there’s going to be consequences, and I accept those.”...


Gosh.

A former public servant with the freedom to explain that he did what he did because he believed in the public good because he did not fall into a passel of cushy corporate directorships etcetera etcetera...

Imagine that!

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What's Bernie Sanders Got That Eugene McCarthy Didn't Have?

StayinSternFor

BernVille


Sure, they both had the massive crowds with actual kids (yes kids!) in the them?

But what the kids staying clean for Gene didn't have was...

The internet.

And Brent Budowsky, writing in The Observer, is predicting that all that means, especially at the crowd sourcing level is going to put Mr. Sanders over the top as all the candidates on both sides move toward the first real tests of the campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire:

...If the major media and political worlds were surprised by the summer surge in support for Sanders, the increasingly huge crowds for his campaign appearances and his impressive small donor numbers in the past, they will be shocked and stunned by the humongous surge in small donors to Sanders that will be announced for the current quarter. Everything happens for a reason, and the reason for the Sanders crowds and small donor surge is this: The coming political revolution that is caused by the explosion of social media combined with the waves of progressive grassroots enthusiasm and action that is widely ignored and disrespected by old-style political pundits opining on old-style broadcast media but is exploding throughout the social media world that is powerfully underestimated by those who meet the press and face the nation...


Eugene McCarthy and his whippersnappers took down a sitting president with one early primary win in 1968.

Me thinks those triangulating behind Ms. Clinton just may be a little worried for all the same, and yet somehow very different, reasons.

Heckfire, even his Trumpness, who knows nothing if not to try and glom on to any and all happenings, tried to take a swipe at ol' Bernie today.

And, make no mistake, Mr. Sanders is an old guy who has been singing the same tune for a long time now.

****

But who really cares about all of that.

Why?

Because if The Observer's Mr. Budowsky is right Mr. Sanders small money ascendancy will let everybody with a progressive bone in their body know that we don't have to put up with the crap and the big money (and all the influence and networks it buys) anymore.

And we won't need ibogaine to do it.

OK?



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And, ya, I know ibogaine comes from the wrong campaign...But what the heckfire...When everything's comin' up Sunshine Specials....Well.


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#Elxn42...FedCon Spokesperson Kinda/Sorta (But Not Really) Explains The Non-Removal Removal Of A Reporter From Harper Rally.

OneOfTheseThingsIsNotQuiteLike
TheOtherVille


As we noted previously, Lotuslandian CKNW/Corus radio reporter Shelby Thom was shuffled out a side door at a FedCon rally in Richmond yesterday when she started asking the party faithful about their feelings re: Stephen Harper's stance on not legalizing marijuana that has been in the news recently.

Well, anyway...

In one of only two non-Corus proMedia stories we've seen so far, the HuffPo's Zi-Ann Lum received an Email statement from a party CPC spokesperson kinda/sorta explaining why this is a non-event event from the FedCon perspective:

...When asked (about the incident), party spokesman Stephen Lecce did not provide any details or reasons why Thom was shown the door.

“The reporter in question attended the entire event and was the last reporter to leave after the event concluded,” Lecce told The Huffington Post Canada in an email...


Which is all well and good...

Except that the reporter, Ms. Thom, who like all other reporters present at the rally was not allowed to direct any towards Mr. Harper or the assembled CPC candidates, insists she was still working when she was ushered out based on what she said in an interview with CKNW talkshow host 'Drex' last night (quoted passage starts at 4'00''):

"...I did feel, essentially, that I was kicked out. I was interviewing supporters after the rally and I was continuously interrupted by conservative staffers..."


So, given what went down in the context of recent events and the apparent incongruence between the reporter's own account and the CPC spokesperson's inability to (and/or desire not to) provide any reasonable explanation of what happened and why, here's a question...

Why is this story getting so little proMedia play, locally, regionally and/or nationally?


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And, ya....For those of you who are not from either Courtenay and/or downtown Lotusland Central...It is the same 'Drex'...Imagine that!
Update: 3pm Wednesday...Ms. Thom, via the Twittmachine says that there were dozens of fine folks milling about the room while she was asking her questions...To the best of her knowledge she was the only one who was ushered out...


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This Day In Clarkland: Just In Case You Missed It...

...Our good Premier has a fine new wizard working in her office.

It all came down as an adjunct to the recent cabinet shuffle, and we're absolutely certain it had absolutely nothing to do with the naming of the fine former public servant to head the MCFD inquiry:

...Bobbi Plecas moves from Advanced Education to the Office of the Premier...


Absolutely nothing.

Say it again!


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Update, Lunchtime Wednesday...Merv Adey and North Van's Grumps actually noticed this one way before the un-bylined VTC story linked to above...Apologies for missing the post while away in the far outer wilds of what used to be Lotusland's rainforest...It's a good one.


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#Elxn42...Man In Blue Suit's Media Clampdown Comes To Lotusland.

AllTheNewsThatHeDoesn'tWantTo
FitVille

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Update 10am Wed Aug 12th...Kinda/sorta interesting how little proMedia pick-up there has been on this story...Two internal/local Corus radio outlet web pieces (one, on NW's site is dreadful...under Ms. Thom's byline she refers to herself in the third person), one HuffPo, and one very early Province 'blog' hit....Hmmmmm...

Update 9pm Tuesday Aug 11th: Ms. Thom tells her story to 'NW's 'Drex', in which she claims that she was repeatedly harassed by FedCon staffers before being shown the door,....Here.

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CKNW's Shelby Thom is escorted out of a campaign event in Richmond for having the audacity to talk to...wait for it...

Mr. Harper's supporters:

You can read more of what happened by having a look at Ms. Thom's twittmachine feed.


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Please note: The high-tech shoe as door stop....
Update, 8pm Tuesday night...The Province's Patrick Johnson adds a little context....Why might have Ms. Thom wanted to know how Conservative supporters feel about the devil weed?...Well, earlier today Mr. Harper claimed that the majority of Canadians are against its legalization...


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