A Senior's Musings Returns 

(Maybe?)

I haven't posted anything on this blog since  May of 2011 but I think it might be fun to get it going again if we can generate enough interest amongst those of you who like this kind of dialogue.  The goal as stated in the heading of "A Senior's Musings" is to invite input from selected authors and for a while we were getting an interesting if somewhat pugilistic exchange of opinions flowing in to the site.  Google has made some changes that will hopefully make it easier for you to "log in" once you have established a Google password.  At my end I need to update the listing of authors who can write to the blog and a notification list that automatically e mails each of you to let you know that there is a new posting.  It is now much easier to post pictures or even videos so we might see different forms of input that were not possible two year's ago.  This is probably not the time of year to get this going as we are all about to get a heavy dose of spring fever but there are still several shitty weeks ahead so we can at least try to be ready for next fall.  There is every likelihood of a Provincial election before then and there is always the state of the nation as it exists today under a government that I detest but still give grudgingly good marks for a reasonable effort at governance.  The blog itself needs a little sprucing up and I will attend to that part of the project.  Even without an election in our immediate future there is lots of political fodder available for dissection and if nothing else fails to grab your interest right now there's always a Rob Ford story in the news.

Hope to hear back form you either here or by e mail.

Andy

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

I'll bet everyone thought I had died and gone on to be a rotting pile of flesh and a bad memory to most. No, I was on cloud 9 and enjoying the view of Canada from above. Although a great call 0n the # of Tory seats, I am embarrassed at how far off I was on all the other parties; Green boogers excepted, The Quebecois are a fun bunch aren't they? It would not surprise me to hear of a new party there called the Kites. They will drift whichever way the wind blows, sometimes even with their tales between their legs. I really get weary of those sour grapers that have to point out that Harper was not liked by 60% of the popular vote. So what. That is of absolutely no relevance in our system so get over it. If it was, please note that Layton was unwanted by 69% of the voters and Iggy by 81% of Canadian voters. So there. I believe The Libs will rebound in time and lets hope they do. What a scary thought that we could have had a center left administration with Layton in control. By the way is it not ironic that Olivia and Jack are back in public housing. I can't wait for that wolf Layton to get up in the house to rub and tug and blow the house down The job is only half done as we must elect a Conservative administration for Ontario. Anything else would make as much sense as trying to use diesel fuel in a gasoline engine. And we probably have more to fear from an NDP surge because of their showing nationally. I will very shortly begin a series of rants on the stupid, short sighted, poorly thought out, and wasteful legislation, policy ideas and trial balloons foisted on us over the last 8 years. My hope is that by dealing with one blunder every two or three weeks we will all have time to add our thoughts before we tackle a new one. There are so many I may have to squeeze them closer together to get them all in as the election is only a few months away. I will start with the less scary stuff first building to the killers as we get close to election day

And Now To Recognize the "Predictor Champs"

The brave souls who predicted a Conservative majority were:


• Ian Smith – top marks for Smitty as he provided seat count details that were, with the exception of his 12 seat call for Quebec, eerily accurate.


• Other majority predictors were Dorsal (Bud Craig), Ferg, (John Ferguson), PMac (Paul MacDonnell), and my political nemesis, Ray Godfrey. Actually Ray didn’t predict anything except that Canadians not voting for the Conservatives “need a head examination”.

The more, may I say, conservative souls who predicted a Conservative minority with either a small gain or loss in seats:

• Graham Sharp, R (Roy Mandy), JR (Jim Gordon), yours truly, AH (Gary Parker), and Optimist Al (Allan Addis)

Special note on Al: While he missed the outcome he was very close on the actual results by percentage.


Al -  Conservatives 39%, NDP 28%, Liberals 20% and others 13%


Actual - Conservatives 39.6%, NDP 30.6%, Liberals 18.9%, Bloc/Greens 9.9%

Al was the only one to see the “orange crush” coming!


AH

Time to turn the page

Well Andy, I waited until you had your little pout and had wiped away the tears - now it's time to kiss and make up. Some good things: we are now represented by a really national government that has elected members in every province and territory; we will get to see how the big bad wolf really acts (I think you will be pleasantly surprised); the Liberals will finally get the message that they are not the "natural governing party" and must reconstitute themselves - they will be better for it (in about eight years); the NDP and their slew of untested and unready MP's will give us and Rex a lot to laugh or grimace over in the next few months; we won't hear about Helena Geurgis again; the deficit will be gone in four years - both the government and the opposition say so. Some not so good things: the NDP will be dominated by Quebec's demands, making the term "loyal opposition" an oxymoron; the PQ will be strengthened as Quebeckers move to offset the loss of their separatist voice in Ottawa; Charest is toast; we'll be listening to Elizabeth May more than we like; Andy will be in a "blue funk" for at least four years. Bring on McGuinty! Can't wait for October 6th! Your friend, Dorsal.

A Postmortem I Can Agree With!

Gary - Long live the King and his new pal Rub 'n Tug. Welcome to the friendly dictatorship of Canada.


Let's hope we can survive these two leaders and their cronies. The Liberals never had a chance when they selected Iggy in their last Leadership campaign. They were in deep trouble with the electorate long before they threw Stephane Dion under the bus. Iggy's Mr. Rogers' red sweater and red running shoes routine was a sad sight to view. What would Lester and Pierre have said? He should have sucked it up and never forced an election while , in the interim, strengthening the Liberal party via whatever means necessary. At the same time he would have become more experienced in the political world. I think his intellectual arrogance and lack of political experience failed him in the public forum. Honestly, he never stood a chance as an Iggy come lately. I never liked the guy even prior to his entrance into the political world.



We are now in a country of obvious extremes. We have a PM who leads a Recon group of religious, political and social right wingers who now has to do business with an egomaniac who honestly believes he is a Socialist. Those old Progressive Conservatives who still think that Steve and his pals represent them are fools.



I have to admit that I didn't expect the BQ to lose party status but that's Quebec for you. Gilles screwed up the perfect political job!



Canadians are a little thick in the head when it comes to these things. Bay Street will feel somewhat relieved that King Steve is back in the throne but even they don't quite get him yet. The youth movement and social network world has been discussed far too much. I have an issue with those who demand power and change but haven't contributed a single tax dollar or any effort to the growth of the country. There is a dangerous element of self entitlement amongst this sector of Canadians.



Those of us who waffle in the middle never really had a choice. As a result, we have to suck it up and hope that the guys driving the bus are smarter and more responsible than we think they are.



I never heard what your pal Rex had to say.



Regards,


MI

Andy's Political Punditry Takes a Pounding!

Full credit to the Conservative machine that shaped the strategy and also the mind set of Canadians.  I haven’t been right about much in this campaign but I did write that they were dammed good at what they do.  And now we get a chance to see if an unimpeded right wing government can really work for Canada.  The centre is gone and we are left with an American style two party system.  In seeking some ray of hope in all of this I can only grasp at the fact that there will be no opposition bogey man to blame for stalled legislation and unimaginative governance.  The Conservatives have pandered to target pressure groups all across this land and will need to keep the perks flowing if they intend to keep these folks loyal.  Most of us won’t have a problem with the boom that is poised to drop on a bloated and over-privileged civil service but what of the environment which will surely be left out of any action plan by these guys?  On other issues I worry less about a health care system that is in need of a pragmatic overhaul than I do about foreign policy.  Harper chose Israel’s position right or wrong and in doing so cost us our well earned and much admired reputation as one of few honest brokers on the international scene.   We are now more polarized as a society than we have ever been but are not alone in that regard.  Right wing governments are now in vogue in Europe and America.  I guess the election of Rob Ford was the harbinger of things to come.  We have given Harper a majority and with our system and his style of governance, that is tantamount to giving him dictatorial powers.  Let’s hope that he turns out to be of the benign type that many of us have talked of. 

AH