Tory Redux

Author: Jon Siemko

  • What is the Price of Free Speech?


    There is a definite difference between the way Liberals and Conservatives approach the fundamental value of free speech. For Liberals it is something to be closely monitored and controlled. It seems there is more of an adversarial tone when liberals do not have the mechanisms of government to control speech.
    Time’s Joe Klein has accused several critics of Obama—including Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Fox News in general—not just of “hate speech” but of the more legally serious “borderline sedition.” After Coburn warned that some citizens might be saying, “ ‘I give up on my government,’ and rightly so,” Klein charged that the senator’s statement “comes dangerously close to incitement to violence.” Needless to say, Klein wasn’t talking about criminalizing dissent back in the Bush-Cheney years.


  • Liberal Politician Caught Red-Handed

    Politicians have been caught with their hands in the cookie jar yet again. This time controversy surrounds liberal MP Judy Sgro she has been found to be in clear violation of the Commons rules on transferring of real estate. This isn’t the first time the former Minister of Immigration has been in hot water. Sgro has a history of violations and missteps in her parliamentary career. Proving yet again that with the Liberals especially it is do as I say not as I do. However these misdeeds by a few MPs are a drop in the bucket compared to the abuse that occurred during the British expense scandal. Where MPs from all parties plundered the public purse.In a time of economic distress politicians from all parties should be wary of how they spend the people’s money.

  • John Baird Wins Top Honours

    John Baird does it again as Stephen Harper’s most irreplaceable political asset, by just proving to be Baird himself. He has energized the front benches in Parliament and shown himself to be a worthy parliamentary performer. He’s  one part strategist, one part bridge builder and one part political bulldog.

    He is gifted with a politician’s memory—that ability to instantly recall the connections of names, faces and events. In conversation, he is a succession of anecdotes and jokes and kind words. He enthuses about the process of negotiation. Dewar, a fellow Ottawa-area MP who has collaborated with Baird on capital issues, calls him “pragmatic” and “straight up.” “He understands that if you’re going to move things along that you need to engage,”


    “Every now and then I want to say, ‘Who is the real John Baird?’ ” says Liberal MP Rob Oliphant. “Is he that charming, boyish kind of person who is trying to win over the hearts of people? Or is he the pit bull?” The answer is both. Because both are politics. And John Baird is politics.