CBC pollster Frank Graves has suggested to the Liberals in a Lawrence Martin article that they would be best served to start a culture war in Canada. It seems what is old is new again making the Western Canada it’s whipping boy by any means is not a new idea. You just have to look back to the statements of former Liberal strategist and political rainmaker Keith Davies when he famously pontificated, screw the West we will take the rest. The Trudeau era Liberals sentiments it seems aren’t lost on a new generation of Liberals who seem to think their only path to power is by alienating large segments of Western Canada. At the same time the Liberals will demonize the conservatives for bringing a divisive tone to politics. The irony of this political strategy is rich as the Liberal party has traditionally been the party who has pitted central Canada against Western Canada and Canadian against Canadian to gain power. Furthermore going back to alienating the West is a well that has almost run dry. The West more and more is becoming one of the more significant economic factors in Canada. Would any political party truly want to alienate the province that has the most economic sway in your country. If they go down this path this is poison pill of a political strategy for the Liberals to swallow.
Category: Other
The conservative crucible
Tea or coffee a political thing
With the recent emergence of the coffee movement to challenge the tea party movement the battle of the breakfast beverages is underway. The coffee movement is the spontaneous answer to the somewhat maligned tea party movement.
The coffee movement fashions themselves as a more progressive version of the tea party wanting bigger but better government it is a contradiction in terms. The founding father Thomas Paine made one of the most absolute statements on government when he said” the government who governs best governs least”.
However I think there is a deeper political connection between these two movements. First the tea party movement is inspired by the Boston tea party one of the events that was the precursor to the American Revolution. in many ways the coffee movement shares the idealistic vision and goals of the most bloody of the revolutions the French revolution. Coffee was a key component and very popular drink in French salons that spread the ideals of French revolutionaries. The American Revolution at its focus was a fight for individual liberty and the right for self-determination. These are several of the key ideals that tea party movement is trying to emulate today.
Conversely the only thing that came out of the French revolution was the bloody terror of France. The only terror we have to fear today is increasing power of the government bureaucracy . Although some of the ideals that both movements profess our universal such as freedom and liberty and equality. It will be interesting to see who wins the ideological struggle , tea or coffee anyone.