'Nobody's puppet,' Harper declares

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he's "nobody's puppet" and U.S. President George W. Bush doesn't pull his strings.

"I see from time to time that the Liberals and members of the Bloc say that I am George Bush's puppet and other things like that," he said in a wide-ranging television interview with Radio-Canada that will be aired Sunday.

(snip)

Harper also said during the interview that some Canadians don't understand that terrorism is a global threat.

"I think that a lot of people in Canada are naive," he said. "The reality is that the terrorism threat is worldwide. We cannot escape it by closing our eyes.

"That's the reason why we've have been in Afghanistan for several years. We are there because of the deaths of about 30 Canadians in the World Trade Center (during the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York)."

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1150408210320&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News

that Harper has to defend himself against it, that's great! Hmmmm, calling Canadians "naive" isn't too bright, imo, given his minority position but, hey, arrogance is his trademark so no surprise there.

Didn't work the last two elections...maybe three's charm?

to Martin in a minority position, he couldn't win a majority in the second and his trust factor has not increased at all since then. I would say the "puppet" attachment is, indeed, an issue with Canadians and his actions since his elections have not proved otherwise, quite the reverse.

You should tell it to respected columnist Charlie Smith at the Georgia Straight...he thinks Harper is a wolverine.

On that TV show, an adult wolverine attacked a porcupine even though, according to a biologist, it certainly knew the outcome. It killed the porcupine, all right, but at the price, quite likely, of its own life: its mouth full of scores of quills, disabled, and facing almost certain infection.

That’s Stephen Harper. Like the wolverine, he just can’t help being who he is. It’s in his blood; it’s his nature to be contemptuous of other humans. He managed during the election to control that sneering arrogance that had become his trademark persona, but given the power of the prime minister, his true nature rises, inevitably, to the surface in almost everything he does.

Straight:eyes:

Y'all should probably get this stuff 'focus-grouped' so y'all will be on the same page by election...it's very important to 'define' your Opponent, as opposed to defining your issues.

I sure as hell hope that the cynicism of the electorate isn't so fargone that when the election comes there will be a whole lot of people on polling day saying to themselves...'well Harper might be "a scary alien wolverine-like Bush puppet", but he did what he said and knocked a percentage off the GST...good enough for me'.

But we know the public is stupid and much more likely to respond to ridicule, smears and gutter-standards for political debate.

Maybe Torstar can run an internet poll:

Is Stephen Harper a



or a




I understand both are popular with kids these days ;-)

Today he was in Toronto at Pearson Airport announcing extra money for quote: "transportation safety measures aimed at improving Canada's capacity to confront the threat of terrorism."
Just about every time he has a new announcement, he flies to the area effected by his announcement to make it in person. He is of course, taking that little gem of a cue from George Bush. It no longer works for Georgie, since the American population has mostly caught on to his phony act, but so far Harper is milking it for all it's worth and I'm afraid it is working for him. I just hope he doesn't somehow force an election before Canadians figure out what a manipulative creep he is. That's how he could get his majority government....IMO

You mean like promising to get rid of the GST, getting elected, destroying the health care system, signing NAFTA, choking the unemployed, trashing the homeless, ordering the cops to beat lawyers on their lawns, saying your citizenship depends on a single vote, stealing 200 million to defraud an election, removing 'humans rights' as a condition of trade, helping Bush overthrow Haiti for a couple of Montreal 'cut and sews', lording over the greatest decline in industrial wages in Canadian history and being generally full of Bullshit.

casually strolling around the Pearson Airport in the Google lounge, we find:

Mr. Michel Bellehumeur (Berthier-Montcalm, BQ): Mr. Speaker, the former ruling party, which is left with only two members in this House and 53 senators, has managed to make the government backtrack on the issue of the Pearson airport privatization cancellation. Both parties, which have mutual friends working for the Pearson Development Corporation, agreed to let the consortium sue for up to $80 million in possible compensation.

But worse still, we did not get to the bottom of this scandal and taxpayers will never know why the government is getting ready to squeeze all this money out of them for the benefit of its cronies. In view of the vast amount of public funds wasted in this ugly mess, the government must get to the bottom of it and set up a royal commission of inquiry to examine all the aspects of the deal which are still unclear.

The way this government is handling this issue reveals quite clearly the strange kind of ethics which can be found in both the Liberal Party and the cabinet.

Gub'mint from Wednesday, December 14, 1994

It's funny that politics, Canada and "pearson airport", brings out the worst in people that remember something before the last Torstar column...even funnier when someone invokes it to complain about the...um.... Tories this time 'round.

If you're not picking fights with people and disrupting threads you're just not happy, are you?

Picking a fight? on a political discussion board? Disrupting a thread is now disagreeing with the optics of a 'liberal party' circle jerk?

Pardon me...I can't wait to read more of your empty-headed polemics that you seem to think constitutes something other than strident hypocrisy...politics doesn't mean you become a drone, lip-syncing what you read by Torstar, pal...

How fucking old are you...honestly, do believe namecalling is a political discussion...do you honestly think that criticism of other political parties that you support is disruption...do you honestly believe that you can pass yourself off as a 'leftwinger' when most of you never talk about any leftwing issues.

Earth to phoney...I don't like either the Tories and Liberals (did you get it) and since you can't really come up with anything to explain away debased corruption of one party, seems to me, you really don't have much 'cred' when you decry corruption.

Now since your only interest in politics are 'descriptives' about some dumbass politician who is no worst than the last dumbass politician...may I suggest this site.

You troll for a thread where people you identify as liberal are in general agreement about their contempt for Harper/Conservatives/Bush/the right wing....and you attack them. Any time I've ever got into it with you, any time, it is because you took a shot at me or my beliefs. I never fired the first shot. Ever. You're just always looking for an argument. You disrupt threads, that's what you do.

By the way, decrying me for "namecalling" and then calling me "phoney" is just a little bit ironic, is it not?

May I suggest.....decaf?

The thread started here by Tuvor is about Stephen Harper, in case it missed your notice. All this sidetracking crap you throw in is unrelated to the topic at hand and I can't be bothered getting into an irrelevant discussion with you.....:boring:

That is all these threads are about...Harper is an asshole...strange that a board of 'left-wingers' can't seem to figure out that they are preaching to the converted.

Strange a bunch of leftwingers seem so hellbent on defending corruption.

Strange a bunch of leftwingers don't seem to know anything about this country but pass themselves off as it's defenders...

And I unlike you, I didn't acutally sleep through the LAST fifteen fuckin' years...

I had thought perhaps your attack on me was because of the lateness of the hour..(4 AM), but it seems you are just as vicious any time of the day....What you don't seem to comprehend is that I REALLY DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ANYTHING!...Got it???????

I'll bet his U.S. political advisors told him to say that.

:rofl:

for Canada not being in the Iraq war!...As a matter of fact, I have wondered why the Liberals or the NDP or Boc or SOMEONE has not put that question directly to him at some time or other! I'll bet most Canadians are unaware that he did that and would be really angry if they did!

would make one bad-ass campaign ad in the next election, imo. I hope the opposition has that in the hopper!

:)

"911", "blame the media", "extremists!" ????

and he claims to NOT be a BushPuppet? what a joke. and that bit about “I accept the realities and the dangers of being a leader with these threats at this time,” ??? what complete horseshit is that?