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03 30th, 2009| 
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Harper appoints a new minister of the environment
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Mar
27
If the satire bites, the most reasonable response is to cut off its source of food.
This is the response I would recommend to the administrators of the Conservative Party of Canada’s Facebook group. Instead, last week they chose to ban me from the group where I have posted links to Idiocracy Watch since its inception. In addition, they deleted all of my previous postings from the group page. This has the appearance of a blatant attempt at erasing Idiocracy Watch from the collective consciousness of the party (at least for those 8000+ members of the group). Why would they respond to a comic strip this way? The responses I’ve had to the strip so far from across the country suggest one reason: It seems that the food is ripe, and Idiocracy Watch is biting the Conservative Party of Canada in tender places.
Unfortunately, this is noting out of the ordinary for the current incarnation of the Conservative Party. Prime Minister Harper’s management program involves punishing and intimidating ministers and backbenchers alike whenever they choose to speak openly on issues of governance. As a result, Harper has maintained an unprecedented level of control over releasing information to the media. Issues that pose a threat to the party go unmentioned wherever possible—critics are effectively silenced because the government refuses to acknowledge an issue in the first place. Information and images that do get released are so spun into the fabric of branding the Conservative Party that many of the actions of the Canadian government have become largely indistinguishable from the likes of Proctor & Gamble or Imperial Tobacco Canada.
I’m not suggesting the Liberals (or NDP for that matter), if in power, would act any differently in this regard. This seems to be the style of governing currently favoured by today’s most successful politicians…save, of course, one honest broker to the South, who seems to have managed some success despite openness.
But the effects of this kind of behaviour must be examined and challenged. This is because the effects of this kind of behaviour go far beyond biasing the free speech that Canadians enjoy. By seeking to push issues off the front page and erase the debate from the public consciousness, free speech becomes a largely useless tool. To put it in the geek vernacular: having free speech in this kind of political environment is like having a blog in a world with no Internet.
Idiocracy Watch originated in response to this kind of behaviour. We believe that debate needs to occur at ALL levels, without a concerted effort to eliminate it coming from the powers that be. We also believe that political parties need to allow their ideologies to be challenged at ALL levels. If ideologies can withstand the full force of debate, only then are they are worthy of public enactment. If the Conservative Party feels that Idiocracy Watch is enough of a threat to their ideologies that they have to hide it from their members, well, I’d suggest that they are standing on flimsy political grounds. Our cartoon features a talking polar bear, for crying out loud!
It might seem obvious why the Conservative Party Facebook group administrators are attempting to erase Idiocracy Watch from their collective consciousness. We obviously have issues with many of their policies. So it might seem absurd that I would take the time to suggest they act otherwise. But the above considerations suggest that there is something valuable in political satire being openly accessible. In part, what Idiocracy Watch, Rick Mercer, Saturday Night Live (south of the border), or Filibuster Cartoons, or the guy yelling on the street corner are trying to accomplish is to open debate on issues that we think matter. We have each chosen our pet projects, we have our own biases, but we all believe in raising points that we feel ought to matter to Canadians. We leave it up to individual Canadians to decide whether or not there’s anything there.
Currently, there are 4 Ministers (including Jim Flaherty, Josée Verner, Steven Fletcher (ironically the Minister of Democratic Reform), and Peter Kent), 13 MPs, and a Senator listed as Officers of the Facebook Group. I take this to mean that the Conservative Party endorses the actions of the group’s administrators. They advertise that it is an open group, and that anyone can join. They have no rules posted preventing individuals from posting comic strips, and there are more than 11,000 member posts on their wall.
I am asking the Conservative Party to reconsider their ban. I am respectfully requesting that they reverse their decision without qualification.
If you agree with my position, I suggest you join the Conservative Party Facebook group at this address http://tinyurl.com/cub9zu. I would also recommend that you choose your favourite satirical source from the web that is even mildly critical of the party (it need not be Idiocracy Watch) and post a link to it on the Conservative Party wall.
I hope they will allow them to remain on the site for debate, though I suspect I’m hoping for a miracle. Perhaps that will work in my favour.
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Mar
23
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Harper talks science and technology
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Mar
16
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Calgary – March 16, 2009
A polar bear attacked, and devoured, the Minister of the Environment on Monday, March 9, during a routine address to the Oil Barons’ Club.
According to Stephen Harper, “The Honourable, uh, Jhrm Shrm… [inaudible speech] was eaten in an unprovoked attack.”
When asked whether or not officials had received any threats warning of the attack, the Prime Minister declined to comment directly. “We’re doing all we can to figure out who is behind this horrible attack,” said Harper. “We do know that several Liberal MPs have been seen in, or around, the North, or other cold regions, in recent years. How they could have trained a polar bear to do that, well, it’s just beyond us at this point. But we’re looking into all possibilities.”
The attack comes shortly after the Conservative government launched its new dialogue on the environment. It is not clear whether the attack was related to the environmental initiative. According to angry former Environment Minister John Baird, [yelling] “If it’s related to environmental policy, it can’t be our fault. I mean, come on, we’ve been pretty careful not to touch the environment.” With nostrils flared he added, “ARRRGGGGGGGGGH!”
The attack also comes following the Conservative Government’s decision only to appoint “completely unknown and expendable MPs” to the cabinet position, says Rona Ambrose, another former Environment Minister. Unnamed sources in the government have complained in the past that the position makes one “internationally hated,” and that serving in it amounts to “a political kiss of death” under Harper. Ambrose describes the new appointment strategy as the “right move”, adding, “it worked on Star Trek, and it’ll work for us, dammit.”
Wildlife officials tranquilized and caged the polar bear. Following that the bear was Tasered repeatedly by rookie, veteran, and retired RCMP officers. A professional video crew captured the entire Taser incident in high-definition video with full 7.1 surround sound. When asked bout the use of Tasers one of the officers involved commented, “It was a textbook case of resisting arrest, ask any of my fellow officers.” We did. They all agreed.
The polar bear was taken into captivity, but its whereabouts are currently unknown to the public.
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