Tell Me That Harper Isn't Following BushCo

Just in case you had any doubt about where Harper is taking his directives from, please review the following:

1. Mini-Darth's comments in Afghanistan today. According to Mr. Mackay, it's going to take a while longer to meet our "objectives".

“We recognize that it is going to take perhaps a longer period of time than was first envisioned,” he said.

“We did not discuss specific time frames or time limits or just how lengthy this mission will be, but I assured the President that Canada is here and intends to continue to work with our international partners and with the Afghan people to achieve results.”

The first question that goes through my mind is this - just what are our "objectives" in Afghanistan, pray tell? How do the Canadian people know when those objectives have been met?

Mackay's "morale boosting" trip to Afghanistan is one of the most blatant bits of propaganda I've seen since Bush Jr. did his "Mission Accomplished" speech on an aircraft carrier a couple of years ago.

2. Following on the heels of the "Military Propaganda Mission" I just mentioned, we have this piece of fearmongering. First of all, let's define probable here - are we talking probable as in "I probably will drive to work tomorrow", or probable as in "Lightning will strike the Calgary Tower tomorrow at sunrise"? This is nothing more than the same kind of irrational fear-mongering that the US "Department of Homeland Security" engages in with its "Terror Threat Alerts". (Several of which have gone to the "highest possible" level, and strangely nothing has happened.

Last week's budget set aside $95 million for a fund to let rail and public transit operators pay for measures designed to protect passengers from the kind of carnage caused in 2005 when militants bombed the transit system in London, England.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, which handles airport security across the country, is also getting more money for its operations -- $133 million this fiscal year.

Please note that the recent budget just handed a pile more money to various agencies for "security" purposes - echoing the utter paranoia that has taken over the United States in recent years.