So ... When's Harper Going To Engineer His Defeat?

There's little to be optimistic about in recent comments from Mr. Harper on the subject of Abortion, Gun Control and the Death Penalty.

On the surface, Harper has said that he doesn't want to get into those subjects, right?

Well, let's look a little further, shall we?

First of all, Harper's "back benchers" like Vellacott, Bruinooge and Epp have been very active putting forward bills that are directly or indirectly about abortion. We know that the base is alive and well in Harper's caucus - and they haven't exactly been silent.

Nobody in Harper's caucus so much as sneezes without permission from the PMO, and usually with specific instructions as to precisely when to sneeze and at what volume. Make no mistake, those bills had Harper's permission to exist in the first place - which, given Mr. Harper, is essentially an endorsement of the bill itself.

Second, I've found plenty of occasions where Harper (or his minions) have been dog-whistling to their "base" on a regular basis.

So, how do Harper's recent statements constitute a "dog whistle"? Simple, they're key hot button issues to his base - even mentioning them publicly is a reminder to his base that those issues haven't been forgotten about even if they haven't been acted on yet.

He describes abortion as an issue he’s spent his political career trying to “stay out of” and insists he wants no debate on abortion law. “What I say to people, if you want to diminish the number of abortions, you’ve got to change hearts and not laws,” he said.

Uh huh - spot the dog whistle phrases in there:

insists he wants no debate on abortion law

That's perfectly true - Harper doesn't want a debate. What he wants is the absolute power to impose his will. There will be no debate about it.

if you want to diminish the number of abortions, you’ve got to change hearts and not laws

Ah - in other words, under Harper, Canada's government will be funding more wingnut welfare programs by handing money out by the ton to so-called "pregnancy crisis centers" (fronts for various anti-choice groups) that lie to women about abortion.

Remember, Harper has done more to subvert and disrupt our democracy than any previous Prime Minister, and he's got his sights set on power - and I don't think he gives a damn what the price for that is as long as he can impose his will on Canada.

Where The Immovable Lobbies The Intransigent

I don't really know whether to laugh or cry about the Vatican's rumoured intervention in the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

But seriously, given the rigid adherence to dogma that Pope Benedict XVI has demonstrated - even when there's concrete evidence that calls the dogma into question - doesn't it seem a trifle ridiculous to be intervening in a case in Iran which is based on religious law that is just as rooted in the intransigence of a few to consider reason in the first place?

Really - what kind of logic arrives at stoning someone to death for supposed adultery? ... and is that logic any different than the reasoning that demands that only men be priests and calls GLBT people "objectively disordered"?

Assuming the Vatican even opens such a conversation with Iran, I can only imagine the laughter of the Ayatollahs who control the puppet strings of power behind the scenes after the phone call.

(That said, I consider the sentence on Ms. Ashtiani's head barbaric and a ridiculous overreaction to the situation in the first place)