The Family (Or most of them)

The Family (Or most of them)
The Family

April 21, 2007

A Lost Leader

THERE WAS A FUNNY STORY IN THE NEWSPAPER THIS WEEK ABOUT OUR PRIME MINISTER.
Actually, there are funny stories in the newspaper EVERY week about our prime minister (Oh, it pains me to call him that), but this one was VERY, VERY funny.
Our PM's name is Stephen Harper, but you can call him Stevie. He's from Canada's Wild West, Alberta, and that picture of him above relates to this week's story.
Turns out Stevie, the most conservative of Canadian prime ministers since Brian Mulroney sang When Irish Eyes are Smiling with Ronald Reagan in 1984 or whenever, can't dress himself.
Stevie refuses to go anywhere, a story this week said, without a fashion consultant from Toronto who picks out all his clothes in an effort to improve his public image and appearance.

This from a George W. Bush waterboy/lapdog who is trying to make us as American as can be, even as he struggles with a minority government that's in power only because of Liberal Party scandals.
Harper is from Calgary, which is Alberta's bible belt and, yes, it has similarities to Dubya's Texas -- oil-rich, right-wing, religious fervor and full of hot air. It's a beautiful place, I was born there.
But this guy's a classic. He's trampled on the concept of government openess and disclosure, is Bush's mini-me on the Iraq war and Afghanistan and is the Prince of the Photo Op.
So here is a pictorial essay of our man who would be prime minister...a portrait of one of the world's truly great lost leaders...












































29 comments:

  1. Oh what the hell let's just join the States now before Mexico does and gets all of the 'good' stuff!

    If we joined now atleast we'll have a big enough Army to invade and reconquer Quebec...we're going need all that Maple Syrup because as we age all that we'll be able to eat is Pancakes.

    The States is going to get us anyway because they need all of our trees to build more Walmarts and they need all of our Fresh water to maintain Golf Courses out in the middle of the frickin' desert...when it happens they will probably call the 'Golf War' on CNN.

    We should have handed over our Country back in the 60s when some guy dreamed up a plan to give every Canadian Citizen $1,000,000 US to become an American.

    Now the US is broke! F**k!

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  2. We need another Trudeau: an arrogant arsehole who was also brilliant, socially enlightened and politically shrewd and full of charisma. My husband, just a year younger than Stevie H, used to have the same hairdo. Then the '90s dawned. :)

    Great avatar!

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  3. I have probably learned more about this guy from this post/comments than I'd get in a week of trawling my local linens.Even the "Big Papers" don't give us good coverage of maple leaf territory.
    Yes, a new Trudeau might do the trick.Doesn't Pierre have 3 sons? What are they doing? See? I know nothin'

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  4. Holy Escape to America:

    Bucking frilliant! It had absolutely nothing to do with my post, but who cares?

    You just did an entire one-liners post with one comment. I think you should refer your readers here.

    I'd take $1,000,000 to join the U.S. We're already the de facto largest state anyway.

    That would only be what, 30,000,000 x $1,000,000, that's $30,000,000,000,000, isn't it?

    That's what, $30 trillion? That's about what Bush is spending on the Iraq war in a day, isn't it?

    No biggie.

    Andrea:

    Exactly! PET is my hero. No one has even come close to him or ever will.

    Hubby hairdo: Good thing...

    Dinahmow:

    One of PET's sons died in an avalanche and another is I believe entering politics, if I'm not mistaken...

    It's no wonder no one covers Canada. We don't do anything of any individual note any more.

    Except win hockey games, that is.

    With wishy-washy wingnuts like Harper, we've become everything we all feared we would do anything to avoid: a smaller copycat of the U.S.

    And that's nothing against American people, not at all. It's all about politics and our place in the world...invisible, right behind the American shadow.

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  5. Anonymous4:45 p.m.

    HE You made me spit my drink out on the monitor with your talk of pancakes and maple syrup!
    Come and clean it now!

    Laura

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  6. Ha! I was going to post about this using that same "cowboy" pic but you've done a great job. Thanks.

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  7. Laura:

    He just about made me spit up my V8 juice, and that would have made a hell of a mess...

    Send him a bill...

    MJ:

    Sorry to steal your thunder, girl...

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  8. Anonymous5:46 p.m.

    Oh V8 juice! Far too healthy!

    Laura

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  9. Anonymous12:27 a.m.

    We in Aus have one we are trying to get rid of from similar reasons, But mostly as his head is crammed that far up GWB's Butt he can no longer see day light.WE can bounce ours out this year, how long do you have to wait?


    Andrea:Pierre Trudeau is on my people in the world i would love to dine with list... Which includes Authors and one polition.

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  10. Oh, stevie might as well give up right now. He will never have the elegance and style (?) that our johnny howard has.

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  11. Yeah, join the States. That way you can enjoy night after night of Hamburger Helper as opposed to Kraft Dinner.

    I can't wait for the elections next year...a girl can dream right?

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  12. I have nothing to say about your cowboy president, I just wanted to show you my new outfit
    :o)

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  13. Laura:

    Oh, I didn't mention that was a VV8, a Vodka and V8? Just kidding. It was Guiness and V8. ;-)

    Aidan:

    Our esteemed leader is heading up a minority government, so he could be turfed on any vote of non-confidence.

    The problem is the other parties are in so much disarray themselves, they want to keep him in power until he screws up so badly that they could win with Winnie the Pooh at the controls.

    How much do you want to bet Stevie and Howard end up moving to Texas as farmhands for Dubya?

    Lee:

    Yep, your Johnny seems to be quite a character, but at least he's got some balls...

    Awaiting (she whose life is upside down at the moment, apparently, but who still has a smashing avatar):

    I like my Kraft Dinner! And besides, you just want Hillary to win so you can see Bill as...what would they call him...The First Man?

    Ziggi:

    Incredibly Ziggi-ish of you, and a smashing image that I'm sure Himself more than approves of.

    You've gone from a tall and nondescript witch to a Lady in Red to this...

    Amazing what a wand can do, huh? Especially for a 105-year-old very, very good witch?

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  14. Oh my god, Mini-Dubyas are taking over the world!!!! We've got one in power in Australia too!!!

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  15. Where is "the world-famous garter snake pits of Narcisse..." post as promised earlier? You sent it to outer space?

    BTW, I prefer this avatar of yours. It makes you look ALMOST human..:D

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  16. Stace:

    Yeah, what is it with these assembly line politicians nowadays?

    When one's defective, they're supposed to stop the line and destroy the bad one.

    Instead, Canada and Australia are continuing to spit out Dubya clones...

    Gautami:

    Dang, trust you to remember that reference! OK, I promise, I'll go out there and take the pix and do a post on it.

    In return, though, you must do a post on India's cobras and have similar pictures.

    Thanks for that super avatar compliment! However, I may continue to experiment...

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  17. You gave a good insight to your PM with this post WW. I admit I don't know anything about Canadian politics.

    What is it about leaders nowadays? You know what our lady president remarked to the fact that more than half of Filipino families have only 1 or 2 full meals a day because of poverty? She said that she also skips meals -- because of her dieting! She's disgusting.

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  18. Menchie:

    There's not much to know about our politics. With this butthead at the helm, you can rest assured that whatever Bush and the U.S. say about world affairs, he'll parrot it a week later.

    Great comment about your own president...that is pretty disgusting.

    What is it about Filipino politics that women have so much power? I think it's great, but rare.

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  19. You P.M. sounds as if he's almost as much of a buffoon as our president is. How tragic.

    Very funny post, though. :-)

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  20. Laurie:

    Yeah, it's in the Strange but True and it Makes us Blue Department.

    The good news is U.S. presidents can only serve two terms. Our PMs can continue to infinity and beyond, far as I know...

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  21. Yes it's rare and also a great thing. I just wish we had somebody with actual brains AND guts. There's a local election coming up and you wouldn't believe the clowns that are running.

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  22. so does he pay for his own fashion consultant? they don't come cheap you know...

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  23. I got a very good memory.

    I have done a snake post on my gita blog in December. You can click here to chk it out. So now it is your turn.

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  24. Anonymous5:40 p.m.

    Good morning, and if I dont see you good afternoon and good night.
    "How much do you want to bet Stevie and Howard end up moving to Texas as farmhands for Dubya?"
    It is a certainty isn't it?

    I am thankful that they are PRIME ministers. One being the first prime number, I am thankful that there isn't 3 or 21 or 151 or...

    cheers,
    Andrew from Melbourne.

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  25. Menchie:

    It seems to be contagious.

    And while others would know much better than me about why we seem to have a particularly bad rash of bufoons running many of our governments, I suspect it has to do with two things:

    1. Corporate interests and lobby groups picking like-minded, greedy, easily-influenced dingbats who have no conscience and elevating them to power with huge election campaign spending;

    2. All the truly smart, caring, moral, thinking people are too intelligent to cow-tow to those groups in No. 1 and refuse to become involved in politics.

    Maybe the answer is for the Blogosphere to get together, take over the world, appoint a committee and select the right people to govern the right countries.

    To preserve democracy, we would put each candidate in each of that country's party to a referendum or plebiscite where only individuals in that country would be allowed to vote and no campaigning, advertising or money would enter the equation.

    Angel:

    Great question! The story quoted a party spokesman as saying the party, not the government, paid for the fashion consultant. But this could not be proved, as I recall.

    Gautami:

    Yes, you do (grumble grumble). I'll check out your snake post soon.

    I promise that when the snakes start to emerge from the Narcisse pits, I'll go there (work schedule permitting) and do a post on it, with plenty of pix.

    (Hiss Hiss)

    :-)

    Andrew:

    Thanks for droppin' by again, Mate, and give Aidan and Stace a hug for me.

    This is a very good point. I had forgotten all about prime numbers. Wasn't a great math student, you see...

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  26. You are absolutely correct on #1. Case in point...some coalition of traditional politicians have convinced boxer Manny Pacquiao to run in the election. They want to use his popularity and use him as a puppet to further their own agenda (which is to get richer).

    A whole lot of actors and actresses are also running for senator! Senator!!! It makes me want to leave the country, seriously.

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  27. Menchie:

    Manny's a fantastic boxer, one of the world's best...if he's being bought out like that, it's a shame.

    Celebrity politics...I think it's a sign that the buttheads who HAVE been politicians realize they're not long for this world and so now it's all about going after the celebs they know people DO care about, rightly or wrongly...anything to get into power or stay in power.

    What a sad state of affairs...

    I would love to visit the Phillippines. I know there's absolutely beautiful people there, many were on a bus trip from England to India I was on...

    It's so difficult to see crap like this happening, it really is, it just saps the life out of caring people...

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  28. Anonymous6:53 p.m.

    Um ... he needs to get a new consultant.

    He'll end up chewed up and spat out by the US Admin' the same way as 'my other' illustrious leader, Tony Blair.

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  29. Bibi:

    Yep, that seems to be the general consensus...he needs SOMETHING (besides a brain, that is).

    So you think Bush spit Blair out after he had been all used up, then?

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