Garth Turner Champions Democracy
Just a moment ago, Garth Turner disclosed the contents of letters sent to him last week by the CPC. Turner blasted Harper and the CPC for not allowing him to run in the next election with no reasons. He is not even permitted to seek a nomination and his suspension from caucus is "indefinite" with absolutely no reasons given. Turner is resigning his party membership and will sit as an independent. He says he will seek out legal opinions on how to force parties to be democratic and listen to party members.
Turner focussed on the fact that the CPC is just like any party in Canada today with "arrogant party bosses and unelected backroom boys". Go Garth!!!! Now that's what I call an elected representative. Down with the old boys club and up with zeal and altruism.
Update: Check out some of these responses from different political stripes: Red Tory calls Turner's presser Boring, while Big City Liberal says Garth Jumps the Shark. Apparently, these guys don't see any reason at all to even discuss the validity of the claim that there is a problem across the board in Canadian political parties. I suggest that this kind of attitude IS the problem in this country. Read A Little Thought's comment within my comments section to see what people with a larger view of the issue have to say...
Turner focussed on the fact that the CPC is just like any party in Canada today with "arrogant party bosses and unelected backroom boys". Go Garth!!!! Now that's what I call an elected representative. Down with the old boys club and up with zeal and altruism.
Update: Check out some of these responses from different political stripes: Red Tory calls Turner's presser Boring, while Big City Liberal says Garth Jumps the Shark. Apparently, these guys don't see any reason at all to even discuss the validity of the claim that there is a problem across the board in Canadian political parties. I suggest that this kind of attitude IS the problem in this country. Read A Little Thought's comment within my comments section to see what people with a larger view of the issue have to say...
Labels: Bloggers, Harpocrites, Politics
posted by K-Dough at 8:00 PM
17 Comments:
Bah... he's a baby, and if he'd learn to keep his mouth shut once in a while, he might actually achieve a result or two.
Instead he piss' off everyone, and in the end, I doubt other parties will want a loose cannon like Turner.
Pretty thin gruel to call a press conference over. The boy who cried wolf, and all that.
He was given the reasons in persona at the Ontario caucus meeting and was allowed to argue in his own favour before his MP collegues. Who then took the vote to oust him with him present.
He knows the reasons.They were discussed with him in depth within the confidentiality of a caucus meeting, as it should be.
Now he is miffed because the whole world cannot be privy to what goes on in confidential caucus meetings - which is the very reason he was booted in the first place.
Sheeesh.
That is the point he's raising though JC- he doesn't want to be involved with any other party. He is saying something (that I believe): that all major Canadian parties are democracy-stiffling cultish power-hungry geek clubs.
I'm sick of the toeing the party line or get out bullshit.
Something has got to give and I support anyone who has the balls to stand up and say so rather than cowardly lurk in the shadows of his own doubt afraid there will be repercussions for expressing personal beliefs- like all the other suit and tied fucks in Ottawa.
Shannon- but I guess they wouldn't put it writing, right?
K-Dough, leader of the Anarchist Party of Canada... I'll help you fund raise by pitching in a dollar... but not a Canadian dollar, a US one.
Why, because I'm daring to be different dammit!!
If your going to be an Anarchist, you should know this already... or should you.
Perhaps by decrying the party system, your party can dis-avow the need to fundraise, push forward legislation, or generally get anything done.
Regardless, I like the way you think man... well, today anyway, I might not tomorrow. If I decide there is a tomorrow. For me, everyday is Friday:)
By the by though, I agree... if only Turner had good reasons, it might help with the sympathy vote.
JC: Though I know your comments were tongue in cheek, I think it is dangerous to say that anyone pointing out institutional flaws in our state and democracy is advocating there is no alternative but anarchy. The parties are institutions in and of themselves. It is possible for them to change/evolve from within and they will.
But resigning ourselves to believing there is nothing we can do about these problems only enables these jackasses to continue ruling under their own terms.
Unless change is prompted from within parties by mavericks with balls, the issues will never reach the ears of voters. And votes are the only way we can indeed control this shit.
I really don't care what Turner's reasons are. The same way I didn't care about Carolyn Parrish's reasons. The bottom line is they are entitled to speak freely in a democratic society, without the fear of being kicked out of what has now evolved into political secret societies.
Anarchy as a political philosophy, and not a pejorative description, is highly underrated, and finds many points of contact with liberalism as a political philosophy, and not the party of fluffers and shakers we see before us.
And any of you right-wingers out there who hate liberalism should remember that libertarians and anarchists too find many points of contact.
That being said, the disdain expressed from both sides of the political spectrum here on K-dough has nothing to do with politics, and more to do with the fact that no one likes a loner, especially one who got let go.
We've all seen this happen to people, and it's quite obvious that the consensus is that once you've been handed a pink slip, there must be something wrong with you.
I suspect Max Weber has an answer as to why this is, but I hesitate to venture it here.
ALT- Very well said.
A liberal is someone who searches for truth, compromise and conciliation to me- the knot at the centre that ties together the etrexme ends. A country needs both the ends and the centre.
Unfortunately, all we have right now is an incestuously round circle. Parties are like circling mechanical sharks that exist for only one reason- to chase the next election from the morning after the previous one.
Our parties are different by small degrees in policy, and united by a common practice of smothering internal criticism and meaningful public debate.
Ostracizing the ugly kid used to be the norm, but I thought we had moved past that in this society. Guess not. The stupid and sheep-like still seem to rule the pen.
"Garth Turner Champions Democracy". Hahahahahahaha. That is all.
Grrr... I 've been waiting all friggin day in the desert sun, avoiding the pool FOR WHAT?
I thought at least he'd tell us where Peter's dog buried its bone.
i was execting some incredible insider info....garth said pretty well everything he's said before save for announcing his resignation from the convservative party.
it'snot that i disagree with turner and he's got some great points. but it was all hyped up to be like he was going to give some big revelations.
i don't know if the hype was on the part of garth or the media, but it's going to make turneer lose credibiolity if it was his doing.
Agreed on all points K-Dough....the Conservative government has repeatedly conducted themselves no differently than the Liberals at their arrogant worst. And I really believed they were going to change the way the government conducted itself. Major disappointment.
Having said that, that Garth guy is suffering from a bit of stage addiction. He's enjoying himself a little too much for me.
Yeah I hear ya Leather- I can't stand people who stand in the middle of a room and say "look at me!!! look at me!!!".
Hey, wait a sec....I might just be one of those people...
you summed it up perfectly k-dough, right on!
"CPC for not allowing him to run in the next election with no reasons"
--no fucking reason, unbelievable.
"...his suspension from caucus is "indefinite" with absolutely no reasons given"
--it's really starting to piss me off when people cheer lead others to go fight for so-called democracy is some foreign land, but have no fucking clue what democracy is at home, or don't care when political parties like the CPC act like dictators.
blogs like "Red Tory" and "Big City Liberal" are idiots and have no idea what democracy is all about.
Jacobin- you said it better and more to the point than I! Bravo dude!
Nice to see you here. Drop by more often...
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