Harper and the Cons Fear Mongering Hyperbola

posted to "Tories to stoke fear of opposition coalition", Steven Chase and Campbell Clark
Ottawa — From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
Last updated on Wednesday, Sep. 09, 2009 08:29AM EDT
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-to-stoke-fear-of-opposition-coalition/article1279929/

[updated]

Two things quoted below that everyone in Canada ought to take very close note:

- Tom Flanagan talking about the possible Harper strategy of attacking the Liberals - for opportunism in forcing an election and reforming the coalition
“It doesn't have to be true. It just has to be plausible and it strikes me as plausible.”

It is clear that Harper and the Cons are not in the least interested in the truth or what is in the best interest of Canada and all Canadians an d of all people Tom Flanagan should know.

- the other by Greg Lyle, managing director of Innovative Research Group:
"The strategy's effectiveness lies more in its ability to spur Conservative supporters to head to the polls to vote than it does in converting swing voters to the Tories"

He is understating this considerably. You can be sure that Harper and the Cons will be doing whatever they can to incite their core supporters. Further, they will have very little concern for the truth.

We saw this last December when Harper and the Cons shut down Parliament to prevent it from exercising its authority.

Especially when you compare the letter (brought to our attention by Compos Mentis, posted to the above G&M article) he sent to the Governor General in 9 Sep.`04, requesting that she consider a Con government supported by the NDP and Block and signed by Harper, Layton and Duceppe:

***********
September 9, 2004

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson,
C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Governor General
Rideau Hall
1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A1

Excellency,


As leaders of the opposition parties, we are well aware that, given the Liberal minority government, you could be asked by the Prime Minister
to dissolve the 38th Parliament at any time should the House of Commons fail to support some part of the government's program.


We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.


Your attention to this matter is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Hon. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P.
Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
Also signed by Duceppe and Layton

***********



The basic principle that Harper and the Cons seem to be employing here is that 30% of the population that is very vocal, animated and who base their political decisions on emotion outweighs the vast majority of Canadians.

Flanagan has compared the political methods (attack ads) of Harper and the Cons to ancient Rome, which is likely very accurate. One of the basic strategies there was to appeal to the emotions of the people by giving them such things as the Gladiatorial fights. The analogy to the Harper and the Cons' attack ads is so close, it's scary.

For example on hearing that Ignatieff and the Liberals will no longer be supporting his government Harper and his Ministers have been going around saying how an election right now would hurt the economy. This is, of course, fear mongering hyperbola directed exactly at the core Con supporters to incite . And Flanagan is right we can look for much more of this during an election. The deputy chief economist at BMO came out and stated that the prime minister is overstating the effects of an election right now.

Even Dimitri Soudas, speaking for the Harper government on CBC News Today with Suhana Meharchand, (see: Macleans.ca: "Meharchand v. Soudas, Another in this week’s series of Frustrated Journalists Losing Their Patience", http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/09/04/meharchand-v-soudas/ ) had to back down on whether it would hurt the economy but merely asserted "An election will do absolutely nothing to make sure that government is able to continue implementing its economic action plan". That effect would be a far cry from hurting the economy and in fact would be exactly what Canadians need right now. Only core Harper and Con supporters would be indignant about this, precisely the target group they are aiming at.

Recently Harper stated "“To be honest with you, I am a lot more concerned by God's verdict regarding my life than the one of historians” (see: "‘God's verdict' outranks history's, PM says", Steven Chase and Daniel Leblanc, Ottawa — From Saturday's Globe and Mail, Last updated on Friday, Sep. 04, 2009 03:18PM EDT, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/gods-verdict-outranks-historys-pm-says/article1269229/). Once again, Harper is playing to the emotions of the religious right, a la George W. Bush. One question that everyone, especially Canadians, may ask in judgement on Harper is "were you honest in your dealings with the people of Canada while you were prime minister". What do you suppose Harper`s answer to that would be, standing in front of St Peter at the Pearly Gates, compelled to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.