"One should doubtless keep an open mind...though open at both ends, like the food pipe, and have a capacity for excretion as well as intake." -- Northrop Frye, 'The Great Code'
Friday, May 27, 2016
Den Tandt "praises" his long time target, Stephen Harper ...
And, as might be expected, his praise is very faint praise indeed. Some excerpts [with Den Tandt's amplifying thoughts]:
... a good prime minister [Let's try to keep the hyperbole down, shall we?]
... a smart, basically decent, hard- working guy who, for all his flaws ... [You could say that about 70+% of Canadians, so let's concentrate on those flaws!]
... a better-than-fair steward [Right, "good", but "nothing great"]
... he is not ... the ogre he has been made out to be [by his partisan opponents, especially we in the Media Party]
... For all his failings, ran a broadly stable ship [So let me remind you, again, of all those failings.]
... nothing at all likethe extremism we were led to expect [Not as extreme as his partisan opponents, especially we in the Media Party, led you to expect]
In the print version Den Tandt's column was titled: "Canada lucky to have had Harper" [Yes, after all, we could have had someone like, say, Vladimir Putin]
One supposes this is Den Tandt's idea of a polite farewell to a favourite target. In contrast, here are a couple of sample comments from people who begged to differ:
Best Prime Minister in 70 years, maybe more. He get's Canada. On the flip side,
Zoolander says Canada has no culture or identity and is the worlds first
postnational state. What an arrogant stupid insulting prick.
Harper, a pragmatic Canadian, for all Canadians. Now Zoolander is intent on
picking his interest groups at the expense of the Canadian taxpayer and
reversing Harper's policies for the benefit of all Canadians, even his
insane left wing detractors. Irrational immigration decisions, FN
secrecy, complacency regarding energy, complacency regarding prairie
fires, outrageous and damaging deficits, increasing union powers at the
expense of taxpayers,
So Dan Taint crawled out of Trudeautards ass long enough to tell everyone that he's full of shit... how magnanimous of the creepy Liberal troll... crawl back up Dan Taint you slimey Liberal POS. Den Taint along with that other Liberal pantywaist Andrew the Coyne are two of the main reasons I no longer read the NP and cancelled my subscription. I wonder why news outlets like the NP resist hiring journalists but rather choose to hire Liberal Party operatives, seems a weird counter intuitive thing to do. Look forward to the NP closing shop, they worked hard for it... Dan Taint and Coyne will quickly be welcomed by the Liberal Party Media apparatus somewhere else, say the CBC, CTV, Glowballs, TO Star, Glob@Plop. Hey if a creepy girly man like Glen (no balls) MacGregor can get hired by CTV, I think Dan Taint is a shoe in. Sean M.
JR, it is a bitter pill to swallow, reading admissions like Den Tandt's that Stephen Harper and his policies were misrepresented. However, I still think Mr. Harper himself may have been partly to blame by shunning the MSM.
While I don't think Mr. Harper should have kowtowed to the press, he should have allowed a bit more access to them, so as to give them something to work with, not leaving them idle with enough time on their hands to go digging for supposed scandals in retaliation. Years ago, Elizabeth Thompson (now with iPolitics) compared reporting during the Chretien vs the Harper years. She said under Chretien, journalists were given so much "information" they had little time to set off on hunts. IMO, if Mr. Harper had done more press conferences, allowing more questions, thus 'validating' their work (to use an Oprah-ism), maybe their treatment of Mr. Harper might not have been as inimical.
Despite a friendlier relationship with the press, Chretien was eventually exposed to criticism, with reporters like Daniel Leblanc uncovering the Sponsorship scandal. The bloom will eventually be off the Trudeau rose.There are already tiny little chinks in Trudeau's armor, like the reports about the nannies, the elbowing incident, the transparency that isn't, sham consultations, etc. Even Craig Oliver, a Trudeau devotee, described the elbowing incident as signs of Trudeau's “immaturity” & “impatience”. Give it time. -- Gabby in QC
I almost gagged when I saw the column in NP and juxtaposed what he had written about PM Harper prior to Oct 2015. Now that the beast is slain, it seems fashionable for writers like Den Tandt to take a more objective view. Or possibly, they realize that to be taken seriously as journalists they have to criticize the current administration. After all, that is their job, as they pointed out so often in the CPC era. They do not want to be taken for mere LPC apologists and Jr fan club boosters. But, the likes of Den Tandt has some way to go to overcome that image.
old white guy says.......the press crapped on PM Harper day after day without ceasing. they are fools of the first order and most are not intelligent enough to shine his shoes. my primary complaint about Mr. Harper is that he did not take action to slash the bureaucracy when he had the chance and as a result failed to curb government spending. knowing that 60% of all Canadians will vote for socialism every time they vote does not give me confidence for the survival of the country.
A Liberal's favourite kind of conservative is one that has just lost an election. They will cheer loudly during the leadership contest for whoever they feel is most likely to lose the next election. Which is why everyone needs to stop listening to them.
BTW anyone who believes the solution to a hostile press is to give them more time and "win them over" hasn't been paying attention. These people are not going to change their minds. Giving them more time is a sure fire way to encourage them to attack you more. These people are not our friends and Harper was astute enough to realize that. Why do you think they hated him so much? He knew their game.
Well, 8:35:00 AM PDT Anonymous, I have been paying attention but the thing is, you don't win "the game" by picking up your ball and going home. You win the game -- or at least get a tie -- by outwitting your adversaries. I realize most MSM journalists are pro-liberal/progressive and will never be won over. But winning them over is not the point. The point is not letting the beast go hungry, giving them even more reasons to complain and find fault, in addition to their ingrained anti-conservative position. Feed the beast, satiate their hunger for something to write and comment on. You know, like the old proverb says: "Idle hands are the devil's workshop."
Mr. Harper's supposed "gag" order for MPs, where everyone was apparently ordered to sing from the same songbook, makes sense. There should be no room for freelancers on a political team. But more leeway for journalists at policy announcements, more availability of government spokespersons on issues as they come up, and even a little bit of fun (attending the Press Gallery dinner comes to mind, at which Mr. Harper apparently was a big hit the few times he attended) might have helped -- not to convert but at least to coexist.
Anyway, all told, Mr. Harper still resonates with me. Sorry to see him go. He had a good honest run; it should have been longer. Happy trails, Mr. Harper. Best wishes to you and yours. -- Gabby in QC
I think the media is more generally critical of whomever is in government as they see themselves as the main opposition. And not totally a bad thing if they play that role consistently. To be fair the National Post is probably of somewhat libertarian slant so certainly they disliked it would Harper was arrogant or too controlling, but they've been equally critical of Trudeau's big spending plans and bigger government. Toronto Star is a different story although whenever they criticize Trudeau its worth taking note such as they did on electoral reform since if even the most pro-liberal paper is criticizing you that means something is wrong.
As for Harper, as a former PC type or more Red Tory but somewhat libertarian leaning I never really felt welcome in the Harper party and so I am glad he is gone while with the current leadership aspirations I am quite confident this is a party I will feel more comfortable. Also Trudeau is vacating the centre which the Liberals used to occupy under Chretien/Martin and he is moving into traditional NDP territory so there is lots of space to appeal to those who are in the centre and slightly right of centre and still be a lot different than the Liberals. Otherwise I think the party should be fiscally conservative such as balanced budgets except during recession, making sure our taxes are competitive with our G7 partners (they aren't at least on income tax for upper income individuals) and trying to have government focus on its core responsibilities and not try to be everything to everyone. At the same time we should avoid social conservatism and wedge issues and likewise just focus on the best ideas whether they are left wing or right wing that work well and since in the majority albeit not all those on the right work better that works best. Blindly following an ideological dogma is a bad idea and this could come back to bite Trudeau if not careful.
The "faith" that some people have in the Media is cute, weird but cute. Its almost like a mental disorder, like Trudomania. The Media in this country are as corrupt as the Liberal Party they cheer for, apologize for, and protect. For those that believe the Conservatives would get a better shake from the Media if they simply became Liberals is beyond stupid, I surrender is not the answer, it is the answer the Media want, but it is still not the answer. The Media in this country are essentially an appendage of the Liberal Party, they see anyone opposing the Liberal Party agenda as the enemy, thats what they get paid to do, and the biggest threat to Liberal hegemony are Conservative Canadians, nothing is going to change that fact, nothing. Becoming another Liberal Party in order to please the extreme leftist media is the height of stupidity, a kind of, "we stand for nothing" or, we're just as bad as the Liberals vote for us, as in the only way to beat the Nazi Party is to become Nazi's too, simply idiotic. The Media are the Liberal Party, how much proof do people actually need before they realize this glaringly obvious fact.
"A Liberal's favourite kind of conservative is one that has just lost an election.." Anon 6:52 Absolutely true. Columnists like Den Tandt, Coyne or anybody connected with CBC/CTV are the last people on earth Conservatives should be listening to as they prepare to choose the next leader. The important point to remember is that any CPC leader will be vilified whether it be Harper, MacKay even Rona Ambrose. The media party overwhelmingly support the Lib/NDP factions they want a CPC loser, not a leader.That is why they insist the new leader must be someone similar to JT. I believe in 4 years Canadians will wish for someone totally different to the present PM.
One of my greatest pleasures was to cancel my subscription to National Post and McLeans. I read the hack jobs on PM Harper and the Conservatives and decided that it was time to pull the plug. So much for Canadian content - those eastern rags are just that boosters for downtown Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The ROC exists only to send money to the centre of the universe.
So Dan Taint crawled out of Trudeautards ass long enough to tell everyone that he's full of shit... how magnanimous of the creepy Liberal troll... crawl back up Dan Taint you slimey Liberal POS. Den Taint along with that other Liberal pantywaist Andrew the Coyne are two of the main reasons I no longer read the NP and cancelled my subscription. I wonder why news outlets like the NP resist hiring journalists but rather choose to hire Liberal Party operatives, seems a weird counter intuitive thing to do. Look forward to the NP closing shop, they worked hard for it... Dan Taint and Coyne will quickly be welcomed by the Liberal Party Media apparatus somewhere else, say the CBC, CTV, Glowballs, TO Star, Glob@Plop. Hey if a creepy girly man like Glen (no balls) MacGregor can get hired by CTV, I think Dan Taint is a shoe in. Sean M.
ReplyDeleteHey JR. I am in cloverdale. I like your blog. How can I contact you?
ReplyDeleteJR, it is a bitter pill to swallow, reading admissions like Den Tandt's that Stephen Harper and his policies were misrepresented. However, I still think Mr. Harper himself may have been partly to blame by shunning the MSM.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't think Mr. Harper should have kowtowed to the press, he should have allowed a bit more access to them, so as to give them something to work with, not leaving them idle with enough time on their hands to go digging for supposed scandals in retaliation. Years ago, Elizabeth Thompson (now with iPolitics) compared reporting during the Chretien vs the Harper years. She said under Chretien, journalists were given so much "information" they had little time to set off on hunts. IMO, if Mr. Harper had done more press conferences, allowing more questions, thus 'validating' their work (to use an Oprah-ism), maybe their treatment of Mr. Harper might not have been as inimical.
Despite a friendlier relationship with the press, Chretien was eventually exposed to criticism, with reporters like Daniel Leblanc uncovering the Sponsorship scandal. The bloom will eventually be off the Trudeau rose.There are already tiny little chinks in Trudeau's armor, like the reports about the nannies, the elbowing incident, the transparency that isn't, sham consultations, etc. Even Craig Oliver, a Trudeau devotee, described the elbowing incident as signs of Trudeau's “immaturity” & “impatience”. Give it time.
-- Gabby in QC
I almost gagged when I saw the column in NP and juxtaposed what he had written about PM Harper prior to Oct 2015. Now that the beast is slain, it seems fashionable for writers like Den Tandt to take a more objective view. Or possibly, they realize that to be taken seriously as journalists they have to criticize the current administration. After all, that is their job, as they pointed out so often in the CPC era. They do not want to be taken for mere LPC apologists and Jr fan club boosters. But, the likes of Den Tandt has some way to go to overcome that image.
ReplyDeleteold white guy says.......the press crapped on PM Harper day after day without ceasing. they are fools of the first order and most are not intelligent enough to shine his shoes. my primary complaint about Mr. Harper is that he did not take action to slash the bureaucracy when he had the chance and as a result failed to curb government spending. knowing that 60% of all Canadians will vote for socialism every time they vote does not give me confidence for the survival of the country.
ReplyDeleteA Liberal's favourite kind of conservative is one that has just lost an election. They will cheer loudly during the leadership contest for whoever they feel is most likely to lose the next election. Which is why everyone needs to stop listening to them.
ReplyDeleteBTW anyone who believes the solution to a hostile press is to give them more time and "win them over" hasn't been paying attention. These people are not going to change their minds. Giving them more time is a sure fire way to encourage them to attack you more. These people are not our friends and Harper was astute enough to realize that. Why do you think they hated him so much? He knew their game.
ReplyDeleteWell, 8:35:00 AM PDT Anonymous, I have been paying attention but the thing is, you don't win "the game" by picking up your ball and going home. You win the game -- or at least get a tie -- by outwitting your adversaries. I realize most MSM journalists are pro-liberal/progressive and will never be won over. But winning them over is not the point. The point is not letting the beast go hungry, giving them even more reasons to complain and find fault, in addition to their ingrained anti-conservative position. Feed the beast, satiate their hunger for something to write and comment on. You know, like the old proverb says: "Idle hands are the devil's workshop."
ReplyDeleteMr. Harper's supposed "gag" order for MPs, where everyone was apparently ordered to sing from the same songbook, makes sense. There should be no room for freelancers on a political team. But more leeway for journalists at policy announcements, more availability of government spokespersons on issues as they come up, and even a little bit of fun (attending the Press Gallery dinner comes to mind, at which Mr. Harper apparently was a big hit the few times he attended) might have helped -- not to convert but at least to coexist.
Anyway, all told, Mr. Harper still resonates with me. Sorry to see him go. He had a good honest run; it should have been longer. Happy trails, Mr. Harper. Best wishes to you and yours.
-- Gabby in QC
I think the media is more generally critical of whomever is in government as they see themselves as the main opposition. And not totally a bad thing if they play that role consistently. To be fair the National Post is probably of somewhat libertarian slant so certainly they disliked it would Harper was arrogant or too controlling, but they've been equally critical of Trudeau's big spending plans and bigger government. Toronto Star is a different story although whenever they criticize Trudeau its worth taking note such as they did on electoral reform since if even the most pro-liberal paper is criticizing you that means something is wrong.
ReplyDeleteAs for Harper, as a former PC type or more Red Tory but somewhat libertarian leaning I never really felt welcome in the Harper party and so I am glad he is gone while with the current leadership aspirations I am quite confident this is a party I will feel more comfortable. Also Trudeau is vacating the centre which the Liberals used to occupy under Chretien/Martin and he is moving into traditional NDP territory so there is lots of space to appeal to those who are in the centre and slightly right of centre and still be a lot different than the Liberals. Otherwise I think the party should be fiscally conservative such as balanced budgets except during recession, making sure our taxes are competitive with our G7 partners (they aren't at least on income tax for upper income individuals) and trying to have government focus on its core responsibilities and not try to be everything to everyone. At the same time we should avoid social conservatism and wedge issues and likewise just focus on the best ideas whether they are left wing or right wing that work well and since in the majority albeit not all those on the right work better that works best. Blindly following an ideological dogma is a bad idea and this could come back to bite Trudeau if not careful.
The "faith" that some people have in the Media is cute, weird but cute. Its almost like a mental disorder, like Trudomania. The Media in this country are as corrupt as the Liberal Party they cheer for, apologize for, and protect. For those that believe the Conservatives would get a better shake from the Media if they simply became Liberals is beyond stupid, I surrender is not the answer, it is the answer the Media want, but it is still not the answer. The Media in this country are essentially an appendage of the Liberal Party, they see anyone opposing the Liberal Party agenda as the enemy, thats what they get paid to do, and the biggest threat to Liberal hegemony are Conservative Canadians, nothing is going to change that fact, nothing. Becoming another Liberal Party in order to please the extreme leftist media is the height of stupidity, a kind of, "we stand for nothing" or, we're just as bad as the Liberals vote for us, as in the only way to beat the Nazi Party is to become Nazi's too, simply idiotic. The Media are the Liberal Party, how much proof do people actually need before they realize this glaringly obvious fact.
ReplyDelete"A Liberal's favourite kind of conservative is one that has just lost an election.." Anon 6:52
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true. Columnists like Den Tandt, Coyne or anybody connected with CBC/CTV are the last people on earth Conservatives should be listening to as they prepare to choose the next leader. The important point to remember is that any CPC leader will be vilified whether it be Harper, MacKay even Rona Ambrose. The media party overwhelmingly support the Lib/NDP factions they want a CPC loser, not a leader.That is why they insist the new leader must be someone similar to JT. I believe in 4 years Canadians will wish for someone totally different to the present PM.
One of my greatest pleasures was to cancel my subscription to National Post and McLeans. I read the hack jobs on PM Harper and the Conservatives and decided that it was time to pull the plug. So much for Canadian content - those eastern rags are just that boosters for downtown Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The ROC exists only to send money to the centre of the universe.
ReplyDelete