hey I like the grizzly bear look!
He comes from the Corzine school of facial hair. "HEY IF IT GOT HIM ELECTED I CAN TRY TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" And then he (Gore) loses the election(0
and then has to settle to be a spokesperson for Barbasol!
Well, Harper is actually a conservative in all senses of the word. But I am looking forward to Harper Derangement Syndrome because it's goign to be hilarious.
Might want to wait on the Canadian voters - it ain't over yet.
Gore was the VICE President, and no where near as powerful as the current VP is in his...err...Bush's administration. Also, the only evidence I've seen concerning Clinton has appeared in Conservative journals and points to authorization of PHYSICAL searches. Moreover, it is my understanding that warrantless searches are legal (including wire tapping) if you pursue a warrant within 72 hours after it takes place - why didn't Bush just do that? Why break the law and cause a fuss? Is there really that much urgency to get thousands of hours of information to inundate the CIA and lead them down wrong paths (as has been reported)? Even IF the Clinton administration abused this power, I was not aware that the school-age axiom "Two wrongs don't make a right" had been overturned, especially by a group that claims to favor "small government." Small government doesn't spy on its citizens and claim to be doing so “for their own protection”. Big Brother does that – I’m no libertarian, but that scares me a little bit.
"Why break the law and cause a fuss?"
He didn't break the law.
Way to try and back me into the corner on small government. However, the government is supposed to ensure the rights of life, liberty, and property/pursuit of happiness. If the government does this by spying on foreign nationals, not subject to the Constitution (and I have not heard otherwise, nevermind what the ACLU will tell you) then it is fundamentally protecting the rights of its citizens.
Mike, perhaps if you read ANYTHING about Canada in the past month, you'd know that earlier this week, Tories had an 18-POINT LEAD in one poll (which was sort of supsicious, but probably not a malicious act) over the Liberals. Today, the last Ipsos-Reid poll came out, which I consider most reliable poll in Canada, shows them with a 12-point lead, and that poll was released with the statement, "Stephen Harper will be the next Prime Minister of Canada." The Liberals are only leading in a handful of ridings, and today was probably one of the worst days, as one of their own riding presidents endorsed the Conservative running in his riding, Martin hurled insults at Atlantic Canadians and Albertans (which probably caused him to lose the one riding he held in the latter province), a union president backing Martin called Harper a separatist, while yet someone else claimed he wouldn't fully support Quebec's status as a "distinct society," which are two incredibly contradictory claims. Not too long ago, they released a suite of attack ads and insulted Canadian Forces in one of them. Exit poll data for advance polls show voter turnout up by 25% overall, and by close to 75% amongst registered Tories. That doesn't look like the makings of a sudden comeback to me.
Let's look at the Tories: few blunders. One involved a check of its platform expenses, but that was later cleared up, and the Conference Board of Canada said they could afford their promises and run a surplus. The Liberals have yet to do this, and I suspect they won't. They had a candidate who failed to inform the party he was under indictment. Harper quickly cut him out of the caucus. Their early ads were bad, but they've gotten much better at it. Since the New Year began, they've seen a steady increase in support. They're support in Quebec has surged to the point that they are now trailing the Bloc. Earlier this month, they were at 12%, now they're at 31% in that province. I'm sure you don't understand what's significant about that, but Quebec has always tended to be Liberal or Bloc, and now they're poised to be Bloc and Conservative. Tories have proven themselves the stronger federalist option. They will very likely sweet the province of Alberta (which is only a pick up of two seats), take a great deal of Ontario (province with most ridings), most of British Columbia, and they are leading in "Liberal country-" Atlantic Canada. Whereas Martin came across as either drunk or angry during the last leaders' debate, Harper came off as calm and intelligent, and most importantly, postive and on message. More than half- far more, but I don't remember off the top of my head- of voters indicated that they would not change their mind before election day. Broken down by party, it was only 8% of Conservatives who indicated this, and twice that percentage amongst Liberals said they might change their vote. The Conservatives are predicted to win 149-153 seats, two to six
Oops, my novel got cut short.
Needless to say, your ignorance as to the Canadian election is mind-boggling.
To finish the last thought, without having to rewrite the last of it, they're predicted to win two to six seats shy of a majority. There is no way any thinking person could look at the poll data and come to the conclusion that Paul Martin will still be in power Tuesday morning. The man is in a very tight race for his own riding, trailing even!
And why are you shilling for Martin? His party and his government are the most corrupt in the industrialized world. Over 200 scandals involving misuse of government funds for party purposes, paying people for jobs they don't hold, cronyism, and lobbying scandals that would make Tom Delay and Harry Reid (who is one of the first five under investigation after Abramoff's plea, don'tcha know it?) blush. If you believe so much that corruption is bad, why are you so quick to believe any party/ government like that shouldn't and wouldn't be held accountable by the voters?
WOW all that because I have my doubts about the accuracy of polling? I'm just saying that anything can happen at any time, that's all, so I think its premature to make the voters "heroes" for something that have yet to do.
"your ignorance as to the Canadian election is mind-boggling." - Yep, I've admitted that I don't know much about it, though I don't really enjoy being demeaned. I do appreciate your insights, however. And just for the record, I'm not necessarily supporting one party or the other - its not my country, and neither candidate is going to drop bombs on us or our other allies.
"He didn't break the law." - I think that is still VERY much up for debate. The power of the executive branch is running rampant, and Bush is using that power to pack the courts with judges who will allow that to continue (i.e. Alito). It will be interesting to see what Congress and the Courts say about the wiretapping, which is not supported in any law and appears to me to be in violation of protection against unreasonable searches and seizures (I refer you to http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/da...ent04/
05.html#6 )
Though I think you are incorrect in that they have indeed spied on US citizens, its irrelevant - Bush nevertheless believes he has that authority, though I'm yet to find any law that says he does (without a warrant). At the very least, there needs to be more Congressional oversight on how this power is applied. Hopefully that is coming.
Well, most polls in Canada tend to be tilted towards Liberals...
Also, you show ignorance in thinking that the Liberals have run a campaign that is capable of turning things around. They are broke and have had to cancel events in this final weekend of the campaign, unless some donor steps forward with a HUGE amount for them. They weren't even able to fuel the LPC jet two days ago to leave Vancouver- no money. They have run an abyssmal campaign, the worst in Canadian history. And only one paper in the whole country would endorse them- the Toronto Star. You think they can erase and overcome a 12-point deficit over a weekend?! Even if the poll is off by the margin of error, about 2%, that makes it an 8-12 point gap, depending on how that 2% is incorrectly distributed!
I got "all that" out of the fact that you clearly have read nothing- including polls- and were making a statement because Ryan had clearly shown support for the Conservative win that is likely to happen.
By the way, I have some insider info. about things happening there that some people here- and there- would not, so I feel quite confident in my statements.
Another figure, Liberals have had to offer money and bus in people from all over for their rallies. Conservatives have had rallies where they had to turn people away because too many people came. At one this week, in the middle of a snowstorm in Montreal, they had over 1,000 people show up to a rally. Yesterday, they expected 300 to show up at one, and 900 came out. That is quite indicative of what is happening.
And the exit poll data from advance polls speak volumes, as I stated before.
"It's not my country..." No, it's not, but interesting that liberals love to say conservatives in the States are ignorant about other countries, and then make statements having absolutely no clue what they're talking about.
It's interesting...liberals live and die by polls...except when they're stacked against them...
Mike, it isn't your country, but it is your Anglosphere. 
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