The man who would be king

Sorry for more political ranting, but it's what's happening around me right now. I could write about what fun Sweetie and I are having watching Alexandria on America's Next Top Model blame everyone but herself for the criticism that she has received so far. It's pathological! She really has no ability to see how others see her and to understand how her actions are perceived. It's always their fault for not understanding her. I can't get too much schadenfreude out of it though because I don't think she's a sociopath. She seems to have genuine feelings and can actually be hurt. So she's not the perfect villain, but she's still someone we want to see get her comeuppance. I'm kind of pulling for cute little Brittani, who got the best makeover. And who could dislike Jaclyn, who's just unbelievably sweet yet clearly genuine? I also still like Monique, only because she reminds me of someone I know (looks, not personality), but I don't think she'll pull through.

Enough with the fun! Gloom and doom await.

It's hard for me to believe that there is a possibility that a plurality of voters in a majority of ridings might actually elect MPs from the Conservative Party of Canada and let Stephen Harper run a majority government. I say a plurality of voters, but that's really a plurality of people who exercise their right to vote, which is getting dangerously close to not even being a majority of those who have that right.

I shake my head at the idea of all these fellow Canadians trusting Harper with nearly unfettered power. I just thank goddess that we have a constitution and a solid judiciary. Even so, I shudder to think of the damage Harper and his minions could do with a majority government.

One of the problems seems to be that the erosion of democratic values that the Harperites have perpetrated has gone on largely below the radar of ordinary people. Only policy wonks pay attention to the details of what happens in the House of Commons or in committees. Only political junkies notice the changes in how Canada interacts with the rest of the world and the whispers of policies that the Reform, sorry, Conservative base want enacted. Occasionally something rises to the surface, such as the book of dirty tricks intended to obstruct the work of committees, or a minister lying about having altered a signed document, or the recent finding that the government was in contempt of Parliament. But people seem not to realize the seriousness of these events, and especially the seriousness of the pattern they are part of.

Twice before, voters came close to giving Harper a majority and somehow came to their senses before they actually did. If I were a praying person, I'd pray that it happens again. In the absence of divine intervention, I just have to hope that Canadians understand their own values better than it seems right now.

I'm a Liberal, so of course I long for a return to Liberal government, a minority at least if not a majority. My trust level in Stephen Harper is zero. Even if Michael Ignatieff is not my favourite Liberal leader ever, I would trust him to be Prime Minister. So I continue to urge strategic voting. In any given riding, if the New Democratic Party candidate is most likely to be able to win the riding and defeat the Conservative candidate, by all means vote NDP. Being a realist, I will likely have to do so myself. But if a Liberal candidate can win the riding, please don't split the vote and let the Conservative candidate sail up the middle. And keep in mind that the only other party that can form government is the Liberal Party. However much you might like the NDP, they are not going to form government.

Really, the left-ish parties need to merge, but that's not currently on the table. They are quite far apart on many issues, although there is a lot of room for them to work together.

My new least-horrible case scenario: third Conservative minority, Harper resigns as leader.

If you haven't seen this yet, it's short and scarily funny: