Who is Panicking Now?

Harper kept spinning the opposition’s plan to tackle the economy as panicking. But when it became obvious that voters are not buying it and poll shows his rating is tanking, he try to come up with different gimmicks. From using his mom to using the bank as their whipping boy, castigating them publicly. One of the news tonight called the bank not following the Bank of Canada interest cut as rebelling. It’s probably just a coincidence that it happens on the day Flaherty decide to use them as his props, in an attempt to belatedly show they are doing something about the economy.  But the consensus among the pundit tonight is that Harper and his men are panicking.

Checkout Dion speech today at Empire and Canadians Club. They just finish showing it at www.cpac.ca and should be on their video-on-demand page tomorrow.

My favorite quote is:

“Stephen Harper may speak better English than me, but I speak the truth better — in both official language.”

He also conclude his speech by talking about what Canada is all about. Receiving a prolong standing ovation.

Video of Dion’s Victoria BC Economic Talk

If you can look past the Harper inspired prejudice (of portraying Dion as weak using his heavy accent and academic appearance against him) then you will see a leader who talks from the heart, instead of constantly trying to manipulate the voters like Harper.

Here’s a youtube video of Dion in Victoria BC talking about the economy.

And for those who have not seen the well received speech delivered by Dion at Stoney Creek, here’s a youtube video of that speech.

Harper Continue the Deficit Lie; Downplay New Plagiarism Of Harris Speech

Harper continued to lie about “oppositions plan would lead to deficit”. I guess it’s convenient for him to ignore the Liberal costed platform with plan to set aside approximately $3 billion annually to avoid such deficit. Harper, on the other hand still have no platform and waiting until a week before the election to release it.

When asked by a reporter about new revelation of Harper’s plagiarism of Ontario’s Mike Harris speech, Harper tried to downplay it saying it is just a few sentences. Yeah if it’s commonly used sentence then that would be understandable. But here are the words and sentences copied from Mike Harris speech. Judge for yourself whether these words, combination of words and sentences are commonly used.

Thinking about things from a new and different perspective  (is never easy). …It takes courage, conviction and the strength to know that taking a new and innovative course (is going to make) change for the better…. Genuine Leaders are the ones who do the right thing.

Conservative supporter tried to dismiss it saying great mind think alike and like Harper said, it’s only a few sentence. Show me a person who says this is not plagiarism and I’ll show you a very dishonest man.

h/t to Jerad Gallinger, the source of the revelation.

A reporter also asked Harper why at a time when Eurpopean leaders are meeting to discuss the economic crisis, he remain dismissive. Harper said the economic crisis is only in the U.S.  He says we must stick with the plan (which as of now, Harper’s plan is do nothing). Or just as Harper said at the beginning of his campaign, “We must stay the course” (another phrase borrowed from Bush speech).

Here’s a Liberal youtube video of Harris and Harper speech comparison. But the video did not show a large part of the second sentence I’ve indicated above and reported in various media.

Here’s another video that compares Mike Harris policies to that of Harper.

Update: Oct. 4, 2008 4:12pm EST
If you still have any doubt that Mike Harris and Stephen Harper have the same agenda. Their press released revealed they worked together in dismissing the new revelation. (h/t A BCer in Toronto). Both Harris and Harper men released each statement separately that says:

We’re not going to respond to every wild allegation from a panicked campaign that doesn’t want to talk about its own policies.

The only party who does not want to talk about its policies is Harper’s party. He is the only one without a costed platform. Harper and his men’s selective hearing is preventing them from hearing the other parties policies. That would explain why they keep saying the other parties does not talk about their policies.

Indicator of Cover Up Over Harper’s Plagiarized Speech; Mike Duffy Lend A Hand

I read few weeks ago in a blog about similarity in Harper and McCain speech. They both use “the economic fundamental are strong”. I also noticed Harper said Bush favorite line at the start of campaign when he says “we must stay the course”. But today’s scandal is the clearest sign yet of Harper belonging to the ultra right wing, pro-Iraq war axis of Bush, Howard and Blair. It was exposed today that Harper pro-Iraq war speech was word for word copied from Australia’s John Howard. Harper quickly try to sweep it away by having his speech writer Owen Lippert take the fall. End of story? Not so quick.

Remember when Harper and Australia’s John Howard was working very closely with each other? when John Howard expressed his admiration for Harper and advised him on his campaign? Never heard of it or don’t remember? Here’s an articles to refresh your memory.

Globe and Mail January 17, 2006 article: Stephen Harper’s Canada? (click on the link to read the whole article). Here’s an excerpt:

“As The Globe and Mail disclosed on Jan. 7, it’s no accident that the Harper campaign feels like it has been ripped straight from the pages of the John Howard campaign manual. Mr. Howard’s national campaign director, Brian Loughnane, is advising the Conservatives; last fall, Conservative Party strategists closely watched the tactics used by Mr. Howard to record his fourth election victory.”

“Mr. Harper’s strategy appears to be a carbon copy of that adopted by the Liberal Party in Australia. Just as Mr. Howard uses the phrase “mainstream Australians,” Mr. Harper talks about giving “mainstream Canadians” a tax cut and offering tough anti-crime policies.”

The article end with this statement:

“If Canadians are asking themselves what a Harper government would do to their country, they just have to look at John Howard’s Australia today.”

It’s interesting to see the dog, I mean Mike “wag the dog, Harper’s apologist” Duffy going all out in defending Harper on Mike Duffy live tonight.  CBC’s Don Newman said when the story broke the Conservative was scrambling and did not know what to do. They try to dismiss it with their now favorite line “it’s just gotcha journalism so it does not matter”. Well Nixon’s Watergate was a gotcha and it sure did matter. It took Harper and his men a while before they come out with Owen Lippert to claim it is his fault.

Mike Duffy meanwhile started by immediately downplaying the controversy as wag the dog by a dying Liberal party.  Baird agree of course and claim it has nothing to do with election.  Baird then alleged that it must have been sitting with Liberal for a while already. Mike Duffy then follow through saying that it must have been sitting with the Liberal for a while. It’s wag the dog. He keep repeating that word throughout the night. Mike Duffy even went as far as saying it’s not about plagiarism but… guess what? Wag the dog. Why is he such a suck up? What does he have to gain by going so far up Harper’s rear? Has our media really lost its sense of professional journalism and become this corrupt? Mike even try to insult his Liberal guest by saying it must have been a really a tough day for Liberal (for them to come out with such stuff).

Sorry Mike, if Nixon’s could simply dismiss the Watergate scandal expose as Wag the Dog and irrelevant, he would not have to pay for his crime.  And Mike, gotcha means you’ve been caught doing something. You repeating Harper’s line that since it’s “gotcha” it’s irrelevant makes you look like a fool.

Update:

Here is another news article about carbon copy / similarities between Harper and Howard.

Christian Science Monitor, January 23, 2006: Canada’s Surging Conservatives.

Some see parallels between Harper’s campaign and the successful election bid of Australian Prime Minister John Howard, which ended the 13-year rule of the more liberal Australian Labour Party.

Like Mr. Howard’s campaign, Harper’s featured solid, easily understandable promises with price tags attached: a $100-per-month child-care subsidy for parents, for example, and pledge to cut the federal sales tax to 5 percent from 7 percent.

“Cash value for voters, cash for child care – they can understand what that means,” says Stephen Clarkson, a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto.

Watch Dion’s Passionate Stoney Creek Speech and Harper Talking Like A Chipmunk

Here’s a link to an online video on demand of Stephane Dion’s speech in Stoney Creek, delivered passionately and efficiently. Thanks to CPAC for hosting this video. Unfortunately you have to watch and listen to Harper’s speech first.  But there’s an entertaining solution to skipping Harper’s speech. Press the fast forward button and hear him speak like a chipmunk.

Here’s the link: CPAC clip # 1959.

Enjoy and have a good Sunday afternoon.