Piracy, Anyone?

What's in a name?  Very little.  Look at my own British Columbia.  Our province is governed by the Liberal Party of British Columbia.   Only there's nothing remotely "liberal" about it.

We used to be run by the Social Credit Party, a pretty rightwing bunch.   They were opposed by the provincial New Democrats.   Then along came a guy named Gordon Wilson who resuscitated the long dormant Liberal Party of British Columbia as what was to be a truly liberal party and people went nuts at the idea of actually being able to vote "for" something in BC politics.

The reborn Libs didn't win the next election but they did manage to send SS SoCred straight to the bottom.   And then all those scurvy, flailing SoCreds swam  over to the Liberals, bought memberships, and simply took over.  In no time at all they expunged any trace of liberalism from the provincial Liberal Party and the ghost of the SoCreds was back in business just under a new name.

Which brings me to our federal political scene and the NDP convention underway.  It gives me no pleasure to see dedicated socialists like Dr. Dawg agonize over their party's demise.   Well, in all honesty, I do get a bit of pleasure out of it after the way they flaunted their "victory".  

When the NDP trounced the Libs to become the Official Opposition, a lot of the party faithful thought they had actually gotten rid of the Libs.   Now the other shoe has dropped and, at last, they're coming to realize that what's being lost is the NDP's raison d'etre, the socialist cause.  The NDP is about to philosophically euthanize itself.   That old socialist nonsense has to go.   There'll be no more singing The Internationale.   Nope, that party - the one they so faithfully supported all these years - is taking a dirt nap.  They're ditching the factory floor coveralls for the Brooks Brothers pinstripe.

So, I was thinking.   Haven't I seen this before or something like it?  I know.  Why don't you lonely federal Liberals just switch to the NDP, take over the party and - Bingo! - business as usual.   The True Believers - Dawg and Thwap and LeftDog et al - will hurl their cookies and find some way to reconstitute what they lost - the New Democratic Party, the voice of Canadian socialism, the conscience of Parliament - everything that Layton's Neo-Democratic Party wants to dilute.  Canada will again be well served by their dedication and efforts.   And for the old Liberals, this would be a wonderful opportunity to embrace genuine progressivism again - the stuff that Iggy and his minions tried to ditch in their attempt to make the LPC the Democratic Party North.

Know something else?   If everybody this side of the Corporatist Party of Canada stops beating each other over the head trying to be the next centre-left party, they could probably find the common cause that once allowed them to get along cooperatively.