Callandra, the prime minister's laughingstock meat puppet, is the subject of ridicule over his latest stunt, his website, www.askpaulcallandra.com.
In the House, Callandra behaves with undisguised contempt of Parliament, right under the nose of the Speaker.
In response to an NDP question about Nigel Wright:
"I do like flowers and, of course, with lemons I like to make lemonade. My two daughters, this summer, actually had a lemonade stand where they sold lemonade for 5¢ on the street. They did very well. I am very proud of them."
In response to a Liberal question about the Wright-Duffy deal:
"She is sitting in a caucus where, I do not know, three-quarters of them have been convicted of some type of fraud, whether it is the Elections Canada Act or robocalls. The real fraud squad is sitting in the Liberal Party."
In response to a question about the Senate expense scandal:
"I have two daughters, a seven-year-old and a five-year-old, two beautiful girls, Natalie and Olivia, and each week I give them an allowance. Part of that allowance might be for cleaning their rooms. Both Natalie and Olivia know that sometimes their mother might clean their rooms. They both know that they should not ask for an allowance because they did not actually do the work. If my five-year-old and seven-year-old can figure this out, how is it that these senators cannot figure it out and how is it that the opposition supports that type of activity from our senators?"
In response to a question about Chris Woodcock:
"My father owned a pizza store. He worked 16 to 18 hours a day. I can tell the House what my father would not have done if he saw somebody stealing from his cash register. He would not have said 'You are suspended, but make sure you come back every two weeks and collect a paycheque.' What he would have said, 'You're fired, leave,' and he would have called the police."
Every good pizza order taker always repeats what they're told.
ReplyDeleteOn a serious note, Calandra is the personification of the CPCs contempt for (or at best their utter ignorance and comprehension of) Parliamentary history, tradition and rules.
It's such a blanant example of contempt that it calls the Speaker into disrepute for sitting mute.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't Collandra simply spin around, drop his drawers, and moon the Opposition?
Calandra's antics suggest that he might actually be mentally unstable, a phenomenon that seems to be getting worse and worse among Harper's closer cabinet associates. And the crazier they appear to be the less I am in doubt about worst case scenarios concerning a coup on the part of Harper and his cabal.
ReplyDeleteYou could well be right, KE. There could be some form of mass psychosis within the Tory caucus.
ReplyDelete.. Harper's Last Stand .. The Great Conservative Buffalo Jump of 2013 .. Aside from being historical fact .. its hysterical.. Fear and Loathing.. in Ottawapiskat, the Sargeant At Arms needing media talking points, The Speaker in way over his precious head.. where is John Baird to proclaim.. uh .. Paramountcy.. or Harperian Priviledge .. or Immunity of Out Of Orderedness ? Where is the Great Progogue Himself?
ReplyDeleteThis is so called 'government' run amok MoS .. off the rails and smashing through tundra, communities, decency, law n order, common sense..
Will we see MP's leaping clear? Ministers claiming they too 'knew nothing'?
Hell, man..... this Harper Government cockass certainly deserves its name .. We are seeing history brayed and made in The House of Commons .. This is the great Harper buffalo leap crash and burn then leap into the crater & set fire to itself ..
Who the hell knew ! ! ! ? ? ? ! ! !
Perhaps it's worth remembering that Joe Clark warned us about these yahoos. He knew them well.
ReplyDeleteOwen Gray:
ReplyDeleteYes, it is indeed well worth remembering. Joe Clark was and is a true Canadian Conservative Statesman, indeed in my opinion the last one out there (Mulroney does not qualify in my view, his corruption issues being the reason why). Clark understood that these were Canadian Conservatives in name only, that their true flavour ranged from hard core American conservative to simply nihilistic towards anything considered traditional Canadian values.
MoS:
It is amazing to watch how delusional these folks have become. I find this especially uncomfortable because I am currently having to watch a parent suffering from the real thing to the point of being temporarily institutionalized, and the difference between listening to her and listening to the CPC is frighteningly minute. Her problem is due to massive neurochemical imbalance because she had to be withdrawn from a long term working med for bipolar depression because she was having toxicity issues, the CPC has no such excuse that I am aware of. Listening to each describe their reality is very similar in terms of how detached it is from anything I am know to be actual reality.
I've seen blind loyalty take people to strange places before, but the Harper PCP have IMHO taken it to cult status some time ago. I am wondering if it is getting to the political equivalent of the Jonestown event for the Harper CPC and the next election. Leaving aside any of my personal feelings about the Harper CPC I am still left with a profound sense of their disconnect from reality whenever I listen to them describe the world as they see it, and not just on the Senate issue either, that one is just where it is the most pronounced is all.
Calandra at least is a little less difficult for me to stomach having to listen to in that way than Pierre Pollievre (sorry, I always find spelling his last name a challenge) was, now there was someone that could spout delusion and dementia with a straight face in a manner that really got under my skin. His media blitz in those few days between the Wright payment being defended to his resignation on how honourable everyone and everything that was done was is for me about the most bizarre and disconnected from reality spin operation I have ever seen in my decades of following politics.
Scotian, the truth now and nothing less. How dismaying do you find it that you should even have to try to remember how to spell that character's name? He does have that "Jungend" trait to him, doesn't he?
ReplyDelete@ Owen. I thought it was splendid when Joe came forward and said it was time that Stephen Harper brought Canadians "into the facts."
ReplyDeleteMoS:
ReplyDeleteYou got me, not very much at all. Indeed nothing more than the absolute minimum that basic civility and courtesy/manners require of me, and it takes effort to feel even that much for him. I have to confess my ignorance on the "Jungend" trait business though, it rings a faint bell but nothing is coming to mind, sorry.
"Jungend" I think there was a certain youth group by that name in Germany in the 30s and 40s. Young, true believers, capable of doing almost anything for their leader and his cause.
ReplyDeleteMoS:
ReplyDeleteCould you have been referring to the German art magazine Jugend (1896-1940)? It featured many famous Art Nouveau artists, and is the source of the term "Jugendstil" ("Jugend-style"), the German version of Art Nouveau.
It appears to have had some influence, and in 1933 accommodated the rising National Socialist movement until its demise in 1940. I could see how such a magazine could have created the sort of group you described.
Just a thought. If I am off with this no big deal, as I said I wasn't aware of the meaning to start with, and unlike some of our political opponents I'm not afraid to admit when I don't know something. Seems to be a dying trait in the modern world, which is a pity because I subscribe to the school of thought where the more you learn the less you know combined with admitting one's ignorance is the first step for true wisdom and insight.
Actually, Scotian I was referring to a bunch of kids who dressed up in short pants and Sam Brown belts, True Believers of the very worst sort.
ReplyDeleteAh, OK then, my bad. Just goes to show there is more out there to know than one does...*chuckle*.
ReplyDeleteSince the US has the medical records of Canadians and now will not allow Canadians who have been to see a pyschologist for depression, change planes on their soil for other climbs, will they allow that bunch on the hill in Ottawa on their soil? (Anyong)
ReplyDelete