Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Trudeau's Jeeps

Taxi, Taxi!


Justin Trudeau has something in common with Donald Trump. They're both bullshitters. That's the term Obama used to describe his successor, "he's just a bullshitter."

But our prime minister is no slouch either when it comes to bullshitting. Electoral reform - pure bullshit. Social licence - bullshit. Purging the corrupt National Energy Board - bullshit. First Nations consultation - bullshit.

When it comes to bullshit it's hard to beat Justin Trudeau's claim that extracting and exporting as much bitumen as possible is the path to a green future for Canada. That's pretty world class bullshit. World class.

Now a bit of early bullshitting is coming back to bite Trudeau, his claim that Canada was selling Saudi Arabia "jeeps." In reality, we're arming Saudi Arabia with nearly a thousand Death Wagons.

354, about 40 per cent of the total, are heavily armoured personnel carriers - I guess a bullshitter might call that a jeep.  The other 60 per cent are much less benign. Some will be fitted with 105mm. cannons. Others sport anti-tank weaponry. Others still will be armed with rapid-fire 30mm. personnel shredders. Just the thing for crowd control, Saudi-style.

When the the country's Shiite minority get restless the Saudis like to show them the latest in Western technology and the LAV6 is just perfect for the job. It's equally ideal for laying waste to Yemeni civilians. Fortunately for this government the Saudis are also consummate bullshitters - very, very reliable.

The actual configuration of these Saudi Death Wagons was only revealed recently when CBC obtained Canadian government documents.


7 comments:

Deacon Jester said...

Yes but arming repressive regimes is "consistent with Canadian foreign policy goals".

You know...that progressive, feminist foreign policy.

It's starting to straight up disgust me how many people are willing to overlook Justin and his government's faults for the sole reason they are not Scheer's Conservatives.

The Mound of Sound said...


I hear that, Deacon. It was such a relief to see Harper gone that many of us got swept up in a mild euphoria over Justin. But Justin's facade emerged fairly early on and kept worsening. There are those for whom none of this matters. Justin is their darling. There are others who feel betrayed, duped, by this serial bullshitter and his pandering ways. He comes with a legendary name but he has demeaned it. He's deficient in just about everything that made Pierre Trudeau one of Canada's greatest prime ministers.

Many criticized Pierre for being aloof, cold and yet he did more for the Canadian people than any other prime minister I can think of. Today, when liberal democracy is on the wane, even under direct attack, in so many countries, including the US, Trudeau's Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects it in our country. It kept liberal democracy safe from Harper's extreme instincts. It has kept Trudeau in check also.

Justin has gone to lengths to claim that he's not his father. I don't any convincing. He's no Pierre, not even remotely.

Trailblazer said...

They! (governments)are all bullshitters.
Election cycle upon election cycle "they" all parties suck in the electorate to vote them in to a cycle of elected dictatorship.

That said ; we are bullshitting ourselves when we decry dictatorships and heavy handed governments whilst shipping democracy denying weapons to them.
Canada does not export the likes of F35's and sophisticated missile systems but we are a large exporter of small arms and now , not so small, mini tanks.
The economies of western countries are very much tied in to arms exports.
Like it or not our standard of living is tied in to weapons of death and interference into foreign politics .
Who pulls the strings?
I know as much as you!

TB

Trailblazer said...

Off subject but important!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/21/china-state-media-merger-to-create-propaganda-giant

TB

The Mound of Sound said...


Hi, TB. Thanks for the link. Not sure whether to laugh or cry. It's just one damned thing after another.

the salamander said...

.. are tax paying Canadians by any chance, subsidizing the manufacture of these war wagons? Even ensuring some sort of tax credit.. anything? We can demand that end if so. We can also demand the plant be converted and expand to agricultural or irrigation equipment for domestic and foreign sales. Leave the sale of armament and killing people to the US of A .. after all, they have troops in 70 + countries currently.. and thus need such 'jeeps' as Justin described them.. and 'transports' as Stephen Harper described them.. I myself have owned or driven many miles in jeeps and transports.. but don't recall any having a turret or rocket launcher or machine gun. Somebody with clout needs to get in Justin's face.. right in his grill.. and tell him to cease and desist on the Harper arms and weaponry idiocy.. its over, Rover. The world needs food and water and irrigation.. and population control ASAP.. armored weaponry exports aint gettin it done.. punk

Northern PoV said...

Meanwhile there lots to look forward to. I'm booking my seats now....
"collapse of civilisation is a “near certainty” in the next few decades"

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/mar/22/collapse-civilisation-near-certain-decades-population-bomb-paul-ehrlich