Inconvenient truth: the Elephant in the room
Propaganda is manipulative persuasion in the service of an agenda and is used by both the right and the left. Even the smartest people sometimes forget simple truths when confronted with repetitive reassuring lies.The descent into tribalism by the right-wing is a direct result of the propaganda that Oligarchs, Conservative think-tanks and their friendly media … Continue reading Inconvenient truths: the Elephant in the room
According to Jason Kenney and Andrew Scheer, neither low Oil and Gas prices, nor the American shale gale, nor the increase in U.S. crude oil production & resultant glut, nor the massive structural shift in the oil industry had anything to do with Alberta's downturn and continued recession: it was entirely caused by Superwoman Rachel Notley and/or her Superman sidekick, Justin Trudeau.
Is Canadian Media exacerbating national division because it's lucrative? Postmedia almost fulfilled their goals to elect Andrew Scheer - like the U.S. media did when they helped to elect Trump - and often portrayed Alberta as a rising hotbed of separatist angst when the #Wexit noise really comes from a minority of discontented Conservatives having a temper tantrum. Prime example of Gaslighting: "This idea of Alberta as this poor, woe begotten, economic basket-case is a myth, one that opposition politicians here like to trade on. But it's a fairy tale."
Ok, Alberta. Lets talk. We’ll start and then we hope you can help Canadians outside of your beautiful province understand why you are so frustrated because a lot of us can’t see it and don’t understand the angst you are experiencing.
"This isn’t the religious right we thought we knew. The Christian nationalist movement today is authoritarian, paranoid and patriarchal at its core. They aren’t fighting a culture war. They’re making a direct attack on democracy itself."
As Alberta's debt and deficit is manageable without cuts if Alberta implements a PST, following the Mackinnon report recommendations without looking at increasing potential revenues would undercut Jason Kenney's claim of being a fiscally responsible Premier. Neither pixie dust nor magic wands are needed to inform Albertans that the Mackinnon report is a political document with an incomplete mandate of looking at Alberta's expenditures and not the potential revenues available to the lowest taxed and wealthiest Province in Canada.
Conservatives cannot point to any corruption examples or criminal activities of the Liberal Party or Prime Minister Trudeau, yet they continue to make the claim that our current Government is corrupt. Examples of real corruption and/or criminal activities was amply demonstrated by the Harper Government but not by our current Government.
Professor Leach's polite way of telling Albertans that CONservatives are Gaslighting them: "They're selling you a bill of goods."
Conservatives perpetuate a myth that we are over-taxed, that high taxes are bad, deficits are bad, and that we don’t want to leave our grandchildren our debt burden. Enough already: it's all BS! Our debt-to-GDP ratio is the lowest in the G7 and our current economic measures with the Liberal Government is why it's continuing to drop.
Conservative economics drives and exacerbates income inequality. Their neoliberal ideology (Socialism for the Wealthy) started in the UK with Thatcher, the U.S. with Reagan, went into hyper-drive with Stephen Harper, and is in full swing in Ontario with Doug Ford. Alberta has followed with Jason Kenney's tax cuts for wealthy corporations that are already paying the lowest taxes in Canada.
Some people tell lies to conceal the truth; the Conservatives tell lies because they have forgotten what the truth is.
"Whether it's Mr. (Justice Minister Peter) MacKay's fault, or someone else's fault, the fact is the attorney general has been brought away from doing his duty. His duty is to advise the government on these things, and the government has told him, 'Don't advise me.'"
The toxic polarization we are seeing with Conservatives today was introduced by Stephen Harper, a Republican ideologue. He governed for his base only. Remind you of someone? Our Charter was the only thing that stood in the way of an Autocratic ruler who would have subverted our Democracy to his whims.
Mr Kenney, leader of the United Conservative Party in Alberta alleges that Prime Minister Trudeau (PMJT) laid out some "smears against construction workers" but that's not true! PM Trudeau took the high road by not calling out the misinformation of a Conservative plant who had to read her question from a note. The experience she related was singular, and not shared by the women who were abused.Gender-based impacts are well-known and a disservice to women to dismiss them. Kenney is projecting: smearing is on him.
"The fact that we find ourselves here today discussing carbon pricing is telling – despite the fact that carbon prices of one sort or another have been implemented in Canada for more than a decade, opposition and misinformation about carbon pricing policies remains rampant." Andrew Leach
According to Albertans the sky is falling as Bill C-48, is unfair because it prevents Oilsands Bitumen from going to market, and it's hypocritical because Quebec doesn't ban tankers. It's a Supertanker ban for Hecate Strait and the Douglas Channel. It does not stop smaller oil tankers from carrying sweet crude. My tweet thread below explains why there is no double standard and why the ban is warranted, especially given it's been informal policy for over 20 yrs.
If a Billion-$ industry can be easily blockaded by the chump change of NGOs, perhaps oil and pipeline companies which can outspend them 100-1 need new CEOs?
"Alberta isn’t a victim of unfair treatment. Rather, much of what is lamented today is a side effect of Alberta’s economic strength. Especially when it comes to equalization. No tweak to a program meant to transfer funds to lower income provinces should ever transfer to the richest."
Lie Tracker 