guest post from redsock: thoughts on harper

This post brought to you by Redsock, a/k/a my partner, Allan.

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One of my favorite bloggers - NDP supporter Jeff Wells at Rigorous Intuition - has posted his thoughts on the election results. He's usually not much of an alarmist, so I was wondering what others here thought. Here are some snips (whole comment here):

The Conservatives have formed a "safe" government on a short leash, that in the long term may prove the most disastrous outcome. Their weak minority will force them, if they're smart (and they are, now) to moderate their agenda; actually bringing it more into line with the centrist cooing Stephen Harper was making during the campaign. Breathing space for everyone, but it just means we're in a pot that's being brought to a boil. Some won't notice until they smell the garlic butter.

Canadian minority governments typically survive about 18 months. This provides a perfect window for our increasingly aggressive corporatist media to burnish Harper's image, and for voters to feel the slight benefit of tax cuts without yet feeling the pain of cuts to social services. (And of course this is how Canadian social services will be gutted. The Conservatives must say the right thing - that they will defend public healthcare, employment insurance and the rest - all the while doing the wrong thing by emptying the Treasury. Then, well, their hands will be tied: just the way they like it.) ...

Something else to expect during the minority tenure is Harper's drawing a target on Canada's back and then claiming it is only the Conservatives who are "strong on security." This could be precipitated by a world event (say, the forthcoming and potentially unconventional attack on Iran), Harper's hellbent march into the endless "war on terror," followed closely by a Bali bombing-like, this time it's personal attack on a soft Canadian target. If it sounds like something out of John Howard's playbook, it is. Howard's national campaign director, Brian Loughnane, is also advising the Canadian Conservatives. ...

Another blogger I check in with every so often is xymphora, who I believe (no one is sure) also lives in Canada. His view is even darker than RI's, to wit:

I can say, without fear of any reasonable contradiction, that Harper is the single worst human being to ever be Prime Minister of Canada.

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L-girl here again. I felt that these views were unduly alarmist, pessimistic and paranoid. I would never say "That won't happen," because none of us know the future, and it is often stranger than our imaginations. But based on what we do know - which is all any of us can go on - these don't feel right to me.

What do you think?

Allan and I will be gone for a few hours - hanging shelves, then taking Cody to a nearby off-leash dog park we just learned about - so please play nice.