Many conservatives are justifying the use of torture to extract information on the basis that doing so could prevent a terrorist attack. Ever since Obama was elected, the threat of a terrorist attack by conservative extremists has grown significantly. So according to conservative logic, shouldn’t the FBI be out there torturing conservatives in order to prevent a terrorist attack like the Oklahoma City Courthouse bombing?

The Liberal/Conservative Coalition Rides Again
While the fevered imaginations of liberal and conservative pundits were focused on manufacturing coalitions they missed that the real coalition got together again to screw over Canada’s workers.

“With workers’ rights at stake, Liberals joined with the Conservative government to kill a motion designed to level the playing field for workers in federally regulated industries during a strike,” said New Democrat Labour Critic Chris Charlton (Hamilton Mountain).

Anti-scab legislation had Liberal support in the last Parliament, but this motion failed when Liberals chose to side with the Conservative government.

That’s Gotta Hurt
Shorter Ed Stelmach: Here’s a boot to the groin, Levant.

So let’s sum up what the free screechers have accomplished. Um…nothing, despite having no real opposition to their issue and a media lining up to promote Levant’s lies. If that’s not the definition of epic fail I don’t know what is.

Should Cheney Shoot Michelle Malkin In The Face?
That’s the big issue weighing heavily on the brightbrainwashed young mind of the Manning Institute’s Stephen Taylor. Since this appears to be such an important issue to some of the Blogging Whories I thought I’d help them out by commissioning a very serious poll on the subject. Be sure to vote often.

A Very Serious Poll

Should Dick Cheney Shoot Michelle Malkin In The Face? Yes No Could he tell the difference between her face and her ass Current Results

The notion that Jonathan Kay should cover the next federal election is a matter of wide consensus among Conservatives, but the same cannot necessarily be said of Chantal Hebert and the Toronto Star.

A column that concluded it was premature for National Post columnist, Jonathan Kay to consider a walk in the snow drew positive responses from many Conservatives last week. Some of the most vocal criticism it inspired came from people who had concluded from the column headline that it was an invitation for Kay to quit and had not taken the time to actually read it.

There are also Conservative supporters who simply cannot countenance the notion that they might lack biased conservative coverage of the next election and who react viscerally to any suggestion that their conservative newspaper is fallible.

The bottom line, though, is that there is no serious Conservative appetite for a change in media coverage before the election, including among the National Post columnist’s potential successors, who mostly have no inclination – should the National Post’s fortunes deteriorate further – to risk becoming Kay’s New York Sun.

A column about a major shift in Star focus that could see that newspaper ensure the survival of the failing National Post over the coming months drew a very different response.

Some Toronto Star readers were so adamant that their paper would never lift a finger to prolong the life of the National Post that they argued the column was based on a figment of my imagination.

The Star’s post-Easter change of heart was not widely reported on but in a published interview last week, John Cruickshank, the Toronto Star’s publisher, laid out some of the rationale behind it.

“The Toronto Star tried to do a big thing – tried to replace the Liberal leader. And it did happen. That’s the most memorable thing our team has done so far in this new millenium. Undertakings that succeed at the expense of the Liberals don’t build support among our liberal readership,” he told The Globe and Mail, adding: “As we have done in every column since the 1920s, the Toronto Star is saying we will look for ways to make progress on our agenda we committed to pursue during coverage of the last election. That includes using the Toronto Star’s editorial power in the national dialogue to once again faithfully push the Liberal agenda.”

If the reaction to my column is typical of the subscriber reception to the new Toronto Star tack, co-operating with the National Post will be a hard sell with many Star readers.

Some of them are suggesting that the only viable way to justify extending the life of the National Post would be to use the time to change columnists.

While most Toronto Star readers do not blame Hebert for the decline of the Toronto Star’s devotion to Liberal dogma, there is a growing feeling that she has taken the paper as far as she could. Comments suggest that she is facing diminishing returns in her coverage of the next election.

A new columnist would certainly give the Toronto Star the much needed sensible pre-election coverage it has so desperately come to crave since Hebert went off the rails with her weekly attacks on Liberal leader Stephane Dion that did nothing but help to reinforce Conservative talking points and give them another minority government.

Opening up the columnist field at a time when the paper is still in a position of relative marketable strength might also attract more interesting columnists than one that takes place against the backdrop of an election coverage setback.

As things stand today, at least one prominent potential successor to Hebert, the Edmonton Sun’s Neil Waugh, does not even have a job to cover the next election.

And he could be just one of many media casualties.

Not that you need any more evidence that conservatives are incompetent, but here it is anyway.

When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who has long championed investment in pandemic preparation, included roughly $900 million for that purpose in this year’s emergency stimulus bill, he was ridiculed by conservative operatives and congressional Republicans.

Obey and other advocates for the spending argued, correctly, that a pandemic hitting in the midst of an economic downturn could turn a recession into something far worse — with workers ordered to remain in their homes, workplaces shuttered to avoid the spread of disease, transportation systems grinding to a halt and demand for emergency services and public health interventions skyrocketing. Indeed, they suggested, pandemic preparation was essential to any responsible plan for renewing the U.S. economy.

But former White House political czar Karl Rove and key congressional Republicans — led by Maine Senator Susan Collins — aggressively attacked the notion that there was a connection between pandemic preparation and economic recovery.

I see it’s once again time for the quarterly “Layton is finished” reports from our enlightened punderatti. Since these journalistic wankers–who ignore the NDP until it’s time to write their quarterly “Layton is finished” report–have clearly just dusted off copies of their last Layton obituary I think I’ll follow their lead and do the same.

Sorry, Jack, but I for one have had just about as much as I can take of your success. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.

Via BigCityLib, an interview with Layton’s national campaign director Brian Topp.

Adam Radwanski: In the blogosphere, at least, there’s been some speculation on the prospect of the NDP pushing for the Conservatives to look seriously at electoral reform. Is that grounded in anything?

Brian Topp: Democratic reform is a real issue, no doubt about that. An electoral system that awards an MP for every 22,000 Bloc voters and not a single MP to 900,000-plus Green voters is not serving the country well. And then there are the issues around responsible government profiled in December. That said, I think it’s a safe bet the New Democrats will be much more focused on what the economic crisis is doing to Canadian families - and on what the national government can do to help them.

Currie:

300,000 a year more immigrants, increasingly drawn from backward Islamic nations like Somalia

Reality:

Here’s a fun fact: in 2008, the seventh-biggest source of refugee claimants in Canada was the Czech Republic—bigger than Somalia, Afghanistan, or the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I don’t know why they’re doing it, but the conservative movement is clearly in the process of lobotomizing itself.

Calgary Grit picks up on the talk of an alleged deal brewing between the NDP and Conservatives that would result in a referendum on proportional representation. In it he responds to my argument about why it would benefit conservatives.

If Stephen Harper’s legacy is that he was the man who united the Conservative movement in Canada, why, oh why, would he want to also be the man who oversees the destruction of that party? Especially when you consider the PC/Ref/CA vote never matched the Liberal vote in three previous attempts, never mind the Liberal/NDP vote.

While it’s true that the fractured right never matched the Liberal vote in their three attempts, under PR it’s not a requirement that they do in order to achieve power. Consider the results of the 1993 election if PR had been in place.

FPTP/PR
LP: 177/122
RP: 52/56
PCP: 2/48
NDP: 9/21
BQ: 54/40
Ind: 1/1
NP: 0/4
NLP: 0/2
GP: 0/1
CHP: 0/1

Under PR the right could have cobbled together a coalition consisting of the Reform Party, the Progressive Conservative Party and the Christian Heritage Party for a combined seat total of 105. The results of the 1997 election under PR would have added 4 additional seats to the right’s coalition bringing their total to 109 and the 2000 election under PR would have given this rightwing coalition a total of 114 seats.

In all three elections this rightwing coalition would have been within striking distance of holding power. All that would have been required was an agreement from the Bloc Quebecois to support the coalition on non-confidence votes. Had the right been able to achieve that, Preston Manning would have become the Prime Minister of Canada. And even if they couldn’t have made a deal, the Chretien Liberals would have been held to, at best, 3 minority governments instead of three majority governments.

So while it’s true that the right would sacrifice the possibility of achieving an occasional majority–a possibility that continues to fade under Stephen Harper–overall they would consistently hold more power and with the right deal–even in the short term–would have the ability to hold the reins of power more often.

More on this from Jerad Gallinger and Chris Tindal.

As an NDP supporter I could get behind this.

There is talk flying around the web right now suggesting NDP Leader Jack Layton has made a deal with Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The rumour goes that Layton will support Harper against any moves to topple his government in exchange for a referendum on Proportional Representation, which would lead to more NDP seats in the house.

The question that has frequently come up today with regard to such a deal is why would conservatives get behind it. The answer is simple. Harper’s coalition of reformers and red tories is fracturing once again. Proportional representation would allow these two factions to separate and pursue their own agendas without losing a disproportionate number of seats like they would under the current first past the post system. The right half of the political spectrum would essentially then have the same dynamic as the left with the red tories battling the liberals in the centre while the reformers pulled to the right in the same way the new democrats now pull to the left. Without the reformer baggage the red tories would then have a far greater chance of pulling support over to them from the liberals.

More from Robert Silver who thinks it’s a smart issue for Layton and the NDP to push right now.

Alberta has begun to nationalize the oil and gas industry.

An Alberta government crown corporation is taking a 15 per cent stake in Precision Drilling Trust (TSX:PD.UN), through $380-million in financing, paving the way for the oilfield services company to restructure its heavy debt load.

Precision Drilling said Monday it will make a number of issues to Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo), including $175 million in 10 per cent senior unsecured notes, $105 million in stock and 15 million stock-purchase warrants.

I’ll take crazy environmentalists for 600, Alex.

What kind of environmentalists would support B.C. Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell for imposing a 2.4 cent a litre gas tax when not one penny goes to public transit or expenditures that reduce pollution?

What kind of environmentalists support a B.C. Liberal government that radically expanded fish farms that are devastating wild salmon, promotes offshore oil and gas drilling, privatized rivers and streams for power projects, slashed wildlife protection, ended a ban on trophy hunting for grizzly bears and offers hundreds of millions in tax incentives for fossil fuel exploration?

I’m sorry, Mr. Lam, but this type of appalling behaviour renders you unfit to serve in the BC Legislature.

Stagger this way to the Premier’s office, Mr. Campbell.

It doesn’t surprise me one bit that the crimes of the West played a major role in the creation of the Somali pirates.

In 1991, the government of Somalia - in the Horn of Africa - collapsed. Its 9 million people have been teetering on starvation ever since - and many of the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country’s food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.

It also doesn’t surprise me one bit that the right whingers have overlooked our complicity and swallowed the government propaganda about these Somali Pirates hook, line and sinker.

Wheeeee!

Employment declined by 61,000 in March, all in full-time work. This decrease pushed the unemployment rate up 0.3 percentage points to 8.0%, the highest rate in seven years.

In an effort to tackle the many problems plaguing Canadian society, the Harper government proposed a broad range of tax credits today.

“People love tax credits,” the Prime Minister said shortly after the announcement. “My accountant has repeatedly told me that the number one question he’s asked by tax-filers is, ‘Are there any more tax credits I can claim?’.”

Prime Minister Harper then went on to say that this proves people will do anything just to get a tax credit and that this gives his government the opportunity to change their habits.

The full list of tax credits introduced today number in the thousands, but here are a few of the more prominent ones designed to address some of the major issues of the day.

The Honest Citizen Credit
Crime is rampant in this country; just ask Jason “scurry in a hurry” Kenney whose car was recently broken into. In order to reduce the crime rate, the Conservatives are introducing a $1500 tax credit that can be claimed by every Canadian that doesn’t commit a crime.

“Crime pays. Everybody knows this,” says Justice Minister Rob Nicholson. “So in order to level the playing field our government thinks honesty should pay too. By rewarding people for not committing crimes this will surely make people think twice about doing so less they jeopardize their eligibility for this tax credit.”

The Anti-Poverty Credit
In order to tackle poverty in Canada, the Conservative government plans to introduce what it’s calling a progressive anti-poverty tax credit to incentivize people not to be poor. Canadians whose taxable income exceeds $30,000 per year will be eligible to claim a $300 tax credit with the amount rising by $100 for every $10,000 in income.

John Williams of the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation applauded this bold move by the Harper government, claiming that rewarding Canadians for not being poor is guaranteed to inspire Canadians not to be poor.

“The genius of this tax credit,” Williams said, “is that the less poor you are, the bigger the tax break you get from the government which will in turn make you even less poor. Prior to the introduction of this tax credit there just wasn’t any incentive for people like me to make more money.”

The Cool The Earth Credit
While the Conservative government still believes the fight against global warming is nothing more than a socialist scheme designed to suck money from rich countries, it does recognize there is a demographic who live in the world of reality that needs to be pandered to. In order to do that and fight global warming, the Harper government is introducing a $5,000 tax credit that can be claimed by Canadians who run their air conditioners while leaving their doors and windows open.

“This makes perfect sense to me,” said Minister of State (Science and Technology), Gary Goodyear. “Why just cool the inside of your home or horseless carriage when it’s the whole planet that needs to be cooled. Our environment is changing so people need to evolve in order to live in our changing environment.”