Dion Plays Old Game Of Vilify The Tories [Librano Smear Machine revs up again]

OTTAWA - The political line in the sand -- the one that will divide Liberals and Conservatives in the next election -- was clearly drawn with Stephane Dion's first question as Official Opposition leader.

It was not so much that Mr. Dion wanted to know why Prime Minister Stephen Harper had closed a dozen Status of Women offices, but the way he punctuated his question: "Is it not to cripple those who dare challenge his neo-conservative ideology?"

That theme -- the Liberals as compassionate, caring centrists vs. cold-hearted, hard-nosed Conservatives -- threaded itself through the Liberal attacks during Monday's Question Period and all week, whether it was criticizing cuts in social spending, reopening the same-sex marriage debate, AIDS funding or the environment.

At one point, Bill Graham, the Liberals' former interim leader, even went as far as comparing the Conservatives' tactics in Question Period with those of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels -- likening the Tories to a regime that murdered millions.

Efforts by the Liberals to demonize the Conservatives are not new. Both former prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin sought to paint the party as filled with extremists and ideologues.

In Mr. Martin's first campaign as leader, he repeatedly suggested a Conservative government would revive the abortion debate, despite explicit denials by Mr. Harper.

The strategy seemed to escalate at last week's leadership convention, where Liberal candidates competed to portray Conservatives as backward-looking social conservatives bent on tax cuts at all costs. Mr. Chretien reflected the spirit, referring to Mr. Harper's relationship to President George W. Bush and asking: "Can I call you Steve?"

From the moment Mr. Dion accepted the leadership mantle on Dec. 2, he made it plain he planned to delineate the Liberals from the Conservatives on an ideological basis.

His acceptance speech in Montreal was a clear attempt to distinguish his party from the minority government, something he pledged to do with support from "a dream team" of fellow Liberals, including his leadership rivals.

A group that included Michael Ignatieff, Ken Dryden and Scott Brison, aided by backbenchers, particularly the energetic rookie MP Mark Holland -- who was branded "Perry Mason on steroids" after one vociferous assault by Public Security Minister Stockwell Day -- mounted the offensive.

The Conservatives stood their ground, but the Liberal effort was much more sharply focused this past week than it had been since they were tossed into opposition.

With increasing frequency, the Liberals chose to slam Mr. Harper for hard-line social conservatism. They drew attention to the past careers of Health Minister Tony Clement and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty as Cabinet ministers in the Ontario Conservative government of Mike Harris.

"Cutting is not a vision," Mr. Dryden crowed. "So small, so pinched, so ungenerous, so divisive. The Ministers of Health and Finance did the same in Ontario: cut the money, cut the services, keep the rhetoric and hope they can get into the next election before anyone figures it out."

Mr. Graham, the party's interim leader until last weekend, accused Mr. Harper and Mr. Day of taking cues from Goebbels by repeatedly saying the Liberals did nothing to free Maher Arar from captivity in Syria.

"This is an extremely grave matter when the government members in this House behave as if they were reading from a textbook written by Mr. Goebbels when he was preparing for power in Germany," Mr. Graham said in the House on Thursday night.

Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, was well-known for masterminding a persuasion technique called the "Big Lie," which encouraged those in power to repeat a falsehood until it became accepted truth.

After making the Goebbels comparison, Mr. Graham outlined the action he, as foreign minister, and others in the Liberal government took to spring Mr. Arar from a Syrian jail in October 2003.

"I just want to express my disappointment that, when this was raised, the former leader of the opposition would refer to members on this side in terms of Goebbels, who was a Nazi cabinet minister," he said.

"I think that is reprehensible. I heard what he had to say about decorum and I think this works both ways."

As the week wore on, Mr. Dion himself signalled the Liberal attacks in the dying days of this session of Parliament would be more strategically focused than in the eight-month interregnum between their election defeat and their selection of a new leader.

The Liberals have moved to the extreme Left. For a party once unconcerned about ideology, they have become the most ideological of parties.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

Being less familiar with the names of politicans and just skimming the article, I originally thought that a conservative had called the liberals mounting the assault as Goebles, which seemed like an interesting change of pace.

I'm afraid that I read wrong, however.

Humerous how the left is accusing the right of doing the very thing that the left is doing at that very minute.

But is the best response the right can come up with really, "I'm disappointed that..." Seems to be standard fair here in the US.

Oh, and by the way: (from another article in today's NP)

"Mr. Harper is having none of your political correctness when it comes to Christmas. Taking part in a tree-lighting ceremony in Ottawa, Mr. Harper made clear he considers this the Christmas season -- not the holiday season, festival season or other non-denominational be-sure-not-to-offend-anyone season. In a 316-word greeting, the Prime Minister mentioned Christmas six times and ended with the invocation: "God Bless Canada." Jack Layton, on the other hand, issued a release yesterday announcing he will spend the weekend in his constituency, "celebrating the holiday season." Which holiday isn't mentioned."

I guess Dijon's strategy is to bore Canadians to death by repeating all the leftist moonbat catch phrases that have permeated biased media for the last 6 years in the USA and the last Canadian election.

It just may be that Dijon will be a little surprised when he realizes that people are a little sick and tired of this childish behavior from a party of thieves that really hasn't changed one bit since their defeat. All the same players still control the liberal party, and it seems they are using the same tired playbook as well.
Harpers conservative government on the otherhand, has proved itself by doing what they promised they would do when they were elected. He has done well for a new government with new people running the show. I don't see why Canadians would want to change a government which has for the first time in years been running smoothly, without scandal and corruption constantly in the headlines as it was during the previous liberal government which Dijon was a very active part of being a Chreatin Cabnet minister. How he managed to duck being caught with his hands in the cookie jar is anyones guess, but no one should be fooled into thinking he doesn't know where it is and how to open it and sneak a cookie.

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