Just Do It Already!

This is a very difficult blog entry for me to write. I've tried to start writing it several times, and have gotten nowhere. The reason is simple - I'm in a state of disbelief that's difficult to put into words. We finally have all three opposition parties on board to topple a corrupt government, with the full power to do so in Parliament, and they can't even get that right. Instead, they will present this half-assed scheme, proposed by the NDP to force a February election, which is neither a non-confidence motion nor constitutionally binding. Unreal!

Stephen Harper is the Opposition Leader and, therefore, should lead. The Conservatives have their Opposition Day on the 15th, and if they feel so strongly that the Liberal government must go down now, they should present a non-confidence motion. Period. If it means an election around Christmas, so be it - the exact date is up to Paul Martin to decide in any case. But Harper wants some wiggle room in case Jack Layton is making some kind of last minute deal. Even if that happened, a. there's a good chance the Liberals will still be a vote or two short, and b. there is no political downside for Harper. It will be Layton who will be seen as the villain for backing away from his declaration of non-support for the government. Harper just doesn't have the cojones to pull the trigger, to be seen as responsible for a Christmas election and as upsetting the first minister's meeting on aboriginals, or to vote against the budget estimates on December 8. You can't have your cake and eat it too. So what kind of a leader will he be for the country?

Layton will present his non-non-confidence motion on the 24th when the NDP has its Opposition Day. At some point in time, you have to decide whether you're going to shit or get off the pot. Layton said, "The NDP cannot and will not express confidence in a government that won't get things done on key issues." There are two glaring problems with the proposed motion. First, Parliament has no power to set the date of an election - only the Prime Minister and Governor General can settle that. And second, as I have emphasized several times, it is NOT a non-confidence motion. Between the date that this is voted on and the time of the proposed resignation of the government, Parliament will have passed a number of pieces of legislation, including the budget estimates on December 8 - in other words, Parliament will have expressed confidence in the government. This motion is constitutionally useless, and it remains to be seen if it has any political resonance. If Martin were smart, he'd quash all this by unilaterally announcing the government's resignation and calling an election on his own timetable. But I don't expect that to happen, because he's not so smart or courageous. Apparently none of them are.

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I want to touch briefly on the terrible bombings yesterday in Amman, and where conspiracy theories are born. There is a published report in Ha'aretz that Israelis staying at one of the targeted hotels in were evacuated by Jordanian security forces hours before the bombings. This is the type of thing that was rumoured online after 7/7, and my initial reaction was to write it off as some wild conspiracy theory by people with an anti-Israel agenda. But now it's there, published on the website of an Israeli newspaper. What is one to think about that?

UPDATE: I have checked this morning (Thursday), and Ha'aretz has changed its story. The link I provided above now leads to a story that says, "There is no truth to reports that Israelis staying at the Radisson SAS hotel in Amman on Wednesday were evacuated by Jordanian security forces before the bombing that took place there." This story is by Yoav Stern, the same author of the original report. It's curious that this is now presented as a story to refute "reports", when it was Ha'aretz itself that published said report. It's also curious that instead of writing a retraction and apology, they decided just to overwrite what they had before, as if their original story never existed. Aside from Ha'aretz abdicating its journalistic responsibility, it is yet another bit of fuel for conspiracy nuts. I'll try to find a link to a cache of the original page. (I give you my word that I'm not making this up.)