What these pundits miss is that although the Liberal Party of Canada is wounded, Liberals themselves are alive and well, and right before our unbelieving eyes their resurgent power is rising like the phoenix; un-dead, forever resilient. The formula ... the process ... is so simple that most have missed it. Given the drought of charismatic political leadership right across Canada, Liberals have taken a new tack where stealth and murkiness will accomplish what cannot be done in the light of day. They plan on owning each political fad that comes along, of becoming a vessel riding the paroxysms of public opinion. Why, they ask, be shapers and leaders in the national debate, when it is easier to simply ride the waves.
First and foremost, Liberal political method is morphing into a slippery bar of soap in the bathtub, shedding any pretention of hard and fast principles. This evolution enables it to slither and creep to the centre of any issue ... to never be pinned to any position ... and when failing, to slip from grasp.
Liberal politicos are finding that taking a stand, while not taking it, seems to be the “way forward”. On the one hand they can, for example, crow about the dangers of human caused global warming while on the other offer little in the way of solution ... but just in case, they support vast Federal structures that are now in place to launch carbon offset schemes at the flick of switch ... one never knows afterall, if Republicans south of the border will manage to fend off the EPA.
On Afghanistan, the same strategy holds true. When public support for the mission wanes, pronounce to the world that they are done with the Afghan endeavour, that the Taliban can’t be beat ... and even vote for the cutting of military budgets to prove the point. And, just to make sure that the public gets the message, support the ongoing shameful penny-pinching of benefits to veterans and the wounded and maimed of Afghanistan. But then, at the tiniest twitch of public opinion in support of the mission, move to backing a sudden “extension” of the mission to 2014. Again ...leave every possible escape route open ... ebb and flow on the waves of public opinion ... be for it, before you are against it ... then be for it again in a dance that would even confuse John Kerry.
On the economy, the method is the same. Crow the religion of fiscal restraint from the highest rooftop ... decry government waste, and make it clear you can exist inside the restraints of responsible government spending. Then, just as quick as thinking, support ... nay, demand ... massive government deficit spending when the public is vulnerable and filled with trepidation of what could be the next Great Depression. Embrace the fear ... call for spending, for the buying of votes and above all the salvation of union jobs. Vote to spend ... purchase voter fondness with the recklessness of a love starved sailor.
Only if it were that simple, though. Once the recession subsides, slither back into the skin of the fiscal hawk ... and stipulate that government deficits be brought under control ... but not control so strict that more purchasing of votes with other people’s money is stifled. Suggest a bit of corporate welfare here ... an “infrastructure” program there, a pig trough for the left and right, and all the while decrying debt.
The game goes on ... and none know it better. On Human Rights Commissions; decry the abuses until the media moves on to other things ... then grow silent. Avoid, at all costs any controversy unless the media thrusts it to the fore ... hence ignore the trampling of Law and Order in Caledonia where the left’s grovelling love of “Aboriginal” grievance and the right’s fierce belief in individual property rights would force you to choose sides ... be silent, offer no opinion ... lay low.
If one side of the aisle becomes restless, toss it a bone such as mollifying the right by showing support for Israel; or on the other hand, woo the left by cozying up to Cuba or by grovelling before violently militant aboriginal organizations at home. And in Quebec, use the language of “Nationhood” and press forward with Quebec corporate and “cultural” welfare.
The problem is that the remaking of the Liberal Brand takes great skill and finesse ... it’s not a job for romantics nor those burdened with silly human notions of ideals, principles, or foundational doctrines. It’s not a task for those married to any conviction, to any political philosophy, or those “foolish” enough to cling to ideologies they won’t shed for the sake of power. It requires the incredible discipline needed by those who crave control at any cost; those willing to attach themselves to any cause for the soul goal of dominance; those willing to crush even those within their own ranks who balk or dare demand principled stands that may inhibit the quest for control ... it requires the mastery of bait and switch, of becoming everything to all people, or at least the appearance thereof. Like chess, it’s a game of fake-outs, smoke-screens, and ruthless strategy where above all else, the direction of action must remain hidden ... a riddle.
But, as with Liberal politics everywhere, the mystery is not really that illusive because the means to power have not changed ... they are eternal. Liberals, or their more contemporary progeny, the “progressive” class, are above all else bent on created dependencies on government. Be it through expansion of the bureaucracy, expansion of government funded NGOs, corporate welfare, or just plain handouts, the formula is Liberal boilerplate. Liberals are committed to eternal power by simply making sure it is their hand on the tap that feeds the public trough. All else is peripheral, and any controversy that does not ensure a firmer grip on the tap, is to be avoided at all costs.
Although Liberals often pay lip-service to conservative values, such as minimizing the size of government, they seldom actually take on those values. Why? Because Liberals have learned long ago that the selling of conservative principles requires weaning voters off of dependence, when simpley offering them free stuff is the easiest of sells. Thus, while the new Liberal method may be peppered with conservative rhetoric, it is actually bent on doing little else than playing Santa Claus with the public purse.
Indeed, Canadian Liberals, mostly entrenched in Central Canada and obsessed with retaining their former power are on the move and they’ve even found a leader; one who can slither left, right, and centre with the ease of a cat ... an enigma ... a chess player.
What most pundits are missing though, is that the new liberal hope is not even a member of the Liberal Party of Canada ... in fact, he wraps himself in the flag of team blue.
Further Reading.
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