This robocall scandal is not just about some inconvenient phone calls, it's about subverting our democracy and altering the outcome of the election. And it's about Harper remaking Canada in his own image. The widening "robocall scandal" is deeply disturbing -- as is its media coverage. The language we use to describe a situation, the words that a journalist uses in their coverage of an issue, literally frame the issue and how we think about it. This isn't a story about "dirty tricks," it's about election fraud. This isn't "stupid," it's illegal. This isn't "folly," it was a deliberate, systematic, strategic, targeted campaign to steal the election. This isn't "voter suppression," it's stealing democracy. We should not treat this as some petty misdemeanor. This is a grave threat to our very basic freedom. This is a threat to our democracy. This is corruption. You would expect this in some tin-pot dictatorship--not in Canada. The stakes are much, much higher than most people or commentators realize. Harper won his "majority" with 6,848 votes. That's the difference between a Conservative candidate getting elected and the second place candidate in the 14 closest races that the Conservatives "won." For instance, in Nipissing-Timiskaming the Conservatives "won" the riding with a mere 18 votes. In Etobicoke Centre it was just 26 votes. Out of the 14.7 million votes cast across Canada that is an infinitesimally small margin for a majority … [Read more...] about Harper Conquers Canada, One Robocall at a Time
Harper Conquers Canada, One Robocall at a Time
