Posted on 01/27/2006 5:02:09 PM PST by presidio9
U.S. right-wing strategist says Canadians are "so liberal and hedonistic" that Stephen Harper can't hope to change their philosophy of "cultural Marxism" right away.
Given time, however, the Conservative prime minister-designate may straighten them out, Paul Weyrich writes.
Weyrich, a Washington fixture since the 1970s, runs a conservative think tank called the Free Congress Foundation.
His contribution to the Harper election effort was to distribute an e-mail last week urging fellow U.S. right-wingers not to talk to Canadian reporters.
"Canadian voters have been led to believe that American conservatives are scary and if the Conservative party can be linked with us, they can perhaps diminish a Conservative victory," he warned.
He turns his attention to Canada again this week in an article posted on the foundation's website.
He says he talked to two Canadian Conservatives after the election – one optimistic and one pessimistic about Harper's chances of changing Canada.
The pessimistic view was that Harper, lacking a parliamentary majority, can do little to make Canadians "adopt a more reasonable view of the United States" and abandon Marxist principles "such as same-sex marriage and abortion on demand," Weyrich says.
He does not say how these things are linked in his mind to Marxism, a doctrine better known for concepts of class warfare. But he suggests that Harper has a few cards up his sleeve.
"Harper is pleased that the media and many in his own party are nay-saying," he writes. "Harper thinks that such pessimism would lower expectations and give him additional latitude to accomplish his agenda.
"Harper's game plan apparently is to pit the federalist Liberals against the Bloc Québécois and the decentralizing Bloc against big-government Liberals.
"Canadian media understands that Stephen Harper greatly would expand defence spending. He does not like the Kyoto Treaty. Paul Martin, the incumbent whom Harper ousted, ran an anti-United States campaign. It worked for Martin last year. This year it did not. More importantly, Harper favours participating in the United States missile defence program. Martin opposed such participation.
"It is not widely known in this country that a Canadian prime minister has more power than a United States president. Harper could appoint 5,000 new officials. (No confirmation is required by the Canadian Parliament.) The prime minister also could appoint every judge from the trial courts, to the courts of appeal to the Canadian Supreme Court, as vacancies occur.
"Harper's partisans believe he could maintain power for four years, during which time Conservatives hopefully would witness many vacancies created by Liberals leaving the courts. The Supreme Court of Canada currently is dominated by Liberals.
"As has been the case in the United States, cultural Marxism largely has been foisted upon Canada by the courts. If judges who respect the Constitution were to be appointed they would confirm that such rights are not to be found in that document. Sound familiar?"
I don't see any insult here--except to people who think liberty means gay marriage and sex clubs in every neighborhood.
Is anyone else catching the incredible liberal bias from CBS?
"Right-wing" stategist?
I've never heard CBS call anyone a "left-wing" strategist or a left-wing anything else.
Oops my mistake. It's the CBC, not CBS.
Canadians themselves are somewhat related to us, but their government and society are entirely different things.
We should also take care to never forget that Weyrich thinks Freepers are "dangerous" ~ we unsettle him!
ping
Dangerous Canadian FReeper Ping!
Just as there are Americans who view Canadians as addled by government goodies and fascinated by Frenchmen, so there is a strain of Canadian conservatism which views Americans as dangerously socialistic and overly deferential to lawyers, especially the elected variety.
I'm in that wing.
In any event, I'm glad that this writer and his fellows shut up during the Canadian election, so hats off to Weyrich!
"..........your own msm didn't come frighteningly close to putting both Gore & Kerry into the White House."
The CBC makes most of your MSM look more right-wing than Fox News...
That's so far over the top that it has attained orbit. :~p
I'll agree with the latter part of that statement with one proviso. Americans are far more deferential to unelected lawyers (most of our judges) than we are to elected lawyers (most of our Senators and Representatives). The deference to "apolitical" and "unbiased" judges has caused an incredible amount of damage to our democratic tradition over the past 50 years, and it remains to be seen whether recent conservative victories at the ballot box can repair this damage.
I don't know about Weyrich personally. I heard he's been in ill health, and his glory days are most likely behind him.
But this sort of article is a set-up. It would have been useful and informative for the CBC to ask Americans -- and especially conservative leaders and thinkers -- what they thought of Harper's win. But instead of asking around -- say, asking Irving Kristol, or Harvey Mansfield, or whoever --, they choose one person who's going to give them quotes that will offend Canadians. It's a cheap shot. I guess they couldn't get Pat Robertson to comment.
It's true, as the CBC points out, that gay marriage and abortion aren't especially "Marxist." But in pointing it out, the CBC comes across as quite smug and condescending, taking advantage of a sick old man for political advantage.
Amen!
Frankly, from an American perspective, there was little difference to see between Martin and Mugabe ~ well, maybe Mugabe had a better tan or something. Otherwise those guys preach the same story.
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