Friday, June 8, 2018

The morning after the apocalypse

Well we did it. Congratulations Ontario. We just voted in a conservative, self-serving, silver-spooned, entitled, drug-dealing, privileged, middle-aged white man to serve as premier. Trump is gonna love this guy.

I wake up this morning feeling bitter, but the person I'm most mad at is Justin Trudeau. JT promised us, that at least at the federal level, we had experienced our last first-past-the-post election. And had he stuck to that promise, rather than abandoned it a the first sign keeping that promise wasn't going to favour his own party, maybe - just maybe - the provinces would have followed.

I would be very much in favour of a system that allowed the pendulum to swing gently around the centre, but when has that ever happened in Ontario? Somehow, in 1990, we swung wildly to the left, and had a New Democratic Party government, followed by a crazy swing to the right that brought another lunatic Conservative to power, followed by a 15-year swing to the left that brought in the Liberals, and now we're back to a whackadoodle Conservative party. Cross your legs, girls. These old white men are going to be all up in your reproductive business.

Any kind of proportional representation model would still have the conservatives in power, but with 40% of the seats - not the 62% they ended up with. And like I said - I favour a gentle swing around the centre. I think it's healthy. But last night wasn't gentle. It leaves a moron, strutting about like a fat white peacock, thinking he accomplished something when one of the only platform positions he could think of was to promise cheaper beer.

Am I out of words? Cuz I could go on and on and on.

9 comments:

  1. I was waiting for your political commentary, because I suspected I could honestly say "ditto." And so I can. Or make that a big DITTO. I now find myself rather crazily hoping that Ontario falls apart in the next 4 years, to minimize the chances of Ford being re-elected.

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  2. Even I, down here in the benighted midwest, know about this. Welcome to the idiot parade.

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  3. Oh dear. What is it with all these whackadoodle old white guys being elected?

    I'm confused though. Isn't this a state election? (Note to political-science-masters-graduate self: Go research Canadian political system.)

    We changed our political system from first past the post 20 years ago. There's been no wild instability, though we currently have a coalition of three parties in government, rather than the one conservative party that couldn't make friends with the other parties. Still, I think most people are happy with the system (except the conservatives), and it certainly has delivered a more diverse and representational parliament.

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    1. Lesson 1. We have provinces, not states. But they are the equivalent of states.

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    2. Oops. Yes. I actually knew that!

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  4. Here inside the DC Beltway my head is firmly stuck in the sand*. I was not aware of this election, but worms (or sand fleas) don't talk politics much.

    *I know -- it is a terrible thing to do but it is my way of coping right now...

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  5. Maybe it's something in the water here in the northern hemisphere? The world won't end in fire or flood, but in stupidity and blather.

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  6. I'm ashamed of how little I know about Canadian politics, but I remember Rob Ford. His brother was elected Premier of Ontario?? Well, that sucks.

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