Now this really reminds me of the run-up to 1980 in the U.S., where the media, after realizing that Reagan wasn't a joke but was a real threat to win election, began running scare stories about how the women, minotiries and the poor would be devistated, before they were blown up when the new president started World War III.

Given the state of Canada's military, that's not a threat option here, but I'm surprised the Star didn't throw in some other secnarios of peril if Harper wins office, such as an increased threat of costal hurricanes and tsunamis, bird flu epidemics and terror from Klan night-riders prsonally sent north of the border by Chimpy McBushitlerburton at the request of his new ally.

They write those like they are bad things, those silly geese.

John:

You want juicy scenarios of peril? Here are a couple from the blogosphere reprinted in the National Post.

My very own Liberal campaign ads

Stephen Harper has a dog.

You know who else had a dog?

Hitler.

Adolf Hitler.

That's who.

Did Stephen Harper train his dog to attack racial minorities on command?

We don't know.

He's not saying.

Choose Your Canada.

* * *

The leader of the Conservative Party of Canada is named "Stephen".

As in "St. Stephen".

The name of a saint.

A Christian saint.

Christian like Adolf Hitler.

Does Stephen Harper have a hidden agenda to turn Canada into a Christian theocracy?

We don't know.

He isn't saying.

Choose your Canada.

* * *

Stephen Harper ate at a Tex-Mex place once.

You know what the "Tex" in Tex-Mex stands for?

Texas.

George W. Bush's home state.

And you know who else would have liked Tex-Mex food if he were alive today?

Adolf Hitler.

We're not making this up.

Choose your Canada.

With glowing hearts we see the rise!

America wants OIL...Canada has OIL!
America is being run by a far right wing CONSERVATIVE Republican Party...Stephen Harper is a CONSERVATIVE!

Stephen Harper says that we should be SHOULDER TO SHOULDER with our closest ally.
George W. Bush says that the US and Canada CANNOT BE DIVIDED!

What is Stephen Harper's HIDDEN agenda for Canada?
What is George W. bush's HIDDEN agenda for Canada?

Consider what's at stake when you vote!
Consider the consequences of your vote!
Consider CANADA!

the problem is the anti-american attitudes so widespread in the canadian populace. and that won't change regardless of which faction is the nominal government.

Somebody please remind me why anyone cares about Canada?

Toe is, unfortunately, correct. We need a substantial stay in rehab before we rejoin the anglosphere.

toe:

Not exactly wrong, but not exactly right either. Everybody has their myths and eternal Canadian myths are based on doing something different from you and being incredibly well-pleased with oursleves for it. It is simply too hard politically to embrace the States openly and unreservedly without raising the question no Canadian wants to have to answer--what the heck are we here for anyway? So we rotely applaud those who proclaim the glory of our blessed independence and superiority until we start to unconsciously feel a little nauseous from the pomposity and quietly throw the jerks out. The rest of the Anglosphere isn't very different. The best thing for you to do is to pat us on the head and tell us how nice we are.

I suppose the comparable problem is faced by an enthusiastic American Anglophile. Can you imagine any proud American arguing that the Revolution was unnecessary and a mistake and that you would have been better off sticking with Britain? One might as well argue you should ditch your cars for trains.

Pat pat, you're very nice Peter.

And reading the Star article convinces me that Mr. Harper could be: pat, pat, very nice too!

"Bien Venue New Hampshire" as we used to say.

PeterB,
"Can you imagine any proud American arguing that the Revolution was unnecessary and a mistake and that you would have been better off sticking with Britain?"

Well, yeah, I can. I'm a proud American, and I have no hesitation in saying the world would have been a better place had we been able to work out our differences with the Brits. Within 2-5 decades at most, we would have been ruling them, and the world would have been a better place.

Kind of like the Reformation, it happened, probably had to happen, but regrettable.

Indeed, the Revolution was tragic.

http://www.brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/1183

Wow! Wow! Wow! You guys are just GREAT! Amurrica can have ten new states! Probably shouldn't take Quebec, though; saw it off and float it over to Europe. And probably better leave Nunuvut to the aborigines. No oil there anyway.

Then we'll annex Great Britain, but better leave out Northern Ireland; got some comanists (sic) up there. Oh, damn. That would make us part of the EU. Well, the drooling classes in jolly old England don't like the Frogs anyway. Bye-bye EU.

WAKE UP! The rest of the world HATES this sort of self-satisfied, egotistical "ain't America GRAND!" bleating. Within five years gasoline will be $10 a gallon in the US, because oil will be priced in Euros at $6 per. The "prosperity" of the Boy King's reign has been nothing but smoke and mirrors. Citizens and the government have mortgaged their futures to a breathtaking degree.

Since you greedy slugs insist that taxing the nation enough to pay for the follies of the government is a mortal sin, the only way out of the stunning indebtedness it faces is to devalue those debts. It's a great ponzi scheme you jerks have run: borrow like there's no tomorrow then inflate away peoples' retirement savings. Nice.

The OPEC countries don't buy anything from us except weapons, airplanes, and drilling rigs because your stupid pseudo-economics has gutted American industrial excellence. They don't need no more incredible shrinking Bushbucks. We don't make anything worth buying by people any more so they don't have anything to spend them on. They would REALLY rather have Euros. And they will insist upon them very soon.

Ronald Dumsfeld and Darth Cheney have exposed the soft underbelly of "American Power" by their incredibly bungled adventure in Iraq. Nobody gives a [chomsky] about us any more.

May you live in interesting times.

Stale:

Not 10, but certainly Canada could be made into two or three states. Indeed, we're likely to have to take it over as its population gets too old to feed and care for itself.

stale, you are now on the list.

Nobody gives a [chomsky] about us any more.

Really? Then why is everyone always whining so much?

Let's face it: you've never spent more than 5 minutes overseas. The idea that if we don't survive the EU--much less EMU--will...it's just stupid. I can't think of any other way to put it.

Stale:

WAKE UP! The rest of the world HATES this sort of self-satisfied, egotistical "ain't America GRAND!" bleating

Take it from a non-American. No, the world is taken aback by it, amused by it, puzzled by it, chippy about it, frightened by it at times, worried about it and ultimately comes to marvel at it and give thanks to a benevolent deity for it.

But, while we never will tell you this, we do reserve a special contempt for anti-American Americans.

Let us designate StalesNRocks to lead Pacificstan after its carved out of Washington and British Columbia (whose northern section will become part of the State of Yukon)and sent off into the sunset.

Hey! Just saw off the malignent, infected lumps, like Vancouver, Seattle and Olymipia. Don't do a wholesale amputation. We should create a whole bunch of city-states, like Malaysia did with Singapore, and compare the results (and with Hong Kong, too) in about thirty years Let's see how they do without the rest of the country to subsidize them or prevent them from passing all those laws that will turn their cities into Heaven-on-Earth.

And it's funny, but in all the years I've worked off-and-on at the Evil Software Empire's Citadel of Medicrity, among all sorts of people from around the world with all sorts of backgrounds and cultures, I just can't remember any of them evewr showing the kind of contempt for this country the way Stale does. Criticism and commentary and comparisions, yes, but not contempt or anger, even when their H1B visas are expiring. I realize they are here and not back home, but still, ain't it wonderful how well they've all been conditioned?

So whereever Stale comes from, he can stay there, as this area already has too many natives who have learned to parrot those talking-points the way he does. (I was going to say "think the way he does," but that's giving too much credit.)

i think the word everyone is looking for here is "loser".

The rest of the world HATES this sort of self-satisfied, egotistical "ain't America GRAND!" bleating.

If any nation or peoples hates egotistical American bleating, all they have to do is demonstrate their superiority to America in some way.

Since WW II, no nation or peoples has accomplished such, (with the narrow exception of the IDF), and since 1989, no one has even TRIED.

Within five years gasoline will be $10 a gallon in the US...

For that to be true, crude oil would have to be priced at US$ 300/bbl. If that were to come to pass, the American oil industry would simply tap the ONE TRILLION barrels of oil that can be found in American territory, and since there'd be no currency risk, petrol prices would come back down to $ 3/gal.

Or, maybe we'll just take over the entire Middle East, and keep all of the oil for ourselves.
Who could stop us ?

Alternatively, we could simply seize the Canadian and Mexican oilfields.
Again, who could stop us ?

Statements of aghast horror don't cut it in the "stopping" department.

Further, does anyone believe that a majority of U.S. citizens would not support any of those actions, should gasoline really go up to $ 10/gal ?

...because oil will be priced in Euros at $6 per.

In which case, America would provide all of the Eurozone's manufactured goods, and many of their services.
Eurozone unemployment would go up to about 20%, while American unemployment would fall to about 2%, even including the millions of illegal Mexicans that would flood across the border.

[T]he only way out of the stunning indebtedness [that the Federal government] faces is to devalue those debts. It's a great ponzi scheme you jerks have run: borrow like there's no tomorrow then inflate away peoples' retirement savings. Nice.

The Right wants to GIVE PEOPLE THEIR OWN PRIVATE RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS, it's the Left that wants to keep people locked into a Congressional-slush-fund retirement system.

The OPEC countries don't buy anything from us except weapons, airplanes, and drilling rigs...

Which are all very expensive, which keeps a lot of Americans employed, not to mention that such sales defray the VERY LARGE costs of doing cutting-edge military, scientific, and industrial R & D...

The U.S. now have the very best weapons and airplanes, military or civilian, in the entire world, and that's due in part to foreign sales - so thanks, OPEC, for doing your part to maintain American hegemony.

They would REALLY rather have Euros. And they will insist upon them very soon.

"They" can have Euros any time they like.
The fact that they're not swapping their dollars for Euros ought to tell an observer something.

Ronald Dumsfeld and Darth Cheney have exposed the soft underbelly of "American Power" by their incredibly bungled adventure in Iraq.

Yes, the world's dictators sleep better now, after having seen that the world's seventh largest military was able to prevent the soft American military from completely occupying the ENTIRE COUNTRY for an astounding TWO WEEKS, and was able to inflict dozens of casualties on female truck drivers and mechanics...

And the Taliban of Afghanistan - tales will long be told of how they avoided total collapse for days, and how the soft American military couldn't keep up as they ran for the Paki border...

Posted by: Michael Herdegen at January 15, 2006 2:10 AM

Sorry Raoul, but the Cascade Mountains make a nice N/S line on the map, a logical international border in my mind.

Great blizzard of punches Michael! The stalerock has crumbled! Seriously, I pity the poor moonbat. He probably believes what he writes and fancies himself a patriotic American just for saying it. He's too far gone. He needs his own country.

You won't have Paul Martin to kick around anymore!

"You won't have Paul Martin to kick around anymore!"

I think you've just discovered about the only winning strategy/slogan the Libs have left.

And if you insist on drawing that line on the crest of the Cascades, at least have the FEMA clowns prepared for the onslaught of refugees fleeing east. Or better yet, how about a exchange program so that all the Stales and Grogs and Lonbuds can experience Heaven-on-Earth together untainted by people like me.

The rest of the world HATES this sort of self-satisfied, egotistical "ain't America GRAND!" bleating.

Anyway, I think the American Rebellion was a good thing because it brought about the creation of the U.S. Constitution, which still takes the prize as the best foundation for a nation ever written. No rebellion, no Constitution. Or is the argument that something like that would have emerged from the tension between the USA and Britian?

P.S. On the other hand, lack of a rebellion might well have avoid the troubles in Ireland, since we would have just made it a state or two.

hey Sam the US is interested (or, at least will be very interested, very soon) in Canada because of the enormous oil reserves. its highly unlikely the US will get its act together on energy consumption before global reserves begin to dry up. unless Alberta shows the US the welcome mat, there will be much politics (and perhaps more) when that time comes, decades from now.

dave:

The Sun will explode before we use up the Earth's oil reserves. Alberta's safe.

oj:

oh. thank god

Well, you can thank Him for the oil, but simple capitalist innovation will be what you're really thankful for.

oj:

oh. then thank America(n) (ideals)

oj:

seriously ;)

thanks to millions-year old dead organic matter

Raoul Ortega writes:

Hey! Just saw off the malignent, infected lumps, like Vancouver, Seattle and Olymipia. Don't do a wholesale amputation. We should create a whole bunch of city-states, like Malaysia did with Singapore, and compare the results (and with Hong Kong, too) in about thirty years Let's see how they do without the rest of the country to subsidize them or prevent them from passing all those laws that will turn their cities into Heaven-on-Earth.

Guess what Raoul, do you know what keeps the economy in the State of Washington going? King County and Seattle, those liberal enclaves. Seattle pays the gas taxes that build the roads in the counties that Republicans live in, Seattle pays the taxes for the schools in the counties that the Republicans live in (don't believe me? ask yourself which is more valuable real estate, downtown Seattle from 1st through 7th avenues between Madison and Pine or all of Eastern Washington. The truth is that the liberal cities end up subsidizing rural Republican areas and that the rural Republicans who bitch and piss and moan so much about the government redistributing income would wither and die if the federal government wasn't subsidizing their useless, lazy, inbred hypocritical asses. (see Alaska's bridge to nowhere as a fine example of this

I'm sure that things are the same in Vancouver, hell, for the price of two blocks along Cambie street in West Van you could probably buy all of Osoyoos.

Oh and for anyone who doubts this you can go look at this neat little chart

http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/266.html