Stephen Harper, you're smarmy and I don't like you.

I don't think I'm inside my own mind today...

Here in Canada, we keep a watchful eye on the United States Presidential Race, Barack Obama and John McCaine are spearheading a wind of change into America (well, at least one of the candidates promises to do so...) and up here in Canada we are ever patient, waiting to see how events unfold for our neighbors to the south. The glow that Barack has enraptured the majority of the citizens of the united states in shines so vibrant that I am noticing it even so far up north where I live.

And I've got to say... I feel a little left out.

There is an impending election on the horaison for Canadians as well, and it may happen a lot sooner than you think (or even expect). Stephen Harper promised Canadians, after the passing of a bill, that the next election would take place on October 19, 2009. Since then, there has been political tug-of-war between the Liberals and the Conservatives, Liberals announcing the very flawed carbon tax plan and then the Conservatives launching a smear campaign so assanine it makes anything Hillary Clinton attempted to do to Barack Obama look like elementary school name calling.

Since Stephen Harper would have us believe that the parliament hill is currently in a severe state of 'dysfunction' and the only way to irradiate the problem is to hold an election. This is just another one of his Conservatives tactics akin that to bullying on the playground. All year long they have been playing this game with the Liberals and the other political parties. In the minority government, some bills are so serious that any dispute amoung them could have shot the country into an immediate election. The liberals fold to the threat of impending election and instead of disputing some bills they simply allow them to be passed, one bill after another, thanks to the threat of immediate election. The Conservatives have used aggresive tactics to get what they want out of our country and they are doing it again.

Do you want to know why your parliament is in a dysfunctive state? It's because YOUR COUNTRY DOES NOT SUPPORT YOU! You are in a minority government because you failed to make yourself look good enough in the last impromptu election our country had, barely better than your competition to squease into a minority government. When you speak publicly, you sound like a buisness executive. Making a statement that you just finished rehursing moments before, speaking with the diction and annunciation of a robot, and having the demeanor of one as well. You don't inspire confidence in me. Your too anxious to gain the approval of the United States, and you are turning us into a nation closely resembling them. Hardly the country that we had when you took control, a nation that I was proud to live in. I do not have that pride any longer.

Despite Stephen Harpers various ineptitudes and inabilities to give off the image of a politician that is anything except a faceless suit. Stephane Dion is no white knight. The Conservatives have been attacking him full force since the introduction of his moronic carbon tax idea. Stephane Dion and his Liberals are a party that is abash with cowardice. They are so backed into a corner that they aren't even attempting to play the political game. Whenever I see Stephane Dion on television he's babbling, he's incoherent, he seem's unfocused and he seems desperate. He looks like a child, wrongfull acused, and all he can do is state his case to deaf ears in a tone only a six year old can replicate.

If the Liberals are so desperate, why don't they make a desperate action? If Stephane Dion came out and pointed the finger at harper, told the nation that Stephen Harper's plans are not in the best interest of Canadians (because they arent, and Stephane Dion's aren't either, at least not his tax plans) and that Canadians deserve a Prime Minister who will take into account, the interests of its citizens and the interests of its nation, and not its bordering ones. If Stephane Dion could pull this off with a modicum of confidence and poise, instead of coming across as a child with the blame wrongfully placed upon him. Maybe Canadians would believe in him.

Maybe I would beleive in him.

Barack Obama gives America someone to believe in. He's a strongly spoken politician with a natural charisma and unmistakable poise. I don't know how any american citizen can watch him speak and not be impressed with how he handles himself. I remain pessimistic that he can actually pull off winning the Presidential Election, but my worth-fuck-all vote is for him. I just wish that Canada had a politician with the brass that Obama has. He's fearless on the podium, saying what needs to be said. He hit the nail on the head in his speech about race, and he hit it on the head when he gave his speech accepting the Democratic Nomination. He is a politician that I don't feel bad supporting, if I was american I would be voting for him.

Instead, I just have to shake my head and sigh because I don't want to vote for anybody. Dion or Harper. Not Jack Layton of the NDP. He's too quiet on the front and the NDP has such a negative stigma that alone will probably kill any heat he'll generate for the electon, which means he's pretty much got no shot (short of a miracle that is...) of becoming Prime Minister. Which kind of sucks because I think he is the best qualified person for the job. But between Layton, Harper and Dion. I still wish we could somehow go back in time, and grab Jean Cretine to whip this nation back into shape. Say what you will about him, he was a leader who spoke with unmistakable confidence and he believed in Canada.

I just want a Barack Obama to believe in.

Until next time, think about the world we live in for a bit. Ignorance just perpetrates the problem that got us to this point.