“There is nothing sudden about drifting over the falls. “

28 Replies to ““There is nothing sudden about drifting over the falls. “”

1. Whoa whoa whoa. Bread lines are a good thing. The Brooklyn Born Bolshevik Bernie said so.

2. Aren’t the Venezuela and Ontario pieces the same story, just at different stages?

3. Exactly, just substitute Chavez with Wynne or any other Socialist.
   I recently met with the two most important people in my life, next to my wife, my doctor and my mechanic. From the moment I entered their business’ the topic was how destructive the Wynne government is to both these groups.
   A Socialist Government literally kills everything it touches, sooner or later.

4. Darn South American substrata – it’s not very solid. “Little Venice” is sinking faster than old Venice…and it’s built on mud.

5. Fine piece – until the end where the author just couldn’t resist getting in a little crack at Donald Trump and his supporters. Ruined the whole thing for me.

6. Alberta’s nearly there after only a year of crony socialism.
   Red Rachel’s deliberately devastated the oil and gas industry. She and that idiot finance minister Joe Ceci claim that there’s no money in the till and yet the Notley Destroys Prosperity always manage to find some when it comes to hiring one of their own. Somehow, there’s always enough money to pay each of them well over $100,000 a year.
   Surely, if the situation is as dire as is claimed, those same people could get by with considerably less. After all, isn’t socialism all about ideological fervor and not about how much one gets paid? Isn’t the good of the downtrodden and the oppressed, the poor working class, much more important than financial gain?
   Nah. The NDippers are no better than the PCs they loved to disparage and insult. They’re nothing but a bunch of thieves grabbing as much as they can with both hands and then sticking the citizens with the bill.

7. Exactly. And Cappy has an excellent brief summation with,”A Socialist Government literally kills everything it touches, sooner or later”.
   B, Red Rachel has the typical Bolo view that this time they will get it right and that after a century of seeing fail after fail in state after state.
   The nation is on the verge of collapse when the people vote for one free lunch utopian promise after another.

8. I saw that firsthand. I grew up in the B. C. Peace Country and was in Grade 12 when Dave Barrett and his socialist numbskulls booted out Wacky Bennett’s Socreds. (Thank you, you idiot Lotusland voters.) The province was never the same after that.
   During that same era, both Saskatchewan and Manitoba turned socialist.
   What’s happening in Alberta is almost identical to what took place in B. C. more than 40 years ago. One would think that Red Rachel would learn from history. Oh, I forgot–they’re *finally* going to get it right this time, aren’t they?

9. Coming to a Canadian city near you soon.

10. Slipping in the Liberal meme I guess. Just having trouble comparing even the Progressive conservatives with the Socialist N.D.P. Guess y’all do have a right to your Opinion.

11. “What’s happening in Alberta is almost identical to what took place in B. C. more than 40 years ago.”
    Almost identical? Not at all even similar.
    Did B.C. have an up and coming new Conservative party which had achieved Official Opposition status 2 governments in a row working to take over from the Socreds?
    No, they didn’t.
    Yes, the NDP are the NDP are the NDP.
    No, Albertans are not going to split the vote to the extent next time that the Alberta NDP get another 4 years.

12. Well, Oz, while that is the optimal goal, there is nothing yet out there to suggest that the vote split won’t be there next time. Just look at the last by-elections, the vote split was ever present.
    The PCs have to realize that their brand is spoiled. And worse, the WRA has allowed itself to be defined by others. They need to take a lesson from Trump, and define itself, and put down its opponents in the media, who don’t have a clue what they are talking about.
    In BC, when the commies got elected, Whiney Dave in 72, and Bonehead/Glennochio in 2001, the Socreds/Liberals/Conservatives realized that burying the hatchet and forming a coalition was mutually beneficial to all parties, as the NDP is, and always has been, a destructive force of Bolsheviks, communists and greentards.
    Not much has changed since then, the NDP is still a consortium of freeloaders, economic terrorists, green commies and naive social justice warriors.
    Just look at Morontariowe where the LIEberals are wearing disguises, they are the true socialists, no different than the NDP, other than their party colours. Red is actually more accurate, is it not?

13. Red Rachel’s NDP is similar to Fat Little Dave (his nickname for himself) and his gang of bozos for several reasons.
    Red Rachel is collectivizing farms. Barrett pushed for a land bank. Both governments saw the growth of bloated civil services. Investment money stayed away from B. C., at least in the oil industry, and it’s fleeing Alberta. Barrett curtailed resource development and Red Rachel wants to kill coal. Both were pushing environmentalism down people’s throats and I’m sure that Dr. Fruitfly Suzuki advised Barrett for that.
    I’m wondering when Alberta’s going to be stuck with government auto insurance, which was part of Barrett’s legacy.
    Don’t forget that the Social Credit Party regrouped and rebuilt itself and, more than 3 years later, Dave Barrett was sent packing by Bill “Mini-WAC” Bennett.

14. Dan;
    B.C. Liberals do such a bad job of communicating and organizing. The Dippers work overtime ‘pressing the flesh’ at community events. IMHO the Liberals have to hope that the economy is NOT doing well in their election year of 2017. It seems to me the stronger the economy the more voters feel they can take a flyer on a party of BS’ers who promise a bunch of freebies.
    I do not consider Canada any different than the USA. Why was a drama teacher elected in Canada? Trump’s and Sander’s popularity is a general unease about middle class prospects. BNN’s Disrupters program shows how much tech is attacking future employment. Watching a series on PBS where a house is being factory built and assembled on site. They built a set of stairs which would have taken 8 hours on site but was done in a factory setting in 45 minutes, with better quality. Better than a 8:1 ratio which seems very standard through the whole project. This seems almost standard through the project.
    Technology is very disruptive to employment levels and the disquiet of the middleclass is a reflection of what they are experiencing. To date the most disruption seems to be in higher cost processes but this moving down stream very quickly.

15. that is one hell of a lesson for Canada, but Canadians have difficulty not taking things from others. classic, in venezuela there is no one left to take anything from.

16. “there is nothing yet out there to suggest that the vote split won’t be there next time”
    Other than former PC Leader Jim Prentice’s rock solid PC seat that he resigned from being taken by the WildRose candidate last September in a by-election, no nothing yet.

17. Rule number 1. It does not matter what flag they run under. As soon as you see the “politician” meme,there should be only 2 options,shot them,or punch their silly lights out.

18. They’re nothing but a bunch of thieves grabbing as much as they can with both hands and then sticking the citizens with the bill.
    That’s true of almost all politicians.

19. “Don’t forget that the Social Credit Party regrouped and rebuilt itself and, more than 3 years later, Dave Barrett was sent packing by Bill “Mini-WAC” Bennett.”
    Don’t forget that B.C. didn’t have a conservative alternative sitting as the Official Opposition 2 terms in a row and remember that Alberta has a tradition that once they are done with a particular party’s governing they are done.

20. I agree that most politicians are like that, but, remember, socialists specifically claim to be working on behalf of the *people*. After all, wasn’t that who the revolution is for?
    History, of course, has shown different. While Soviets were waiting in long lines for bread, the politburo was living lives of luxury in their country dachas. That situation was commonplace throughout the rest of the Warsaw Pact countries.
    Most of the wealth in Cuba is controlled by–wait for it!–the Castros or some of their relatives. China isn’t much different, nor is North Korea.
    So much for struggling for the proletariat.

21. The B. C. Socreds remained in power for about 15 years, first under Mini-WAC and then under Vander Zalm. The latter was cited as the reason for the party being turfed out in the early 1990s, never to be seen again.

22. One reason that Wild Rose didn’t win last year was because it didn’t run candidates in every riding. (Thank you, Danielle Smith.)
    WRP wasn’t on the ballot where I live, but it wouldn’t have mattered if it was. I have the shame of living in Red Rachel’s riding (I’d move if I could afford it) and it’s had an NDP MLA for years.
    It’s not surprising, though, as it’s located immediately south of the University of Alberta.

23. “One reason that Wild Rose didn’t win last year was because it didn’t run candidates in every riding. (Thank you, Danielle Smith.)”
    Good point. I’ll add that WildRose bounced back with even more seats, despite Danielle and her ilk and not running candidates in every riding, but I think that a lot of people thought WildRose was down and out of contention because of the floor crossers who stabbed them in the back, and also because of the early snap election meant to finish WildRose off.
    Those adverse conditions won’t exist next general election.

24. Part of the reason what Wild Rose didn’t do better was that it didn’t have a credible platform even before the election was called.
    The fact that Red Rachel’s determined to run Alberta into the ground will work in WRP’s favour, but it also needs to have a policy of its own. Simply portraying itself as the un-NDP likely won’t allow it to win win 2 or 3 years from now.

25. “How did you go bankrupt?” Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
    Ernest Hemingway, ‘The Sun Also Rises’ 1926

26. Gratuitous whining by a GOPe LOSER. That’s all … Trump is poised to do something GREAT ! Or not. But on one fact I rest assured … Trump can NOT EVER be any worse than 8 years of Obama … or … 1 second of sHrillary Rodham. Or a lying Ted Cruz trying to USE Christ to become president. Well … JC has had the last laugh. DON’T USE Christ for your own personal gain … or you start sounding like a typical megachurch televangelist … preaching about how Jesus will make you RICH !!! Sorry, Ted Cruz … you came across as a sleazy televangelist. You LOSE.

27. Kenji – you do not know what you are talking about. ‘Lyin’ Ted’ was coined by Trump, repeated ad naseum, and for no apparent reason. Trump will win but he will imperil the US constitution just as Obama is doing and what Hillary would do if she were to access the ‘Oral Office’.
    As to the Wild Rose, the worst thing that could happen is if the PCs get control of the party and start again to impose their progressive crap on the province. Alberta will be done for decades! The PCs should just go away. They have been embarrassed and should just shut up.

28. I wonder how long before Maduro finds himself in the same boat as Nicolae Ceasescu in the late 1980s…
    Food shortages are a good way to spark revolutions.