I bought in . . .

It never occured to me that the media got it wrong.

This from Monte Solberg, via small dead animals:

Media misinformation
Some media reports are saying that the Conservatives will support Bill C 48, the NDP Budget Deal, in exchange for changes to C 38. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.
We will never support C 48, because it is everything we think is wrong with the Libs. It is sloppy, without vision and open to waste. It was conceived by Paul and Jack in a Toronto hotel room that you rent by the hour. It was made up on the fly. In other words it is a classically Liberal piece of work.
We will vote against it, even while we are trying to get amendments to improve it. We may be less aggressive on it if we can get concessions on 48 or elsewhere, but we don't see that happening right now. So, for now we speak and criticize a terrible piece of legislation born of a corrupt government that will do anything to stay in power.
posted by Monte at 4:00 PM

It isn't any wonder that the average person reading the paper or listening to the news comes away thinking one thing, when the reality is the reverse.

I will give the media the benefit of the doubt, and assume they too, were misled.

We often wonder why people trust the Liberals. It's because they lie without flinching. They pervert the truth with such skill that even those within their ranks who are not part of the deceit have no sense that what they are saying is untrue. They recite their scripts like broken records, and probably before long they believe what they are saying is true, or true enough.

Based on their track record we should be expecting lies -- but here I was, reading the news and believing what it said. I had watched Politics with Don Newman yesterday, and when asked, Jay Hill (or Jason Kenney-- I forget now) had acknowledged that there were 'negotiations' but he didn't elaborate. When I later heard that the Conservatives would support C-48, I just figured there had to be a good reason -- I scarcely questioned it.

Sometimes we ask why people are so easily duped by media reports or by Liberal spin. We are, because only the very cynical among us expect the worst of people -- even people we know to be liars. It's human nature to project our own virtues and vices onto others. When one is not a liar by nature (and I don't mean a white lie now and again -- I mean a habitual/pathological lying) one can't perceive of others lying for a living. When, like the Liberals, one lies and manipulates as a matter of course, one sees only lies and schemes in everyone else. It is no wonder the Liberals have no shame about their actions. They see all of us as being as corruptable as they are -- but they see themselves as smarter. They use their contempt for us as the justification for their ignoble deeds.

I think that as a society, we are a caring, decent people -- that's why we excuse bad behaviour in our politicians, we parole dangerous criminals, we believe tyrants can be appeased, we hope terrorists can be negotiated with --- because we can't convince ourselves that there are some people so devoid of conscience and character that they can think the unthinkable, or act with cruelty or brutality, or, as the Liberals do, remorselessly lie, cheat and steal.

As bad as things can seem to get for conservatives, we should remember to be grateful.
At least we aren't them.

canadianna