Why is it then, that Liberals are still bent on portraying our military as ominous in an effort to malign the Conservatives?
A photograph of tanks at the ready, combined with the word 'Conservative' seems to be a favourite stunt of the Liberal Party's communications staff. This image of Light Armoured Vehicles from the Liberal website, is reminiscent of the Liberal television ad yanked during the election last year. Apparently they thought they'd dust off the idea and give it new life in a different format. With so many other aspects of the Afghan mission to choose from, they have chosen one that could be seen as the most menacing. No faces, just an overpowering machine. Subtlety is obviously not their forte.
The NDP doesn't like the Conservatives any more than the Liberals do, and they like the war in Afghanistan even less. Yet the NDP website doesn't misuse the military to make a point about Harper. Their criticism of Harper's Afghan vision and visit is linked to by a photo of soldiers on the ground, with Afghan children in the background. It appears unstaged and seems unthreatening -- no attempt to draw deleterious connections or conclusions.
Maybe I'm being fussy here, but photographs are used to evoke emotion. You'd think that the Liberals would have learned their lesson and if they want to assail Harper, they'd stop using our military as their weapon of choice.
*** I've edited this post because commenters corrected me (thanks) --The photo is not of tanks, but LAVs (Light Armoured Vehicles). The visual holds the same connotation IMO.
canadianna
30 comments:
See, it's like this. Liberals, being (as they believe they are) all things to all people, never met a voting bloc they didn't want to make their own. This includes the criminal bloc(to whom they extended the franchise) and the terrorist bloc (witness their immigration "policies").
What's the military about? In part it's about killing people who need killing. This is a reality no Liberal will face, either that there are people who need killing ("but they have relatives here in Canada! Relatives who won't vote for us if we kill them!") or that our military should actually kill them ("so gauche, so...AMERICAN!).
This is the party that makes simple things complicated. There's not much nuance in the bore of a gun, nor should there be.
Just to pick a nit, but those are not tanks.
Obviously the Liberals have no idea why they lost the last election.
I am completely appalled.
The worse thing that could happen for the Libs and Dippers would be for a miraculous end to the war in Afghanistan. Think about it.
Denis Coderre would be lost for words to attack the Defense Minister. No more insinuations that our military is enabling torture. No more criticism of defense spending. Etc. So I ask myself, does the opposition not hope that the conflict continue and escalate? In fact, does the opposition not secretly hope that the CPC extends the mission past 2009?
The only battering ram left would be the environment. With all the uncertainty surrounding the real cause of global warming, I think the CPC can hold its own on this file.
I must therefore conclude that these hypocrites really do not want an end to hostilities in Afghanistan.
Great reporting job !
monty_inbc -- They sure look like tanks. What are they? I'll correct it in the post.
Maybe I'm being fussy here
You're not being fussy at all. The Liberals just don't get it.
"Maybe I'm being fussy here, but photographs are used to evoke emotion. You'd think that the Liberals would have learned their lesson and if they want to assail Harper, they'd stop using our military as their weapon of choice."
So how is this different from Harper posing with victims of 9/11?
The main problem is that everyone thinks that a) their sh*t don't stink, and b) the other guys are pure eeeeeevviiill. Maybe its a manifestation of the fundamental attribution bias, or maybe it's a persecution complex. Either way, it sure does get tedious reading about it all the time.
If blogs are the 'next estate' of journalism then we're all screwed, and we're headed towards intellectual collapse. Welcome to the vanguard of our stupidification.
anonymous -- and you go a long way to proving your point. Congrats!
Those are LAVs not tanks. Good post otherwise, thanks
Fergy (and monty) Thanks. I'm making the change on the post.
canadianna: It's the 'I know you are but what am I?' response. I sure didn't see that one coming.
Anonymous, you really think Harper posing with victims of 9/11 is the same as Liberal ads that suggest we should be afraid of our own military?
Stupidification indeed.
anonymous -- Ah, but I see you came back which tells me that you must have felt your comment warranted a more serious and considered response. So it would seem that you believe that while blogs hold no value (and yet you're here) that the comments written by one of many anony-mouses, do.
Well, reconsidering your comment, here is the serious reply:
Liberal website + Tanks/LAVs + 'Conservative machine' = forces a procative and misleading connection, which misuses the military to advance a political goal.
Harper + 9/11 victims = is a photo-op. In case you are unaware, any number of politicians have posed with any number of victims of any number of tragedies. It's done to draw attention to causes, to commemorate anniversaries etc. It evokes no negative impressions about any other political party and while it might be considered opportunistic or exploitive (I don't believe it is) it is certainly not an effort to cast aspersions on another party.
Your attempt to draw a parallel is a stupid non sequitur, which is why I replied to you in the manner I did in the first place. You apparently want to be taken seriously and yet you haven't even made the effort to come up with a logical argument.
Just throwing this out, but can you imagine the furor if PMSH was captured on camera holding one of the soldiers rifles?
Fergy, I bet the liberals would want to make sure it was registered.
Logical arguments? Here? That's a good one.
Good catch, Canadianna. Hard to say who's worse - The libs or the dippers. But Jack Layton does seem to have some principles.
anony-mouse -- zing! You got me again. And yet you keep coming back to a place where you believe the thinking is beneath you. Odd that. Almost . . . illogical.
Frankly, it takes a real coward to criticize someone anonymously.
What are you "anonymous" people so afraid of?
Excellent post.
I find it amazing that liberals will exploit the military at any chance they get.
If they can find a disabled vet they can trot out to the camera's to say how he/she has been exploited by conservatives they will say they are pro troops.
Then, in the next phrase will infer that troops are terrorists, authoritarian or threatening.
As some have mentioned, at least an NDP'r will have some principlals. The Liberals, as far as I can tell, have none.
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Here's my favourite pinko moment this week...
"Layton said his party is concerned about what he calls an "aggressive" counter-insurgency campaign being waged by Canadian forces."
Yeah Jack... we hear you.
There's just one hitch... I'm not entirely convinced a "two out of three Scrabble match" is gonna get the job done.
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Hi Canadianna
As a former grunt (infantry) that had to suffer under the Liberal administration of this country under the leadership of Mr. Liberal (P.E. Trudeau) and see the demise of our military, I find it not so unusual for Liberals to act in this way. They have always found it award to praise or affirm our military, and are quick to attack it and bring about its demise. You need look no further than the Somalia fiasco, where the Airborne Regiment, our most elite was sent there, with a handful of MPs. There should have been a company (120) of them, and instead less than a platoon (30). It was cut backs and over stretching of resources, and the compromized mission that killed the regiment. There were no political casualties, but the regiment was sacrificed, and what message did that send to the troops then? Simple, the Liberals and the NDP cannot be trusted.
Do I trust the Conservatives, No, not one bit. I am against this mission. There is nothing humanitarian about it. And it isn't about the Taliban either. It is about protection the oil pipeline coming out of the former Soviet territories north of Afghanistan, and that oil will then flow from the Indian Ocean to oil refineries in the US. Here we have Canadians dying every day for the damned Americans and their lousy foreign policy. And it was the Liberals who caved in to GWB, and not the Conservatives! No offense to my friends who have served and continue to serve in Afghanistan, but the sooner they come home and this horror ends, the better it will be for all of us, and the sooner we tell the US where they can go, the better our sovereignty will be.
Cheers,
Samthemacman,
Waterloo, ON
Liberal spin is about making Conservatives look American. I love the pic of the LAVs lined up as if they were tanks about to invade. But it works to fear monger the naive public about what Conservatives do. Its hilarious if you "get it".
The same holds true with Cons money being spent on advertising in Nascar. Its CONSERVATIVE money. Donate if you wish.. Its not like taxes where you have to support government programs that dont work when you do pay your taxes.. There is no choice there.
Anyway, join up and have a say!
Liberal spin is about making Conservatives look American. I love the pic of the LAVs lined up as if they were tanks about to invade. But it works to fear monger the naive public about what Conservatives do. Its hilarious if you "get it".
The same holds true with Cons money being spent on advertising in Nascar. Its CONSERVATIVE money. Donate if you wish.. Its not like taxes where you have to support government programs that dont work when you do pay your taxes.. There is no choice there.
Anyway, join up and have a say!
https://secure.conservative.ca/1209/70675
If I remember correctly, that pic has been going around since long before the Tories took power, it dates from when we were in Kabul... er... when the libs were in power and THEY sent our troups in Afghanistan !
Interesting. I didn't know that. Thanks for pointing it out.
No problem, and now that I look closer, not only do I recognise the pic as beeing an old one, but we can identify the building at the right : it's the old palace where the old government sieged, and it's in Kabul. Just google image "kabul palace" and you'll see.
Libs really take Canadians for dummies !
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