Thursday, May 27, 2010

 

Lying brings short-term success, Ian says: "the BC Rail case is a perfect example ..." Read more at Northern Insights

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NORTHERN INSIGHTS, a fine blog run by Norman Farrell, is one of my daily stops. Today's top piece talks  about why people tell lies; and about Gordo and Shirley Bond. Recommended.

 "The dog ate my homework" is followed by a good example of the growing excellence among  commentors which I have also noted and welcomed here, at my own blog. It reflects the developing maturity of public understanding of the BC Rail Corruption Trial ... and that is important ... it's why we need carefully televised (single focus, unedited, uninterrupted) coverage of what's going on in BC Supreme Court, on our behalf, these days. I mean, how ridiculous is it that when one of the Accused "falls ill" that he can't follow the sessions by video, TV, or whatever ... testimony has already been taken from one of the witnesses (Ian Munro from Halifax). Or was that a lie too?

So in case you miss them, I add the NORTHERN INSIGHTS  comments (thanks, Norman!) :


 3 comments from "Northern Insights"
The Dog Ate My Homework :


Anonymous said...
Thank goodness that British Columbians still value the truth. If we take the time to look, then we see thru Captain Campbell and his efforts to thwart justice and honesty.

One thing you can say about Carole, she ain't no liar. Oh, and BTW, I resent the speaker of the house encourageing lying.

May 26, 2010 11:38 PM

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Ian said...
Excellent post. I have a hard time with this one. Politicians spin, they always will and they always have. But what does that mean? I believe it's basically a case of putting out the good news and leaving out the bad.

Is that a lie? I'm not sure it matters in political discourse. What matters is recognizing and interrogating it... Putting both sides on the table in a serious and critical fashion. It's a huge job for an opposition and the fourth estate and one that just about died in this province between 2001 and 2005. I'd argue its been on life support in the fourth estate for a decade and half.

But the Liberals have stepped up this game and your post shows that. They've incorporated the big, straight out lie into spin. The BC Rail case is a perfect example. That's not spin as we know it, it's a complete fabrication that makes no reference to established facts.

The media in particular treats it like spin - as part of the she said/he said discourse - a completely inadequate and wrong headed response. The use of the lie as spin is socio-pathic politics and it's best practiced by politicians who lie as if they are speaking the truth, politicians who have absolutely no moral compass.

You see it all over. American politics is riddled with it (Sarah Palin)and its become the MO for federal Tory politics.

Blogs, i fear, contribute to it as the conventions are fluid, but they are also the best defence right now because it's where you get real debate, not the ideologically managed debate we find in say the Sun or the Globe, or the personality driven and ideologically inspired politics of the nightly newshour.

May 27, 2010 12:08 AM 
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Norman Farrell said...
Ian, as always, your contribution is appreciated. I don't know people that disagree with what we're saying, just those not bothered by the situation. Yet, I'm certain the entire political dialog is damaged, if not pointless. Instead of listening to alternatives, we tend to take sides and let someone else do the thinking.

Under Liberals, the operatives doing the deciding for the province make up a group far too small. Even elected MLAs are excluded. They're given talking points and pompoms and told to get on side. What a waste of intellectual talent.

I was 13 or 14 when I read Vance Packard's book The Hidden Persuaders in which he explored methods of motivating consumers of both stuff and ideas. Maybe that book set me up for a lifetime of cynicism, or maybe it taught realism.

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Comments:
The sad thing is, when they get caught lying, they invent a bigger lie to cover the first one! And while telling you to "believe," their eyes are almost compelling you to do so. Psychotic in my opinion. The whole damn lot of them.

This morning though, Michael Smyth at The Province has an article on the HST, the libs latest and greatest lie...and how they plan to treat it. Mr. Lake thinks his committee can "look at that initiative and say that it's invalid." He does after all head the committee that decides the fate of the HST in the Legislature. They lied to bring it in, they lied about the "benefits" to BC'ers, they lied about the damage it will do in the end...then they tell us they're going to invalidate our response to their lies, and keep on truckin'.

I fully expect to see the Recall legislation wiped from the books before November too...along with the message that it's good for us! So, what does Mr. Lake really think of us? "Lake said he respects the petition process because "it gives people a voice and an opportunity to speak to government directly."

But he added: "I'm not a big fan of direct democracy. What we have is a representative democracy, and I think we should work within that tradition."

No Mr. Lake, we do NOT have representative democracy! If that were the case, you would have voted NO on the HST when the citizens of North Kamloops asked you to! Your "representative democracy" is backwards sir, you do NOT represent what Campbell/Brown have to say to us, you DO represent what we have to say to Campbell/Brown. Personally, I can't wait until you're sidelined along with the rest of your cabal.
 
Wow! Well said Leah.
 
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