Stephen Harper's Terrorists

 

Just hours after the PM advised against "committing sociology' by considering the root causes of terrorism, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre's came up with an even more bumpersticker-ready position, telling his co-panelists on tonight's edition of Power and Politics that 'the root cause of terrorism is terrorists.'

 

The Conservative Party of Canada is all for direct call-and-answer.  Terrorism is caused by terrorists, pure and simple.  There can be no equivocating on this point.

 

With that in mind, let's do a little exercise, just for fun.

 

Here's the definition of terrorism: the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion

 

And here's a definition of terror, just so we have full clarity:

 

                  1: a state of intense fear

                  2a: one that inspires fear

                    b: a frightening aspect (terror of invasion)

                    c: a cause of anxiety

                    d: an appalling person or thing

 

It's simple; a terrorist is one who causes/inspires fear.  People who engage in fear-mongering are terrorists.

 

Stephen Harper has warned us about seas of troubles lapping at our shores.  He's warned us that Socialists and Separatists seek to destroy our country.  Liberal leaders, environmentalists, people who use the Internet have all been branded as threats to our safety and economic security that only The Harper's Canada Government can save us from.

 

In short, Stephen Harper has consistently used fear as a coercive tool to get Canadians to vote his way or ignore CPC behaviours (like lying to the public, coercing bureaucrats to lie or not speak to the public, so on and so forth); in his world, the CPC ends justify the means of keeping Harper's perceived threats at bay.

 

By this linear, straight-forward logic, it's no wonder the Harper Conservatives are so clear about what constitutes terrorism.

 

Talk about the pot calling the kettle tar baby.

 

But it gets better - see, our Prime Minister has a cut-and-dry response to terrorism:

 

The right way to respond Harper said is to “condemn it categorically, and to the extent you can deal with the perpetrators you deal with them as harshly as possible. And that's what this government would do if ever faced with such actions."

 

There's no time to commit sociology.  You're either on the right side of a clearly defined line or your not.  By Harper's logic, by his actions and by his words, he's clearly on the wrong side of history.

 

Canada - it looks like we have a job to do.