I find American politics to be profoundly discouraging. While Stephen Harper has made it clear that he will not hesitate to stoop to the lowest of political tactics to get his way (as John Ibbitson has written, “there is nothing, nothing Mr. Harper won’t do to win”), he has at least been kept in check to a certain degree by a Parliamentary system that, while not perfect, could be much worse, and by a media that has refused to stop asking questions even when Harper stopped taking them.
There are now glimmers of hope appearing for the majority of Americans who would take back their democracy. If you read any other political blogs, you’ve probably already seen Keith Olbermann’s special comment as broadcast Tuesday night on MSNBC. If not, it’s embedded below and is required viewing. Thanks to Mr. Olbermann for reminding us that dissent can be patriotic, and that opposition to American government policy is not in itself anti-American.
This is great!
It’s interesting to note that we never get commentary like this in Canada. Even if our Prime Minister were equivalently guilty of deeds like those of Bush, to the extent possible under our parliamentary system, commentary at this level would likely result in one heck of a libel suit, requiring both the newscaster and the network to prove everything said to be essentially true. Even if accurate, the cost to prove everything spoken would be immense.
I’m glad Olbermann is doing this. Even in the US, he must be under considerable pressure.
Rex Murphy has a long history of commentary like this. He is also more eloquent and clever, and far less long winded. Rex and Olberman are both Liberal/Democrats and it’s normal for them to vehemently criticize their conservative political opponents.
The real problem is the electoral system itself. Change that and you will have much more government accountability. Olbermann didn’t mention that once.
Your link to the video is broken. I think this is the right one:
Video ID = NN-eGOtBGbg
Thanks, updated. -CT