The Monarchist 1.0
Defending the British Crown Commonwealth and the English-Speaking Peoples
[+] HONOURING OUR PATRON, SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, VICTOR OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES
[+] HONOURING OUR QUEEN, ELIZABETH THE SECOND, ON THE 80TH YEAR OF HER BIRTH (1926 - 2006)
[+] HONOURING OUR KING, SAINT EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, ON THE 1000TH YEAR OF HIS BIRTH (1005 - 2005)
[+] HONOURING OUR HERO, LORD NELSON, ON THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR (1805 - 2005)
[+] HONOURING OUR SONS, THE QUEEN'S COMMONWEALTH SOLDIERS KILLED IN THE 'WAR ON TERROR'
Chief Warrant Officer Robert Girouard, 46, Royal Canadian Regiment, Nov 27, 2006 (Afstan)
Staff Sergeant Sharron Elliott, 34, Intelligence Corps, Nov 12, 2006 (Iraq)
Private Jacob B. Kovco, 25, Royal Australian Regiment, April 21, 2006
[+] HONOURING OUR VETS ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VICTORIA CROSS (1856 - 2006)
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
A conservative by definition is not radical
I have a bone to pick. Richard Gwyn, long-time columnist for the Toronto Star and medievalist-looking English squire (the resemblance is too striking for words), collapsed today under a mountainous contradiction with his "Steely PM taking Canada down radical path" warning:
Obviously Mr. Gwyn forgot to do a thought-check on his column before he sent it off, and obviously nobody at the Star thought to read the column before printing it. How could he state unequivocally that Harper is a “conservative Conservative”, while in the very same breath tell us that the PM is taking Canada down “the most radical path in our entire political history”?
A conservative, in case Mr. Gwyn wasn’t aware, is someone who is inclined to preserve the existing order of things, who respects tradition, who is moderate and cautious - someone who, by definition, opposes the very radical change he so mysteriously talks about. Harper may be stone cold focused and steely and even arrogant, but he is not radical.
If you are going to say a Prime Minister is radical, then it behooves you to back that assertion up with evidence. Because from where I’m looking, all I’ve seen is someone who sticks to tradition and protocol; makes announcements to Parliament before the media; pulls back on 15% per year increases in Liberal spending; improves on US relations to already tangible benefit; demonstrates respect for the military and respect for the monarchy. All the radicalness of an extreme centrist.
So much for the Squire Gwyn bunk. God Bless the Conservatives. God Save the Queen.
POSTED BY: The Monarchist AT 4:57 p.m. | LINKS |
I have a bone to pick. Richard Gwyn, long-time columnist for the Toronto Star and medievalist-looking English squire (the resemblance is too striking for words), collapsed today under a mountainous contradiction with his "Steely PM taking Canada down radical path" warning:
“[I]t's becoming increasingly clear that we have undergone the most radical political change in decades, and, arguably, although only potentially, the most radical in our entire political history.
First, because Harper is a conservative Conservative. That doesn't mean he's a raving neo-con. It does mean he's a true-believing conservative.
The last genuinely conservative prime minister we had was three-quarters of a century back, in the 1930s. That was R.B. Bennett, who wound up with a title living in Britain.
None of his Conservative successors was a conservative. John Diefenbaker was a prairie populist. Joe Clark was a bright red Red Tory. Brian Mulroney was a political chameleon who adored corporate tycoons but who also had a soft spot for those who came from the wrong side of the tracks, like himself. Harper, by contrast, comes to the office with an ideological belief in conservatism.”
Obviously Mr. Gwyn forgot to do a thought-check on his column before he sent it off, and obviously nobody at the Star thought to read the column before printing it. How could he state unequivocally that Harper is a “conservative Conservative”, while in the very same breath tell us that the PM is taking Canada down “the most radical path in our entire political history”?
A conservative, in case Mr. Gwyn wasn’t aware, is someone who is inclined to preserve the existing order of things, who respects tradition, who is moderate and cautious - someone who, by definition, opposes the very radical change he so mysteriously talks about. Harper may be stone cold focused and steely and even arrogant, but he is not radical.
If you are going to say a Prime Minister is radical, then it behooves you to back that assertion up with evidence. Because from where I’m looking, all I’ve seen is someone who sticks to tradition and protocol; makes announcements to Parliament before the media; pulls back on 15% per year increases in Liberal spending; improves on US relations to already tangible benefit; demonstrates respect for the military and respect for the monarchy. All the radicalness of an extreme centrist.
So much for the Squire Gwyn bunk. God Bless the Conservatives. God Save the Queen.
POSTED BY: The Monarchist AT 4:57 p.m. | LINKS |
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