Kenney, Alberta's complete disaster
I don't even know what to say but I'll share where I'm at. I'm a huge fan of podcasts and I find that they get me thinking and provide me difficult angles to scrutinize things as well as avenues to reflect and challenge myself to be better.
I was listening to the @politicalRnD podcast, and the guests they had on raised so many great points about the current political status of the Conservatives in this country. Before I get into what I took from the pod, I want to highlight something. I'm not a liberal, an NDPer, a devoted green voter or a Conservative. The Conservatives, IMO, get judged for their actions and their complete and utter disregard for the concept of evolution and humanity when governing over us as Canadians/Albertans etc. That's their problem. They want to dumb us down so that they can stay relevant because they realize that they're on their last legs and they're about to go under, as the presently exist.
Ok, so back to the podcast. One of the points that was made about the current CPC, and inherently their provincial equivalents, is the fact that there is a group of social conservatives that are loud and dictating the direction of the party. To the best of my knowledge, social conservatives feel like fighting over such things as LGBTQS2 rights, anti-abortion and pro-life issues (anything regarding controlling the bodies of women), and climate change denialism. I'm sure I'll get some feedback on this and I'm always up for learning about what else is seen as in the scope of interest for social conservatives. It sure stinks of a religious foundation. I don't have time for that normally, and I become instantly and vehemently intolerant as the belief is we should be open and tolerant to being governed by such neanderthals.
From the pod, I came away with the understanding that what is poisoning the Conservative party are social conservatives. I'm not saying that they're a perfect party outside of that but I believe that there is room for respectable discord between the parties to find acceptable solutions outside of them. I don't want to take away from the podcast, and I absolutely recommend you go onto any medium that you can get podcasts and consume the material because the entire conversation was very enlightening and I'm far more willing to believe that there is a poison in the well and that there are some real quality Conservatives out there. Those very people need to purge the venom from the party in order to become relevant again, because as the strategist on the program said, they won't get elected again until they get rid of that faction and start to identify with Canadians.
A point that the strategist made later in the pod which really stuck and made sense was, the future generations are FISCALLY conservative and SOCIALLY progressive. I think this is HUGE. The argument against the left or the liberals (who aren't left FYI) are that they like to spend endlessly and carelessly. Newsflash: I don't think ANYONE endorses careless and wild spending. The fact is, that ends up needing to be made up somewhere at some point. What needs to be remembered is that, when we've had governments that neglect to take care of things like infrastructure, eventually that bill will come to pass. You can't run from that forever. We're partaking in things like energy transition, this isn't a luxury, it's going to be a necessity. Fossil fuels are being phased out to the greatest extent that they can, and will continue to be moving forward as more innovation and research comes to light and more alternatives can be presented and invested in. This isn't judgement, it's fact. Something like a national childcare program, something again to look at. The economy benefits if we have more people working --> more taxes collected.
The tax money needs to go to SERVE THE PEOPLE! It can't be pocketed and pissed away for the endeavors of politicians or their grifter friends. THAT'S where a significant loss is taking place.
Now, back to the issue directly closer to home, the UCP. I commented on twitter about how I feel that Kenney isn't going to survive the next two years. He hasn't learned, despite multiple "mockdown and release, mockdown and release" cycles, what will work to gain control of this pandemic. Let me compare this to extinguishing a fire. You don't hose a house fire down to the point where you've contained it to the kitchen, and then roll up the hose and go home. It can't be "beat back". It has to be extinguished. EVERYBODY needs to extinguish it.
Church gatherings shouldn't supercede it. Getting drunk on a patio shouldn't supercede it. Nothing should supercede it.
He refuses to take a stand. He never embraced the contact tracing app put forth from the federal Liberals. He won't take a stand against his base, which in turn isn't endearing himself to them either because they're "losing" by the restrictions and it's almost a certainty that they've been negatively, if not devastatingly, touched by COVID as well. He won't prioritize immunizing the people who need it the most (I see you educators). He won't help buoy up small business who are dying on the vine with the "lockdowns". He won't buy into the science, but instead lays blame blame blame. Blame doesn't get anyone anywhere. He likes to present himself as a leader, but really he's just a sad, broken little boy.
I missed the presser yesterday, but by the sounds of the feedback from people I respect on twitter, he sounded like a fumbling bumbling mess. He doesn't have the capacity, or the where for all to survive the next two years. He has the lowest approval ratings in the country, he has MLA's (18) who can't stomach how he's dealing with the pandemic (and they're the unhinged ones), the populace hates him, and he isn't dealing with ANYTHING well. Some folks present the argument that "well if he gets ousted, the UCP will get elected with a new leader", yea, I don't think so Jim. A couple reasons why: 1. Plenty of new young voters are eligible to vote now (don't downplay this because he's attacked the aspirations and the outlook for young people with reckless abandon. Betting on the fact that they won't turn out and vote is a very risky behaviour. You can't possibly predict how pissed off these young folks are about the changes that have been put in by this government.) 2. The rest of his government hasn't changed. I bet I could get a laundry list of bad takes and embarrassing moments for a significant number of his ministers. They're ALL complicit. They sit silent, they're guilty. They speak out in defense of him, they're guilty. They take vacations in the middle of a pandemic, guilty. They act in a misogynistic fashion to the opposition, guilty. They try to present as valuing diversity, guilty. On and on it goes.
Kenney and company WON'T be back in come 2023. He's flying at light speed toward the earth and his own self destruction. Bye bye Kenney and UCP trash.
Ok, that's enough for today.
Have a terrific day and take care of each other.
Back again soon,
A friendly face