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[langdon_algar]

I have a question for the conservatives, even though they are seemingly under-represented in this community. Maybe i'm just willfully blocking out any piercing critiques that i have read on liberal policy, being the hardcore pinko that i am, but it seems to me that there has been very little critique of liberal policy, at least in this forum. For

Comments

[fur_is_murder]

I think if most level headed conservatives (and by "conservatives" i do not mean partisans, I mean ideologically) actually looked at what Mr. Martin/Chretien and the Liberals have done in the past 11 years they would agree with a lot of it!

I do not think there will be a left/right debate on this, considering both party are placed firmly on the right.

[langdon_algar]

i agree, it seems like a lot of people are voting conservative out of spite to punish the liberals for the sponsorship scandal, disregarding all the good things they have done. On the other hand, it seems like the liberals should be punished somehow for their misdeeds.

i also can't argue that the liberals and conservatives are both on the right, depending on your definition of "on the right." However, the liberals seem nearer the center than the conservatives and, therefore, more palatable to leftists.

[manitoblog]

As a Conservative, I don't see the leftists of this community being on the defensive any time soon. 90% or more of you are "Bush is a hick and so is Harper" lefties, so it's not like we on the right will get you guys on the ropes. I'm here for debate, sometimes it gets passionate, that's fine. I've been called all sorts of names on LJ communities, that's okay, I dish it out and I'll take it too. The fact is that few opinions will be changed by a debate on an LJ community, so all we end up doing is yelling our fixed positions and attacks at each other. Meh.

Also, maybe the reason we don't complain about idiotic and corrupt Liberal policies too much is because there's too much of those to possibly comprehend.

[langdon_algar]

i don't think Harper is a hick. Until his recent uncouth remarks, i think he handled himself with far more class than the liberals with their attack campaign. That doesn't really have anything to do with his potential policies however

[mishakal]

No offense manitoblog, as we have had many debates ourselves. However I find this to be true as well. You write off your left wing counterparts as idiotic communists or something of the like. I don't believe anyone is trying to change anyones opinions but it's important to consider that there are other perspectives on any matter.

both are right. some lefties like myself realize that. it's insulting to try to make someone understand a perspective critically and it's infuriating when they ignore your arguments completely and just try to find things to poke holes in.

politics is subjective. we all need to respect eachother and LISTEN.

[tridus]

I'd love to debate the Liberal campaign promises, but they have consistantly lied about said promises for 11 years and I don't take them seriously. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." We're heading onto #4 here, I can't believe anybody is falling for it this time.

What I do expect is more of what Paul Martin was up to during the last decade, and aside from corruption and wasteful programs (Gun Registry) I don't have much of a problem with more of that.

[langdon_algar]

That's a fair criticism. In terms of the Gun Registry, what do you think of police chiefs across Canada supporting it? Do you think they are all Martin's political lapdogs, as Harper said? Sorry for the facetiousness, but seriously do you think police support lends this program any credibility?

[tridus]

Nah. Police Chiefs want police to have more power.

One of the handy things about knowing that Jim down the street owns a shotgun is that its far easier to get a search warrant because Jim has a gun.

What destroys this programs credibility is not who supports or opposes it, its that we've spent $1 billion to be able to know that Jim owns a shotgun. Is this infrmation really worth $1 billion, and $113 million more per year?

Why did it cost that much? The computer system powering this thing cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Five people at my University could have built the backend system as a project if we were given a modest hardware budget and 4 months. A few networking guys could roll out infrastructure to the places that need terminals, and a couple of desktop guys and a bunch of Dell PCs could do the job.

The original estimate of $2 million for this thing was probably a realistic goal, so what happened to the other $998 million? Why is this thing FIVE HUNDRED times over budget? Why didn't they stop such a runaway black hole

[langdon_algar]

i think the gun registry couldn't have hurt, had it stayed on budget. However, i agree that it is not worth a billion dollars.

[manitoblog]

I could attack every Liberal broken promise and corrupt move, but that would take hours and hours, and it wouldn't affect anyone other than to make people defend the Liberals or attack the Conservatives. No minds will be changed here. It would be a waste of my time.

If that's not a good enough answer, that's too bad. I know what I believe and I don't feel the need to spend my time describing it in detail on a LJ community, since it won't create understanding, only arguments.

If you think I'm just evading, that's fine by me.

[langdon_algar]

i think it's fair to say that you just don't believe the liberals anymore, that's a valid reason for not voting for them. i kind of wish that you would list some of the more glaring broken promises for my personal edification, because, other the than breaking the unspoken promise not to embezzle our money in the sponsorship scandal, i don't think i'm aware of them. I guess there's always reading the "red book."

[xert]

Well, we still have the GST...