"L'état c'est moi." A placard attributing the famous pronouncement of Louis XIV to Stevie Spiteful was spotted at the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament rally in Ottawa yesterday, just before Harper showed up. He was large and perfectly cartoonish with a big "Burger King" crown, a kitteh on his shoulder and a sign that read: What! Me worry?We surprised ourselves in Ottawa with an amazingly large turnout. And people kept coming, adding to the crowd for the first half-hour. It was quite inspiring with good public speakers, chosen for their relevance, not party politics. A number of speakers addressed the bills, the issues, the urgent questions that were dismissed by the ReformaTories as irrelevant: climate change, bringing our troops home from Afghanistan and the effect of MASSIVE bankruptcies such as Nortel upon disable workers.
The Raging Grannies sang; we were supplied with lyrics by their young-ish helpers, presumably Grannies-in-waiting. And Trevor Strong of the Arrogant Worms was there too, leading the 3,500+ crowd in song. It was quite a well organized and well-attended event with an effervescent and good-spirited crowd. I took many pictures of the home-made placards, all of them inspiring and appropriate.
2 comments:
Thumbs up! Based on reports from rallies across the country, the numbers exceeded expectations everywhere.
....and the "What next?" discussions at Facebook look dandy thoughtful and exciting.
I imagine that career politicians look upon such a rising with mixed emotions - it must be very tempting to jump to the front of such a parade, professional sluts, that they are . . . but it must also be rather frightening to see that 'The People' can be moved to action - and that the action can be directed against . . .what? . . .arrogance? and an obnoxious set of policies.
I think that the prorogation was just what tipped it - I think that there is a great deal more stuff in the balance.
So I'm keen to see that the CAPP membership is maintained and engages other topics. It would be a shame to lose the momentum. I'd go for a drive to a Public (judicial) Enquiry into the Afghan Detainee evasions. Once started, it would bear all sorts of 'low-hanging fruit'. . . straight-forward to demand and tough to say it can't be done.
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