"My job is to end ... politicians’ careers."

Think about that for a moment.

That was a Rovian statement, with all it implies of dirty tricks, amoral tactics, unlimited resources and murderous intent.

It was said by a guy who is the CEO of a *polling firm* - Campaign Research of course. It appears some legitimate pollsters are rousing themselves from their state of stupified complacency to investigate complaints against this little shit and his odious actions.

From polling methods described as “reprehensible” by the Commons Speaker, to some questionable polling in the federal and provincial elections, Canada’s public-opinion research industry has faced its share of controversy in the past year.

One big test case is looming immediately — an investigation by the Market Research Intelligence Association into the activities of the polling firm Campaign Research, which conducted a survey in the Montreal riding of Liberal MP Irwin Cotler that earned a slap from Commons Speaker Andrew Scheer.

If MRIA finds that the firm breached its standards — a charge that Campaign Research vigorously denies — this would be a first for the Canadian polling industry.

The call for stricter measures on how polls are conducted and reported is coming from some leading pollsters, who worry that the credibility of their business is getting dragged down by lax or controversial standards in Canada.

“I’m a little disgusted; no, make that a lot disgusted,” says Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos, who wrote an open letter to Canadian journalists last fall, warning of the growth of sketchy practices in political polling.

Too little, too late.

Le Rove est mort, vive le Rove Nouveau!

Thanks to our buddy JJ at unrepentant old hippie, we got a bug in our ear about marketing wiz-kid and wordmeister Frank Luntz.

Luntz discussed his use of the term, "energy exploration" (oil drilling). His research on the matter involved showing people a picture of current oil drilling and asking if in the picture it "looks like exploration or drilling." He said that 90 percent of the people he spoke to said it looked like exploring. "Therefore I'd argue that it is a more appropriate way to communicate." He went on to say "if the public says after looking at the pictures, that doesn't look like my definition of drilling—it looks like my definition of exploring—then don't you think we should be calling it what people see it to be, rather than adding a political aspect to it all?" Terry Gross responded: "Should we be calling it what it actually is, as opposed to what somebody thinks it might be? The difference between exploration and actually getting out the oil—they're two different things, aren't they?"

It makes us wonder if Ezra Levant's well-funded *ethical oil* gig was an attempt to use Luntz' template for language re-engineering.

About 18 months ago, we suggested Karl Rove might be approached by Stevie's Contempt Party to provide them with a little war room coaching. As luck would have it, Rove's been quite busy putting out fires and preventing, at times not so successfully, Republican candidates' meltdowns. So ...

In April this year, Emily Dee at Voices for Democracy posted this. So the accountability (and accessibility + transparence) thing was a fucking smoke screen - suggested by Luntz. Very meta, that.

Rove is old school. Grow bigger and bigger lies: even when their fraud is unmasked, voters will be too embarassed to admit even to themselves they were taken in by the con job.

Luntz uses distraction. Locate voters' buttons then push those to shift focus on to the chosen distraction.

Though Frank Luntz may have the support of the 1% his marketing sleight-of-word is not exactly *scientific-y* foolproof.

And as Canadian Cynic would gleefully point out: Ladies! He's available AND unattached!

Oh. Wait. Like Jason Kenney?

When we updated this post about ConJobs dirty tricks to unseat Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, we added links that are worth re-posting.

Susan Delacourt tracks how the reformaTory media control unfolded, here and here.

And Alison at Creekside gives credit to other bloggers keeping track of the Harper Government™© obfuscations.

*Epic* attack indeed.

DAMMIT JANET! admires Elizabeth Warren. A lot.

There is much in what she says and how she says it that is admirable.

Thus attacks upon her candidacy began, first with the sexist & idiotic and now ... with the big (though far from MASSIVELY endowed) hired gun.

Yep. Karl Rove.

It’s no surprise that Rove and his ilk are attacking Warren. She’s a major threat to the Republican Party and its allied corporate backers for two reasons.

Number one: she’s running even with Brown in a race that may very decide control of the Senate.

Number two: her reformist background and brand of progressive populism is deeply resonant right now. Unlike so many in Washington, she’s taken on the banks and their allies, is not beholden to them, and is not afraid of them. That makes her dangerous to the political establishment in both parties.

via AntoniaZ tweet.

'Own goals' all over the place today

Indeed, what a lovely day this is shaping up to be.

From Let Freedom Rain, news about Fox News South:

It's been a perfect day so far. Best of all, FNN is kaput. South of the border, something even more interesting is brewing. The selfish assholes who call themselves tea partiers have party-lusted themselves into major electoral troubles. They elected a non-electable scumbag in Delaware who will take away a sure Senatorial seat from the GOP.

Despite the protestations of major GOP tyrants like Rove, O'Donnell won easily and lost the Republicans a major seat. Best of all, Fox News' Rove is getting shit upon for his role in dissing O'Donnell. It can't get any better than that. Fox News South also in trouble, methinks.

Christine O'Donnell is a piece of um, work.

Across the pond, His Poopiness's tour of the UK is not going well.

One of the pope's top advisers on his visit to England and Scotland has dropped out of his entourage following the publication of an interview in which he said that arriving in Britain "you sometimes think you've landed in a third world country".

Benedict XVI's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, told the Guardian, however, that Cardinal Walter Kasper had withdrawn "for health reasons".

He said the 77-year-old prelate's absence from the papal party, which lands in Edinburgh tomorrow at the start of a four-day visit, "had absolutely nothing to do with anything else".

Kasper, the Vatican's leading expert on relations with the Church of England, made his remark after noting that Britain was a "secular, pluralistic" country.

Asked by the German news magazine, Focus, whether Christians were discriminated against in Britain, he replied: "Yes. Above all, an aggressive new atheism has spread through Britain. If, for example, you wear a cross on British Airways, you are discriminated against."

Nope, absolutely nothing to do with fatuous Catlick martyrdom. Perhaps he wants to spend more time with his family. . .

Finally, we'll give the last word to Margaret Atwood whose signature on the Avaaz petition really got this ball rolling.

Re: SUN's Kory T. resigns: I didn't do it. Honest. It was the Great Pumpkin (plus a few Own Goals.)

The Republicans' Pitbull and his quest for new fire hydrants.

Rust never sleeps. Karl Rove has helped his party launch a new "grass-roots" organization intended to funnel rightwing billionaires' contribution toward the defeat of Democrat candidates in the US fall elections.

You may recall that Rove was lured to Toronto during the by ersatz doctor Charles McVety to highlight his mini G8/G20 extravaganza.

More about American Crossroads here. ReformaTories have a history of being coached by US experts in various sleazy political tactics.

Watch for some Canadian version of Rove's project to be spawned in the months to come, in support of the Cons' attempt to elect a majority government for Harper.

The invasion continues.

25 years ago, when gay icon Bette Midler married Martin Von Haselberg, she would joke that she and her husband enjoyed kinky sex. "I dress up like Poland and I ask him to invade me," was her provocative one-liner, meant to underline their geo-political and cultural differences. As far as I know, they are still (heterosexually) married.

Neither Bette nor Martin will be speaking at the mini-G-20 Alison writes about at Creekside. In fact, there are no women in the line-up; only the voices of male, pallid-skinned, rightwing fundamentalist christian (and a token non-perfected jew) zealots will be heard. Karl Rove. Michael Coren. Grant Jeffrey ... Canada's "most prolific" writer? Snerk. News of Margaret Atwood have not reached inside Dokter McVety's protective bubble?

Some do enjoy the smell of fire-and-brimstone in the morning.

Gag Me with a Spoon!

The first part of this didn't surprise me all that much. For the benefit of a charity that helps 'wounded warriors', you can bid on eBay to win a dinner with Sarah Palin. And Todd! And only five other winners! You'll have to pay your own travel expenses to hook up with her, in, um, Montana? Rhode Island? Well, somewhere.

Opening bid is $25,000.

The second part gob-smacked me. For the same charity, Karl Motherfucking Rove will have lunch with three lucky winners. Opening bid for this treat of a lifetime is only $7,500.

I mean, you'd have to pay me $25,000 to spend the evening with SP, but I'd need, um, wait, I'm thinking, about what the US government spent on Wall Street bailouts to chow down in the same restaurant with Karl Motherfucking Rove.

Bidding starts early Tuesday and you have to pre-qualify. So hurry here to register.