Midnight madness at Queen’s Park. Ah, well, maybe we didn’t really need Storify …
All those of you who are crowing at DoFo ignoring the constitution and strong-arming the legislative process, bear in mind: you're signing onto the oldest excuse in the world — the end justifies the means. #TOpoli #onpoli @fordnation
— Sol Chrom (@SolTwoPointO) September 17, 2018
You know *why* "the end justifies the means" is the oldest excuse in the world? Because it has absolutely no moral foundation. Anybody can use it to rationalize anything. #TOpoli #onpoli
— Sol Chrom (@SolTwoPointO) September 17, 2018
So while you might be cheering at the idea of @fordnation putting the boot in to the "downtown lefties," and not caring how many laws and conventions he breaks … consider that if he gets away with this, he'll use it again and again. He's said as much. #topoli #onpoli
— Sol Chrom (@SolTwoPointO) September 17, 2018
And once the idea of using the notwithstanding clause to steamroller opposition becomes normalized, you can bet other governments of other stripes will start using it. #TOpoli #onpoli @fordnation
— Sol Chrom (@SolTwoPointO) September 17, 2018
So while you might be creaming your knickers at the idea of DoFo using the NWS clause to pay off his so-con allies — putting women, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ rights, and all kinds of progress that took decades to achieve in the crosshairs … #TOpoli #onpoli
— Sol Chrom (@SolTwoPointO) September 17, 2018
… just consider that once the precedent is set, it's virtually certain that governments you *don't* like will use the same tactics to push through measures you *don't* like. What goes around. Sauce for the goose. Karma's a bitch and all that. #onpoli #TOpoli
— Sol Chrom (@SolTwoPointO) September 17, 2018
Who / what else is on DoFo's list? Racialized communities? Police accountability, such as it is? Immigrants (the dog whistles have been blowing)? What's that? They have legal protection? Not when the NWS clause can be used to flatten them as a matter of course. #onpoli #TOpoli
— Sol Chrom (@SolTwoPointO) September 17, 2018
It's not just about DoFo's need for vengeance. It's about anyone's fundamental rights going "poof" at any moment. Martin Niemoller's warning is particularly relevant here. https://t.co/A5dHrCWwsP #topoli #onpoli @fordnation
— Sol Chrom (@SolTwoPointO) September 17, 2018
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
— Martin Niemöller
Couldn’t fit it all into a tweet, but here it is.
Somebody suggested recently that the messaging shouldn’t focus so much on Doug’s apparent obsession with vengeance on Toronto, rich a vein though that is, as on the arbitrary, dictatorial, and capricious negation of fundamental rights constitutionally guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. You may cheer while it’s happening to Toronto, because as we all know, everyone loves to hate on Toronto, but who knows — it may happen to you next. The evident disregard for the role of an appointed judiciary and resort to pseudo-populist Trump-style rhetoric should also set off alarms, regardless of whether you think of yourself as left or right or whatever. Anyone want to bet that this isn’t the midnight harbinger of a brutal new austerity agenda?
Oh, and could we please stop referring to this bunch as Tories? Tories are decent, honourable people with whom you can disagree, but they don’t stray outside the bounds of civilized behaviour. They may be misguided, but they have principles. That’s not this crowd.