Senator Amidala was right

Am I just missing out? Is everyone enjoying a joke that I'm too naive to get? Hey guys, if it is true, wait up for me!

But if the days are really becoming dimmer and democracy and religious freedom really are being sold out for with a laugh and an applause, then I'm becoming concerned.

Canadians want a democracy, but yet they don't to go to the polls.

Canadians, like Warren Kinsella, want Stephen Harper to hijack the riding nominations process by refusing to sign papers.

He says it "Kills two birds with one stone: gets rid of a bunch of single-issue troublemakers. And gets you Ontario"

On the contrary. I think it kills two other birds: grassroots democracy and religious freedom.

GLOBE&MAIL: Christian activists capturing Tory races

Here we've got a pretty good article with a horrendous introduction:

Christian activists have secured Conservative nominations in clusters of ridings from Vancouver to Halifax -- a political penetration that has occurred even as the party tries to distance itself from hard-line social conservatism.

Penetration rarely conjures up a pretty picture.

The bulk of good observations honoured, albeit they are buried in the article:

That said, [John Reynolds - the retiring Conservative MP], is offended by attempts to paint the Conservative party as a harbour for religious zealots.

"There were three dozen Liberals who voted with us on the same-sex thing," he said. "Nobody is going after them and saying, 'Look at these far-right Christians that got into the Liberal Party.' "

Ms. Silver, a lawyer in the federal Justice Department, objects to being labelled a Christian candidate. "That's a form of discrimination," she said. "That's putting them in a class of people and ascribing to them the characteristics of that class without ever giving them a chance to stand on their own merits."

Execs question Stronach's motives

National Post on what business execs think about Belinda's jump:

Some 63% of business leaders contend Ms. Stronach left the Conservatives after she realized she would not win the party's leadership and was offered a Cabinet position by Paul Martin, the Liberal Prime Minister.

A further 26% believe the switch was necessary because her personal political views are more in line with those of the Liberal party. Only 8% of business leaders believe the move was motivated by a sense of public service.