In an unhinged commentary recorded by Danielle Smith on Nov. 10, 2021, the day before Remembrance Day, Alberta’s future premier compared Albertans who got vaccinated against COVID-19 with Germans who voted for Hitler.
A clip from the video appeared on social media Sunday and has circulated widely since.
“I notice you’re not wearing a poppy,” Ms. Smith says to Andrew Ruhland, founder of a Calgary investment company called Integrated Wealth Management in the snippet from a 90-minute video podcast that has since disappeared from the site on which it was posted.
“I’m not wearing a poppy,” she immediately adds.
“They ruined it for me, this year,” Ms. Smith offered by way of explanation, “the political leaders standing on their soapbox pretending that they care about all the things that you’ve just talked about, pretending they understand the sacrifice, and not understanding that their actions are exactly the actions that our great men and women in uniform were fighting against.”
Ms. Smith’s discourse continues about how the Netflix series How to Become a Tyrant explains how Adolf Hitler (whom she referenced specifically, by name) got elected, and asks whether citizens of 21st Century democracies like Canada would do the same thing in the same circumstances.
“One academic says, I know sooo many people would say – I think they must have filmed this before COVID – so many people would say that they would not have succumbed to the charms of the tyrant, somebody telling them that they have all the answers, and he said, ‘I guarantee you would.’
“And that’s the test here, is – we’ve seen it.
“We have 75 per cent of the public who say, not only ‘Hit me,’ but ‘Hit me harder,’ and keep me away from those dirty unvaxxed. And even on the cover of the Toronto Star, saying, ‘I want people who are unvaxxed to get sick and die and I don’t even care, I don’t want them to get treatment.’
“We’re already hearing about people being denied treatment for not being vaccinated, being taken off the organ donor list.” (She meant the organ recipient list, of course.)
In a voice full of lamentation, the premier adds: “What are we becoming? What are we becoming?”
“It’s diabolical,” pipes up Mr. Ruhland. “It is diabolical,” replies Ms. Smith.
Reaction, naturally, was swift, as is usually the case when Ms. Smith’s more bizarre bloviations resurface.
B’nai Brith Canada, the well-known Jewish Human Rights organization, tweeted: “There is no justification for politicians to make contemporaneous comparisons to the Nazi regime. Our leaders must do better.”
Canadian Anti-Hate Network Chair Bernie Farber told the CBC that Smith was “wilfully ignorant or is in dire need of participating in our workshops on understanding the roots of anti-Semitism.”
In a statement distributed to media, Opposition NDP Leader and former premier Rachel Notley called Ms. Smith’s comments horrifying.
“In the middle of a global health crisis, Albertans came together to protect themselves, their neighbours, their communities, and their hospitals,” Ms. Notley said. “They rolled up their sleeves and took part in a province-wide effort to reduce and prevent hospitalizations during the rapid spread of COVID-19.”
The premier, Ms. Notley added, “also disrespects the wearing of the poppy, saying its significance was ruined by decisions made by political leaders during the pandemic.”
“What we have here is a Premier who is looking at over 75 per cent of Albertans who stepped up — who followed the science and respected the requests made by public health officials to protect themselves, their neighbours and Alberta’s most vulnerable — and she is comparing them to the architects of an anti-Semitic Genocide.”
Reaction from many individual Albertans was often much harsher.
Ms. Smith responded with a characteristic half-apology sent to major media by a staffer. “As everyone knows, I was against the use of vaccine mandates during COVID,” she said.
“However, the horrors of the Holocaust are without precedent, and no one should make any modern-day comparisons that minimize the experience of the Holocaust and suffering under Hitler, nor the sacrifice of our veterans.
“I apologize for any offensive language used regarding this issue made while on talk radio or podcasts during my previous career,” she concluded (emphasis added). This is an excuse she has used before, that what she said on radio, in podcasts, or really anywhere shouldn’t count, because it was just entertainment or something.
This must be a bitter pill for Nadine Wellwood to swallow.
Readers will recall that Ms. Wellwood, a former UCP nomination candidate in the Livingstone-Macleod riding where Ms. Smith resides, was disqualified by the party on Nov. 12 this year for making very similar comments.
Like Ms. Smith a year earlier, Ms. Wellwood had also compared so-called vaccine passports, proof of vaccination documentation, to the genocidal policies of the Hitler regime in the 1930s and ’40s.
Ms. Wellwood appealed the decision of the UCP board and was told to get lost.
That, however, was then. This is now, so we’ll just have to make do with an insincere apology.
Premier Smith’s emerging commentary, increasingly, seems demented.
Is this an appropriate candidate to lead Alberta for four years?
It is sickening to listen to what is coming out of Smith’s mouth. She doesn’t like the poppy and everything it stands for because Canadian soldiers in WWII were fighting against people like her. As usual, she is twisting and projecting her flaws onto others. She is deeply disordered.
Likely, no definitively not. She is not qualified to lead. If I had a guess, I would say that Ms. Smith might be suffering from a histrionic personality disorder. Her flights from reality’s bonds seem too apparent. However, I am neither qualified to make such a judgement and I have never met her.
Nonetheless, what seems clear is Ms. Smith does seem unable to remain stable enough to make decisions that make sense. Her advisors give an impression of taking advantage of her.
If I am correct in this, then I do hope the voters of rural Alberta put aside lingering loyalties and either stay home, or vote New Democrat. I don’t think that the carpet baggers, and grifters of the UPC can be relied upon to even remotely look after Albertan’s interests, in the event of UPC victory. Unfortunately, the Westminster parliamentary system has few brakes and bumpers if it falls in to the hands of a true charlatan, so leading to an enduring crisis.
I truly hope the voters of Alberta understand the choice in this election, appearances vs. The reality of the hour.
I am a bit shocked, but really not that surprised by even kookier comments by Smith coming out. I had thought she might have just stuck to calling people communist, as she often has in the past, but I guess that was not enough. Surely she has jumped the shark by now, don’t you think?
So I guess the UCP approach will be to continue to deny or minimize all the kooky things she has said over the last 7 years or so that she was supposedly out of politics and try to convince us she is saner now – well at least until the election. I am quite concerned that if she does win kooky will soon make a big comeback, as she will no longer be constrained by the pressure of an impending election to appear sane. I imagine some in the UCP might also be concerned too, although they may be reluctant to admit it publicly.
The Danielle Smith show is just like a mixed box of chocolates – you never know what you are really going to get. But I feel it should also come with a big warning – this show may contain kooks!
Hello DJC,
The quote says, in part, “I apologize for any offensive language ….” Apologizing for her language but not her ideas, apparently.” The whole scenario of Danielle Smith’s statements is absolutely appalling.
Chris: Agree. This is just a toned down version of the traditional “I’m sorry if anyone took offense.” The implication, of course, being that nothing offensive was actually said and that any offense is actually the responsibility of the person offended. DJC
This woman is psychotic. Why why do albertans elect leaders that are mentally unstable. Why not elect a leader that actually cares for the people?
Y’all remember how I vented my frustrations with DS in particular, and with the UCP/TBA in general?
It was in response to s#*t like this.
That and her army of Twitter/comment political bots, trolling- excusers, troglodyte-supporters all implying that the problem is us; that we are stupid “woke” “sheeple” that don’t know ‘freedom’ and duty.
I want to be kind. I want to show compassion. But not for Nazis.
Instead I will be making my actions clear and will be voting these bums out of office
Mastodon is a refreshing change from Twitter.
https://toot.io/tags/ableg
One thing that could be said about Hitler is that he got elected with 44% of the vote in 1933 which is considerably better than either Notley or Smith or are polling in the mid thirties.
Ronmac: The UCP, as I recall, is polling at about 44 per cent. We don’t know offhand what Hitler’s personal approval rating was in 1933. he may have been polling below his party too. DJC
I have uncles who fought in World War 2.They likely wouldn’t appreciate the comments of Danielle Smith. One of my uncles wasn’t that impressed with Ralph Klein. Danielle Smith and the UCP are doing similar stupid things that Ralph Klein did, and there are people who don’t care. She is doing vote buying like he did, thinking they will fall for it. Pretend conservatives and Reformers will never do the right things. They will destroy jobs, not create them, cheat us out of our oil and tax wealth, do other very pricey shenanigans, increase poverty, ruin the environment, and do detrimental cuts. Anyone who warns them about this, gets called very horrible and nasty names. Danielle Smith, and Pierre Poilievre are not great leaders. Peter Lougheed warned us about these types. There are people who didn’t listen, and look how badly that turned out.
I found Ms. Smith’s trying to draw parallels to Hitler and WWII interesting, since I had similarly drawn parallels between Covid and the war.
It dawned on me a few years ago (before Covid) that my parents lived through WWII and the great depression, and my grandparents lived through WWI and the Spanish flu epidemic. I then considered myself very fortunate that, I had never experienced war, or any other catastrophic event.
Thus, when Covid hit, I was able to be a bit zen about it; it was to be my generation’s life challenge, and considering what my parents & grandparents dealt with, I still felt fortunate.
I then viewed the rest of the pandemic through the lens of comparing it to what I have heard/read about living through WWII. Have to forego restaurants and movies? It beats rationing fuel and sugar. Your restaurant has to close? Would you prefer to send your adult child to fight overseas?
In that context, ‘freedom’ people also have a parallel. They are the ones who would find a scheme to get around the rationing, and would put everyone at risk by defying blackout orders. It isn’t hard to imagine radio commentators at the time, motivated by ratings, to suggest Hitler wasn’t so bad and we should just ignore what was happening in Europe.
I don’t know who it would be fair to compare Hitler’s Nazis to, if anyone.
Still, at this time when the province is burning up; the forests, literally and the electorate, figuratively, it is worth noting this from a Substack called Heated:
“Chevron, the world’s highest-emitting company, raked in a record-breaking $6.6 billion. Exxon, number two on the list, earned a similarly record-breaking $11.4 billion. The third-highest emitter, BP, didn’t quite break its Q1 record, only bringing in a paltry $5 billion (peanuts). But Shell, the fourth-largest climate-polluting company in the world, did break its Q1 profit record, posting an unthinkable $9.6 billion.
Big Oil’s record-breaking profits also came as the companies scaled back their pledges to fight the crisis they’ve primarily caused. BP announced in February that it was backing off its promise to lower emissions by 35 to 40 percent by 2030, lowering it to a 20 to 30 percent cut. Shell also said it would not increase spending on renewable energy this year, and Exxon pulled back funding from its much-advertised algae biofuel effort.”
So, the yahoos driving around in their F-350’s and buddy who is earning a 6 figure salary for standing around an oil rig are personally and actively participating in the demise of you and your children’s (and theirs) quality of life while enriching themselves in the here and now. They are quite literally burning down your house!
I think these deceitful, mean-spirited, slobbering low-life’s deserve some consideration for that label.
So, has anyone asked members of her caucus about her comments? Wouldn’t they be the tyrants to whom she is referring?
Did no one vet Ms Smith as a candidate for leader just as anyone vying to be a candidate in a riding is vetted?
Still David you articulate the absolute terror Smith and the UCP bring to the people of Alberta, but, the UCP is running neck and neck with the NDP. What does that say? While I wholeheartedly agree with your dismay, outrage and general attempts to throw light upon the fact that Smith and TBA group are dangerous to say the least, one explanation for the voting intention numbers is that Alberta is one hotbed of fascism in North America. This fascism takes many forms including every bill and initiative the UCP have put forward in the past four years – think of all the people who died needlessly during the Covid epidemic because of the UCP ideology, the billions of dollars spent to support corporations and so on. Currently, UCP supporters are covertly recording NDP candidates as they go door knocking and they use these recordings to create social media messages that say that the NDP are horrid. Even though this is illegal, it does not matter to the UCP. Check out the TBA website and apparently you will find information on how to bully and intimidate NDP candidates. I have read that some NDP candidates are being chased and threatened with violence by some Calgary residents. Yes, this election is a tipping point for Alberta and Canada too. Should Smith and her supporters win the day, Alberta and Canada will no longer exist as it does today, as a province within a federation. Too many Albertans are willing to go down the rabbit hole of unbridled chaos; they see this as a good, everything that is democracy is distasteful according to the UCP. Elections are opportunities to gain power through intimidation, lies, subterfuge, and manipulation. Honesty, knowledge, understanding, decency, and tolerance are not qualities of the UCP. Do they not know that vaccinations have saved us from Polio epidemics? Apparently not. Science is another evil. Yet we have space travel, computers, and the list of human accomplishments through science is very long indeed. How can anyone deny human accomplishments? Well, no matter, burn down society, wreck everything, lie and cheat, and in today’s world, you shall be rewarded. We suffer from left brain syndrome and the masses need to lash out. The UCP is one manifestation of our current malaise – in fact it is an international phenomenon. Sadly, the thrust of fascism needs to run its course and those who are living are going to face the consequences of this movement toward our mutual destruction should they win the day. Should the NDP win, well that my friend is an entirely different story, but the UCP and their supporters will still be around; they are not going away and are on a mission with incredible power and players like: the Canadian Conservative Party, Poilievre, Trump, The Republican Party, Harper, Bannon – the list of people working day and night to destroy democracy is beyond lengthy, all mainstream media – the CBC just ran an opinion piece about how the TBA agenda ergo the UCP agenda is actually a great thing, billionaires, Orban – and many other authoritarian world leaders, and the billions of people who are their supporters. History has taught us that when the above mentioned powers take control, there is an ensuing world war and democracy wins the day. However, the current dangerous world movement, although it has similarities to past inflections, is certainly new to us. We are living in an existential crisis full stop and how this goes is anybody’s guess (which by the way gives further power to those with destructive intent). Finally, unlike 1939-1945, there is no place in the world that is safe. Gee, this is rather end of the world is it not? Being apathetic is not a solution to the challenges we face. May those who want peace in our time rule the day.
wonder if elected will Smith follow the lead of some Republicans, banning books, restriciting what is taught in schools, baring people from their elected positions in legislatures because of their political views.
When you look at what is going on these days in politics and then looking at history it is scary.
No place in the world will be truly safe, although a couple of articles did suggest Iceland and New Zealand. I’m not so sure about even those. Nuclear waste in the air travels every where.
Has Danielle “14 words” Smith not heard of Godwin’s law? Does the woman who tried to give herself the powers of a dictator not see the actual parallels between how her government went about it and how others, historically, have seized power?
Why do people think she’s intelligent ? Her entire career is one long, shitty con.
Bird: Well, it takes a kind of wily intelligence to achieve what Ms. Smith has achieved, so I personally don’t think she’s a dummy, exactly. That said, I was thinking about the same thing last night. It occurred to me that Ms. Smith and her friends at TBA (or, as Jason Markusoff calls them, Take Back) probably spend a lot of time thinking about how Hitler got elected because it would be fair to say that was not unlike their own electoral strategy. In the 1930 German federal election, Hitler’s Nazi party got less than 3 per cent of the vote. In 1933, after some help from President Paul von Hindenburg, it captured a hair under 44 per cent, still short of a majority. “To ensure a Nazi majority in the vote, Nazi organisations also ‘monitored’ the vote process.” (Wikipedia) If you don’t like the Nazi analogy (Godwin’s Law and all that), it would also be fair to describe the TBA tactics as “Leninist.” Regardless, the Nazi coalition government paved the road to the Hitler dictatorship and the rest is a particularly unfortunate chapter of history. DJC
Leninism, huh? Miz Smith better find out what happened to Leon Trotsky.
By using the term “Leninism”, this would be a form of red-baiting.
TC: That’s cute, and rather clever, but not really true. Says the Wikipedia: “Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishment of communism.” Other than the last word, that is exactly how TBA operates. DJC
Came here for Godwin’s law reference, leaving satisfied! Bravo!
A BIT OF A BOUGHT OUT NOTLEY BITCH NETWORK WOULD YOU NOT AGREE ASSCLOWNS!
FUK: It’s nice to Take Back Alberta is reading the blog too. Same back at ya! DJC
Thanks so much Mr. or Ms U… your calm, reasoned and thoughtful commentary prompted me to rethink my world view, and I am now 100% behind the UCP and the marvellous Ms. Smith. Bless you!
n
The alt-rights appear to be getting desperate, for some reason.
I’m sure you’ll have trouble with the “X” in the voting booth having not graduated from Grade 2.
Unbelievable is about all I can say. How anyone in their right mind can support such a person is way beyond belief. Lunatics running the asylum is the only nearly normal way to explain this!
I think her point is that the regressive parties, and their political friends, government unions and the bought and paid for press, used autocratic tactics to get their druthers.
There was scant science involved in the covid response from the Federal government and their friends in Alberta, the NDP. Getting vaccinated did not stop you from getting Covid, nor did it stop you from spreading it to all your friends, even if you were wearing a cloth mask.
But by all means go off the handle and blame the poor sods who had to work through the pandemic and didn’t get to stay at home and get paid.
https://c2cjournal.ca/2023/05/incredible-achievement-of-incompetence-how-the-liberals-capitulation-to-psac-will-widen-the-public-private-wage-gap/
With increasing the pay of federal paper pushers from $38B (before the pandemic) to $58Billion(before the current increases) I guess we cant afford to pay nurses and doctors any extra.
Go bless you, Bret, you are as reliable as a metronome. No matter how unhinged Ms. Smith becomes, you always have a positive spin to put on her comments. I’m afraid she’s gone over the top on this one, though. My Uncle Dave fighting Nazis in Holland; my Uncle Em in the North Atlantic. I just can’t see them liking being compared to conspiracy obsessed convoy lunatics by a poppy refusnik. Just sayin’. DJC
Still believing in pixi dust huh David? How are you going to pay for government services in Alberta without the oil and gas industry? Heck, how are they gong to pay for all of bought and paid for voters across the whole of the country without payments from Alberta?
As to preferring Danielle, all she has to be better then is Notley. And I agree, thats a very low bar.
Bret: Ms. Notley towers over Ms. Smith. Just for starters, she is sane. She also fought harder, and far more effectively, than Ms. Smith for the fossil fuel industry. TMX. As for your question about how we’re going to pay for government services in Alberta without O&G, it’s a very good one. We had damned well better be thinking about that because that day is coming, whether or not Bret Larson or Danielle Smith like it. This is not the whole story, but it’s part of it. DJC
David, her party is focused on trash canning the oil and gas industry. There’s nothing she can do about that. But besides actually being able to afford anything into the future there is a far larger issue that Notley is short on whereas Danielle is standing tall. That would be, dealing with the wind vane federal government. Have you listened to CBC at issue? One example. Our allies in Europe are dealing with an invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine is not in NATO, but they did give up their nuclear weapons when they received an assurance we would defend them. The federal government wont even commit to their agreed upon 2% investment in the military. And the compelling reason as spouted by the partisans on the panel. The public doesnt want to spend money on it.
Keep in mind, our allies in Europe and Asia, may well be facing World War III and our leadership is leading us to it. So yes, I care about WW2, but Im more interested in avoiding WW3. You know, for lots of reasons, there doesnt seem to be alot of CO2 mitigation going on in eastern Ukraine at the moment. And “larsons” dont fare to well in combat. All my mothers uncles didnt make it back from the last one.
I could go on and on, basically, it comes down to good governance. The NDP dont have it, at least the UCP is hit and miss.
As to the “demise of the oil and gas business”. I think people want to eat, and they will want to eat this year, next year and fifty years after. I know there will be an O&G business into the future for all societies who actually want to exist into the future. That doesn’t preclude developing other energy sources. They just need to be applied in the circumstances that warrant them economically.
And, lets face it, the loonie left has stigmatized the O&G business, and Notley is their banner carrier for them in Alberta and we actually have O&G. I can understand the Notleys of the world in places like Germany without oil and gas, many of them still dreaming of getting to Baku, more then likely.
In the summer of 1942, Operation Edelweiss was drawn up in order to capture the Caucasus, in particular, Baku and Grozny. A similar plan called Velvet was also drawn up by the allies of the USSR – England and the United States. In 1942–1943, 74 attempts of the German air forces to invade Baku were stopped.
(you notice, I didnt say Nazi)
Bret Larson – Good to see you are keeping up with your Kool aide dosing. What flavour is being promoted this week?
David, correct me if I am wrong but is it not the case that green energy in Alberta generates more jobs than O and G? So therein, if so, is the future tax base. Oil etc. is in decline whatever one May hope.
Former Albertan: I don’t have an answer for you tonight. Let’s see what other commenters can contribute to this discussion. DJC
Bret is especially adamant in his arguments today. I suspect that instead of merely doing his war room job, he realizes at this point he is in serious risk of losing it, if the NDP wins the election and the war room is shut down
I don’t have to be polite, like our generous host. So I’m here to say that you’re a propagandist.
Death: I don’t have to be polite either, I just choose to be as befits my self-assigned role. I also normally edit to ensure a certain tone in the conversation if I feel some words, while probably true, are a little strong. I broke that rule recently by publishing a particularly offensive comment so that readers are reminded of the kind of thing I normally just trash. DJC
Deep in the Amazon rainforest, parasitic fungi called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis (aka zombie-ant fungus) take over ants’ bodies in order to reproduce. The fungus spores attach and penetrate the ant’s exoskeleton and take over its behavior. The ant leaves its canopy nest and takes up a spot a few inches off the ground, sinks its jaws into a leaf, and waits for death.
The fungus feeds on its victim’s innards. Several days after the ant has met its maker, the fungus sends a fruiting body out through the base of the ant’s head, which ruptures to release the fungus’s spores. Turning the ant’s corpse into a launchpad from which it can disperse its spores and infect new victims scurrying about below.
Sound like any politician and voting base you know?
Danielle Smith is to be pitied — not censured, reviled, cursed, or voted for. Could it be that a similar parasitic fungus drives Smith to seek the Premiership, get an implacable grip on the branches of government (all of them, not just the executive), from which high point she can shower her crackpopulibertariantinomianutbar notions upon hapless Albertans scurrying below, where they take root and spread?
At Smith’s Whistle Stop Café in High River, everything on the menu is served with Danielle’s secret sauce. Happy carefree diners lose all sense of reality, abhor common sense, reject public health measures (endangering the rest of the population), indulge in countless conspiracy theories, join freedumb convoys, honk their horns at all hours, foam and froth incessantly about the PM, become allergic to poppies, wallow in fossil-fuel servitude, and finally throw themselves under the wheels of the O&G juggernaut.
The diner is an old railway car, with one wheel still resting on the cliff’s edge, while the other three hang over the dizzying abyss below.
Aw, c’mon, Geoffrey, you’re making this up! Admit it! You read Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, didn’t you? DJC
Buyer’s remorse at the UCP twice over.
Buyer’s remorse for buying what Danielle Smith was selling. This can be fixed in the short term.
Buyer’s remorse for creating a situation that enanbled the TBA group to take control of the UCP.
This one won’t be fixed in the short term. Perhaps only by the UCP splitting in two will solve this.
Try as they may, the TBA controlled UCP cannot put lipstick on this pig. It is growing uglier by the day with each new revelation.
And I have no doubt that there will be more.
Geoffrey….
crackpopulibertariantiniamanutbar……D’mn , I am impressed! and going to be spending the day trying to get the pronunciation down just right…LOL
F U …what’s the matter Rob, did you have to scrub the backup account? again! what ever happened to free speech, wanting to hear from the voters??
Bret …..Bought and paid for press aka post media aka American hedge fund/Chatham— we do our homework, maybe you should try it.
And calling people ‘poor sods’ shows your arrogance, just like PP ,with his I’m fighting for the “common people”.
As far as paying doctors and nurses, you are obviously unaware, but that is a provincial responsibility, ask Shandro why he tore up the contract, why the UCP government, that was and still is in charge of finances in Alberta isn’t paying them enough to want to stay, but is offering $1200 to people to come to Alberta, ” if” they are elected.
The rock is calling you…
“He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion… Nor is it enough that he should hear the opinions of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them…he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.”
You’re why I do what I do, thanks for helping out.
Bret Larson– John Stuart Mill was a liberal theorist,
“and if the fool or the pig are of a different opinion,it is because they only know there own side of the question”.
Mill is one of the very few male theorists who could credibly be labeled as a feminist. He advocated female emancipation long before the
issue was on the political agenda. Contrary to what TBA and MGTOW conservatives and the GOP/ t’rumpers are trying to push.
You’re welcome!!
Utterly foolishly ‘unhinged’ [Where it is assumed that in the political asylum once inhabited by Jason Kenney, it can be observed that some individuals inside that specific asylum are able to hide their mental/psychological problems a little better than most and perhaps maybe not all that much better after all.] or . . .
. . . It is almost as if an individual could assume that the entire charade and its incendiary rhetoric is orchestrated, or planned where the assumed effect(s) and desired outcome(s) result in a calculated shifting of the “Overton Window”, making once taboo subjects and ideas mainstream and ‘acceptable’ by normalizing the extreme [the ideas of cranks, quacks, conspiracy theories, ect.] with the most dynamic effects being observed in that subset of the population [the disciples and true believers who are the most eager to follow and obey] that are already most hardened in their belief systems. Where it has been observed that, “. . . in the absence of prejudiced elite speech, prejudiced citizens constrain the expression of their prejudice. However, in the presence of prejudiced elite speech – particularly when it is tacitly condoned by other elites – the study finds that the prejudiced are emboldened to both express and act upon their prejudices.”
These processes are apparently already well underway in Alberta with the planned attempts and the deliberate work and words of certain prominent individuals that own an assumed grievance, or multiple assumed grievances allegedly seeking to both discredit and supplant the prevailing order by means of carefully cultivating and promoting an intense dissatisfaction with the way things are. It is all most likely skillful deception and a false narrative used by economically powerful actors [Using the ‘imprecise language’ of a radio talk show host/stooge/Premier as both their public voice and instrument of elite legitimization.] seeking to maintain and further reinforce an already well established political/economic status quo.
Guess Jason was correct in his assessment of D. Smith.
Fancy that. Ol’ Jason being right about something.
Well, Jason had experience. He’d been courting those exact same crazies ever since he decided to take over the formerly-Progressive Conservatives, and then take over the crazies’ own Wildrose Party.
Mike: Mr. Kenney’s experience was clearly a lesson for all of us about why we should all be careful what we wish for, lest we get it.” DJC
For those who are intellectually lazy
And whose viewpoints are ideologically hazy
The bloviations of a bottom feeding blowfish
May be what they think they might wish
Even though she’s beyond batshit crazy.
( |
___\ \
(__() `-|
(___() |
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(_()__.–|
PJP: As I previously noted on this topic:
There was a young man from Japan
Whose limericks just would not scan
When told it was so
He replied, “Yes I know”
But I just can’t keep myself from cramming as many words into the last line as I ever under any circumstances possibly can.
DJC
Remember folks, as bat-shit crazy as Smith is she still has a chance to become our Premier. In what fucking bizzaro universe would this ever be the case? Apparently, as un-hinged as she is some whack jobs will still vote for her? Only in Alberta is this even possible.
I really fear we’ve become so anesthetized to this kind of public disclosure that Smith may well gain more support from this posting of this video than detractors. I scanned the comment sections on any mainstream media sites that don’t have a paywall last night and this morning and was appalled at the volume of justification and rationalization the Smith apologists had on offer. Some of it makes the rabidly repetitive delusional musings of our friend Bret above appear coherent by comparison. I’m also alarmed at the not so subtle shift in language of the newspeak political discourse of late using words like activist, progressive, or social justice as swear words.
Speaking of vaccines, Germany was in the early 20th century a world leader in vaccine development and deployment. When the you know who’s came to power a public policy shifted and Gypsies Jews and Jehovahs Witnesses (and other assorted Jiggabooze) were banned or discouraged from receiving them.
I now regret using the nonsense term Jiggabooze for it’s unfortunate association not intended. I don’t know to edit or delete at this point. I was trying to find a word that would conflate other persecuted anti-fascists who liked to drink and dance like blacks, flappers, lesbians and gays.
Well, another blast from the ancient past of Danielle Smith has come and gone. It’s all of 18 months old now, so 17.9999 months past its best-by date. We can only hope the critical undecided voters will notice, and remember, come polling day.
What’s worse is the way Smith accurately reflects the desires and attitudes of her Base. Lisa Young, in her latest blog https://lisayoung.substack.com/p/the-teflon-premier points out there are three groups backing Smith: True Believers (Smith herself among them), habitual Conservatives (the ones who’d vote for a fence post if it’s painted blue) and cheapskates who don’t care WHO runs things as long as their taxes stay low. We’re outnumbered friends, and our only hope is enough of Them will stay home while We get out the vote for sanity.
But the opposition is very powerful, especially within the UCP. Here’s the latest on David Parker and his self-proclaimed crusade to keep Alberta safe from progressive attitudes:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/take-back-alberta-david-parker-control-party-board-ucp-1.6834387
Parker comes across as a zealot, and he’s obviously a good organizer. He’s using the classic Strong Man tactics: scare the peasants, make ‘em mad, and promise to save ‘em. That makes it especially ironic that Smith was yammering about Adolf Hitler’s rise to power. Smith can see it on Netflix, but she can’t recognize it within “her” political party.
Smith is becoming a Mussolini to David Parker’s Hitler; or (for those who don’t like the comparison) Smith is becoming Scott Moe to David Parker’s Jason Kenney. She’s definitely playing second fiddle in her own party. She’ll be out as soon as David Parker decides she’s not wanted.
When I read what Smith had said about those who were vaccinated at one level it surprised me. On another it was, well there goes the neighbourhood.
Smith might want to know some of us who were vaccinated had family who died in the concentration camps because they were Jews. My Grandfather was the only surviving member of his family. The rest died in the gas chambers of the Nazis. They killed my Grandfather’s parents, sibling, 2 year old niece, his other cousins, nephews and nieces. The Nazis killed every one except him. Now Smith is comparing me to the people who killed my Grandfather’s family? If I lived in Alberta I would most likely be following her around with a sign asking her to explain that statement to me.
Far be it for me to suggest people not vote for Smith. Every one has the right to vote for whom they wish. However, people might want to think about what Smith said and how that maybe indicative of her attitudes or her capacity to formulate ideas and express them.
It is always interesting to me, when people ask, how did it happen that the Nazis came to power. Then I point to more modern examples of the Hitler “method” of attaining power and say, Now you know.
When I was in grade 6 or so, I recall sitting at the kitchen table with my sister, the radio was on, our Mother was at the kitchen sink, we were talking, don’t ever remember what about, but she did say something I’ve never forgotten, “Always remember it can happen again”.
I am one conservative who isn’t dumb enough to believe in polls. It was polls that said Laurence Decore would beat Klein. They said Danielle Smith would beat Allison Redford. They said Hillary Clinton would beat Donald Trump. Donald Trump would beat Joe Biden, and the list goes on. People have told me that when they get called they state the opposite to what they intend to do as a joke. You can bet the UCP has made certain the pollsters had list of their supporters with phone numbers to call and you can bet a lot of the former UCP supporters have seen enough of their stupidity and won’t be supporting them this time around. This pretty well confirms it “Why Polls Were Mostly Wrong”.
Charles Adler has called this Danielle Smith’s “Lake of Hitler” moment.
Year ago, someone mentioned to be something that I have always carried with me. He said, as we move further away from the WW2 experience, where the collective memory of the events of that monumental conflict will be, over time, erased from the public memory. In other words, as those who lived through that period of history die off, there will be no one to ask what it was like or why this happened? When that knowledge base is erradicated, what will people think of when the subject of WW2 comes up?
I’ve noted that, on social media, there have been a concerted effort to retell the narrative of the Soviet Union’s involvement in WW2. It seems that, now, the consensus is that the Soviets (AKA Russians) plays a small (very small) role in defeating Nazi Germany. It turns out in the Americans that won WW2, because all those movies where the Americans are the only ones fighting Hitler and his minions. But going further, and looking at today’s political landscape, there are plenty to really — REALLY — believe that Hitler was not such a bad guy. Really. All he was doing was protecting his borders, and settling old scores that were forced on his own people. (Germans, not the Austrians)
This brings us to Danielle Smith, the UCP, and CONs in general. Hitler and his Nazis propagated a grievance culture, built on disinformation and outright lies. Smith, along with her fellow travellers, TBA, have sold to everyone a litany of conspiracy tropes and other nonsense, to rage farm their base. Once the base has been whipped up into a frothing frenzy of anger, they will be mindlessly obedient to the UCP/TBA cause.
Every time Smith utters her usual line of verbal garbage, she seeks to manipulate the ignorance of many, telling them that Trudeau is a moral threat to Alberta, that Albertans are the only true Canadians (The biggest lie of all) and Alberta, despite its enormous wealth, is the victim. Umberto Eco in his Ur-Fascism outlines the identifiers of fascism and how it is promoted. Everything that Smith is doing can be identified right here …
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/umberto-eco-ur-fascism
Hey Just You,
Thanks for this link. I believe I came across this long ago, perhaps referred to in something else I was reading, but at the time it didn’t resonate as creepily as it does at present. I’m currently reading Late Capitalist Fascism by Mikkel Bolt Rasmussen Polity Press 2022 readable and relevant and available at the Calgary Public Library.
Bret Larson, I’m sorry, I forgot to ask, since Jason Kenney is out of office, are you rewriting your letter to Danielle, TBA, or directly to PP.
The “Integrated Wealth Management” website yields some gems if you peruse it. E.g. in the “About Us” section:
“We detest corruption, elitism & political correctness, unnecessary bureaucracy, “group think” and biased mainstream media.”
For a moment, set aside Danielle Smith’s current positions on issues. There are some logical and philosophical issues that I find very troubling…
One, with her everchanging positions on many issues, how do we know what she’s saying today will in any way represent that in the future (eg: after the election)?
Two, suppose that she genuinely believed the things she said, which she now believes to be wrong. What does it say about her judgement overall on things? Is making uneducated statements in an earnest fashion ever a good thing?
I understand people can make mistakes, and one can change positions on things. But how it’s done matters. Most importantly, the person in question has some real powers.