[Just for you, Red]
Just ooooozing with compassionate conservatism, Big Daddy shares his feelings on the whole sordid Brenda Martin saga:
"We're all troubled by the fact that a Canadian has been in a Mexican prison now for two years without trial," Harper said following an event at an elementary school in London, Ont. "The process is unacceptably slow and I think it troubles all of us."
Still, Harper cautioned that he can't simply demand Martin be released. "We are talking about another sovereign country and we are talking about a judicial process," Harper said. "A judicial processes is, by definition, independent.
"If the president of Mexico called me and demanded I release a Mexican national, I would not be in the position to do that. We have an independent judicial system."
In other words, while Canada’s New Government™ might’ve taken the position of "Brenda who?" up to now, it appears things are starting to look bad for them in the polls so they’re all over this like a fat kid on a Smartie®. Big Daddy then went on to say that he’s also troubled by the fact that Laureen won’t let him eat Twinkies® anymore just cause they go straight to his rather corpulent waistline.
4 comments:
"If the president of Mexico called me and demanded I release a Mexican national, I would not be in the position to do that. We have an independent judicial system."
Well, you can't blame Harper. He only became aware of the facts in the above assertion about a day or so ago. Like most of the CRAPpers, he's believed up to now that the judiciary is simply an extension of the Cabinet.
they're all over it like a Harper on a Smartie.
Harper: We have an independent judicial system.
Yeah, but when I get my major-ah-tay then all bets are off.
It’s a bit rich to compare the judicial system of Mexico to that of Canada. I mean, really… give your fucking head a shake over that one. Either Harper is phenomenally naïve, catastrophically stupid, or a disingenuous bullshitter. Okay, he could be all three. Never mind.
More seriously, what this seems to overlook is the power of the international “bully pulpit” in matters such as this. Can Harper pretend that if he hadn’t expressed outrage about the clearly unfair treatment of a Canadian citizen at the hands of the legendarily corrupt, venal and incompetent Mexican legal system there wouldn’t have been some expedient actions taken behind the scenes to work things out on the Mexican side? Technically speaking, what Harper states is entirely correct, but it’s also unconnected to the reality of “how things work” and it’s difficult to believe he’s unappreciative of this.
As has been suggested elsewhere, and perhaps here too, the suggestion by Harper that a travel advisory by DFAIT might be called for would likely have been enough to send a chill through the Mexican government that might have spurred a bit of action on the matter. And had he carried through on that threat and maybe even have taken it a step further to loudly state that the government won’t simply sit idly by while Canadian citizens are mistreated in foreign jails… Well, you know what? He might even have scored some political favour from that. But no. Instead he trots out the tiresome “rule of law” and “separation of powers” tropes even though when applied to the Mexican system are a complete joke.
Some people claim that Harper is a fantastic politician. Well perhaps, but as a populist, he’s dumb as a sack of hammers.
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