comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
#1
BE Forum Addict
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,124
comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
Liberal MP Derrick Lee, meanwhile, compared Harper's move to suspend Parliament to the burning of the Reichstag in Germany by the Nazis.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0...liament_crisis
An unusual POV.
A slight exaggeration perhaps?
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0...liament_crisis
An unusual POV.
A slight exaggeration perhaps?
#2
Account Closed
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 7,284
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
I think you lose any argument the minute you mention Hitler or the Nazis.
However. I do think it's a undemocratic way out, where's the national emergency to justify this??
However. I do think it's a undemocratic way out, where's the national emergency to justify this??
#4
BE Forum Addict
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 3,124
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
There is obviously no comparison.
#6
Part Time Poster
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Worcestershire
Posts: 4,219
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
[QUOTE=fledermaus;7038405
However. I do think it's a undemocratic way out, where's the national emergency to justify this??[/QUOTE]
A smart move to give the coalition time to fall out
National emergency would stopping Dion from becoming pm
However. I do think it's a undemocratic way out, where's the national emergency to justify this??[/QUOTE]
A smart move to give the coalition time to fall out
National emergency would stopping Dion from becoming pm
#7
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
During the election campaign, the Nazis alleged that Germany was on the verge of a Communist revolution and that the only way to stop the communists was to pass the Enabling Act. The message of the campaign was simple: increase the number of Nazi seats so that the Enabling Act could be passed. In order to decrease the number of opposition members of parliament who could vote against the Enabling Act, Hitler had planned to ban the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (the Communist Party of Germany or KPD), which at the time held 17% of the parliament's seats, after the elections and before the new Reichstag convened. The Reichstag Fire allowed Hitler to accelerate the banning of the Communist Party. The Nazis capitalized on the fear that the Reichstag fire was supposed to serve as a signal launching the Communist revolution in Germany, and promoted this claim in their campaign.
Perhaps that guy had a point.
#8
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
Hitler had been sworn in as Chancellor and head of the coalition government on 30 January 1933. As Chancellor, Hitler asked German President Paul von Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call for a new parliamentary election. Hitler's aim was first to acquire a National Socialist majority in order to secure his position and eliminate the communist opposition. If prompted or desired, the President could remove the Chancellor. Hitler hoped to abolish democracy in a more or less legal fashion by passing the Enabling Act. The Enabling Act was a special law which gave the Chancellor the power to pass laws by decree without the involvement of the Reichstag. The unprecedented element of the Enabling Act was that the Chancellor himself possessed these powers. An Enabling Act was only supposed to be passed in times of extreme emergency, and in fact had only been used once before, in 1923-24 when the government used an Enabling Act to rescue Germany from hyperinflation. To pass an Enabling Act, a party required a vote by a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag. In January 1933, the Nazis had only 32% of the seats and thus were in no position to pass an Enabling Act.
During the election campaign, the Nazis alleged that Germany was on the verge of a Communist revolution and that the only way to stop the communists was to pass the Enabling Act. The message of the campaign was simple: increase the number of Nazi seats so that the Enabling Act could be passed. In order to decrease the number of opposition members of parliament who could vote against the Enabling Act, Hitler had planned to ban the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (the Communist Party of Germany or KPD), which at the time held 17% of the parliament's seats, after the elections and before the new Reichstag convened. The Reichstag Fire allowed Hitler to accelerate the banning of the Communist Party. The Nazis capitalized on the fear that the Reichstag fire was supposed to serve as a signal launching the Communist revolution in Germany, and promoted this claim in their campaign.
Perhaps that guy had a point.
During the election campaign, the Nazis alleged that Germany was on the verge of a Communist revolution and that the only way to stop the communists was to pass the Enabling Act. The message of the campaign was simple: increase the number of Nazi seats so that the Enabling Act could be passed. In order to decrease the number of opposition members of parliament who could vote against the Enabling Act, Hitler had planned to ban the Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands (the Communist Party of Germany or KPD), which at the time held 17% of the parliament's seats, after the elections and before the new Reichstag convened. The Reichstag Fire allowed Hitler to accelerate the banning of the Communist Party. The Nazis capitalized on the fear that the Reichstag fire was supposed to serve as a signal launching the Communist revolution in Germany, and promoted this claim in their campaign.
Perhaps that guy had a point.
In many ways this is probably the worst as the uncertainty is postponed until February...
#9
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 701
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
Canada is playing third world politics. The Opposition in any democracy is "Government" together with the majority party as it sits in Parliament. The Prorogue is depriving Parliament of it's function at a time when Canada desperately needs the voices (not voice) of its citizens to be heard. What Harper and the GG are admitting is that they are not capable of keeping abreast with the speed of the modern world and they are now seeking refuge from the storm whilst leaving the country at the mercy of the storm. It is shocking that Canadians cannot appreciate genuinely elected Bloc members as already entrenched members of Parliamentary governance. This is not an ice hockey game where time out is called when things get rough, nor is Parliament or Government a commercial enterprise where corporate marketing of the Goebbel gendre can be forgotten easily. The only honest Federal MP appears to be Dion!!!.
#10
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
No, the opposition is; they're doing this because Harper threatened to pull their fingers out of the taxpayers' cookie jar. If they were really concerned about doing the best for the country, they wouldn't be creating a crisis right now.
I don't have any particular opinion on Canadian political parties other than disliking Harper for being on the side of the neo-cons (and thinking he's a moron for trying to cut opposition funding when his party is a minority), but it's the 'coalition' playing politics right now.
And it would appear that their 'coalition' is already starting to fall apart:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9009674.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...arliament.html
Which is lucky: imagine that they did take over the government and then turn to fighting each other so that there was yet another change of government in a few months. Does the country really need that?
I don't have any particular opinion on Canadian political parties other than disliking Harper for being on the side of the neo-cons (and thinking he's a moron for trying to cut opposition funding when his party is a minority), but it's the 'coalition' playing politics right now.
And it would appear that their 'coalition' is already starting to fall apart:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9009674.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...arliament.html
Which is lucky: imagine that they did take over the government and then turn to fighting each other so that there was yet another change of government in a few months. Does the country really need that?
#11
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 701
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
No, the opposition is; they're doing this because Harper threatened to pull their fingers out of the taxpayers' cookie jar. If they were really concerned about doing the best for the country, they wouldn't be creating a crisis right now.
I don't have any particular opinion on Canadian political parties other than disliking Harper for being on the side of the neo-cons (and thinking he's a moron for trying to cut opposition funding when his party is a minority), but it's the 'coalition' playing politics right now.
And it would appear that their 'coalition' is already starting to fall apart:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9009674.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...arliament.html
Which is lucky: imagine that they did take over the government and then turn to fighting each other so that there was yet another change of government in a few months. Does the country really need that?
I don't have any particular opinion on Canadian political parties other than disliking Harper for being on the side of the neo-cons (and thinking he's a moron for trying to cut opposition funding when his party is a minority), but it's the 'coalition' playing politics right now.
And it would appear that their 'coalition' is already starting to fall apart:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9009674.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/...arliament.html
Which is lucky: imagine that they did take over the government and then turn to fighting each other so that there was yet another change of government in a few months. Does the country really need that?
#12
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
If the 'coalition' falls apart in the next few weeks, will you accept that the GG did the right thing in not allowing such an unstable group to take over the country? After all, there are few things the left are better at than stabbing each other in the back (or through the ear with an ice-pick).
#13
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 26,319
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
Which if the other political parties had agreed to would have left the Conservatives as probably the only party likely to be able to afford the expensive ad campaigns to be re-elected. How does that help democracy if no-one else can afford to run a campaign?
#14
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Formally Scotland. Now Bay of Quinte...Ontario
Posts: 2,466
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
The silver linning would Canadians not being exposed to so much unadulterated piffle in the guise of Party Political Broadcasts....
#15
Re: comparing Harper's move to suspend Parliament to burning of the Reichstag
How many elections have you guys had this century? Is it five or six?