Have you ever seen a condom flip-flop? Heh

[HeresyLives]

Stephen Harper’s office is not calling it a flip-flop but today in Question Period the Prime Minister clearly opened the door to allowing contraception to be part of his G8 initiative on maternal health.

Yesterday, it appeared to be excluded from his signature plan to help mothers and children in developing countries.

Mr. Harper also offered what seemed to be a proviso – that he does not want “a debate here or elsewhere on abortion.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/canada-not-closing-doors-on-contraception-pm-declares/article1504851/

[HeresyLives]

1. Apparently he'd already agreed to all this in Italy!

Stephen Harper signed on to the G8 leaders' document in Italy last year calling for improvements to maternal health that specifically included contraception and reproductive health services.

And although he has chosen maternal health as his signature initiative for the upcoming G8 summit in Muskoka, he is not including contraception reproductive health issues.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/bureau-blog/liberal-attacks-pm-for-ignoring-contraception/article1504737/


So what the hell is he doing? He's caused a big commotion over something that's already a done deed!

[Spazito]

2. Wow! they are back-pedaling so much lately...

there has to be something going on internally with them. They are totally messing up their 'message'. I'm a happy camper, lol.

[HeresyLives]

3. Aren't they tho??

And Harper seems to be at a complete loss. He's already agreed to all this, and at a previous summit.

So why feature it at ours?

And why the FIRM contraception statement yesterday, and total retreat today?

How many is that now, just in the last 2 weeks?

[Spazito]

4. In all honesty, this is becoming bizarre...

their discipline and ability to be 'on message' has all but disappeared. Add to this the info you posted re the Cons filibustering to stop a WIDOW from testifying to a Parliamentary committee about the actions of harper's political appointees and I am just :wow:

[HeresyLives]

5. Well either he's trying to take the spotlite off

Guergis and/or the Afghan prisoners...or maybe that rumour about his wife is true, and he's coming unhinged. :shrug:

[Spazito]

6. I am beginning to wonder if the rumour about his wife might have some merit...

it would explain why he seems to be so totally unfocused and more than usually PR brain dead.

[HeresyLives]

7. Me too.

I passed it along as something I'd heard from a good source, but you know...there are always rumours.

But after the major goofs in the last little while, ya gotta wonder.

These aren't just mistakes, they're really stoopid mistakes. The kind of trouble you can see coming from a mile off.

I mean...banning birth control??

[RedSock]

8. what rumour? (eom)

[HeresyLives]

9. That Harper and Laureen are estranged.

And that she's been living in an Ottawa hotel for some time now.

After seeing them at the Olympics, I could well believe that. No talking, no touching, they didn't even look at each other.

And that's all she's shown up for lately...not the closing ceremonies, not the throne speech ...there was a party...not the opening of the paralympics...

[iverglas]

10. playing to the base

There was an op ed in the Star or the Globe on Saturday. It's the same trap the US right wing has mired itself it. You have your 10% who are insane wackoid totalitarians when it comes to any issues of individual rights and freedoms, and you let them control your party's agenda because you think you need them. And that's what keeps you from getting majorities.

So when you say things like we will never use Canadian taxpayers' money to fund contraception and abortion in Africa! you get strokes from people who write letters to the editor playing their constant ugly, putrid right-wing game: funding access to reproductive health services is "imposing your values" (your ugly anti-life values, of course) on those women in Africa. Those assholes get their 15 minutes, and they think you really want to impose their agenda so they stick by you and stick up for you, and then you move on to business as usual, because when you're a right-winger of the normal variety, you actually don't give a flying fuck about either maternal health or poor little fetuses, you just want power and money.

It's all still scarey. The discourse got owned a little more by the vicious, lying turds on the right. And normal, decent, rational people either didn't speak above a whisper, or didn't get a turn at the mike.

[HeresyLives]

11. Dangerous game to play if you want a majority.

Because at least one of those wackos is bound to say something outrageous, and Harper will be right back to that 'hidden agenda' stuff that horrifies the voters at large.