It seems likely that any good poker player could clean Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a poker game. The man appears to have what poker players call a ‘tell.’ It is that little thing you do when you are bluffing the other players. It is why many of the poorer players have to wear a large brimmed hat or sunglasses when they are playing cards.
We have been watching Stephen Harper long enough now that some of us might just be able to know when he is evading the truth. He has been doing it for too long and too often. The best examples of his tell appear to be in the leaders’ debates in the 2008 and 2011 elections. We watched him do it in the House of Commons the other day.
Maybe Canadians are lucky as this indicates he is not likely to be a sociopath. A sociopath lies out of habit and since this type of person believes they are always right, it is almost impossible to find a tell. It still is not good news though to find that Mr. Harper just might be a compulsive liar. Sometimes thought of as pathological liar, a compulsive liar is someone who does not see the need to tell the truth but knows the difference. This person can develop a tell. They do it gradually and most people see it as just part of their persona.
While the objective here is not to start a debate on whether Stephen Harper is a sociopath, a compulsive liar or just a plain garden variety political prevaricator, the point is that he seems to wander far from the truth sometimes and Canadians should be aware of when he is doing it. Auditor General Michael Ferguson made it very clear the other day that the Prime Minister has been less than truthful to Canadians about the cost of the F-35 fighter aircraft for at least the past year. Throughout the 2011 election campaign and since then, he has repeatedly told audiences that the F-35 program will only cost Canadians about $15 billion. The auditor general says Mr. Harper’s government knew that the costs were close to double that figure. To lie about more than $10 billion might be about an incomprehensible amount of money, it is also one hell of a big lie!
Why do we believe Mr. Harper was not telling the truth? The answer to that is easy. He micro-manages parliament. He knows what is going on. When he is not jetting around the world at taxpayers’ expense, he is in constantly managing the minutiae of his government. He understands billions of dollars better than almost anyone else in his cabinet. Even Finance Minister Jim Flaherty must have to start counting on his fingers when he gets into that kind of money.
And what do we think is Mr. Harper’s tell? Canadians should share this information. If we are misunderstanding the signs, please tell us. It seems to us that when Mr. Harper is lying, he does not look at the people he is talking to. His visage appears stony and his eyes appear unfocused. It has become more and more pronounced over the years. It is quite possible that he lies too much!
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Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
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