When 17th Century English churchman and poet John Donne wrote ‘No man is an island’ he had obviously never met Stephen Harper. For the Prime Minister is the Hair and he defies the tolling of the bell. Does it not toll for him?
Yeh, though he walks through the barnyards of government in Ottawa, the Hair is convinced that no manure sticks to his boots.
If you are old enough to remember his promises to reform the Senate, you will also remember when he reneged. And he does nothing by halves. The Hair swamped the Senate with Conservative Senators pledged to do his bidding. He destroyed whatever value the Senate ever had. And yet he cares not that the bell tolls.
But is he embarrassed by the wrongs he has wrought? He has disavowed his principle secretary who bribed a Senator. He disavows any responsibility for Senators he appointed. And the bell tolls.
And the Canadian news media must be his handmaidens. His office rules the media with favours and restrictions. No fool crosses the line. And the bell tolls.
While his henchmen scurry to leave the ship, the Hair stands firm at the helm. His economic plans in ruins, the Hair stands firm at the helm. His war against the Islamic State a display of ignorance in leadership, the Hair stands firm at the helm. His vaunted free trade deals with the rest of the world in crumbling chaos, the Hair stands firm at the helm. With his cabin boy Jason Kenney and his hairdresser at the ready, the Hair stands firm at the helm. He hardly cares that the bell tolls.
And there is no way to lose the bell. It follows him around the world while he and his hairdresser pander to votes back home. “We’ll win the Jews today, the Ukranians tomorrow and if we have time we’ll drop in on the Poles,” he says. While the bell tolls.
And do events in his adopted Province of Alberta foretell change? Or is that just the tinkling of a Tinker Bell?
But the date with electors that the Hair ordained in law looms larger every day. It creates days of disquiet, concern and consternation. The nation he ruled is in turmoil. The trust and respect is no longer his to command. He hears the bell toll.
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Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
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