Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

No confidence in Liberal Canadians

NY Times:

Canada's three opposition parties voted in the House of Commons on Monday night to bring down the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin, contending that the governing party is corrupt.

The result of the no-confidence vote had been expected for the last month, since the release of a report by a federal inquiry looking into accusations that the Liberal Party in the late 1990's laundered money and committed fraudulent campaign finance practices in Quebec Province to counter separatist forces. The report said the party had benefited from a kickback scheme.

"In this campaign we will hear nothing but pessimism" from the opposition, Mr. Martin said after the 171 to 133 vote in a speech that did not mention the scandal. "We will fight for a Canada in which no one is left behind."

New parliamentary elections will pit Mr. Martin against Stephen Harper, the Conservative Party leader, for the second time in less than two years. Neither candidate is particularly charismatic, and neither has captured the public imagination.

"Canadians are counting on you to give them a clean, honest government," Mr. Harper told his party caucus after the vote. "We need an accountable government."

Mr. Martin was exonerated of any blame in the scandal by the inquiry, but the opposition hopes to make past misdeeds by the Liberals the major issue of the campaign anyway. The Liberals hope to emphasize their economic accomplishments, citing reduced unemployment, lower taxes and expanded federal budget surpluses.

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This shows the perils of campaign finace reform. Canadians should be upset about their lousy "wait in que" medical system and their wimpy foreign policy that opposed the liberation of Iraq. It is unlikely that liberals on either side of the border will ever admit they were wrong about liberating Iraq, but they should never be given the reins of national security until they are wise enough to see the importance of defeating the terrorist and their supporters like Saddam. Prewar Iraq was a terrorist state where the terrorist controlled the government. Now they are still trying to terrorize, but they do not have the machinery of state to do it. Now, as Saddam's trial shows there is hope for justice, something that never existed in prewar Iraq. Of course, liberals don't care about justice if it means liberating Iraq.