Monthly Archives: March 2021

In one sense, this is the natural outgrowth of the Trump era. Inasmuch as there was a coherent belief that explained his agenda, it was lib-owning whether that meant hobbling NATO, declining to disavow the QAnon conspiracy theory, floating the prospect of a fifth head on Mt. Rushmore (his, naturally), or using federal resources to combat the New York Times 1619 Project.

But in a post-Trump America, to own the libs is less an identifiable act or set of policy goals than an ethos, a way of life, even a civic religion.

Owning the libs is a way of asserting dignity, says Helen Andrews, senior editor of The American Conservative. The libs, as currently constituted, spend a lot of time denigrating and devaluing the dignity of Middle America and conservatives, so fighting back against that is healthy self-assertion; any self-respecting human being would Stunts, TikTok videos, they energize people, thats what theyre intended to do.

I can envision a time where [pro-Trump Florida Rep.] Matt Gaetz could pin a picture of [Democratic New York Rep.] Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to his own crotch, and smash it with a ball-peen hammer, and hell think its a huge success if 100,000 liberals attack him as an idiot, says Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the anti-Trump conservative outlet The Dispatch. Its a way of taking what the other side criticizes about you and making it into a badge of honor.

And in a world where polarization driven by social media has equipped every smartphone-wielding American with a hammer, every political dispute looks like a nail. A year into the Covid-19 pandemic, viral videos of mask burnings and other forms of lockdown protest proliferate. The arch-conservative, troll-friendly webmagazine The Federalist more than doubles its traffic each year. Pro-Trump students are bending reformicon-minded College Republican groups to their will. In certain parts of the country, modified pickup trucks roll coal, spewing jet-black exhaust fumes into the air as a middle finger to environmentalists. Popular bootleg Trump campaign merchandise read simply: Fuck your feelings.

Its a spirit of rebellion against what people see as liberals who are overly sensitive, or are capable of being triggered, or hypocritical, says Marshall Kosloff, co-host of the podcast The Realignment, which analyzes the shifting allegiances of and rise of populist politics. It basically offers the party a way of resolving the contradictions within a realigning party, that increasingly is appealing to down-market white voters and certain working-class Black and Hispanic voters, but that also has a pretty plutocratic agenda at the policy level. In other words: Owning the libs offers bread and circuses for the pro-Trump right while Republicans quietly pursue a traditional program of deregulation and tax cuts at the policy level.

To supercharge those distractions, however, was the great innovation of Donald Trumps presidency: He used the highest platform in the land to play shock jock 24/7, trading the radio booth for his Twitter account thrilling his supporters by dismaying his foes. And despite Trumps defeat in the 2020 presidential election and the Republican Partys loss of control of both the House and the Senate under Trumps leadership the GOP has largely chosen to take his strategy and run with it, betting on a hard-charging, antagonistic rhetorical approach to deliver it back into power in Washington.

Thats led to predictable tensions, as the partys diminishing cadre of wonky reformists lament a form of politics that seems more focused on racking up retweets and YouTube views than achieving policy goals. Even so, Trump-inspired stunt work is, for the moment, the Republican Partys go-to political tool. Owning the libs is no longer the domain of its rowdy, ragged edges, its the party line, with the insufficiently combative seen as inherently suspect and outside the 45th presidents trusted circle of fighters.

But despite its hyper-modern verbiage and social media-assisted dominance, the rhetorical approach deployed by Trump and his allies has roots that go back to the beginning of the conservative movement, with a party, much as it is now, fearful of a liberal status quo it saw as hell-bent on making it obsolete.

In 1952, the political mainstream was inflamed by the boorishness and recklessness of another conservative demagogue: Wisconsins Sen. Joseph McCarthy, then at the height of his infamous communist witch hunt within the federal government. McCarthy would eventually overreach to the extent that he was overwhelmingly censured by the Senate, including roughly half of its members from his own party.

One prominent conservative willing to defend McCarthy, much to the chagrin of nearly everybody to the left of the John Birch Society, was Irving Kristol. The godfather of neoconservatism wrote contemporaneously in Commentary that there is one thing that the American people know about Senator McCarthy: He, like them, is unequivocally anti-Communist. About the spokesman for American liberalism, they feel they know no such thing.

To Kristol, the certainty McCarthy signaled was worth commending, despite his arguments lack of substance or his corrosive rhetorical style. McCarthy was a staunch anti-communist, but that was almost secondary to how thoroughly he infuriated his opponents, leaving no question as to where he stood. And given the incentives presented by social media toward ever more extreme political positions, its no wonder such stark, if reductive, contrasts are even more appealing today, to the extent that a spiritual heir of McCarthys could even win the White House.

Irving [Kristol] wasnt a McCarthyite, but the point is a good one, says Goldberg. When both sides are encouraged to take ever more extreme positions, I think for the average voter that sort of moves the Overton window a little bit where they say, Look, I think Trumps a jerk, and I dont like what he says about immigrants, and blah, blah, blah, but at least hes not for defunding the police, or at least he likes the American flag.

Top: Sen. Joseph McCarthy in 1950. Bottom: National Review founder and editor-in-chief William F. Buckley, Jr. | AP

Kristols willingness to walk on the wire for such a reviled figure as McCarthy reveals another crucial element of lib-owning, beyond just its galvanizing moral clarity: its place as a tool of redoubt for those in the political and cultural minority. Take, for example, Kristols contemporary who perfected the art for the conservative movements long, dark years in the post-Goldwater wilderness William F. Buckley, the National Review founder who relished making his foes look foolish on his long-running program Firing Line, and who, when asked why Robert F. Kennedy refused to appear on the program, famously responded with an impeccably troll-ish query of his own: Why does bologna refuse the grinder?

Buckley had his version of owning the libs, which was being more erudite and articulate than his interlocutors, Goldberg says. You take a certain satisfaction, sort of the your tears are delicious kind of satisfaction.

Buckleys program lost some of its countercultural punch as the Reagan Revolution took hold in Washington, and almost inevitably, his successor George H.W. Bushs kinder, gentler conservatism created an opening for those who craved redder meat.

Enter, if you will, the John the Baptist to former President Trumps all-ownage-all-the-time messianic leadership: Rush Limbaugh.

When Limbaugh died in February after a lengthy battle with cancer, his transgressions against liberal good manners, to put it mildly, were widely noted. Limbaugh regularly filled the three daily hours of his program with invective against women, people of color, LGBTQ people and any number of other groups that didnt include Rush Limbaugh, to the point where even he, the quintessentially self-confident blowhard, occasionally felt the need to admit hed gone too far and apologize. But to his millions of devoted listeners, no remark was too inflammatory to be brushed aside in light of his peerless talent for owning the libs.

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How Owning the Libs Became the GOPs Core Belief - POLITICO

The B.C. NDP governments rigid farmland regulations have blocked a proposal by a northern Indigenous community to open a 60-bed culturally appropriate addiction treatment centre.

Carrier Sekani Family Services has offered to buy a remote fishing resort on Tachick Lake near Vanderhoof in July 2020, to fulfill its goal of creating a lakeside healing and treatment facility. Cheslatta Carrier Nation elected chief Corrina Leween, president of the regional tribal councils family service agency, blasted the decision in a letter to Agriculture Minister Lana Popham, Indigenous Relations Minister Murray Rankin and Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson that was taken up by the opposition in the B.C. legislature this week.

Leween noted that the lakeside property has been used for a fishing lodge since the 1950s, and the remote land has never been farmed. The proposed healing centre has the support of the First Nations Health Authority and Indigenous Services Canada, the federal agency responsible for reserves. Tachick Lake Resort continues to take bookings for this year as the pending sale is considered.

The decision fails to uphold your governments commitments to address the opioid crisis on an urgent basis, to close the systemic gaps in medical and health services for First Nations people in the north, to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions calls to action, and to honour the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Leween wrote.

Its not the first time Pophams crackdown on non-farm uses in B.C.s Agricultural Land Reserve has disrupted a treatment facility. In 2019, the Agricultural Land Commission informed the Abbotsford Womens Centre that it has two years to move, because the large residence used to house up to 10 women in an intensive substance abuse rehab program is also on farmland.

Malcolmson said Monday she met with Leween March 9 to confirm the province will fund such a treatment facility, but the ALC is an independent body with a mandate to protect viable farmland.

RELATED: Farmland rules force womens treatment centre to move

RELATED: B.C. cuts fees, not red tape for farm home construction

This is not an NDP government decision, Malcolmson told the B.C. legislature March 15. Im working with my counterparts in cabinet. Ive given my commitment to Chief Corrina Leween that we will pursue this further. Our investment in Carrier Sekani Family Services remains. We are reliant on them as a deliverer of services right now all across B.C.s northwest.

Ellis Ross, the former Haisla Nation chief and now the B.C. Liberal MLA for Skeena, said Leweens letter makes it clear she isnt interested in the many departments of government doing more consultation. He noted that the record deaths from the opioid overdose crisis is affecting Indigenous people more than the general population.

She wants to see the talking end, Ross said. She wants to see ministers stop referring to their briefing sheets. She wants to see the talk of reconciliation have some real meaning in a time of crisis.

Premier John Horgan offered to meet with B.C. Liberal interim leader Shirley Bond, MLA for Prince George-Valemount, about the issue.

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Agricultural Land ReserveBC politics

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BC addiction treatment centre rejected because it's on 'agricultural' land Coast Mountain News - Coast Mountain News

Opposition parties say the New Brunswick government overlooked an obvious source of revenue higher royalties on the increasingly valuable timber taken from Crown land when it put together the budget presented this week.

But when pressed on the question, Finance Minister Ernie Steeves was short of words.

"I'll tell you the truth, I'm not familiar on that one," Steeves said during the New Brunswick Political Panel.

Green Party Leader David Coon, also on the panel, said the province is leaving "millions" of dollars on the table while it deals with falling revenue because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

One industry that has done well during the pandemic is the lumber industry, Coon said, but the royalty rates paid to the province on timber cut on Crown land haven't gone up since 2015.

"If anyone's been buying a two-by-four or a piece of plywood lately, they know how expensive that is," said Coon.

"Yet they're continuing to sell timber to the companies working on Crown lands at the same price as six years ago."

Lumber and construction industries saw a boom during the summer of 2020 as the pandemic left people unable to travel or spend money on entertainment.

Many New Brunswickers decided to do renovations or build new structures, which led to shortages of materials and to price increases.

"Here we are needing any amount of revenue that we can use, and timber royalties haven't changed despite the lucrative lumber market these days," said Coon.

"That doesn't seem right at all to me."

Coon said the auditor general has said the natural resources minister had been ignoring legislation by not revising timber royalties.

The Political Panel from CBC News New Brunswick32:07March 17: Political Panel: Budget

People's Alliance Leader Kris Austin said he agrees with Coon's assessment and said increasing the rates would not only help government coffers, but private woodlot owners as well.

"I think in doing so [you] can also have a ripple effect and help the private woodlot owners that have been crying for a long time in regards to what they're getting off their land," said Austin.

Liberal MLA Rob McKee said private woodlot owners have long asked for a revising of rates that companies have to pay for wood cut on Crown land.

"They're feeling like they're getting pushed out of the market," said McKee

Steeves said he would consult Natural Resources Minister Mike Holland onthe issue.

"I'll go and talk to Minister Holland and get more information on it," said Steeves.

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Finance minister stumped when higher timber royalties suggested as revenue source - CBC.ca

WALTER WENDLER| Amarillo Globe-News

(Editor's note: eighth and final in a series on the Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle.)

Over the past six weeks, various intersecting aspects of the Texas Panhandle and West Texas A&M University have been communicated in the 'Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle' series. The shared values of the place we call home and the University are invaluable to our future. Family, the love of place and dedication to something larger than self, rugged individualism, public and private space, the faith of people, loyalty and the power of ideas shape the Panhandle and WT.

Recognizing these powerful, life-changing forces at work led to the conception of establishing the Cultural Foundation of the Texas Panhandle (CFTP). These geographic, social and economic forces need recognition in contemporary society that trips from one soundbite to another and fleeting conceptions of power without purpose. Being part of The Texas A&M University System as a regional institution, WTs contribution to the larger purpose of Texas cannot be overlooked. Also, to help give us direction, it must be understood and calibrated to remember our history, appreciate our present, and look forward to a profitable and engaging future; this is the purpose of the CFTP.

When the land-grant institutions were established by the Morrill Act, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862, one aspect of the Act was "to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life." As a regional university serving the citizens of West Texas and simultaneously a member of The Texas A&M University System, WT is associated with two important entities: the TEXAS Outdoor Musical in the Palo Duro Canyon and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum on the WT campus. Both endeavor to promote an understanding of and appreciation for Texas history and to promote "several pursuits and professions in life."

WT is forward-looking, yet, our history strongly shapes us. But, that history is wedded to our purpose in shaping the future of the Panhandle and the state. One without the other is lifeless.

WT is taking a leadership role as a forward-looking and historically appreciative storehouse of insights and ideas that empower and inform future growth and service. Such a commitment is not solely WT's jurisdiction, to be sure; but, it is a responsibility of all in our region. It is our future.

As one of the regional institutions in the A&M System, WT is a significant repository of historical records, artifacts and relationships to our extended community, as well as a responsibility for the maintenance of insights embedded in the TEXAS Musical and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum. These are clear local examples that have great value to the larger audience of the state of Texas. Coupled with these three organizations, the Palo Duro Canyon's geographic asset marks our region as central to the future development of Texas. The collections, artifacts, galleries, repositories and events of substance that, if thoughtfully coordinated, would have statewide value to students of every stripe and locale, at every level of study.

The pragmatics of the CFTP are driven by two important organizations, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum as one of the most extensive collections of Texas Art and artifacts in our state and the TEXAS Musical. Both enterprises are primarily focused on West Texas and the Panhandle. I believe their value extends far beyond our region. The impact of the Panhandle on the state was, and continues to be, significant.

In concert, the boards of the TEXAS Musical and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum create one unified, well-functioning, regionally-driven, statewide enterprise like no other. The role of the combined group is to preserve the cultural foundations of the Texas Panhandle. This worthwhile endeavor extends the purpose and reach of WT and the Texas Panhandle.

Creating the CFTP Advisory Board, established as a cultural nonprofit organization with a board-appointed membership that represents business, industry, education, and civic pride from various statewide leadership perspectives, is unique to our role of service to and support of the Panhandle.

For more information on the Cultural Foundation of the Texas Panhandle effort, please visit https://www.wtamu.edu/about/administration/cftp/index.html.

Walter V. Wendler is President of West Texas A&M University. His reflections are available athttps://walterwendler.com/.

Originally posted here:

Wendler: The cultural foundation of the Texas Panhandle - Amarillo.com

Erin O'Toole told Conservatives this weekend that their party must change becauseif it doesn't, he said, it won't be able to win the votes necessary to defeat Justin Trudeau's Liberals in the next election.

And if the Liberals do win, he added, they'llbe able to implement theirown changes changes that O'Toole cast as frightening and potentially ruinous.

But O'Toole didn't tell Conservatives exactly how they need to change. And then delegates delivered a potentially damaging vote on climate change policy that suggests his party base might not be ready to move very far.

O'Toole is on solid groundwhen he says the Conservative Party needs to try something different. His own polling numbers make that obvious. But so did the last federal election.

In 2019, Andrew Scheer's Conservatives ran on an implicitpromise to return to the policy agenda of Stephen Harper's government. Scheer promised to smile more than his predecessor didbut stopped short of offering a new approach particularly on climate change.

The Conservatives won 34 per cent of the popular vote in that election. That was two points better than the party's performanceunder Harper in 2015, but itsnational result in 2019was inflated by themassive Conservative turnout in Alberta and Saskatchewan. In Ontario and Quebec where 199 of the country's 338 ridings are located the Conservatives actually lost ground under Scheer.

A year and a half later, O'Toole's Conservatives are sitting at 30 per cent nationally. And O'Toole's personal approval ratingmight be even more of a problem.

According to survey results released by Abacus Data last week, 23 per cent of Canadians are committed to voting Conservative in the next election and another 23 per cent would consider voting Conservative.

But as theAbacus numbers point out, the differences between those two groups are substantial. Compared to those whohave decided alreadyto vote for O'Toole's party, those potential Conservative voters are younger, more diverse, much more concerned about climate change and much less angry about Justin Trudeau.

"We must present new ideas, not make the same arguments hoping that maybe this time more Canadians will come around to our position," O'Toole told Conservatives on Friday evening. "We are never going to win over Canadians just by relying on Justin Trudeau to continue to disappoint."

O'Toole himself certainly haschanged since he ran for theleadership last year. There was nothing in Friday's speech about "cancel culture" or the "radical left." Hedidn't offer any tips for winningdebates with the "woke left," as he did last fall justmonths after winning theleadership.

But after telling Conservatives that they need to findthe "courage" topursue "bold" changes,O'Toole said little to nothing about what that might look like.

Perhaps O'Toole will soon lay out a series of innovative new policies that deviate markedly from the Harper era. But for now,heseems more interested in saying the Conservative Party has changed than in actually changing the Conservative Party.

As he has before, O'Toole singled out private sector union workers and organized labour as audiences he wants to target. But he didn't say what he wanted the party to offer those voters.

In a separate missive to party members last week, O'Toole said the wealthiest Canadians should "pay their fair share." But he did not use his speech to call for a new approach to taxation.

O'Toole said his party must have a "serious" and "comprehensive" plan for climate change. But he doubled down on his criticism of the current federal carbon price andfell back on a framing that casts "the environment" as a discrete issue as opposed to a broader view that seesclimate policy as intertwined with almost all other areas of public policy.

"As important as climate change is, getting our economy back on track is more important," he said.

In his prepared remarks, he said he wanted to defeat the "lie" that the Conservative Party is a party of "climate change deniers."On Friday night and then again during a question-and-answer session with party members on Saturday afternoon, O'Toole declared that the "debate" over climate change is over.

But in between those two pronouncements came the newsthat Conservative delegates had rejected a resolution thatwould have declared that"climate change is real" and "the Conservative party is willing to act" while committing the party to targeting high emitters and supporting innovation.

The headlines generated by that vote might be a serious setback toO'Toole'sgoalof rebranding his party. Liberals willno doubt be happy to remind himof that vote at every opportunity in the weeks and months ahead.

Unless O'Toole is willing to have a frank conversation with the membershipabout what it might take to reach Canada's emissions reduction targets including net-zero by 2050, which O'Toole has endorsed it might be very difficult for him to present the sort of credible climate plan that could help him win an election.

In the meantime, O'Toole says he is very concerned about the Trudeau government's plans to "reimagine" the economy. O'Toole told Conservatives on Friday that those plans entail"unfunded, unknown and untested changes that will leave millions more Canadians behind."

The word "reimagine" was plucked from remarks the prime ministermade to an international summit last September. Trudeau told that gathering thatwhen the world emerges from the pandemic, there will be an opportunity "to accelerate our pre-pandemic efforts, to reimagine economic systems that actually address global challenges like extreme poverty, inequality and climate change."

In broad strokes, the Trudeau government's post-pandemic agenda was laid out in the throne speech that same month:expanding child care, reforming employment insurance, providing new training for workers, combating systemic racism and accelerating the transition to a clean economy, among other things.

But beyond O'Toole'sassertionthat what the Liberals have in mind is alarming and potentially divisive (he contends thatthe Liberal plan would involve Ottawapicking and choosing which jobs are worth supporting),it's still not clearwhat the Conservative counter-offer will be.

To be fair, the Liberals haven'tdetailed all of their own plans either. But after the Trudeau government tables a budget probably in April O'Toole will have to grapple with whatever the Liberals propose. At that point, it might become apparent just how much change O'Toole is actually willing to embrace.

This weekend, O'Toole established that he doesn't want to be associated either withScheer'splatformof 2019orthe throne speech theTrudeau governmentpresented in 2020. But there is a vast gulf between those twothings.

Still unknowniswhere the ErinO'Tooleof 2021 intends to land or how wide arunwayhis party's most loyal supporters are willingto givehim.

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O'Toole's pitch to get Conservatives to embrace 'change' may be off to a shaky start - CBC.ca

Michael Ferguson,Minister for State Growth

The Tasmanian Liberal Government recognises the important role the building and construction sector is playing as we secure Tasmanias future.

We have a strong and proud record of achievement our economy is one of the strongest in the nation, we have the lowest unemployment rate of any state, and our job numbers are at pre-pandemic levels.

But there is always more to do, which is why we have a number of building and construction initiatives in place to further stimulate the economy and support jobs.

With about 5,000 hectares of privately-owned vacant residential zoned land across Tasmania, which could deliver around 60,000 lots for residential development, we are taking immediate action to remove barriers and costs to encourage further land activation.

Our $10 million Headworks Holiday will bring forward land for residential development, creating jobs in the civil and building construction sectors and increasing housing supply.

The initiative includes up to $5,000 per residential lot for power, and up to $5,000 per residential lot for water and sewerage infrastructure.

This support is on top of our $30 million Building Construction Support Loan Scheme, which will bring forward paused commercial construction projects that will support even more jobs and create new or improved infrastructure.

This new scheme builds on our $10 million Building Projects Support Program, announced in the 2020-21 State Budget, to support stalled shovel-ready projects. The Program will bring forward community or commercial projects to help stimulate the construction sector and support jobs.

Our plan is working and has been warmly welcomed by industry and stakeholders, including the Master Builders Tasmania, the Property Council and Housing Industry Association.

It is smart investments like these that will secure Tasmanias future and ensure we come out of the pandemic stronger than ever.

More Media Releases from Michael Ferguson

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Headworks Holiday to boost jobs in building sector - Premier of Tasmania