Well, They're Starting To Notice...

...in other parts of Canada, in any case:

Tea leaves from Saskatchewan

"...the unprecedented landslide of the Saskatchewan Party, in the provincial election Monday, well beyond the expectations of the political experts, suggests the groundwork under Canadian politics is not as commonly understood. And the trend descried (sic), towards a "rejuvenated" NDP through the last federal election, may now have been exposed as flash-in-pan."

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"...the NDP may be doomed by the nature of its recent successes, and we'll have Liberals back by a process of default. And I say this even though, at less than one per cent, the Liberals' showing in the Saskatchewan election suggests extinction."

I wouldn't get too excited about Saskatchewan's Liberal Party fortunes, or the lack thereof, in Monday's election. The provincial Liberals haven't been a force in this province since Ross Thatcher, way back when I was 20 years old. And cripes, in politics, that's a long, long time ago.

"It will be whichever two horses best represent the left and right hemispheres of the electoral brain, with the middle gone missing. (Along, we might argue, with a number of the necessary synapses.)"

That's what I've been thinking at lease since the May 2nd Federal election. We have, right here in Canada, the beginnings of the final showdown between the right and the left throughout Western Civilization. One of them's gonna win, and it ain't the left. After all, as I said before, the NDP in Saskatchewan represent the origins of socialism in North America, and I believe we're seeing the end of that movement right here where it was born. (Faster, please!)

"Here is a fiscally, and to some degree socially, conservative party, with a classic rural base, now successfully invading the cities. And doing so, not by watering its platform down, or adopting a few "urbane" postures, but by stressing the very points that made it popular in the outback.

And in Brad Wall, the bespectacled Saskatchewan Party leader, we have a man who has not cultivated, let alone acquired, the conventional political charisma. He is a municipal type from Swift Current, with amateur interests in country music and model rocketry, which may contribute to his mildly populist flavour.

The reputation he has acquired is for candour. He has freely and quickly admitted to every stupid move of his career, on which he has been called - from using an exaggerated Ukrainian accent to mock former premier Roy Romanow, to drinking government-paid liquor in an earlier department job.

This is important. As we see in the case of Herman Cain, in the U.S., and in many other recent cases, the "progressive" media and political operators of most stripes increasingly depend on personal smears to eliminate what they consider their most dangerous ideological opponents. Do not present yourself as a whited sepulchre, and they can't get you."

Yup. It's the revenge of the acned nerds. The elites are in retreat. You can tell by the din of their howling and wailing. But do read the rest. He makes a good case that what happened in Saskatchewan is a bellwether of times to come.

Another good article on the topic:

"On the issues, of nine tested, the Sask. Party was deemed best to manage on six, and tied on a seventh. The NDP and Greens each held one. The Sask. Party's issues headed the list for importance; the NDP's lone issue rated second last in importance."

Yup. Yesterday's party. Yesterday's ideas.

"The Sask. Party is poised to be the new natural governing party. With two-party contests, responsible government and strong leadership it could hold office for a long time."

Amen!

And finally: Sask. premier Wall muses on bill to force unions to disclose spending

We're off to the races, folks. Larry Hubick will be howling at the top of his lungs. All that money wasted on useless political ads. All those years spent in bed with Dippers. Oh, we're gonna see a new Saskatchewan, folks.

"Brad Wall said he's contemplating changes that would allow union members in the province to better scrutinize how their dues are spent.

In a move that may heighten already tense relations with the leadership of organized labour, Wall said any changes would be meant to provide greater accountability.

"We're not going to be looking for arguments but if there's opportunities to increase accountability and transparency for union members we're going to pursue those," Wall told reporters Tuesday, although he didn't release details or a timeline for the potential changes."

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"The confirmation that he might consider legislative changes on the labour front came as Wall held a news conference to announce the Saskatchewan Party is fulfilling the first of its campaign pledges.

Wall's party captured 49 of 58 seats in the province's legislature and a historic 64 per cent of the popular vote Monday night.

In its first term, the Saskatchewan Party government regularly clashed with organized labour over new labour legislation, including changes to the trade union act and the introduction of an essential services law that prevents some public sector workers from striking."

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"A legal action launched by the labour movement challenging the constitutionality of those two bills is set to play out in a Regina courtroom starting next week.

Larry Hubich, president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, questioned what the premier is looking for on union spending, since unions generally have requirements in their constitution and bylaws already to provide members with annual audited financial statements."

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"The premier and Sask. Party MLAs should sit down with the labour movement to discuss any concerns, said Hubich, who added that "perhaps the mechanisms are already in place to provide for the kind of transparency that he is suggesting doesn't exist."

"We recognize he's got a mandate. We recognize he's been elected," Hubich said. "We congratulate him on that. But that doesn't diminish his responsibility to deal with the organizations of working people in a respectful and professional way."

"Working people". Eat our shit, Larry Hubich. You and your goons.