Word Prisms

In his campaign to become the United Conservative Party leader, Jason Kenney claims "it's time to Unite Alberta and bring back the Alberta Advantage."  He includes a commitment to unity in his banner 'Jason Kenney - Experience, Leadership, Unity.' Ironically, he's the most divisive politician to enter Alberta Politics in recent memory. He uses dog whistle politics to question the heritage of First Nations people, the right of LGBTQ students to join a Gay Straight Association in school without being outed by their parents, accused the NDP of an ideology conspiracy and the use of social engineering to indoctrinate our young people, and called the politics of millennials a product of hardwiring collectivist ideas and identity politics.  Lots of people hate Rachel Notley. She called Albertans the embarrassing cousins when referring to Alberta's environmental record; a huge strategic mistake probably the consequence of hubris after having just won a...

We all like to figure out how other people tick. That's what makes gossip so popular. It confirms or changes our impressions of other people and we come up with responses like, "Typical" or "You wouldn't believe what he did last night." And, if we can't figure people out, we become suspicious of them. Politicians are no different. In order to feel comfortable with them, we have to be able to understand them. Americans got to know Donald Trump on fourteen seasons of "The Apprentice." Even if they didn't get to know the real guy, they got to know a pretty well established persona. By the time he hit the campaign trail, he knew his audience and they knew or at least thought they knew the Donald. It's not any different for Canadian audiences. Albertans loved Ralph Klein as the guy you could go out with for a beer. Even when he fucked up, he'd apologize and nearly everyone would forgive him. Like the time he walked into the home...