#MacKayTees - Trending on Twitter

So Peter MacKay decided to slip into something more comfortable at a recent Conservative Fundraiser. What he put on and posed for pictures in is a tee shirt for the good & heavily armed people at the National Firearms Association (NFA) — a seriously pro-gun lobby group — during a Conservative Party fundraiser in Edmonton last week.  The black T-shirt with a logo of a maple leaf and an assault rife (pointing prophetically at his head) and the words “No Compromise” under it.

Furiously backpedalling MacKay said: “A Canadian veteran wounded in Afghanistan approached me at an event in Edmonton, handed me one of his T-shirts and asked if I would pose for a photo." That appears to be a bit of a nose-stretcher, even for the Minister of Justice, as it was the lady on the left who gave him the shirt to wear according to her (now protected) posts. She (Ericka Clarke of the NFA) told CBC News in a Facebook message that she had brought the T-shirt to the event and also posted this:

Surely telling the truth is a job description for the Minister of Justice.

All of which is simply by way of prologue to my starting #MacKayTees and my own Photoshop fun to see what other kinds of inappropriate tee shirts MacKay might wear...

The #MacKayTees was trending on Twitter today, and even attracted the notice of the Toronto Star.

One last note - the above are my originals. I saw a lot more on Twitter done by other people with different tee-shirt slogans, but they left on my name in the corner. I didn't do them. Accept no substitutes!

PS - You can read a slightly more serious article on it by pal @fernhilldammit here: http://scathinglywrongrightwingnutz.blogspot.ca/2014/08/no-compromise-mackay.html

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A little update - our friends at Sun TV News were shocked - shocked, I say - by the reaction. Pleased to see they used three of my #MacKayTees as illustrations.

Harper's Titanic Arctic Tour

Harper, a ship, lots of ice... What could go wrong?

Harper & Me

It's always dangerous to announce a work in progress this early, but I'm working on a new book about the starkly different views of Canadian nationalism and values that have emerged under Harper. It's more of a personal exploration of what it means to be Canadian and how my Canada is so different from Harper's, even though we are complete contemporaries - both born white, middle-class in 1959.

A recent radio show I did on the direction of the country and an article I wrote for Canadian Lawyer Magazine (out next month, I think) started me thinking about why Harper has had limited success winning Canadians over to his world-view. A recent poll shows Canadians in the last ten years are becoming more progressive in their beliefs as our government brings in increasing regressive policies. Harper's attempts to fit a square peg into a round hole fascinate me.

The book is shaping up as a look at Canadian liberalism & conservatism, the role of government, the Charter and rule of law, Canada's place in the world and how Harper has tried to drag the country's attitudes and values in a completely different direction than the last 50 years with limited success.

Writing so far is going very well, but I always do a mock up of the cover art to inspire me to complete it. Here's an early look.

Obsession

What's with Harper's man-crush on Justin Trudeau?

A little fun with toddlers

A Face Made For Radio - My Recent Talk Show Appearance

 

I'm very pleased to have been asked last week to appear on @CanadianGlen's radio show "The View Up Here". Over the two hour show we chatted mostly about Harper's Conservatives and their problem with (or refusal to) understand the Charter, role of the courts and the legal limits of a parliamentary constitutional democracy. We talk about their terrible record at the Supreme Court of Canada in pushing their ideological legislation without being burdened with concerns about its constitutionality or little things like a fundamental respect for the rule of law.

Thanks Glen. Here is the archived show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/canadianglen/2014/07/31/the-view-up-here-talks-harper-and-the-law-with-stephen-lautens