fatbasturd fatbasturd:
Harper's U.S. neocon booster changes his story
Jan. 27, 2006. 09:05 AM
BETH GORHAM
CANADIAN PRESS
WASHINGTON - A top U.S. conservative commentator now says he authorized an e-mail warning right-wing American groups not to talk to Canadian journalists before the election for fear of scaring voters and damaging Stephen Harper's chances.
Paul Weyrich, head of the Free Congress Foundation, told The Canadian Press last week that the widely distributed message was the product of an overzealous staff member of the research group.
He also said he didn't know Calgary lawyer Gerald Chipeur, a prominent Tory who called the foundation with concerns that Liberal-friendly journalists were trying to link Harper with "scary" American groups.
But in a commentary on the foundation's website this week, in which he calls Canadians too "hedonistic" to change course quickly, Weyrich admits he asked an associate to write the e-mail.
He directed staff member Bob Thompson to "tell American conservatives what the media up north intended to do and request that folks not conduct interviews until after the Canadian elections."
He also wrote that he'd been in contact with Chipeur by e-mail a few days before the election and "discussed the projections."
Chipeur, he said, was worried about "what the left-wing Canadian media could do to obtain from some unsuspecting United States conservative an off-the-charts quote which could be hung around (Harper's) neck."
Weyrich noted he found out hours later that the e-mail had been leaked and recounted that he mostly ducked questions from journalists about it.
"In the end, there just wasn't enough there to make a fuss, although there was potential to blow this sky high. Conservatives did not conduct interviews. Small victory."
His web commentary welcoming the Conservative Party's win says Canadians have become "so liberal and hedonistic that the public ethic in the country immediately could not be reversed."
But the long-time conservative commentator held out hope that Harper will force Canada to adopt a "more reasonable view" of the United States and correct "some premises of cultural Marxism which Canadian have espoused, such as same-sex marriage and abortion on demand."
"With leadership, it may well be possible to change the public ethic."
Claims that Harper doesn't have enough support to reverse same-sex marriage in a free vote in the Commons are inaccurate, he suggested.
Harper should use his time in power, Weyrich said, to fill court vacancies with conservatives who oppose abortion and gay marriage, noting U.S. courts are similarly overstocked with liberal judges.
"As has been the case in the United States, cultural Marxism has been foisted upon Canada by the courts," he wrote.
"If judges who respect the (U.S.) Constitution were to be appointed, they would confirm that such rights are not to be found in that document. Sound familiar?"
So the cons had gag orders to not allow the truth about their agenda to slip out to the media on both sides of the border.