The Politics Behind “Lee Harper Oswald”
Yes, I’m afraid we have to talk about this. My initial reactions are pretty much the same as everyone else’s, but at the same time I think we need to do a better analysis of this incident.
First, the photo. There are tons of photos on the Internet showing people getting shot or dying, and pasting Harper’s mug on any of them would still be offensive. But our offending entrant picked this particular one, because it does send a particular message.
The thing to remember is that Lee Harvey Oswald did not shoot just any president, but someone who (in post-20th century American mythology) embodied the notion of “Camelot,” the idea of eternal optimism, the spirit of (relative) youth, et cetera and so on. There are those who believe that the dark turmoil and disillusionment of the later 1960s would never have happened had Kennedy lived to complete his term, and perhaps earn a re-election. No basis in fact for that one, but that’s the nature of mythmaking.
Much has already been written about Stephen Harper’s politics already transforming the Canadian political landscape — preparing the public to accept the notion of a national government that does less, a stronger law-and-order mindset, a more vigorous military, and less emphasis on social spending compared with the provinces. There are those among the left and centre-left who are fearful that this change may well be irreversible, putting the dream of a “progressive” government out of their reach for the duration of their lifetimes. That, then, is the audience that will look on the photo of “Lee Harper Oswald” and see in the deepest recesses of their mind the forbidden idea: That man has destroyed our dream, and for that he should pay.
Now ask yourself this: what kind of mind would entertain such a thought?
And the answer would be, a mind that’s very short (if not actually bereft) of optimism. A mind that has little or no faith in the ability of the Liberal Party, or him- or herself, to successfully diminish the Harper “threat” via popular means. A mind with so heavy an emotional investment in the fortunes of the Liberal Party that the events of 2009 would have plunged him into a mood close to despair, so much so that the idea of assassinating the PM would have a cynical, perverse appeal, a way of breaking out of the doom and gloom.
And so we come to the people running the Liberal Party website.
Obviously, the Liberal webfolks aren’t really advocating death as a means of restoring their fortunes; it’s as ridiculous as believing Scott Reid’s homicidal dictate to be something more than careless rhetorical overkill. But the idea behind that photo obviously had some resonance with their current mindset. And what’s more, they put the photo up as an entry because they believed that it would darkly, sardonically resonate with other Liberals who viewed the party’s antics (and their appalling results) in much the same frame of mind.
And that frame of mind was so strong that they forgot that there are others who are less emotionally invested, who actually respect Stephen Harper and understand that lots of Canadians don’t happen to share their partisan viewpoint — and who would be extremely upset at the notion that a Liberal Party member — any Liberal Party member — would be seen as advocating assassination.
It’s a no-brainer to believe that the Liberal Party has a morale problem, given the events of 2009. What this incident shows is the extent of the morale problem — and that’s the true shocker. The party’s going to have to face facts: this is going to take a lot of time, a lot of talking, and a lot of serious thought beyond anti-Harper attacks to get the staffers in a mood to fight an election properly.
Second, the apologies. Yes, I’ve read the one that’s up on the website, and honestly they’re going to have to do better than that.
I wouldn’t go so far as Joanne and say that the Waffle needs to apologize personally to the PM. For one thing, I don’t believe that Iffy even knew of the photo contest; he doesn’t strike me as a leader who pays that much attention to the Net. For another, his time would be better spent planning his holidays and work for the New Year.
One thing the party can do, however, is name two people, publicly: the person who submitted the photo, and the person actually in charge of the competition.
Actually, this has to be compulsory. The longer this story lasts, the more damage there will be to the Liberal Party “brand.” Naming the responsible parties shifts the blame from the brand to the individual. And for a party like the Liberals, the brand carries much more weight as an election asset than the individual.
The other thing the party should do is announce an appropriate sanction: anything from a reprimand, to reassignment to smaller duties, even to outright dismissal. No matter how hard people try to dismiss this as trivial, the incident has done significant damage to the Liberals, if only by diverting media attention away from stories which show them taking on the Tories (hello, detainees and Copenhagen).
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December 15th, 2009 at 18:02
I think the photo is borderline dangerous. Anything that suggests or implies the assassination of one of our political leaders may be read by some nut-job the wrong way.
As to the other photos, who cares? I would not want to see demands for apologies for those; regardless of how tasteless. It gets too much into that whole NDP/Liberal political correctness ploy.
JC
December 15th, 2009 at 18:22
The photo depicting Harper geting shot is not offensive. It’s a reaction to an arrogant leader. He probably is getting shot by a hand gun he voted to de-register. Shot by his own neglect.
December 15th, 2009 at 18:45
Some people are making too big a deal out of this, but it does shine a light on some of the dim bulbs in the Liberal Blogosphere. I encourage the clowns to keep performing. They are a fantastic inspiration!
December 15th, 2009 at 19:03
Very poor timing for that photo to appear, with the arrest of a Quelph woman for threatening PMSH, with phone calls to him home and office.
We had the Toronto 18, planning to behead him, Scott Reid making a stupid stmt kill him dead.
What is with the death mentality of the liberals.
The liberals better pray that nothing happens to the PM in Copenhagen. Maybe he should cancel the trip.
How about putting the two guilty members in a public square and have shoes tossed at them. LOL
December 15th, 2009 at 19:09
There are Harper-haters in our national media. Watched CTV Question period, CBC , Global and CTV lately? They are there.
Liberals, Liblogs, and our national liberal msm have fed off each other for so long, they think everyone thinks like them.
So when 75 photo shopped pics came in, the finalists picks were likely the most hatefille.
December 15th, 2009 at 19:27
The photo depicting Harper geting shot is not offensive. It’s a reaction to an arrogant leader. He probably is getting shot by a hand gun he voted to de-register. Shot by his own neglect.
**************************
Handguns were never being de-registered; please educate yourself. Only long-guns are at issue.
December 15th, 2009 at 19:46
If that thought and desire wasn’t there, subconsciously or otherwise, about somebody seeing that piece of trash excuse for a joke and imitating what they see happening, that picture would not have gone up on that website.
December 15th, 2009 at 20:01
I’m pretty surprised that you let the idiotic comment made by Wamboy stand, Phantom. Besides the simple reality that it is FACTUALLY INCORRECT. At the very least, he/she should have been corrected.
December 15th, 2009 at 20:07
When I found out about this I just rolled my eyes because at this point it was expected that something like this would happen.
The only shock is that after all the so-called house cleaning and ushering in some “adult supervision” in the form of Donolo, the liberals where expousing how things where going to change. I guess they missed someone during the purge.
But if Iggy or his new handler have some smarts, if they really want to nip this in the bud they might want to use this opportunity to make an example of the guy who came up with this idea.
Coincidentally, wasn’t Warren Kinsella the one guy that didn’t get the bums rush out of the war room?
Just saying.
December 15th, 2009 at 22:59
Is is fair comment to compare our PM to Joseph Stalin? Stalin was responsible for the deaths of millions.
Liberal math does not add up either. Seven finalists on top page and only six are shown, making the oswald photo a finalist?
December 16th, 2009 at 00:02
Was this worse than the Conservative website actually designed by the Party showing bullet gunshots at Stephane Dion and other Liberal MPs? No apology from the Conservatives for that and that was up for weeks, not minutes. Was that a sign of low morale?
The faux outrage over this stupid kids mistake is such an obvious attempt at changing the channel from Harper’s contempt of Parliament and his embarrassment on the world stage in Copenhagen.
December 16th, 2009 at 00:13
Hey Wamboy:
How bout you grab a clue? Nobody has de-registered hand guns. And nobody will. What HAS been voted on is to get rid of the multi-billion-dollar boondoggle called the LONG gun registry.
But hey… who am I to suggest a lefty actually pay attention to facts? Carry on with the stupid… you wear it well.
December 16th, 2009 at 08:55
” He probably is getting shot by a hand gun he voted to de-register”
Hey silly wamboy…you do know that your statement shows how utterly stupid you really are, don’t you.
Here are the facts – hand guns have been registerable in Canada since 1932 and are NOT part of the long gun registery debacle.
Now you know – go tell your friends – next time, do some research before you make such asinine statements. It makes us realize that your comments carry no weight.
Silly, Silly Boy.
December 16th, 2009 at 10:34
Liberal hugs and kisses for taliban, al-queda, hamas & hezbollah, but targeted assassination of political opponents is an acceptable social engineering tool in the liberal mind.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:56
Bec, I’m pretty sure lots of readers of this blog will be more than happy to do that correcting for me.
December 16th, 2009 at 15:34
To overreact to this is a mistake as it is nothing more than poor taste. It does highlight the hypocrisy of many liberals who exhibit the do as I command, not as I do mindset.