Barrel Strength

Harper House of Commons December 2, 2008

I have been reading Prescott’s magnificent “The Conquest of Mexico”, the story of how Hernan Cortes and 1000 men, of whom about 15 were cavalry, conquered the Aztec Empire in 1519.  First he burned the boats that would allow them to return to Cuba. Then he led his band up the cold high passes by smoking volcanoes into the central valley of Mexico. Seeking the alliance of the Tlascalans, the hereditary enemies of the Aztecs, he sought permission to pass through their territory. They refused, and fought him on open plains with an army of 30,000 men. As Prescott relates, it was Greeks versus Persians all over again. The military science of the Europeans, not merely the military technologies, prevailed. The Tlascalans nearly overwhelmed the Spaniards in furious onslaught, repelled only by the most desperate defence. The Tlascalans tried several times to eliminate the Spaniards, failing each time. They then made peace with the Spaniards, who made them vassals of the Spanish Crown. The Spanish then marched on  to Mexico, the capital of the Aztec Empire, a city set in a lake and separated from  the land by mile-long causeways. Aided greatly by the Tlascalans, Cortes and his band of Catholic pirates eventually overwhelmed the Aztecs in furious house to house fighting, as smallpox devastated the Aztecs. This is a story so astonishing it could not be believed except that it actually happened.

At a several points in this amazing foray, members of Cortes band grew disheartened with the odds, fully cognizant that the would have their hearts torn out if they were captured, as some were. 

When some of his troops grew dismayed after the first battle with the Tlascalans, seeing an eternity of struggle ahead of them, they confronted their elected general. He responded as follows. There comes a point in a great venture, Cortes pointed out, that you cannot retreat. You must do or die. In their case, die in a terrifying, humiliating and painful ceremony for the entertainment of blood-drenched savages. When the Spanish had fought their first battle with the brave Tlascalans, and knew that they would have to defeat them and still march onward to the major enemy, the Aztecs, and saw no end to the slaughter ahead of them, Cortes reminded his troops that the die was cast, that they could not retreat, that they could not get back to the coast alive, and that every vassal or ally they had made thusfar would turn on them and destroy them before the Aztecs could punish  them for failing to do so. Do or die, everlasting ignominy or deathless fame.

Harper and the Conservatives have reached that point. Thus I was happy to hear that, at the Conservative Christmas party last Monday night (December 1st), he gave what was described as “a Henry the Fifth speech” before the Battle of Agincourt. If my friend had been more acquainted with Prescott, he might have said Harper’s speech was like Cortes’ after the first battle with the Tlascalans. In any case, the thought that the Prime Minister said he would use “all legal means” to fight off the Liberal-socialist-separatist coalition gladdened me, and gave heart to all of us who think the Liberal party must be decisively defeated, again,  before it can be reformed.

Look at his eyes in the picture above.

My friend Arran Gold is correct in his criticism that Harper ought not to have gone for the throats of the Opposition without a majority. Having done so, however, and roused them from their stupor, Harper finds himself and his party on the cusp of something huge. It is time for a big shakedown in Canadian politics, one which, willy nilly, we shall have.

Canada’s chess-playing prime minister, Stephen Harper, appears to be a patzer given his recent play.  His strategy is akin to bringing out the queen early in play and checking the opposing king.  Although Harper’s plan to remove public financing of political parties is a good idea, it is one that he should have delayed till he had a better position, i.e. a majority in parliament.

Harper also seems to have forgotten a key concept that self-preservation is the primary goal of any entity.  How exactly did he expect Bloc to react when their only source for campaign funds was about to be cut off?  Did he really expect that the Liberal party, which is on the ropes financially, would quietly fade away?  What did he expect NDP to do, given their fondness for handouts with no strings attached?

He seems to be compounding the problem with an attempt to prorogue the parliament.  The strategy in this case appears to be to go on a public relations offensive and highlight the inclusion of separatist Bloc in the coalition, as well as the “unfairness” given the election results.  This strategy is profoundly wrong, because it is an attempt to shame and embarrass the coalition partners.  Harper seems to be forgetting that politicians, especially those belonging to the Liberal party, are beyond all this and cannot be shamed or embarrassed.