What REALLY goes on at a Harper press conference? A veteran journalist tells all

And thanks Jimmy, I appreciate that.

“By not caring too much about what people think, I’m able to think for myself and propagate ideas which are very often unpopular. And I succeed.” – Albert Ellis

“The history of progress is written in the blood and men of women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause…” – Emma Goldman

“The only possible effect one can have on the world is through unpopular ideas” – Vivienne Westwood

“Nothing can be more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This is really the test of civilization.” – Winston Churchill

“A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.” – Adlai Stevenson

“Commitment to the rule of law provides a basic assurance that people can know what to expect whether what they do is popular or unpopular at the time.” – Sandra Day O’Connor

Charleton, try to have a sense of humour.

Charlon,

No – but as you can see, I can get along just fine with sensible and reasonable conservatives. You are the opposite of that.

Geek Jimmy trilling for a date? You are a joke.

Erin,

You are one of my favorite people here. We may not agree on a whole lot, but I think you are completely reasonable and I hope you don’t take this the wrong way – but you seem like a cool chick with a good sense of humor.

What is this, the Jimmy Da Silva page or ‘The Rebel’. He said it himself, below, “ignore me”. That is the first thing he has said that makes sense. He will , no doubt, continue with his left wing Rants. Just follow his advice, ignore him.

And Jimmy, thanks for giving the Post some credit for attempting some political balance.
Jimmy gets it, so I don’t know why people still have a problem with him. Plus, talking to him is fun. I highly recommend engaging with him.

If it was anyone other than Margaret Atwood, we wouldn’t even be discussing it.

Jimmy, agreed :) When you can’t get out to the shooting range, sometimes video games do the trick. Margaret Atwood may be widely respected as a Canadian novelist and poet, but I suspect most of her supporters would cringe if they actually read her recent National Post article, edited or not. I certainly did. I admire the woman for her creativity when it comes to novels like The Handmaid’s Tale, or poetry like Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing, because these are valuable works of art. But that doesn’t make her an authority on the 2015 federal election.
The National Post probably believed they would be getting a funny puff piece about the importance of a good hairstyle in contemporary Canadian politics, but what she delivered instead was factually-questionable, pro-Trudeau propaganda.
Even staff columnists have their copy edited and shortened without their awareness or consent, and it’s not censorship. It’s called fact-checking and lawyering. I expect The National Post just didn’t want to get sued for printing Atwood’s half-assed suppositions and conspiracy theories.
People, PLEASE, read up on a topic before commenting. That said, as far as I can tell, The National Post only deleted the two phrases Jimmy mentioned. This isn’t censorship, it’s the editorial process. Atwood has the gall to demand she be consulted before any changes are made, and that’s the only reason she’s pissed, and that’s the only reason this is even a story at all.

Charles,

WRONG.

The changes are shown here:

Journalist Jonathan Goldsbie has made a complete list of these changes. The censored sections are significant, and accuse Stephen Harper of hiding “the two-million-dollar-donors to his party leadership race,” and make reference to Harper having given “four mutually exclusive answers” about the Duffy cover-up.

https://twitter.com/goldsbie/status/634915074533142528

and it’s covered here:

http://canadalandshow.com/article/hairgate-what-really-happened

No Jimmy, there were no changes in the article. It even headlined the web-page as the top article for a full day. I’ll go with my own empirical observations as opposed to anything a G & M hack writes; about an article written by a Canada Council Grant hack. By the way, did you read the third article in John Robson’s series about not voting, but this time taking aim at the NDP and Liberals. It came out in the N/P same day as Maggie’s article. Much better written than hers of course, but that goes without writing.

Charlton,

That doesn’t even make sense – thus proving my point.

Jimmy Da Moron Brain power? If I ignored creeps like you it would prove I have no brain like you. I don’t ignore things I find detestable like little trolls like you.

Charlton,

I am sorry you don’t have the brain power to just ignore something you don’t like.

Jimmy Da Moron you are that thing that is so ugly I can’t ignore. Yes trolls like you do eventually shrivel up and die but not quick enough.

Erin,

Shooting people in video games does relieve stress as well if you can’t get to the shooting range today. :)

Charlton,

If you think I am a troll – then why do you continually feed me. Why not just ignore me?

Charles,

Maybe you should click on links next time. The article was posted, then deleted and then reposted with edits made without Atwood’s approval. She was in fact censored.

Erin,

I have always said that while The National Post is conservative – and they themselves state that – they do offer a liberal view as well. Sometimes even side by side with the conservative view to allow people to make up their own mind.

So while they are conservative – maybe not enough to your liking, they do try to be fair and balanced on occasion and I give them credit for that. But a liberal source wouldn’t edit Liberal hero Margaret Atwood’s article. Atwood is a respected Canadian – thus that is the reason why The National Post posted it in the first place.

Lefties just hate it when they are called out on a lie. Just witness the response here on this site. Thanks Brian Lilley for being straight forward and pulling no punches with this one. We need to see more of the truth, spoken without the preamble of “I’m sorry but”. The average Canadian is craving the truth, and will respond when it is spoken without apology. Just as the average American is, which is why Donald Trump is as popular as he is right now.

Jimmy,

You wrote that the National Post pulled the Margaret Atwood article. Typical regressive left lies. Here is the link,
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/hair-is-in-the-election-season-air-but-is-it-crucial-to-your-vote
which I just now pulled off the National Post web-site, 10:20 M.D.T., August 24, 2015. Granted, it was well down the news list, which makes sense considering it was first published Aug 21, 2015 when I first read it; but it is there. Usual B-grade writing, Atwood is noted for, but it is there for all to read, on the National Post web-site.

Jimmy Da Moron is trying to discredit Ezra and the Rebel staff. Much like Terry Rudden,he is trying to bring down the Rebel.

Jimmy Da Morin is trying to side track the issues and get us to debate his nonsense. Typical troll.

Gail that is Jimmy Da Morons objective. Flood the thread with Liberal left wing garbage so you won’t post.

Thanks Brian for helping us understand the process and revealing the lie that has been foisted on us for 8 years now about Harper…I had no idea how this worked…the big surprise is that Harper ever shows up to news conferences at all when he knows the never ending SINGLE QUESTION will be about Duffy or some other “attack” journalism.

…I for one am so sick of hearing about Duffy…Of course Harper would never cherry pick questions about Duffy…this is so obvious…so why does the media think we will believe it? Because they know how easy it is to dupe us into preferring the candidate who is asked about what shampoo he uses or other nonsense (Trudeau).

Folks, don’t miss www.therebel.media/ndp_deleted_tweets…
Why doesn’t the press ask Mulcair about these!!!!

Good News clip on what actually takes place at these Press Conferences!
I knew the stories I was reading were full of pablum, what I like about Lilley’s reporting is his straight forward tell it like it is!

Peter, no, yelling at the TV does not help. I suggest a visit to your local shooting range. Best thing I’ve discovered to relieve stress so far. I started going after university exams, especially during law school. I even took my mother on mother’s day, and she loved it too. Commenting on TheRebel also helps.
And this is to everyone, who appear to need a gentle reminder that it’s a GOOD thing to hear opposing viewpoints, otherwise we become radicalized, close-minded and intolerant.
Jimmy, thanks for the link about Margaret Atwood’s Post column. I have to say, however, that while the National Post may have began having a conservative editorial slant, the fact that it ran this column at all “clearly” disabuses the notion that it’s still a conservative newspaper. Frankly, I’m surprised all they did was delete a few sentences rather than yanking the whole thing, which is probably what a more liberal paper would have done, and no one would ever even know.

Gail,

Liberals are not stopping conservatives from posting here. We are greatly outnumbered here.

No point making a comment here anymore. Jimmy Da Silva has taken over the bloody comment section. It is time the Rebel booted this jerk out like SNN finally gave the boot to Dennis Dales. BTW, I suspect this is who Jimmy Da Silva is – who knows what is real name is – eh Dennis?

good post..unfortunately most canadians do not understand how canadian journalists
manipulate the election by the sort of questions they ask….the ‘truth’ as many believe from media dilligence is
not the ‘truth of real truth’…..journalist should be asking and highlighting just what Mulcair and Trudeau
will be doing to enhance the french language to a higher level than we have today. (since their stated
actions on this will interfere with canada’s industry,trade,jobs …hope some journalists wants to report
the truth of language changes via opposition leaders.