BLOC CASCADIAN

osama bin laden is dead. that fact seems to be the only news that's fit for consumption in the united states for the past couple of days. it's a political victory for the obama administration, for sure, and it might help the administration ride its wave of hopeless liberalism into another term (i can only cringe at the thought of the alternative). but no americans seem to be concerned about where they'll run when they're trying to dodge their reluctant commitment to our country's next episode of foreign military adventurism. (surely, though, they can't have ignored the implications of the jingoistic response to the assassination.) regardless, the die is cast, and hardly a peep from the national press about the fall of the sanctuary to the north: last night, while america continued to rattle its sabers and clutch its pearls, canada gave itself over to a conservative parliamentary majority.

i'd like not to think that the media here might have intensified the rattling in order to draw attention away from the dirty tricks played on some voters in key swing constituencies (ridings), tricks that have marked (and sullied) the face of the american electoral process throughout the twenty-first century. has big brother been a naughty influence? from the canadian broadcasting corporation on sunday: "Spokeswoman Francine Bastien said Elections Canada has had reports from several ridings of voters being given false information directing them to the wrong place to vote. Most, but not all, are in Ontario." i don't know whether the affected ridings were essential to the conservative victory, but the tactic bears a close resemblance to the republican style frauds perpetrated on voters since the george w. bush years in the united states.

it doesn't look like elections canada plans to investigate, and now stephen harper, the leader of the conservative party and the continuing prime minister of canada, has seen his longtime wish of breaking the liberal party's hold on politics realized. the liberal party lost more than half of its seats in parliament (down from 77 to 34) in yesterday's election while the conservative party grew its membership in parliament from 143 to 167. as was reported in the christian science monitor today, "A party with socialist roots in the Great Recession, the New Democratic Party, essentially grabbed the left-of-center votes from the Liberals." the ndp surged from 35 seats to 102 and took 31 percent of the popular vote. "The NDP, long a small minority, is now the official opposition party for the first time in Canada’s history, with the charismatic [and dashing] Jack Layton at its helm."

what of the separatists? bloc québécois lost nearly all of its seats in parliament to the ndp, and with only four seats remaining in the house of commons will lose its designation as an official party and will no longer receive public money to fund the staffs of its legislators. jack layton has purportedly promised to reopen discussions on the canadian constitution that would address demands from quebec for more power. the ndp took 60 of 75 seats in that province.

despite the hopes raised by the relative success of layton's party, the glimmer of those hopes is still only visible at the end of the long tunnel of a depressing new mandate. this victory by harper's conservatives isn't in itself a demonstration of the prime minister's belief that liberalism isn't the natural course of canada. it should, however, be a wake up call to those of us who understand that "kids in the hall" could never have happened under a convservative majority, and those of us in particular who live in cascadia. the apparent failure of french canadian separatism shouldn't be any deterrence. rather, it should serve as a testament to the imperative seriousness of our ambitions.

it's time for action. secession now! oregon, washington, british columbia (where the green party managed to win its first seat in parliament in this election). we've got nowhere else to go. well, we americans, anyway. we always assumed we could run away north. nonetheless, we can all agree that things in our respective countries are bad -- and that craft brewing is an important part of our heritage and identity as a nation. the first meeting of bloc cascadian (a party in more ways than one) is to be held in july at peak's pub and brewery in port angeles, washington (date yet to be determined). i've been nominated to act as our nation's first prime resident, so i won't be paying for any drinks. i think we can get seattle to leave its card at the bar. oh, dammit, seattle! stop clutching your pearls!