Elections and the Divine Right to Rule

Albertans are gutless and like to be bullied. Oh, and more than a little gullible.
We’ve got a provincial election coming. This should mean we're smack in the midst of a vigorous campaign. Instead we’ve got the two largest opposition parties sniping at each other and the other two opposition parties struggling for relevance.

The conservatives have been in power since forever was just a pup, 1971. They’ve all but declared themselves as having a divine right to rule.

Every so often the party gets a new leader to perpetuate the illusion of change. The last fellow, Ralph Klein, was a drunk and a bully who lied to us and we lapped it up. He said we were getting our fair share of oil royalties. Turns out we weren’t. But if Ralph said it, then it must be so.
This is a man who went to a men’s shelter at 2 a.m. near Christmas time 2001 and picked a fight with a homeless guy. He usually went to work hung over. Even Dubya said of him, “Who is that asshole?”

Now we’ve got Stumbling Ed Stelmach. He’s a nice guy, a decent sort, and he’s got a chance to distance himself from Klein and can’t do it. It might work out for the best in that maybe voters will get disgusted with the benevolent dictatorship and vote in a healthy opposition.

I know better than to believe it’ll happen. I have hope for a new party in power, but my province is a one-party state. We actually buy the nonsense we’re fed by the ruling party that there is no one else capable of running the province. It’s because they have no experience, we are told. Ralph told us this, therefore it must be so. Well, how can they have experience when the conservatives have wielded the bludgeon of power for 37 years?

Plenty can happen between now and Election Day March 3. The only opinion poll that matters is the one in the ballot box.

The conservatives took over in 1971 after 36 years of Social Credit rule. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll get someone new running the joint next month.

I have hope. It and my vote are all I’ve got.