by Sean Orr | I’d rather she sit down: Mike Smyth: Will the real Christy Clark please stand up?  Interesting that the origin of “will the real ___ please stand up is from a show called To Tell the Truth.

Of course, what’s far more interesting is the foul cynicism underlying Clark’s sudden Road To Damascus transformation. Either she’s throwing the more conservative members of her party under the bus (knowing she will likely be replaced), or she really does believe in nothing. Here she is in Teutonic triplicate…

Either that or, as Charlie Smith says, the pipeline is that important to right wingers: Why we’re not hearing much from conservatives about Christy Clark’s political 180. “We can only conclude that as long as Clark backs the Kinder Morgan pipeline, she’ll continue receiving a free pass from the Canadian right, no matter how many NDP promises she steals…”

Or maybe, just maybe, the neoliberal project is bereft of ideas. Derrick O’Keefe:

“We should welcome the Clark government’s deathbed conversion to democratic socialism. It shows the utter bankruptcy of neoliberalism, undermines the opposition to the soon-to-be new government, and tacitly endorses the core of the NDP-Green agenda. Basically we should take full advantage of Clark’s desperate opportunism, and push the NDP-Green government to act aggressively and thoroughly to undo all the damage done by the BC Liberals.”

Indeed, “The unaffordable socialism of two weeks ago is the cynical opportunism of today. Turns out lack of public money isn’t the issue…” – Michal Rozworski

Hey, let’s all donate to the BC Conservatives! Socialists United Checklist.

But even as we’re celebrating the death of the centre vis a vis the victories of the GreeNDP, Sanders, and Corbyn, there are those “progressives” who want refuse to let it go: NDP needs to remember that Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders lost. Nicholas Ellan:

Karl Belanger, you need to remember that the reason in both cases is party mandarins that sabotaged their leadership at every opportunity, over and over and over, because they would rather lose than see the party move left. And even after all that, all they did was delay the inevitable, at enormous human cost.

Of course, the local media, that bastion of the neoliberal movement, is now asking for us to bail them out: Postmedia’s death will be a catastrophe — and nobody knows what to do about it. Oh, wait! So all of a sudden you guys are for using tax dollars to prop-up public institutions?

Failing that, the right will simply revert to attacking socialized media: Jonathan Kay on the tyranny of Twitter: How mob censure is changing the intellectual landscape. I went to tweet my response to Mr. Kay but unfortunately I’ve been, um, censured.

“Jonathan Kay on the tyranny of Twitter: How mob censure is changing the intellectual landscape” pic.twitter.com/LfILgmi1Xx

— SEAN ORR (@seanorr) June 26, 2017

These experts decrying these so-called culture wars as if that isn’t what the mainstream has been waging for decades: Bruce Pardy: Meet the new ‘human rights’ — where you are forced by law to use ‘reasonable’ pronouns like ‘ze’ and ‘zer’. “We are in the middle of a culture war” and thou just picked the wrong fucking side.

Speaking of picking the wrong side:

If you have a penis, you aren’t a woman. Period. https://t.co/nOrGc8zMWj

— Marc Emery (@MarcScottEmery) June 14, 2017

It’s tough to imagine widespread social change around transgender issues when people like this still exist:

Some douchebag wouldn’t order wine from our sommelier because she was a woman #eattherich #smashthepatriarchy

— SEAN ORR (@seanorr) June 25, 2017

God didn’t intend for rainbows to be on crosswalks. Says dude who probably eats shrimp…

Satire of the day: If it wasn’t for our discrimination, Pride wouldn’t even exist

Meanwhile, in Surrey: Soldiers of Odin attend demonstration at Surrey mosque. Celebrating 150 years of being nice!

Speaking of which, A (beautiful) Canada Day: U2’s Bono, The Edge coming to Ottawa July 1. First they inserted themselves into our iTunes, now they inserted themselves into our national identity…

Maybe he wants to take away our health care like Paul Ryan:

It was a beautiful day to catch up with Bono. pic.twitter.com/7eKxhURPFb

— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) June 23, 2017

And who says Canada Doesn’t Know How to Party?

Canada’s reluctance to celebrate itself is actually something worth celebrating. It has become abundantly clear in 2017 that patriotism is for losers. Patriotism is for people and for countries that need to justify their existence through symbols rather than achievements. Canada is doing well enough that it doesn’t require spackled vanity. It doesn’t need six-story-high rubber ducks.

Bonus: ‘Sincerely, A Drunken Fool’: Thief mails apology, mummified toe to Dawson City bar. I wonder if it was delivered by toe truck?