Wednesday, December 08, 2010

Wednesday Morning Links

Assorted content for your consumption.

- For those who haven't yet read Susan Delacourt and Don Lenihan's article on the consumer model of politics (warning: PDF), now would be the time to change that.

But it's worth noting that part of the proposed solution seems to have already been tried and found wanting. After all, is there any better model for "collaboration across organization boundaries" as a uniting political principle than the Obama administration? And can anybody plausibly claim that its efforts to be seen including all kinds of different stakeholders (including political opponents) haven't often led to disastrous results when some of those stakeholders are themselves dedicated to a policy's failure?

- Meanwhile, Chantal Hebert reads Rob Ford's victory and other recent developments more as evidence of old-fashioned populism than a new retail model of politics. And that would seem to leave far more room for any developing energy to be shifted toward more positive ends.

- Have you hugged your lobbyist today? Because apparently some people figure it's worth prime commentary space to salute those who help those who can help themselves.

- Speaking of whom, the Wikileaks revelations about how Norway was pushed to buy F-35s don't seem to reflect all that well on any of the bidders who exercised political pressure to push for their model of plane. But the US' choice to withhold a radar system from a competitor to make the F-35s look better in comparison looks like a particularly damning example of how the purchasers' best interests are almost entirely excluded from the process.

- Finally, Environment Commissioner Scott Vaughan points out some inconvenient truths. But Canada's lack of leadership on climate change (or more to the point, leadership in exactly the wrong direction) doesn't figure to change anytime soon.

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