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We have pointed out 'the nuttiness' of our politicians and economic gurus as aspirant Prime Minister Stephen Harper praises former Prime Minsiter Mulroney's economic direction and castigates the corrupt Liberal government led by Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

At the same time we have economic gurus focusing on the paradox of "productivity" increases in the economy as there is no intelligent definition of economic productivity.

Sunday we learnt that Prime Minsiter Chretien sacked Finance Minister Paul Martin and replaced him with John Manley; and Monday's papers report that our economy is shining while our government is in disarray.

Yesterday, I learn from journalist and economic guru Bruce Little that Canada still lags U.S. standard of living while he points to other statistical good news for Canada.

The United States has experienced the enronization of the FBI and of other intelligence agencies which culminated with the 9-11 attacks, yet instead of learning from these enronized experiences and laying criminal charges against the culprits, the Bush administration reorganizes the FBI and has given them new powers to snoop into individual private matters.

This continual effort by leaders to cover up their misdeeds by immediately reorganizing and showing a world of good news and bad news reminds me of former Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow's saying "you win some and lose some" and in the meantime we all lose as our democracies go down the slippery slope.

There will always be good news and bad news (or pros and cons, or black and white, or right and wrong, or the Chinese Yin and Yang) but to determinably use such ambivalent understanding for dogmatic political and economic reasons at the expense of our democracy is wrong. This is the result of the Free Market, and this is happening today not only in the United States and Canada but all over the planet.

Note: In the above picture, Director of the FBI Robert Mueller delivers the good and bad news.

References

Pertinent articles published by Ensign

Canada: shining economy, government in disarray By DREW FAGAN, The Globe and Mail, June 3, 2002

Canada still lags U.S. standard of living By BRUCE LITTLE, The Globe and Mail, June 3, 2002

J. Edgar Mueller By WILLIAM SAFIRE, The New York Times, June 3, 2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/03/opinion/03SAFI.html

Dump Dem Bums By MAUREEN DOWD, The New York Times, June 2, 2002 http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/02/opinion/02DOWD.html