Rick Mercer Attack Ad Rant Targets American-Style Canadian Politics (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post Canada  |  By Posted: 03/28/2012 10:27 am Updated: 03/28/2012 11:14 am

Rick Mercer Rant Attack Ads
Rick Mercer rants about Conservative attack ads targeting Bob Rae and the permanent campaign strategy our politicians have adopted from America. (YouTube)

Rick Mercer is known for making fun of Americans, but in his latest rant on Conservative attack ads he turns his comedic cannons back at us.

Mercer targets a recent Tory commercial aimed at Liberal how-much-longer-are-we-going-to-have-to-keep-calling-him-interim-leader Bob Rae.

The CBC comedian laments the "new normal in Canada -- the never ending campaign" that he was hoping would disappear after the Tories won their majority. No such luck: "Welcome to hell."

But with a little more than three years left in office, Mercer wonders why the Tories are bothering to attack the leader of the third party in the Commons at all. A Conservative friend had an answer.

“Why not? We’ve got so much money we could buy every ad available in a seven-game playoff series and the Olympics, and we’d still have more money left over than all the parties combined.”

And there's the rub. We've gone American. Politics controlled by cash and elections plagued by dirty tricks have become the new norm. Except where they have checks and balances, we have practically unfettered power. Like he said, "Welcome to hell."

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Rick Mercer is known for making fun of Americans, but in his latest rant on Conservative attack ads he turns his comedic cannons back at us. Mercer targets a ...
Rick Mercer is known for making fun of Americans, but in his latest rant on Conservative attack ads he turns his comedic cannons back at us. Mercer targets a ...
 
 
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12:44 AM on 04/01/2012
My dead Alzheimer stricken grandmother can run a better government that this cretin in charge.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Warren Yuill
Jesus Built My Hot-Rod
04:01 PM on 03/30/2012
Why doesn't Rick Mercer run for public office?
He's gotten pretty good at telling people what they wany to hear.
A natural leader.
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06:33 PM on 03/31/2012
Natural leader, for Natural PARTY- yeah I can see it, swimming naked in the lake with Liberal leader Bob..
10:51 AM on 03/30/2012
Rick Mercer is awesome!
05:22 AM on 03/30/2012
I just wanna say thank you for the information that you have been shared to us readers. Thanks for posting this kind of theme. jaket online http://jaketonline.org
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gx5000
Life's too short, be happy..
05:03 PM on 03/29/2012
Rick, love ya...get rid of the laugh track, PLEASE !!
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06:33 PM on 03/31/2012
that is the best part.
04:15 PM on 03/29/2012
liberals and ndp get together to gid rid of this governament
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spinnerator
08:24 AM on 04/01/2012
Liberals and NDP are natural enemies, and don't believe that "my enemy's enemy must be my friend" theory. The only way the Libs can retain their ascendancy is to completely trash the NDP. And they will try.
04:13 PM on 03/29/2012
i know i saw one the other night on bob rae...are you kidding me ..with this right wing garbage
12:19 PM on 03/29/2012
If anyone wants to read how politicians can carry on in a mean way, not in ads but in our legislatures, check out my book, Verbatim: A Novel, published in 2010 by Enfield & Wizenty of winnipeg.
PaulArt
Under 50 and Screwed by the TParty65+
05:34 AM on 03/29/2012
The lesson liberals need to have learnt a long time back is this: dump your obsession with gays, drugs, pornography along with that revulsion towards religion, maybe then most of the middle class families/voters will start taking you seriously. I was recently speaking to a friend who had immigrated to Canada from India. They are Christians and conservative in the sense that they do not understand the gay lifestyle, believe drugs are harmful to children and go to Church every sunday because they believe it lays a good moral foundation for their kids. Being the liberal soldier I was however not surprised to hear them say that they will vote Conservative. Tell me, given their description above are they not in the majority of average middle class families? A majority of average middle class familes out there can relate very easily to religion and social conservative values because, um, most families don't smoke pot on the week end, don't have two gay family members and do not consume pornography on a regular basis. Its absurd that going to Church or the Temple or Mosque and disavowing drugs and pornography makes us 'Conservative'. One should say its 'Normal' not fat cat conservative.
02:37 AM on 04/01/2012
Really PaulArt? "Under 50 and Screwed by the 65+" You can read and write -- right? Well, guess what? I paid for your education -- that's right -- my taxes paid for your education -- and I don't even have any kids. My taxes paid for the roads you drive on. My taxes paid for the sports stadiums you enjoy -- even though I'm not a sports fan. My taxes kept you safe -- paid for police and firemen. My taxes paid for your medical care and provided all the other amenities that make life in Canada worth living. From the day you were born to the day you started paying taxes you were taking advantage me -- and everyone else in my generation -- the 65+. I paid for my CPP and I paid into my retirement funds, that was my money and my tax dollars, thank you. Stevie and his friends are in for a nasty shock when they realize they have made a fundamental error of judgement. Old people vote! Old people vote and we don't like being told to tighten our belts when the Conservatives and their 1% buddies enjoy huge tax breaks. Raise the taxes on the deadbeat 1% and you won't have to worry about your pension in fifteen years.
PaulArt
Under 50 and Screwed by the TParty65+
09:42 PM on 04/04/2012
Your taxes seem to have paid for a bunch of things except your clarity of thought.
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Dale Chan
Hope is both panacea and poison.
03:06 AM on 03/29/2012
If you are poor or middle class you have one vote, but if you have money you can buy influence, face time with important people, and personal favours. If you have money you can buy all the air time you need to bombard the viewing public with ad after ad, pushing your agenda down the throat of the voter. Sometimes they don't listen, but something gets through, just enough to sway a vote. Maybe they aren't swayed to your side, but maybe they are swayed away from their first choice.

This is democracy.
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sunnyokanagan
Increase compassion. Decrease suffering
04:22 AM on 03/29/2012
You've got it. This is why this government removed the public subsidy of political parties early in its "mandate".
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EQ8Rhomes
09:48 PM on 03/29/2012
Bloc Quebecois were abusing the public vote subsidy, using it to promote separatism, and Gilles, "wide-eyed comedian" was using it to pay a partisan out of public funds. From that viewpoint, it's good that it was removed. And corporations and law firms just twisted the contribution limits , forcing the "executives" and partners to contribute to political parties of choice as individuals. Of course, that meant supporting the PARTY IN POWER MORE THAN OTHERS---NO LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.
So, there is NO END OF CORRUPTION OF CANADIAN IDEALS.
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MyTake
Release the Hydrogen Economy now!
10:04 PM on 03/28/2012
Well, Mercer should have figured out that The Pratt House (NY) have decreed that Canada is to become a two party STATE where The Corporate controlled Media will draw the lines in the sand on every issue. Then the Conservatives will HURL insults over that line and the opposition will HURL them back making us a TWO PARTY STATE just like the U.S..

You see, Pratt has become all powerful with that 4000+ membership of wealthy and corporate elites as assembled by David Rockefeller, Chairman Emeritus.

Here is Harpo being paraded before Pratt after being introduced to them by his "Bilderberg" handler: Marie-Josée Kravis (her hubby is very rich): http://tinyurl.com/7tm9cs9 .

And if you don't think that Pratt is powerful, here is a highly despised U.S. Vice Present talking to his "REAL BOSS" at Pratt: http://tinyurl.com/ctgofae . Note the V/P gloating at the end over WITHHOLDING is Pratt membership from the government vetting process. No wonder he was protested out of Toronto recently.

So, if Mr. Mercer wants to explore this Americanization of Canada further, all he has to do is to walk over to the CBC Newsroom, slap Mansbridge on the back and ask him WHAT WENT ON when he was called to The House of Bilderberg meeting a year back. And, yes, Rockefeller is a cornerstone member of Bilderberg and his global activities are protected by The Corporate Media whose heads are allied in Pratt membership.
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spinnerator
08:30 AM on 04/01/2012
Ah, another conspiracy nut. Release the hydrogen economy indeed. I think you've inhaled too much already.
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SeanMartin
Everything in moderation.
09:35 PM on 03/28/2012
Can we not have these ads subjected to the same "truth in advertising" that we would command for cars and breakfast cereals?
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ProgressiveCDN
A Progressive Moderate
09:52 PM on 03/28/2012
No, because subjective partisan commercials are not expected to be true for everyone
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SeanMartin
Everything in moderation.
11:42 PM on 03/28/2012
You could apply that logic to just about anything.
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04:42 AM on 03/29/2012
I suppose a law could be passed to make the party pay for any provably wrong or defamatory message an ad contains by airing an apology ad in the same time-slots and as many times as the "lie" ad was broadcast.
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bigpizzaballs
08:52 PM on 03/28/2012
Would be much better without the fake laughter. Even our comedy is going American.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Skookum1
truth can't be bought, but lies sure can be sold..
09:33 AM on 03/29/2012
Are you kidding? The laugh track is the only thing that makes a lot of Canadian "comedy" SEEM funny - e.g. Corner Gas, and it's a staple on 22 Minutes just like it was on Air Farce etc....... and getting normally-wooden Canadian audiences to clap and laugh mildly on cue has nothing of the wild enthusiasm of, say, Comedy Central audiences....... "live laugh track" is what I call the stilted "cheer now, please" style of Canadian audiences; "canned audiences" as well as "canned laughter".

And about Rick, I've said it before and taken heat for it - he's not speaking his full mind, whether he's just being careful or whether his rants are pre-vetted by the political editorship at the CBC. He pulls his punches and his punchlines.

All the more reason for CBC writers and comedians to get more aggressive, what with the government about to slash their budget......instead of tugging the forelock and submitting and trying to pander to the "two realities" compromising, take off the dental guards and GO AT IT.

They won't, of course. They're Canadian.
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gx5000
Life's too short, be happy..
12:19 PM on 03/29/2012
" e.g. Corner Gas"

No Laugh track on Corner Gas and they don't need one.
I watch it every Week end in the Morning....
Laugh tracks are pitiful and ruin many shows....
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11:56 AM on 03/29/2012
What comedy?
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08:09 PM on 03/28/2012
Sad but true. If It weren't for Rick's rants, I think it would be too unbearable to face this false majority. A certain wellspring of joy erupts in me when I hear the truth. Then again most good jokes have an element of truth buried in the yuks.

Character assassination is the preferred tool of the desperate. And without a doubt, this will be the legacy of the Harper government - attack, attack, attack.
07:11 PM on 03/28/2012
Rick Mercer is one of Canada's funniest people. But why is he on Huff Post each week. I watch CBC to see Mercer when he is on here for free. Why am I paying for the CBC?
07:36 PM on 03/28/2012
Do you know how much you are personally paying for the CBC ?

You don't ?

So what is the problem here ?
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04:53 AM on 03/29/2012
Welcome to agglomeration sites like huff po. You're concern is the primary criticism for sites like this. The effect this has on the news providers' bottom lines is having a terrible effect on the quality of journalism they can afford to do, and thus affecting the quality of news we get on here. Luckily, most major news organizations have been doing a horrible job to start with, so maybe a shift in the way news is generated was what the doctor ordered anyway.