As Polls Come And Go ...

... it is now beginning to look like we may even end up with an actual Harper majority government?

Indeed, a Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll released today shows the CPC at 39%, the LPC at 23% and the NDP at 17%, notwithstanding that Layton is now the best perceived in terms of "leader ranking" while Dion is dead last.

To this effect, why am I not surprised to learn that only two in ten Canadians are actually paying closer attention to these elections, as it should be, while the majority (65%) do not pay more attention than the previous ones?

That is the cancer on the body democratic which I've been talking about, folks.

That is what intellectual sloth and the search for instant gratification does to democracy.

This. Is. Not. Good.

Once again:

We The People - this is what it has, and always has been, about. In a democracy, it is the electorate who holds all the keys and guard all the doors - provided that the citizens actually live up to their responsibility.

(...) we are the ones who have broken the "contract between citizens and their government" because, in essence, we thought somehow that our vigilance and implication were optional.

(...) We gave the keys away to the foxes and let them guard the hen house without supervision, because we would not be bothered anymore with our "burdensome" responsibilities as citizens. Hence, we are only reaping what we have sown.

Then this reminder:

We are living in a dangerous period of the history of our democraties. You can blame the politicians, the media, the corporations, the lobbying groups, or anyone else, yet the painful and ever so tragic truth remains this: we have only ourselves to blame.

Point of fact to this: it is we (at least, those of us who actually bother to get off the tv couch and go out to vote) who elect demagogues that "make us feel good, make us feel secure, make us feel at ease" while rejecting with disdain and mistrust the genuine candidates that are actually knowledgeable and better qualified as leaders.

So, let it be known ad nauseam: living in a democracy is a right and a responsibility.

And yes, this responsibility requires effort. But which is better: having your back bent by the effort required to keep on living in a democratic society, or letting leave for complacency and find yourself one day with a back bent under a totalitarian regime (however benevolent it may be)?

And this other little verity:

It is high time to remember that it is indeed we who guard all the doors and hold all the keys of our democratic values and institutions.

It is, in the end, up to us to act as the Guardians and Caretakers of our constitutions, our civil rights and our civil liberties.

It has always been up to us.

Hence, my conclusion remains the same: the blame for a return of Harper and the CPC (whether as a minority - or even worse, as a majority - government will be first and foremost our own to bear as Canadians ("mea culpa, mea culpa vox populi", as I often say). However, part of the blame will lie at the feet of the LPC and NDP whom have been running unfocused, if not actually ill-planned, ill-prepared, campaigns.

Bis repetita: I am definitely not happy ...