It's my party and I'll cry if I want to
About a year ago, I received a call from my local MP's office. It went
something like: "Mr. Hoppe, it seems like a federal election is
imminent. The Conservative Party of Canada requires support from
constituents such as yourself so that Prime Minister Harper can continue
his primary goal of improving yours, Mr Hoppe's, life. Can we count on
your vote on election day?" So I said: "Sure." So the nice person on the
other end of the line said: "Care to give us some money?" I said: "How
little can I give? $10? Done." ...and I gave $10 to the Conservative
Party of Canada.
Now along with all of the other SPAM I receive, I now am getting spammed by the Conservative Party of Canada. They won't stop! I've tried to unsubscribe, but to no effect. Here is the latest letter from Doug Finley, National Campaign Director, Conservative Party of Canada whose email address is the rather uninspired: donate@conservative.ca
"Dear Mr. Hoppe,
You have been such a strong supporter of the
Conservative Party and Prime Minister Stephen Harper that I was
surprised when Irving Gerstein, our fundraising chair told me that we
have not heard from you this year.
I am writing to ask you to please
renew your support today with a $100 or perhaps even $200 contribution.
You can make a contribution on line right now by following this link..."
Dougie! Irving! If I am your one of your strongest supporters and my year-old $10 donation got the attention of the fundraising chair, then I really don't want to be a supporter anymore. You've hit rock bottom, losers! You're a sinking ship, and I want off. I'm a conservative but that term applies only to my views, not to which Canadian political party I affiliate myself with. And as for the $10. I actually feel really stupid I gave you $10. At the time, it seemed like the fastest way to get back to my dinner. Now, if I gave you $100 or $200?! I wouldn't be able to face my family. The shame.
And I have a good excuse as to why I don't update my site often. It's because I am very very lazy. But please note that there are two previous years of stuff to access - if you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you'll see a button for "2006 Archives" and "2005 Archives".
Yes, I AM very funny! Could someone please tell my wife that? She keeps dropping little hints like "Steph you are categorically NOT FUNNY..." and "Steph, you are half a man - why did I marry beneath me?!" that lead me to believe that I am not as funny as I like to think I am.
Today I received in the mail, a Christmas card from my ex-Member of Parliament - Peter Van Loan. (I have since moved out of his riding) Inscribed in the card in Mr. Van Loan's own hand in red magic marker is "Stephan" right where my name should be and spelled correctly to boot! And then at the bottom is the squiggle-signature of a man obviously burdened with the task of signing 1000s of non-denominational holiday greeting cards.
MP van Loan is no plain-vanilla MP either. He's a cabinet memeber, and he be de' Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and the Minister for Democratic Reform...and again - he took the time to not only send me a card, but to put my name in it hisself. (I hope.)
It's very flattering. Because of this card, I remain a Huge-C conversative Conservative and no longer begrudge the Party my $10 donation.
