Re: Dear Tories: quit it! (letter to the editor, Dec. 17):
Taron Keim's all-out assault on the Conservatives is over the top.
1. Militarism: Don't like armies? You'd have to move to Costa Rica to escape them. The Liberals got us into Afghanistan; Harper took us out.  Peacekeeping is more complicated now. Think Rwanda or Congo.  
Canada did some noble things during the Cold War (Egypt/Suez 1955). Would you like to bring that period back? If so, who is going backwards, you or the government?  
2. Capitalism? Sorry. No escape at all. Capitalism is in Europe, in South America, even in socialist China. 
3. Environment. You are right. It's a serious issue, but it is hardly helped by countries (many) that sign on to the Kyoto Accord and make no changes. Canada did not do that.
Let's keep the pressure on things we might be able to change, e.g. fighter jets. Do we really need them all? Why? Who are our enemies? I can see some value in protecting the North, but where is the military danger to our national security? 
Aren't we in NATO? Is NATO demanding these planes from Canada? I haven't heard that.
And the cost to Canadian taxpayers is huge. Prime Minister Harper, please, rethink this plan.  
On pipelines, let's keep demanding from our MPs and the government the strictest safety standards known and convince the government to enforce them. 
As Keim suggests, we can vote to oppose the government if it doesn't listen. So I don't see the point of calling the Tories traitors, as he does.
On a personal note, Mr. Keim, let me say that if our life satisfaction depends entirely on government policies and actions, there we will always be disappointments. 
The emotion of your letter leads me to think you see politics as everything. If so, that is a totalitarian temptation. 
Fortunately, we have family, culture, religion, even Christmas, to give meaning and satisfaction to our lives, whether or not we agree with the politics of the day.
A. Hiebert,
Kelowna