01.03.2011 10:07 AM

Is anyone else at work this morning?

I’m at my desk, this morning, but – based on the drive-in, and a survey of the streets – it doesn’t look like many others are. Whassup, Terranna?

Anyway.  Here’s a roundup of some of my blogroll.  Good reading, all.

  • Powers: Politically, says Timmo, Excitement is moving to the provinces in 2011.  Personally, I heard the Excitements left for the States a couple years ago, when their Dad got transferred with his job.
  • Far and Wide: Steve V. calls for a cultural change in the Liberal Party, bottom to top.  He says that’s the only thing that’ll make it relevant.  He’s right, of course.  It will also never happen.  Carry on as you were.
  • Big City Lib: My brother Mike continues to poke fun at my media employer, noting that a grocery store is now our neighbour.  Could’ve been worse.  Could’ve been a Victoria’s Secret.  I mean, can you imagine?
  • GritChik: She’s got a review of her year in blogging.  Always interesting to see what folks find interesting.  In my case, the all-time winner had nothing to do with politics.  It was the now-legendary Kraft Dinner post.
  • Bourrie: He hasn’t posted since October.  Anyone know if his site has gone 404 or not?
  • Spector: Norman says it won’t be so easy for the Reformatories to simply say “no” to a Quebec City arena.  Winnipeg, along with many other places, watches with interest.  As I recall, the sponsorship program mainly got its start in 2007 in sporting venues.
  • Blunt Objects: Kyle has very sober, and sobering, assessment of the political year ahead, and the one behind.  His prognosis: for everyone, pretty much, things ain’t so good.  As a good Irish Catholic, I regard such pessimism as natural as breathing.
  • Dawg: The good doctor (like BCL) has a disturbing report on the English Defence League (EDL), a notorious British hate group that enjoys the support of Canadian white supremacists like Arnie Lemaire.  As Dawg shows, the Jewish Defence League has apparently been playing footsie with the EDL.  If true, a bad move on the JDL’s part. Meir seriously needs to reconsider.
  • Curran: Jim recalls meeting the Governator, and how Ahhhnold was ahead of his time on the environment, like Dion was.  I’d love to see those two in an action flick together.

16 Comments

  1. Lance says:

    He says that’s the only thing that’ll make it relevant. He’s right, of course. It will also never happen. Carry on as you were.

    If it is true, as old Einstein said, that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”, where does a Liberal supporter go from here?

    • Warren says:

      For an issue, the secret perimeter deal. I think it could seriously damage Team Reformatory.

      • Lance says:

        Perhaps rightly so. However, instead of looking for things that damage “Team Reformatory”, just maybe “Team Liberal” should look for things that help their party? Unless, of course, scandal and fear mongering are the only things “Team Liberal” have left, which in my humble opinion, is a bloody shame.

        • Eric says:

          Along the same lines, I was just thinking about the pejorative “Reformatory”. The Reform Party Disbanded in 2000; the Alliance and the PCPC merged in 2003. It really is ancient history . To put it in perspective, this year’s cohort of new voters were ~ 8 and ~ 11 when these events took place.

          Is it time for Team Liberal to discard this stale label and start focusing on something positive?

      • James Curran says:

        Never happen because 1. they’d be afraid somebody might say “Warren told them so” and 2. because they’re too dumb to seize on the the millions that are already displeased with airport security measures and linking the two together.

  2. Cow says:

    The secret perimeter deal, combined with ongoing scandals, do seem to be things the Liberals can use. But to what end?

    When the sponsorship scandal imploded the Liberals, in part it was because the Reformatories looked like decent options–they were outsiders, they claimed they’d do things differently, etc. But as you note, “He says that?s the only thing that?ll make it relevant. He?s right, of course. It will also never happen.” I wonder how many voters will actually feel like throwing the current bums out, when the previous bums still haven’t figured out why they’re sitting in opposition.

    In short: here’s to an even more jaded 2011. But the provincial stuff should be interesting!

  3. CQ says:

    While visiting my non-political yet always federal Liberal folks over this holiday season, my usually silent Dad asked if I was voting against Harper, my mom later spoke approvingly of Sarah Palin while watching that Alaska show. No CNN either and I was the one who tuned in CBC’s Newsworld. If Liberals are losing their ex-Toronto area retiree vote that worshipped Trudeau and Chretien for decades (alongside Ontario’s red -big blue machine – PC tories) and stayed with Dion… tough year ahead.

  4. bigcitylib says:

    I think Bourrie said something to the effect that he wasn’t going to post again until his latest book was done.

    As to the security deal as an issue: yeah.

    As to the JDL/EDL thing: double yeah. I notice there’s a picture in WoH of Meir from 1986 confronting Terry Long. I can’t see the younger version approving of what the older one is up to right now.

  5. Cath says:

    I really like that you list this kind of informal capsule of what various bloggers have to say. If you have time (what’s that?) you should do one of these every week, to couple of weeks because it helps the good bloggers score more visitors.

    Speaking of your infamous Kraft Dinner debate – which I remember as being very fun. How about taking on the lowly and under-estimated PP&J sandwich – another truly Canadian staple of university students and lazy cooks like me?

    I have a question for you Warren. I’m noticing that very very few blogs are discussing provincial politics. Why do you think that is, particularly with many provinces preparing for a fall election. One would think that there’d be plenty of things to discuss…..but seriously the quiet is concerning.

  6. James Curran says:

    Perhaps because provincial politics is a thankless job. There is no right or wrong solution to a problem in provincial politics. With education you’ll only ever please 50% of the people. With health care, if the Drs. are happy it’s usually at the cost of something else in the system, and vice versa. The reason Dalton will win another mandate is that he has managed to keep all the major stakeholders on his side – the nurses, teachers, labour, firefighters and cops. No easy feat.

  7. orval says:

    “It will never happen” I agree, it will never happen by itself. What the Liberals needed in 2006 was a massive defeat like that suffered by PC’s in 1993. I still think the Canadian voters have been cruel to the Liberals by keeping the Conservatives in a minority, which leads to constant election preparation and the delusion that the Liberals don’t have to do anything to get back in power.

    From where I stand the Liberal party is still “Team Martin.” Remember December 2003? – “the politics of achievement,” 50+ % in the polls, the 200 seat majority? What happened? What happened was Liberals started believing their own BS. They had become the entitlement party and didn’t have to work or earn support of real Canadians. Meanwhile Harper all the hard political leadership work – uniting the 2 parties, building the party machinery and fund-raising, galvanizing support, working out policy…etc.

    Post-Chretien, the Liberal party needed a leader like Harper – a visionary, focused, self-disciplined, a hard worker and decisive leader. Instead they got Mr. Dithers and his sycophants. With Martin long gone now the Liberals lack any leadership prospects who can potentially command the party and re-ignite enthusiasm, and have had to settle instead for Professor No. 1 (“Do you think it’s easy making priorities?”) and Professor No. 2 (“people touch my private parts all day long”).

    The only solution to the Liberal malaise is a generational change and a complete re-building following a massive electoral defeat. The entitlement generation is just that strong.

  8. allegra fortissima says:

    Si tu t’imagines… 🙂

  9. A. Lehrer says:

    Don’t let his anti-Nazi activism fool you, Meir Weinstein is a fascist. Why wouldn’t he team up with the EDL or Geert Wilders?

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