02.19.2011 10:13 AM

“Go f@#& yourself”

The Globe’s Gary Mason, whose stuff I have always admired, wrote this in the paper this morning:

“This week, journalists in this country were all atwitter about a tweet of Maclean’s columnist Scott Feschuk. He jumped into the middle of a spat between Canadian Press reporter Jennifer Ditchburn and Dimitri Soudas, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s communications chief, and sent a shockingly crude tweet about Mr. Soudas.”

Being shockingly crude myself, I wanted to see what Feschuk had Twitter tweeted.  As far as I can tell, it’s this:

“Question: Would it be inappropriate at this point for me to tell @pmosoudas to go fuck himself?”

Feschuk, who types for Maclean’s, wrote that on Wednesday afternoon.  It must have riled PMO press flak Dimitri Soudas, because within ten minutes, Feschuk was tweeting stuff suggesting that Soudas had complained to Feschuk’s bosses at Maclean’s. “Don’t go crying to my Mommy,” wrote Feschuk.  I couldn’t find anything that Soudas tweeted, apart from a couple snarky messages to Ditchburn, who is the nicest person on Earth, and who had tweeted about Jason Kenney for stating that Radio Canada lies all the time, or something like that.  When you poke through Twitter entrails after a while, your head will start to hurt, as mine now does.

There’s all sorts of fun stuff we can chit-chat about, here – Why has the Harper regime decided that Twitter is the best place to communicate with Canadians? Does CBC lie all the time?  Why does the Prime Minister’s press spokesman think it’s good strategy to suggest the media lie all the time? Why does anyone in the Reformatory Party regard Jason Kenney as strategic, other than what he is, which is a loose cannon whose big mouth torpedoed Bev Odious? – but I wanted to focus on Feschuk’s shockingly crude suggestion to Soudas.

As anyone who has ever worked with me on a campaign will know, I swear all the f@#&ing time.  I can’t help myself.  I f@#&ing swear like a f@#&ing trucker.  I like people who swear; thus, this, my favourite Christmas carol.  That day that my former boss Jean Chretien told Michel Vastel to f@#& off was one of the happiest days of my life – only bettered by the day that my former boss strangled a maniacal Bolshevik who was blocking his path.  God, I loved that.

Anyway.  What do you think, O Oracles of Webby Truth and Wisdom?  Is it wrong for political people to tell each other to go f@#& themselves?  Is it “inappropriate,” as Feschuk queried?  I say no!

Unburden yourselves – and feel free to swear your f@#&ing heads off, while you’re at it.

65 Comments

  1. Brian says:

    Politics w/out swearing is like shock therapy without the shocks.

  2. JenS says:

    I have no difficulty with swearing. None whatsoever. It doesn’t even much bother me to have my children hear people swear, because it often provides an opportunity to discuss appropriate use of language. But I think you’ve kind of lost your argument if “Go fuck yourself” is your only retort. not only that, but that Twitter account is one that links to Feschuk’s professional life – I’m not sure whether any employer I’ve ever had would be down with me talking that way to a government official.

    That said, if you’re going to tell anyone to go fuck themselves, Soudas would be high on my list. And beyond that, if I were Andrew Coyne, I’d be telling Tony Clement to go fuck himself, based on this morning’s Twittersation. So, maybe there ARE times when I would feel it was entirely appropriate.

  3. Michael Slavitch says:

    If the Conservatives resort to direct media via Twitter they better expect it to be two-way, and (wo)man up.

    And if Twittering Tories think Feschuk is potty mouthed wait until they piss off @kady.

  4. I think that obviously Soudas is a moron for tweeting that. However, the moment Feschuk engaged in a “tweet war” at this obviously inappropriate slight, then he’s diving into the pile of steaming dung along with Soudas. It makes them both look like morons. Interesting thing about Twitter, it allows us to see that journalists (and hacks like Feschuk who, by the way, is NOT funny) are mere mortals capable of spelling errors and everything. Check out Rosie Barton’s tweets sometime, it’s fascinating. Twitter is informal, traditional media like newspapers, radio and TV are very formal and journalists need to present themselves as being objective and without sin. Twitter shows us a helluva lot of sinners with journalism degrees.

  5. Cow says:

    Absolutely not inappropriate. Twitter is (thankfully!) not regulated by the CRTC; thus, it is not the 7:00 TV news.

    Doubly absolutely not when it’s Feschuk — it’s both within his personality and his Macleans persona. It’s who he is.

    (I’m mildly curious what the context is, but not enough to try to sift through several-days-old Twitter conversations.)

  6. I should add, check out the back and forth tweets between Stephen Taylor and Kady O’Malley sometime – they bicker back and forth like an old married couple. It’s f#$ing brilliant!

  7. MontrealElite says:

    I think it’s always appropriate to address Soudas that way.

  8. MJH says:

    Using the four letter word, when in a professional capacity, is never acceptable. I doubt MacLeans is proud of their man.

    Twitter however, has been very useful in exposing the political leanings of our MSM!!

  9. Michael Reintjes says:

    Was just reading this article to my wife…..My 4 year old just told the dog to get on her fucking blanket……ugh..

  10. W.B. says:

    I like the idea that Kenney torpedoed Oda. Nobody I’ve read in our distinguished Ottawa Press seems to have done much with that. Someone should explore the timelines in all this.

  11. Sean says:

    …big fan of swearing, especially in campaign offices and in sports.

  12. Sean says:

    I would add that people who truly have any character at all, lose their temper now and then!

  13. Philip says:

    Sours has always been a little bitch. Tried to bring the ruckus, got owned by Scotty and then ran to tell his mom! That about sums it up.

  14. Philip says:

    F&$@king iPhone auto correct. Should read: “Soudas”. Although “Sours” kinda works too.

  15. jbro says:

    feschuk gets a pass b/c he’s funny. when it’s funny the cursing works, when its not funny it’s better to keep it clean and save it for when you have something funny.

  16. Mulletaur says:

    I don’t think it’s inappropriate, I just don’t think it’s very witty. There are lots of ways to say the same thing that would make people smile (or think, at least). Of course, I’ve always believed Feschuk to be particularly witless, so this might just be a personal prejudice. Also, the phrase “I strongly suggest you consider the benefits of an auto-erotic encounter involving self-fornication” may or may not fit in a Twitter feed (I’m not a Twat or Twit or whatever you call them, so I wouldn’t know).

    In any case, if you are going to say or write something like that, at least you should a little embellishment, as Arnie does here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFUAH9wb91Y

  17. michael hale says:

    fuck no.

  18. fritz says:

    I can’t see why Soudas & the PMO want to take on every offhand comment made by a reporter on twitter? Put aside the accuracy of the Ditchburn comment; which I haven’t a clue about and don’t really care about; one way or the other. The fallout of Soudas getting into a spat with her and then Feschuk and now WK is that it will now become a slow news week, story for the political press. I expect it will be discussed on twitter, in blogs & media websites and be a subject of debate Monday evening on PP & P&P. How does it help the PMO to have yet another squabble with the press & pundits over nothing.

    BTW one way the libs and Dippers could keep the Oda controversy alive when Parliament returns is to call every lie or exaggeration spouted by the PM or Minister an Oda; as in ‘the PM is just pulling an Oda when he says etc’…. You can’t call a MP a liar in Parliament but calling them an Oda should be legal. Just a thought.

  19. jStanton says:

    Well, firstly, I’m pretty sure Feschuk used far more characters than necessary. What he possibly was trying to say was “Soudas, go fuck yourself”. He could have aspired to even more brevity, however, with “Fuck off Soudas”, for example.

    Little Dimitri, like most of Marie-Stephan Antoinette’s courtiers, and taking a page from his book, have an over-inflated opinion of themselves and their importance, forgetting perhaps that they are in their positions merely through an accident of fate, rather than merit or divine intervention.

    For Dimitri to whine at Feschuk’s bosses because he was bitch-slapped, rather than taking him on mano-a-mano – on Twitter, in the press, or on the playground at recess – demonstrates what absolute little toads these people are, and clueless little toads to boot.

    Dimitri evidently missed the high school civics class where they described how freedom of speech and a free press are two of the pillars of a free society. Or perhaps he has simply jumped the gun, forgetting that a majority of seats in the House is a prerequisite to gutting the spirit of the Charter.

    Or perhaps Feschuk’s comments caught him while he was admiring the epaulettes on his new uniform in a full-length gilded mirror, and he unthinkingly responded in character.

    Regardless, it doesn’t change the core message that I’d Dimitri to hear, which is… “Soudas, go fuck yourself!”

    .

  20. billg says:

    Bwhaaa…grown men with expensive suits and expensive hair cuts swearing at each other, does it get any softer then that? My X went on a red liberal square when my PM tried to choke the living life out of that maniacal protesters….now that was f$#*ing sweet..!!!

  21. Namesake says:

    Here’s the actual exchange, presented in real time (with Soudas being two time-zones away from the others), which was occasioned by a scrum of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, in which a CP reporter asked him whether (as I recall) it was Minister Kenney himself or the PMO who’d instructed Oda to veto the Kairos funding, as seemed to be implied by Kenney’s speech in Israel on Dec. 16, 2009 (two weeks after the decision).

    The first one with the #cdnpoli hash-tag would be seen by many who follow that topic / key-word thread, while the others would only be seen by the principals and those who follow them or sought their tweets out

    (which is why I think it’s okay for them to swear, particularly if they know each other, cuz then it’s like a semi-private conversation that others are eavesdropping on, rather than it being addressed to them):

    Jen Dish: In response to a question by my CP colleague Lina Dib about Oda, @MinJK tells her that “Radio Canada lies all the time.” #cdnpoli 12:36 PM Feb 16th via TweetDeck

    Petri Dish: @jenditchburn @MinJK was actually referring to Lina Dib from Presse Canadienne. 1:12 PM Feb 16th via Twitter for BlackBerry® in reply to jenditchburn

    Jen Dish: @PmoSoudas He said, and I quote “Radio Canada ment tout le temps.” And then told her she should smile more often. Wednesday, February 16, 2011 1:20:00 PM via TweetDeck in reply to PmoSoudas

    Petri Dish: @jenditchburn it’s sometime hard to distinguish where each reporter works. The reference was to Lina Dib of Presse Canadienne. 11:51 AM Feb 16th via Twitter for BlackBerry® in reply to jenditchburn

    Jen Dish: @PmoSoudas Sorry, we didn’t doctor that tape of @MinJK Wednesday, February 16, 2011 1:21:25 PM via TweetDeck in reply to PmoSoudas

    Petri Dish: [twice]: @jenditchburn and you never let the in the way of a good story! 11:55 AM Feb 16th via Twitter for BlackBerry® in reply to jenditchburn

    Jen Dish: @PmoSoudas Facts suck don’t they? He said clearly that Radio Canada lies. He didn’t even say “you” or use her name. Wednesday, February 16, 2011 1:53:09 PM via TweetDeck

    Festering Dish: @jenditchburn Question: Would it be inappropriate at this point for me to tell @pmosoudas to go fuck himself? 1:58 PM Feb 16th via TweetDeck Retweeted by 5 people

    Jen Dish: @scottfeschuk I think we female journalists on the Hill are an annoying bunch. Wednesday, February 16, 2011 1:59:08 PM via TweetDeck in reply to scottfeschuk

    Festering Dish: @jenditchburn I know – always with the questions and the asking. And it’s so hard to keep you all straight! YOU ALL LOOK THE SAME! 2:00 PM Feb 16th via TweetDeck in reply to jenditchburn

    [no relevant intervening tweets, but presumably a phone call by Petri to Macleans complaining about the unTweetermentary language]:

    Festering Dish: Hey @pmosoudas, if you’ve got a problem with something I write, take it up with me. Don’t go crying to my Mommy. 2:08 PM Feb 16th via TweetDeck

    Festering Dish: By the way, @pmosoudas continues to whine about my tweet to higher-ups at Maclean’s. SO INTIMIDATING!! 2:50 PM Feb 16th via TweetDeck

  22. CQ says:

    “I swear all the f@#&ing time. … I f@#&ing swear like a f@#&ing trucker. I like people who swear; thus,”
    Guessing; somewhere McC. must be thinking, WTF?

    • Namesake says:

      ? “McC”? do you mean his client “McG” — i.e., ‘Premier Dad’ (in which case, wouldn’t he be thinking, maybe, “GDI!” (i.e., “Gosh, Darn It, what have I got myself into?”)

    • CQ says:

      A different ‘McC’ whom Kinsella often criticized here for another f-word titled blog posting. Not the Premier.

      • Namesake says:

        ok, I Googled it, and will follow suit in not ID’ing it, to let the sleeping dogs lie.

        But you seem to be leveling a charge of hypocrisy, here, but come on: there’s a BIG diff. between

        – condoning some uses of profanity (e.g., in a msg b/w friends, “Person x should fuck off — he’s got no biz. butting in”), and

        – condemning someone who writes, “Fuck the [identified racial, religious, or ethnic group]” on his web site

        since the latter borders on being a hate crime (and it wasn’t the profanity he was objecting to).

  23. Dr.Dawg says:

    Attacking an unarmed protester–in this case my good friend Bill Clennett–is fucking inappropriate, period. Chretien should have done time for that. Anyone else would have.

  24. James Curran says:

    F@ck. I hardly fucHin’ ever f%ckin swear any fucmin’ more. What the F4ck is fvckin with that?

    What that fawker Feschuk shudda said was, Dmitri, you and that Fock Kenney shoud take yur fawking toys and flock off to yer flackin sandox you fricking whiny crybaby fuhkers. And whileyer in there, fuchlin mind the ciggy ferkin butts from that fucher y-oda. And leave my phockin boz outta this shithead.

    Plus, I’ll purchase any tickets any f@ckinbody may fuchen have out there for OMD at the flcukin’ Phoenix for fawksake.

  25. V. Malaise says:

    It’s curious how those personalities who love to dish it out cry like little girls who’ve had their lolly swiped when they are on the receiving end.

    I think the proper term is “dog whistle.” Which is someone who gets so uptight, only dogs can hear them break wind. With apologies to S/F writer L. Neil Smith for stealing his original insult. 🙂

  26. hugger says:

    I know you folks are having something of a feces throwing contest and even though I would normally approve and likely participate with light hearted exuberance and vigor, I’m afraid this twitter thingie pales in comparison to the issues of the day, or the week, or the month.. per se.

    As such, an old man’s thoughts on matters at hand;

    IMHO twitter is just another bauble, but the Reformatories use of it does pose some mildly interesting questions. The examples you provide Mr. K, blended with the recent announcements and statements regarding the $42 million dollar temporary crystal palace is also thought provoking.

    First thing that comes to mind is capabilities of people who are involved in the great sphere of political leadership and the media which analyzes all that, engaging in teen like flame wars on a venue that often doesn’t receive sober second thought.

    Second thing is people who live in glass houses…

    Third, due to progressive social doctrine and the various agencies that have become firmly attached and entrenched as a result, our youth have often become elevated to a prince / princess like status, but I wonder if this particular group of princely and princessly self absorbed younger people are worth the effort to analyze?

    Maybe the twittering has something to do with getting the message out, or maybe it’s just under developed and overly egotistical personalities looking for yet another stage. I dunno, I’m not an expert on twitter.

    What I do know is that as a fiscally conservative person with small business background, my blood boils when I read stories of wasteful spending especially during economic times such as these, and especially elitist attitudes, which exude entitlement. I don’t give a rat’s ass what political group that comes from, or whether it’s from the new bourgeoisie they created. It makes me want to carve someone a new asshole.

    If I had my way I would rent them army tents and get a Rickshaw for Ms. Oda.

    That off my chest, I do see the value of twitter in regards to a revolution. As I don’t see so much as the seeds of real revolution in this country, at this time, I continue to struggle with finding some real purpose for it. What I see is more aptly described as a population that is just as controlled as those who came before, but with a greater sense that something is rotten in Denmark. Being swamped by shitnami sized volumes of contradictory information and punditry has only served to confuse and disassociate them even further.

    Maybe that is the endgame.

  27. Leon Brule says:

    Is this the same Scott Feschuk who was the chief speechwriter for Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin? If he is, my problem is NOT with his question. He can say whatever the fuck he wants. What I find disturbing is the Globe and Mail did NOT disclose Feschuk was a high ranking official within the inner circle of Martin’s PMO staff. The Globe’s omission of Feschuk’s past association with the failed Martin administration adds credence to the claim the “Liberal media” is dishonest. Was Feschuk upset because Soudas spoke some truth?

  28. WesternGrit says:

    Warren – You f@cking rock! We need to play a little “harder” on the playground. If they don’t like it, f&ck ’em. This is politics. Real life.

    Besides – we may just say “f@ck”, while Kenney, Soudas, Harper, et al spend their careers f@cking Canada daily. They’re currently f@cking this country to the f@cking tune of, what, a $50Billion f@cking deficit, and growing?

    Time to stop these goons from f@cking Canadians daily.

  29. Darren K says:

    The word is overused. It’s long lost it’s impact, especially when used by people constantly.

    It once had impact, when used sparingly.

    I’m bored with it now

  30. Pete says:

    I just saw the fucking movie “Fighter” this evening. What a great fucking movie…there were more fucks in that movie than in this entire blog. There was some fucking also but not fucking porno.

    The reformatorts should see that fucking movie and see how people can get off the mat and beat the fuck out out of the guys on top of them

  31. mike says:

    Go fuck yourself. LOL

  32. hugger says:

    From Radio Hugger, some shoop shoop, dowop dowop

    Dion and the Belmonts, Runaround Sue;

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c49klxPex-k

    Notice the crowd. No wonder the Acadians call us Square heads. lol

    And this;

    Del Shannon, Runaway

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S13mP_pfEc&NR=1&feature=fvwp

    I believe artists deserve our support, and our funding. I believe they speak in ways most cannot.

    Don Henley, The end of the Innocence;

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLONgF8a_Ig&feature=fvwrel

    From here to there;

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3hyTfUuX60&feature=related

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or8z2ZAThBo&feature=fvsr

  33. RJ says:

    Thankfully someone said it – Soudas is one of the most unlikeable individuals in Canadian politics – just after his boss, and Baird, Toews, and that puppet who is the Justice Minister.

    Good for Feschuk.

  34. moose says:

    Funnier than watching Chretian strangle the fucking Bolshevik was seeing the member of the fucking Prince Edward Island Pie
    brigade pie the fucking PM.As someone suggested that date should have been declared a fucking holiday.ALEH

  35. James Curran says:

    Um Feschuk isn’t a ficken Party. He’s a ferkin journalist there Gordo. For fALWSAKE. Shitdas IS in the flocking government so yes there is a fierkng. So this has nothihng to do with flacking party latitude for the love of f@ck.

  36. palmerston says:

    Harper has to feel the love and know his days are numbered when his personal staff is openly being told to f@ck off. It’s the ultimate in disrespect and long overdue.

    Every one is equal game on Twitter. Sookey-baby Soudas believed himself untouchable. Not.

  37. smelter rat says:

    Fuck off Gord.

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