Categories for Musings

Whine Gripesky, Mark Messier, Rockin’ Al, Ras Pierre and, er, me, welcome you to the club, SFH drummer person.

To mark the occasion, here you are screaming ‘Double Bubble Trouble’ for the first time ever in studio, with the best punk rock band in the world, and possibly the universe.  Lousy camera work by Lala, don’t blame me, etc.  See you tonight at the wings place, you big poltroon.

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• Iggy disses PKP: Just a hunch, but I’m guessing the Grit leader thinks he wasn’t going to get Sun Media’s editorial endorsement.  I wouldn’t have made that assumption, myself, but that was then, this is now, etc. etc.
• But, then again, on the other hand…. Don’t be too hard on him.  It’s not like Stephen Harper hasn’t changed course on this subject a kabillion times, either, etc. etc.
• Kinsella on The Story of O! Not that one, perverts.  The new one.  On Q, with my old student council-daze pal, Terry Fallis.  I’m the one who calls Harper “the most boring guy in the world.”
• Proletariat punk: This is a wonderful idea, and a wonderful cause.  But SFH would kick your keester onstage, Angus.  Believe it maaaan, etc. etc.
• Go Christy, go! No surprise here: Christy is smart, telegenic, centrist and appealing.  The establishment’s choice, meanwhile, was there when things went to Hell in handbasket.  Do the math, etc. etc.
• Alberta right-wingers continue to atomize: Nothing gladdens this Alberta Liberal’s tiny heart more than seeing the right wing rip themselves to pieces in a nasty family feud.  It doesn’t hurt that Ted Morton is also bonkers, etc. etc.
• The NDP will oppose the budget! That is, er, etc., etc…
• …unless they don’t. Er, um, ahem.  Etc. etc.
• Martin Patriquin, asshole: In this episode, Mr. “Quebec Is Corrupt” mocks Lucien Bouchard, the day after Bouchard’s former wife dies of cancer. What a dick this guy is. Etcetera.

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Left to right: The Ontario PC leader, and his deputy.

I’m biased, given that I (proudly) do work for the Ontario Liberal caucus.  What do you think?

(Oh, and BTW: the Post story declines to mention that we have a nearly 15 point lead over Timmy in Toronto.  Sure suggests that anyone running for him in the city is going to be shredded, doesn’t it?)

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TORONTO — Ontario’s Liberal government has clawed its way back in the polls, narrowing a significant gap with the front-running Conservatives despite a raft of unpopular policies.

The Conservative lead has shrunk from nine percentage points to just three in a matter of months, according to a new poll by Ipsos Reid.

According to the survey, the provincial Progressive Conservative party is running at 38% support, down three points since November, while the Liberals are at 35%, up three points over the same period.

“We’ve got a level playing field,” said John Wright, senior vice-president with Ipsos. “We’re in for a really interesting fight that could yield a majority or minority for either side.”

Just two months ago, a raft of spending scandals and unpopular decisions — including the introduction of the HST and energy investments that spurred rising prices — appeared to be catching up to Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Mr. Wright said the Liberal gains are due to a “spirited” campaign defending their record while attacking their Conservative foes. That includes a new speech Mr. McGuinty is touring across the province, touting the government’s economic plan and claiming Ontario’s downtrodden economy has turned a corner.

The Liberals also introduced a $1.1-billion hydro-rate cut that deals with the primary concern among Ontario voters — the rising cost of living. Finally, the McGuinty government raised the spectre of former Tory premier Mike Harris, claiming current Conservative leader Tim Hudak will pursue a similar agenda of radical tax and spending cuts.

“The Liberals showed their moxie over the past couple of months,” Mr. Wright said of the gloves-off Grit strategy.

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“…Hudak and his caucus were conspicuously absent from the annual dinner of the Canadian Tamil Congress over the weekend. Five McGuinty cabinet ministers showed up, along with a couple of New Democrat MPPs, for the biggest Tamil event of the year. So are the Tories keeping a calculated distance from a community once linked to the Tamil Tigers during Sri Lanka’s civil war?

The CTC’s David Poopalapillai told me he’s hoping they’ll eventually come round: “Tim Hudak, we invited him, he was supposed to come, but at the last minute he didn’t.”

Not surprising, perhaps, when you remember that Tim Hudak’s troglodytes plan to gut human rights protections in Ontario.

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Rosie Barton at the pearly gates.

“It’s the new telephone … an online party line.” “A mental pollution disseminator.” “The crack cocaine of social media.” “Quicker misinformation.”

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Old Grit pal Terry Fallis and I are on with Jian Ghomeshi this morning…to discuss scandalous political secrets!

Not sure when it’s being broadcast, but apparently it is.

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“Aug. 4, 1984. That was the first time I can recall seeing Sen. Keith Davey up close. It was one of those hot, humid Ottawa Valley afternoons and, among other things, the Liberal Party of Canada was in a freefall, the campaign manager had quit, and things were rapidly going from bad to worse.

We – the majority government, the natural governing party – were going down the toilet. So Davey, ever the Grit optimist, agreed to step up. To try to save the unsaveable.

I, and a few dozen other Liberal national campaign staff, had gathered in a boardroom in our national headquarters in downtown Ottawa. We huddled there among the heat and the fax machines (such was modern campaign technology in 1984) and we waited.

Davey bounded into the room, well-attired, well-groomed and exuding energy. “I am a Liberal!” he said to us. “I was a Pierre Trudeau Liberal and now I’m a John Turner Liberal! And we are going to win this thing!”

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[It’s snowing as the youngest and the eldest and I step outside.]

Me: Wow! Look at all the snow!

Youngest: It’s the abobalybse, Daddy!

Me: It’s the what?

Youngest: The abobalybse!

Eldest: [Peals of laughter.]

Me: Buddy, it’s called the apocalypse.

Youngest: I can’t say abobalybse.

Eldest: [More laughter.]

Me: I think abobalybse is way better, anyway.

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About this.

Five points.

One, everyone knows CATSA suck.

Two, CATSA in Ottawa particularly suck. They’re jerks.

Three, I have read that story from top to bottom three times. I didn’t see the news.

Four, the story has the faintest odour of one newspaper chain going after people at another newspaper chain. I’ve experienced it personally, recently. And with the same paper.

Five, yes, this is Warren speaking.

UPDATE: Ninety minutes after this post went up, a Citizen writer sent me an email saying how what what I’d written was, quote unquote, “deeply resented.”  He then – out of the blue – went on to tell me a great deal about the pleadings in my divorce action, and about things that have happened, therein, which have never been made public.  He then concludes his missive by noting that – so far – his newspaper hasn’t published anything about my personal life.  He could have added the word “yet,” but he didn’t need to.  The message was clear.

Boy oh boy: I put up a tiny post questioning the media/bureaucratic treatment of a man who has been no fan of mine (to say the least), and the media organization in question sends me a note containing a not-so-subtle threat.  Wow.

I’m still processing all of this, but one thing’s for sure: I’m not someone who takes to intimidation very well.  You’d think some folks would know that by now, but apparently they don’t.

Stay tuned.

UPDATED: And the rave reviews about the Shitizen’s reportage keep pouring in, here and here.

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