Gordie

— 05.02.2018 10:52 AM

At Carleton, my closest political pals were James Villeneuve, Bob Richardson, Jim Watson and Gordie Brown.  I haven’t stayed in touch with the other guys as much, over the years, but I always did with Gordie.  Despite our different political allegiances, despite living in different places, we always remained very close friends. He was loyal to me, and me to him.

I last saw him on November 30, when he came to my Recipe for Hate book launch in Ottawa.  He was the only Ottawa friend who remembered and who came.  That was the kind of guy he was.

A few days ago, Gordie called me, after visiting James in L.A. I didn’t call him back.  I kept putting it off.  I was busy.

This morning, Gordie died of a massive heart attack.

I am in shock and don’t know what to say, other than just two things. One, I loved him as a friend and will miss him as a brother.

Two, when you reach a certain age, and your friends call, call them back.


Comments (11)

The final days are closer, now

— 04.30.2018 08:06 PM

It’s happening. It’s happening.

WASHINGTON — Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel investigating Russia’s election interference, has at least four dozen questions on an exhaustive array of subjects he wants to ask President Trump to learn more about his ties to Russia and determine whether he obstructed the inquiry itself, according to a list of the questions obtained by The New York Times.

[Read the questions here.]

The open-ended queries appear to be an attempt to penetrate the president’s thinking, to get at the motivation behind some of his most combative Twitter posts and to examine his relationships with his family and his closest advisers. They deal chiefly with the president’s high-profile firings of the F.B.I. director and his first national security adviser, his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and a 2016 Trump Tower meeting between campaign officials and Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton.

But they also touch on the president’s businesses; any discussions with his longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, about a Moscow real estate deal; whether the president knew of any attempt by Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to set up a back channel to Russia during the transition; any contacts he had with Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime adviser who claimed to have inside information about Democratic email hackings; and what happened during Mr. Trump’s 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe pageant.


Comments (6)

Gomery the Second? (Updated)

— 04.28.2018 08:34 AM

I am reliably informed that the new Ontario government may well launch an inquiry into the fees paid, here, to a certain Wizard and an allied “speechwriting” firm, and a particular “interim management” outfit, as well.

My goodness gracious, wouldn’t that be a bit of schadenfreude?

UPDATE: Oh, look. And here’s an Order Paper question filed up in Ottawa, just this week. Have a nice day, Mr. Goodale, et al.




Comments (5)

Paikin cleared – and some background

— 04.27.2018 10:28 AM

As you all know, I vigorously and passionately support #MeToo. I believe it is the most important socio-political movement since Occupy.

But it is not, and should not ever be, untruthful. In order for it to continue (and the Cosby verdict this week reminded us all why it must), it must be true.

So, I was not at all surprised by the final outcome in the complaint Sarah Thomson made against Steve Paikin.  Her claims were “unsubstantiated,” quote unquote.

I can now reveal that I had a reason for believing her allegations were truly unsubstantiated.  I received the message below from one of you.  It showed Thomson seeking the very evidence she had already said she possessed.  I passed it along to Paikin, because it strongly suggested that she had no evidence to back up what she had already alleged.

Hopefully, a lesson will be learned, here.

 


Comments (4)