Michael Chong

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I’ve met this guy, talked to him, listened to him.  He’s the only Conservative Party leadership candidate who could hurt Justin Trudeau, full stop.

There may be candidates-to-be who could do that, but he’s the only one so far.  Watch this guy.

 


Madness

This is insane.

When something this horrible happens, we need to stop, and carefully assess whether we – and our elected leaders, and the police, and everyone else who is paid to pay attention – are doing what needs to be done.

Don’t just ignore this, don’t turn the page. Contact your representatives, and ask them: what are you doing about this? What are doing to ensure this never happens again?

 


How do you war room Donald Trump?

I’ve seen some of you say it can’t be done. He can’t be shamed – there’s nothing that will diminish the enthusiasm of his supporters.

Here’s this morning’s New York Times on what he plans to do:

Donald J. Trump plans to throw Bill Clinton’s infidelities in Hillary Clinton’s face on live television during the presidential debates this fall, questioning whether she enabled his behavior and sought to discredit the women involved.

Mr. Trump will try to hold her accountable for security lapses at the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and for the death of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens there.

And he intends to portray Mrs. Clinton as fundamentally corrupt, invoking everything from her cattle futures trades in the late 1970s to the federal investigation into her email practices as secretary of state.

Drawing on psychological warfare tactics that Mr. Trump used to defeat “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz, “Little Marco” Rubio and “Low-Energy” Jeb Bush in the Republican primaries, the Trump campaign is mapping out character attacks on the Clintons to try to increase their negative poll ratings and bait them into making political mistakes, according to interviews with Mr. Trump and his advisers.Another goal is to win over skeptical Republicans, since nothing unites the party quite like castigating the Clintons.

Attacking them could also deflect attention from Mr. Trump’s vulnerabilities, such as his treatment of women, some Trump allies say.

War rooming Donald Trump, then, is a very, very important task.  He plans to viciously go after his opponent – so what is she to do?

I have strong views on this subject.  I firmly believe any war room – with the right people, the right message, the right strategy and total discipline and commitment – can take down anyone, and particularly a creep like Trump.  (And they can defend a candidate like Hillary, too.)

What’s your take?  Where would you focus, to attack and defend?

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Proud punk Dad at Anti-Flag

So. 

Text Daughter this morn about Anti-Flag tonight. She texts back, says she was out to 5:30. At the hospital.   

Wait. What?

She and Hannah, she said. A girl at Sneak’s had had a reaction to her heart medication, and they had to rush her to the E.R. 

Which friend? Who?

Long story, apparently. She said she’d tell us later. 

So – she and her pals had been at her usual punk rock hangout on a Friday night, Sneaky Dee’s (where SFH made its debut a decade ago, by the by). They look across the room, which was crowded as always, and there is a girl passed out. No one is helping her. No one. 

She and Hannah go to help her. They try and talk to her, no response. They hold her head up and hold her hand. Nothing. 

She needs a doctor. 

With the bouncers’ help, they get her outside. The ambulance is taking too long, so they wave down a cab. The driver speeds towards Sunnybrook. 

The E.R. is packed. The girl is still out cold, totally unresponsive. They finally get her to a bed, and they stay with her, talking to her, holding her hand. 

It’s maybe 3 a.m. The nurse is crabby. She barks at them. What’s your friend’s name? What did she take?

Anyway. They stay with her until the doctor sees her. She’s starting to wake up. She’s on a new heart medication, turns out. She had a bad reaction to it, the doctor says. A couple beers hadn’t helped, either. 

Using the girl’s now-unlocked phone, Daughter and Hannah finally find a friend of the girl – who is from Cobourg – in Toronto. The friend has been frantically looking for her all night. 

She’s discharged. Daughter and Hannah stay with her. They take her in another cab, all the way across town. Sun’s coming up. They release the girl into the care of the grateful friend. 

It’s dawn. Hannah goes home. Daughter, meanwhile, gets on the streetcar – way, way out in the West end – with her last few bucks. She and Hannah had used up all their money to help the girl. 

The driver looks at her. You okay?

Yes. Daughter says, and then she heads home to go to sleep. 

Proud Dad part: they didn’t know this girl, at all. 

Daughter and Hannah had never seen her before last night. She’s not their friend. But they knew she needed help, so they gave it. 

Proud Dad waiting for her at Anti-Flag, here. 


You don’t call, you don’t write, you don’t notice

Earlier today, www.warrenkinsella.com underwent a big change – and none of you noticed!

Look up – look way, way up, as someone used to say.

After fifteen years, the name of this web site has changed. The design will be changing shortly, too, to a much more mobile-friendly version, among other things.

In the meantime, forgive me for moping about how my always-attentive readers missed this!

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The way we were.


Fight the Right and more!

This came out four years ago. Today, I am in meetings about two new books – one done, one not. A bestseller that enables me to retire remains elusive.