Ran those fun little polls yesterday on 2015’s Best Politician, Best Political Advisor, and Best Political Strategy. Check out the results for the several hundred who voted, below. It wasn’t even close.

Here’s what you said as of this hour:

• Best politician: Stephen Harper – 342 votes over 241 for Justin Trudeau
• Best political advisor: whoever advises Brad Wall – 314 votes over 173 for Trudeau’s principal secretary
• Best political strategy: never, ever using social media – 301 votes over 179 the Grits’ “real change” mantra

[polldaddy poll=9236751][polldaddy poll=9236757][polldaddy poll=9236767]

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And while I am on the topic, the world’s worst journalist – TWWSNBN – still holds that title. Sending out one of your bosses to harangue me won’t help, big guy. It’ll just persuade me to keep doing it for the next, say, twenty years or so.

Somewhere, a couple guys are laughing.

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…goes to this Rosie DiManno gem in today’s Star. In it, DiManno commences by castigating comments, and looks completely ridiculous by the end. A short-form DiManno, herewith:

• I don’t care about comments, but here’s a whole column about comments
• I don’t like the invective commenters spew, so here’s some invective of my own
• I don’t care who the commenters are, but I sort of researched them enough to know every single one of their names
• The Sun did it to us

It’s a competitive category, but I think we have a winner for the Most Dishonest Column of the Month Award, folks!

 

 

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Daughter Two and me are seeing the Cancer Bats at the Hard Luck tonight (Bjorn and Lala bailed; got a spare ticket for whoever wants it).  It’s a Christmas tradition – taking in the Bats, or the Flatliners, as they all head back to their Canuckistan home for the holidays.

Here’s Daughter’s fave CB tune, Lucifer’s Rocking Chair.  God, I love these guys.  See you in the pit (or near it).

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Quote of the year? We have a winner!

“He said that if you try to include corpses in the category of animals, then “you are going to have several cases in front of you this next year, we are in Wisconsin – that’s what people do here.”

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It’s that time of year, when newspaper space gets filled with Highly-Subjective™ best-of lists.  I have my personal preferences, to be sure, but I wanted to hear from y’all, first. So here’s three Highly-Scientific™ polls, representing three main categories: best politician, best political advisor, and best political campaign strategy.

Now, I would ask that you resist the temptation to do what too many North of the Queensway ink-stained wretches do: that is, call the winners of elections heroes, and dismiss the losers as zeroes.  But you control your cursor, not me.  If you want to be Captain Obvious, that’s your problem.

Herewith and hereupon, then, the Highly-Scientific™ Polls.  Vote now, vote often!

[polldaddy poll=9236751]

[polldaddy poll=9236757]

[polldaddy poll=9236767]

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Because, in fairness, I didn’t permit comments for the longest time – which itself gave rise to a separate web site, not affiliated with me, so that people could comment on my commentary. Seriously.

But now I have some of the best regular commenters around. They span the ideological spectrum, and they have very different personalities, but they’re great. I very rarely need to invoke the “comment rules,” found here.

That all said, I sort of understand where the Star is coming from:

Toronto Star closes commenting on thestar.com: We have turned off commenting on thestar.com effective Wednesday, Dec. 16 and instead we’ll be promoting and showcasing the comments our readers share across social media and in their letters and emails to our editors.

When you eyeball the cyber-sewer found beneath most mainstream media web site stories, I frankly don’t blame the Star for taking this action. Who wants to provide a forum for the libel and hate spewed by dickless, gormless wonders who wear their jammies all day and live in mommy’s basement? Not the Star. Not me.

But, on this here web site, not blog, you smart folks out there are always welcome.

But behave, okay?

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He needed to bring his best game, and I think he did. “Donald, you aren’t going to be able to insult your way to the presidency.” Bush was tough, clear and direct. He won, in part, because none of the other GOP candidates would take on the comb-over racist.

Trump also won, however, by remaining standing at the end. I therefore agree with CNN for the most part, here.

Should we be concerned about President Trump, then? I don’t think so. Not yet. By winning his party, Trump is losing his country.

But every terrorist incident strengthens his hand. (Had the Friday the Thirteenth Paris attacks happened during the election campaign, for example, Stephen Harper would have won again, hands down. I don’t think I’m alone in that view, either.)

Anyway, a key exchange here. Your views welcome, as always, in comments or in the below Highly-Scientific Poll™.

[polldaddy poll=9234776]

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Being published out West again! I’ve been a columnist in the past for the National Post, Ottawa Citizen and the Sun Media chain – and, now (happily), with Troy Media as well as The Hill Times. Here you go.

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