Here’s the Buzzcocks (who are here in Tee Dot in mere days!) doing their best-ever tune, from the Spiral Scratch EP. Devoto’s vocal was better than Pete’s, but the perfection of this version is why SFH needs to play it, too.

 

Now, what has this got to do with politics, you ask? Why, everything. Because, in just a few short days, legislatures national and provincial shalt rise for the Summer, and here’s what you will be thinking about politics:

Nothing.

Zero, zippo, zilch. Everyone will shortly be up to their arses in balconies and barbecues, and they (a) won’t care about politics and (b) won’t want to hear from any politicians.

That’s why incumbents always edge upwards during the Summertime, folks: the legislature ain’t sitting, politicians are neither seen nor heard, and everyone is therefore happy. Ever wonder, perchance, why there are so many elections in the Fall?  Exactly.

Political boredom is already happening, too: columnists and editorialists are struggling, mightily, to find something to write about. And, soon, enough there will be nothing to write about.  (The Senate is corrupt and waste of money? Not exactly front page news, Virginia.)

Here’s what all this political boredom means for the three main political parties:

• For the NDP, it’s awesome.  They are increasingly popular at precisely the right moment, and they haven’t had to spend much of their war chest to achieve it.
• For the Tories, it’s similarly swell.  They are competitive in every region, and they are about to start sending out tax cut cheques to Middle Canada.
• For the Liberals, it is a disaster.  They needed to define Trudeau, and get some policy in the window: they did neither.  And, now, no one is going to be paying attention to them until the Fall – when it is likely too late.

Boredom, folks.  It is upon us.  And for two of the three political options, it’s a good thing.

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This may have happened months ago, which will tell you how often I check out Liblogs.  But it seems to have gone, you know, 86.

I think I was on there for a while, even though I didn’t ask to be or particularly want to be. They then removed me, I’m told, because someone threatened to sue them because they linked to me.

Anyway, I’m now completely bored talking about this. How about those Blackhawks?

www.warrenkinsella.com is now in its 15th year, with around 3,000,000 page views annually. Jason Cherniak is 106.

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I mean, I know you’re all walking on orange clouds these days and whatnot, but get it right, will ya?

It’s a WEB SITE.

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Much sturm und drang on that Ekos, last Friday.  Some of the commentariat commenting is commented on, below.

L. Ian MacDonald:

As much as the Conservatives should be concerned about their flatlining numbers, the Liberals have even more to be worried about. Since last summer, the Liberals have plummeted from 39 to 24 per cent in the EKOS poll. They’re in third place in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. They’re in third place among college and university graduates. They’re also in third place among both genders and in every age group. Those are very bad numbers for Trudeau and the Liberals, especially with an election just over four months away.

Michael Harris:

Ironically, it is the PM and his party who may end up paying the price for the unexpected developments on the progressive side of Canadian politics. The Conservatives always knew they needed to keep the left side parties in a near dead heat to exploit the same weird splits that gave them a majority last time. They have pounded Trudeau to the point they might have damaged him irreparably and in so doing, handed the would-be splits to the NDP.

Harris has an interesting point, particularly given how much he hates Harper: that is, the Conservatives did their job too well on Trudeau. MacDonald, meanwhile, just seems to be marvelling at this dramatic Liberal decline. (Us, too.)

Me, I still think Trudeau is in the race. He has lots of money, lots of party infrastructure. If he has (a) effective paid in the writ and pre-writ, (b) superior GOTV, (c) the CPC turning their guns on Mulcair for a while, and (d) a smashing debate performance, he will do better than the polls currently suggest.

Am I right? Am I wrong? Whaddya think, folks?

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He has reversed his previous position, and thereby done the right thing:

John Tory to call for full stop to carding, citing ‘eroded public trust’ 

Toronto’s mayor tells the Star he will call for a moratorium on carding next week until more transparent rules for how police deal with the public.

PS – He’s right on the Gardiner, too, BTW. When they tear that sucker down, do y’all think those Markham and Pickering and Oshawa and Ajax commuters are going to ride bicycles instead? They’re going to stay in their cars and snake through peoples’ neighbourhoods – as in, my neighbourhood. 

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…by Mulcair.

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Check out this scientific study:

Query: why do conservatives profess to love Jesus, but hate Bernie? Shame on them!

Another reason why I have abandoned Hillary and embraced Bernie: his seminal role in shaping the New England punk scene, about which I have a very keen interest.

Go, Bernie, go!

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Quote:

“Two sitting senators – Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu and Colin Kenny – are among nine who the Auditor General plans to refer to the RCMP for a criminal investigation, CTV News has learned.

The other seven are all retired. They are:

Don Oliver (appointed by Brian Mulroney)
Gerry St. Germain (appointed by Mulroney)
Sharon Carstairs (appointed by Jean Chretien)
Rose-Marie Losier-Cool (appointed by Chretien)
Bill Rompkey (appointed by Chretien)
Rod Zimmer (appointed by Chretien) [No he wasn’t. – Ed.]
Marie-Paule Charette-Poulin (appointed by Chretien)

In addition to the nine senators being referred to the RCMP, 21 more will be compelled to repay questionable expenses.”

The entire Senate is a “questionable expense,” if you ask me. And it remains an abomination that we still have an appointed body wielding power in the year 2015.

I should also say I was sad to see Carstairs, Rompkey and Poulin on that list. In my experience, they are very decent people.

* Oh, and you’ve made a factual error, CTV. Zimmer was appointed by Paul Martin.

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The one to the left.

In case you’re wondering, that space:

1. Was first offered to Team Red, to a very senior person.  They said they’d get back.  They didn’t.
2. Was next offered to Team Orange. They considered it for quite a while, but then very courteously said not yet.
3. Was only then offered to Team Blue, who also reflected on it, then said yes.  They, too, were very courteous and professional.

The space has been on the market for many, many weeks.  And, to be blunt, multiple offers were made to assist Team Red.

They declined.

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