PORTLAND, MAINE – Folks in these parts are friendly. Their politicians, however, are crazier than an outhouse rat.

Especially the conservative ones.

As a people, Americans are outgoing, friendly and gregarious. If a Canadian paying a visit looks lost, or like she needs some help, there’ll be no shortage of Americans pausing to offer directions or lend a hand.

Their politicians, meanwhile — the Republican ones more than the Democratic ones — would just as soon shoot you than extend assistance. They’re a mean and miserly bunch, these stateside conservatives, and they’re plenty different from conservative politicos back home.

In recent days, the latest GOP cretin to achieve notoriety is Todd Akin, a Missouri congressman. Currently running for a Senate seat, Akin gave a TV interview in which he said women’s bodies are able to prevent pregnancy in the case of “legitimate rape.”

Like many conservatives, Akin opposes abortion even in cases of rape or incest. When asked to expound on his views, Akin stated that it was “really rare” for a woman to get pregnant in such cases.
“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down,” he said.

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An RCMP officer inspects a Carcross-Tagish First Nation drum, on the side of the highway. They’re there because the Prime Minister is not far away – on their land – to have dinner with the Con faithful. He won’t meet with CTFN, however. He won’t talk about breaking his word to them.

Why do I care?

Because my daughter is a citizen of the CTFN, that’s why. So this one is personal. And I’m going to keep coming on this one, as long as it takes.

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My friend Coderre is an amazing politician, and will succeed at whatever he does. Hes also the best-known Liberal in French Quebec. Hands down.

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I knew him at different phases. Before was an MPP, and before we had received the privilege of governing. He was full of promise, then. Destined for great things. You could see it.

Later, when he became the Minister of Justice, and I was on the executive of Ontario’s bar association, it changed. I felt he had become a bit of a bullshitter, around that time. A bit too glib, maybe. I felt like he was hiding something.

And then, after everything that happened that Summer, I only knew him from a distance. Like all political people, I have a built-in compass for danger avoidance. Michael Bryant had become dangerous, so I did what all political people do: I avoided him.

Two things. One, his willingness to tell the whole story, as he knows it, takes more guts than are possessed by 99 per cent of the people you will ever know. It takes a lot of courage to put your name to all of that. I hope to do that, too, one day. There’s a story I want to tell.

Two, my sister-in-law, who (along with my little brother) I desperately want to return to Ontario because I miss them very much, worked for Michael Bryant. Like everyone else who worked for him, she remains fiercely loyal to, and protective of, her former boss. Even after everything that happened. In politics, I can assure you that means a lot.

Anyway. On the beach in Maine, reading. This story is worth a read. I like that she spoke to that young man’s father, to give him a voice, too. Like how she wrote it.

Last night, Michael sent me a note, right out of the blue. It was a funny note. I said we should have a showy lunch somewhere, as authors. He thought that was a good idea.

Closing thought, before I get the kids fed.

Life is unimaginable pain, for many people. Michael Bryant’s life seemed like that, but I hope it’s better, now.

God bless him, and God bless Darcy Sheppard, too.

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…by a British MP. As he notes, the Russian regime has no idea what it has done.

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It is far easier to get into a war than to get out of one. As the civilized world reflects on what to do about Syria, that truism bears remembering.

The grim statistics, however, continue to shock us all: Tens of thousands of Syrians dead, in excess of two million wounded or displaced. Most, civilians — women and children. Atrocities are commonplace, with new horrors being perpetrated by Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad every day.

The usual measures — condemnations, diplomatic censures, embargoes — have done nothing to stop the killing of innocents. With the complicity of China and Russia, and with the military support of Iran, Syria’s little Hitler has survived far longer than anyone predicted he would.

Meanwhile, the pogroms continue apace. At some point, we aid and abet the bloodshed. Armenia, the Ukraine, Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, the Sudan, and of course the Holocaust. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, as Edmund Burke famously observed, is for good people to do nothing. History shows us that much.

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@CTVNews: #BREAKING Members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot sentenced to 2 years in jail

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A Canadian blogger is a “catspaw of Putin” for pointing out a member of Pussy Riot is a Canadian permanent resident?

What a frigging idiot.

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Still reading sentence in court… Guilty, but what’s punishment? Crowd tense.

Okay, my source just outed himself on Twitter, so I can too. It’s Darrell Bricker.

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