Still thinking about the big news.

My kids, too.  All four of them are huge, huge Against Me! fans.  My daughter is still processing it, she says.  Son One was with a friend, and tried to dismiss it with humour. (I’ll talk to him when he’s alone.)  Son Two was mad, really mad, but then he got in the car and wanted to hear certain AM songs, over and over.

Andrew H., a conservative punk friend (they exist) sent me a tweet this morning, saying to look at verse two of The Ocean, from the last Against Me! album.  When I looked at the words (for the first time, having not been overly-ethusiastic about the last two albums), I said to my daughter: “Well, it’s pretty hard for the band or fans to say they’re shocked, now. He’s been telling us all along.”

The verse:

And if I could have chosen, I would have been born a woman
My mother once told me she would have named me Laura
I’d grow up to be strong and beautiful like her
One day, I’d find an honest man to make my husband
We would have two children, build our home on the Gulf of Mexico
Our family would spend hot summer days at the beach together
The sun would kiss our skin as we played in the sand and water
And we would know we loved each other without having to say it

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My daughter was at her cast party when she called me with the news: “Dad! Tom Gabel is becoming a woman!”

Checked out Twitter, the bee hive, and there it was: Rolling Stone reporting that the Against Me! singer is transgender.

This band has been my favourite band for a decade.  I’ve interviewed them, I’ve taken my daughter to see them backstage, I’ve hung out with them.  Hell, I get up to ‘Pints Of Guiness Make You Strong’ every single morning, as my alarm ring tone.  And their songs have gotten me through plenty.

I spoke to one of Tom’s friends tonight, and she told me it’s true.  So me and my daughter wished Laura Jane Grace best of luck, and shed a tear for the greatest punk band of the past decade.  Can’t see them going on after this.

Here he is from his solo album, perhaps providing hints.  The way I figure it, I told a slightly-confused 16-year-old daughter, he’s supported us through a lot, so now we have to support him.

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She’s one of the stars – well, of course, I always consider her to be one – and I have arrived about an hour early. She will consider me even more embarrassing, as a result, but that’s what you get with Proud Dad Syndrome.

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…and those are just some of the nice things they say.  Still think it was a good idea to read out that statement Tim Hudak’s minions gave to you, Nicholls?

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This is awesome.  As someone who regularly tells trolls and twits to piss off (or worse), I heartily applaud young MacDougall’s retort.  Well done! Pip pip!

It reminds me of a friend who happens to be a former Premier of Ontario.  Shortly after leaving politics, this ex-Preem was approached on a Toronto street by some loon, who launched into a loud invective-filled rant.  Remembering that he was no longer Premier, and no longer needed to bite his prime ministerial tongue while being abused, he thereupon said:

“Fuck off.” 

And walked away.

I love, love, loved that.

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Simmo, wonderfully-written per usual, here.

Watched it.  Was clear it wasn’t intentional, but when he drew blood, that was that.

Politics is like that.  One guy can make a bad move, split-second, and the whole team can be sent down the shitter.

Yep.

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The sad tale of PC MPP nobody Rick Nicholls’ idiocy is now well-known.  He made an offensive statement, and was called to account for it by the Ontario NDP’s Gilles Bisson, the Legislature’s Speaker and his hometown media.

Last night, however, I finally got to see the video record, below.  In it, Nicholls can be seen (around the two-minute mark) clearly reading from a prepared statement.  He didn’t just say “squeeze” – he was told to say it.  This morning, meanwhile, it’s been confirmed to me by two of the growing number of Ontario Tory Hudak-haters that their leader’s office instructed the hapless Nicholls to say what he said.

After Bisson’s intervention, Nicholls apologized.  Will Hudak now do likewise?

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There is an excellent chance that nobody cares, but — for fun, if nothing else — let’s handicap the rumoured candidates for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada, shall we?

I know, I know. They’re in a distant third place, and have been for a year. You need a magnifying glass to locate their caucus in the House of Commons. Even against a dud like interim NDP Leader Nycole Turmel, they couldn’t improve their circumstances. Why, you not unreasonably ask, should anyone care about the Grits anymore?

Well, because politics is unpredictable, that’s why. Weird things happen.

Everyone (except Your Humble Narrator, naturally) thought Wildrose would form a big, honkin’ majority government in Alberta, and they didn’t.
Everyone (except, er, me) didn’t foresee Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty climbing back from a double-digit polling deficit to win big last fall. Everyone (except, um, you know who) failed to prognosticate the NDP becoming Her Majesty’s official opposition in last year’s general election.

And so on, and so on. Every pundit and pollster else gets it wrong, all the time. Immodestly, I think you folks should listen only to ME.

Herewith, my Grit Hit List:

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Heh.

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One dictionary: Complimentary or flattering to an excessive degree: “they are almost embarrassingly fulsome in their appreciation.” It also means “copious.” 

That’s probably not what she meant in her memo.  But when the boss to the writers doesn’t know what a word means, it perhaps indicates the wrong people are getting the hook.

Quote unquote:

In a memo to Postmedia Network, Phyllise Gelfand explained that news organization will instead rely on the Canadian Press (CP) for international and breaking news content. “Owning an in-house, full-service newswire business and managing the production and distribution of commodity news no longer supports our strategy,” she explained. “We will continue to operate an Ottawa Bureau with national beat writers providing content to our publications. Our Ottawa Bureau will no longer be focused on the commodity pieces (committee meetings, day to day happenings) but allow for more fulsome reporting and commentary on national politics.”

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