In which we discuss Justin Trudeau’s latest, Vikileaks, Pat Martin’s apologies, and the Press Gallery.
Also, I show Krista this cool new device called a “Blackberry.”

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I’m at Sun News, and the gang just played this clip for me. Trudeau was speaking to a group of students in Victoria, got asked The Question, and here’s what he said:

“…if by 2015, with the election approaching, and neither party has got of our act together enough to shine and to be the obvious alternative, then [pause], there will be a lot of pressure for us to start looking at that. I think there is not anyone in Parliament, outside the Conservative Party of Canada, that is willing to risk seeing Stephen Harper become Prime Minister one more time.”

Did he misspeak? Will he walk this one back? Has he changed his view, having seen how popular Nathan Cullen’s become saying the same thing?

Beats me. But he said it. And I’m surprised.

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Five million. That’s how many visitors we’ve had to this puny web site – not “blog,” dammit! – since it was revamped in 2008. My elflords tell me that is 1,500 days, which is 3,333 visitors a day, which is the square root of no one gives a rat’s ass.

When it got started, back in 2000 or so, it had the production values of a Fourteenth Century woodcut, and the word “blog,” blessedly, had yet to enter the vernacular. Since then, I’ve resisted doing what a lot of others have done, like putting up a “donate” button, or cramming it full of advertising.  I’ve also reversed myself on a couple of things, the most significant of which is comments.  At the start, I didn’t allow ’em, because (a) I get sued for my own stupidity quite enough, thank you very much, and I don’t need to get sued for your stupidity, too and (b) moderation software sucked back then.  Now that I can moderate quick ‘n’ easy – in church! in the bath! on the campaign trail! – I am proud to be able to provide a home to the woodland creature named Gordus Tulkus.

Why do people read the damn thing?  Beats me.  Mostly, I think, because it’s free.  People like free stuff, as the newspaper industry has been discovering the hard way, and my modest Internet portal is without cost.  It’s not profound or intelligent, mind you, but it’s free.

What sayeth you, O Five Million?  Why in the name of all that is holy and unholy do you bother to come here?  Why, why, why?

Fill my inbox, as it were, with your love.  Tell me why you like it so very much.  I’ve had a Man Cold™ for days and I’ve been perfectly miserable.  Make me feel better.

You, too, Gord.  The way my elflords figure, you account for about 92 per cent of that five million.

 

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Lacking anything in the way of substantive argument in the blossoming Robocon scandal, some conservative partisans and media cynics have taken to denigrating popular opposition to the Conservative Party’s alleged election fraud.

Thus, a Sunday rally on Parliament Hill that attracted only a few dozen people was summarily dismissed by a Windsor Star headline: “Robocall protests fizzle.”
On the same day, 75 people attended a Winnipeg protest, which CJOB headlined as “sparse attendance.”

More than two dozen protests took place across the country, in Halifax, St. John’s, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. Some attracted hundreds, some just a few dozen. My colleague Michael Coren, who has mocked the protests, wrote: “The verdict? Nobody cares. We have better things to do.”

That, in the main, has been the Harper regime’s main communications strategy in the Robocon disgrace: No one cares. And that may well be true. But passing judgment in the early days of Robocon, as Coren and others have done, isn’t risk-free. They may just end up being proven wrong.

Polls, not rally attendance, are usually a better way of assessing public opinion. And a poll released on the same day the nationwide protests took place — by Ipsos, the leading public opinion research firm in Canada — found that an astonishing three-quarters of Canadians are clamouring for a public inquiry into the scandal.

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There’s a reason why God invented the phrase “The matter is being investigated by police/is before the courts and we can’t comment.” Among other things, it’s the truth.

Warren Kinsella, a Liberal pundit and political communications expert, said the Conservatives’ strategy is “a case study in communications mismanagement.” He agreed that the Conservatives should have stuck to one line instead of changing the story everyday.

“This scandal is working because people tend to believe it already. Even before [the story] broke, voters already felt Harper was the kind of guy who would step on a little kid to eke out a vote. That’s the problem with Robocon for the Cons: it neatly confirms what lots of voters already suspected about the Harper regime.”

In addition, Mr. Kinsella said, “Listening to Tom Flanagan is always a good idea. He’s a very smart man. And he’s right: simply say it’s in the hands of the authorities and you can’t comment, because you don’t want the bad guys to get away. Say you are cooperating with the investigation. Then shut up. Now, however, they’re trapped: they started answering questions in the House, and now they will have a hard time explaining why they can’t anymore.”

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This is the most interesting part of this story, which tells that the Harper regime plans to throw another kid to the lions, in the hope that that will end it:

Campaign communications director Michael Sona left his job working for Conservative MP Eve Adams after the story broke, but a few days after leaving, he told CTV News he had no involvement. “I have remained silent to this point with the hope that the real guilty party would be apprehended,” he said.

A woman who identified herself as Sona’s mother cast doubt on the fairness of investigation on Sunday. “To me, it’s been of a setup from Day 1,” she said, without elaborating.

During a brief conversation with the Ottawa Citizen, she also referred to reports about Meier tracing the Internet address used with the RackNine account. “It’s interesting that Matt Meier found the code when he’s working for the Conservative party.”

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This has happened to me, and others I know. These things are nobody else’s business, as not a few federal Liberals are about to learn the hard way.

I’ve suggested to a former Ontario Attorney-General, to his face, that we need to seal these files, like Quebec and other civilized jurisdictions do. He did nothing about it. Zero.

Oh, and I’m disappointed what Waddell had to say. I didn’t think he was a bloody fool, but apparently he is.

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Living north of the Queensway, as they all do, some members of the Ottawa commentariat are telling us that the burgeoning Robocon scandal isn’t going to harm the Conservative regime.

They’re wrong, for the reasons they cite.

They’re right, for the reasons they don’t.

Let us explain: This week, the Toronto Star’s much-respected Chantal Hebert cited — with no apparent enthusiasm — two public opinion polls, by Ekos and Nanos, and declared the Conservative government’s support “rock solid.”

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You know, when I worked in government, whenever there was a protest or occupation of one of our offices or something like that, I would always tell staff the same thing: “Bring them coffee and doughnuts. Let them use the washroom. Talk to them. Be nice to them. They’ll eventually give up and leave.”

Something tells me that treating Stephen Maher like a leper isn’t a great media-management strategy.

Sort of suggests they have lots to hide, don’t it?

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