A nice person from Post City, Michelle, asked me to offer up my thoughts on the rebranding of the Liberal Party of Canada, and whether their pot thing helps them do that.  Here’s what I told her, below.  Your thoughts are welcome, as always.

The pot thing is a sideshow.  It’s relevant, in a serious way, to perhaps no more than a few hundred people in the entire country.  It’s not the kind of issue that captivates enough people to matter to the outcome in a general election, let along a by-election.

The things that matter to voters are the things that have always mattered to voters: economic and managerial competence.  In era like the one we all live in, with all sorts of economic drama going on in Europe and the U.S., Canadians want to see a stable governance, and no surprises.  That’s why Harper has so studiously played against type, and avoided the sorts of pitfalls (abortion, gay marriage) that so many in his backbench want to see gone.

The Liberal Party will become relevant again when it stops talking about itself, and it starts talking about the country.  It’ll become relevant when it recaptures the two things that helped it dominate governance for so many decades: strong central government and managerial competence.

As long as it preoccupies itself with trivialities, it’ll continue to be relegated to the sidelines, where the other trivialities can be found.

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Quote:

“Option three, wrote Mr. Adler, is for the Israeli leader to “give the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice-president to take his place, and forcefully dictate that the United States’ policy includes its helping the Jewish state obliterate its enemies.”…“Yes, you read “three” correctly. Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel’s existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don’t you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel’s most inner circles?” he wrote. Options one and two were all-out Israeli attacks on Hezbollah or Iran’s nuclear sites.“

This fool deserves to spend a long time in prison for what he wrote, and hopefully will.  Many Jewish organizations are now strongly condemning him for what he wrote, which is good but hardly surprising.  It’s the least they can do.

This extreme case isn’t representative.  But it brought to mind conversations I have had, recently, with three very prominent Jewish liberals.  They said to me, with sadness, that they are part of a dying breed – the Jewish community leader who embraces progressive points of view, and who hasn’t become an uncritical cheerleader for the Conservative and Republican parties.

The leaders of the Jewish community have always been smart.  They have always embraced diversification – they were politically active, and they encouraged their team to get involved with the Conservatives, Liberals or New Democrats (or even the separatists).  In that way, whenever there was a change in government, they could always count on having friends in power.  It was a smart strategy.  It was the right strategy.

Bottom line?  Stephen Harper’s party will eventually lose power, and another party will take its place.  And the Canadian Jewish community – and its “CEO,” whose name I can’t even bring myself to say out loud anymore – will rue the day that they chose to promote only one horse, instead of all of them.

More I have had to say on this subject, here.

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Most days, I’m all-wrong, so I’ll take what I can get.

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Here we go!

Last weekend’s Liberal party convention had barely gotten underway, and an attack ad had already been released. Its source: The secretive right-wing lobby group, the National Citizens Coalition, formerly headed by one Stephen Harper.

Everything about the Internet spot was familiar. It had the customary look and feel of political attack ads, targeting the NDP past of interim Liberal leader Bob Rae.

It featured headlines ripped from newspapers, reminding us of Rae’s early ’90s tenure as premier, when Ontario was an economic basket case.
It had blurry footage of a younger Rae, plus a big unflattering photo.

Rae killed jobs, raised taxes on everything and put 100,000 people out of work, the ad claimed. The tag line — “DON’T LET HIM DO IT AGAIN” — was familiar too, and has been used many times on the campaign trail, most recently in some anti-Newt Gingrich campaign bumpf during the Republican presidential nomination race.

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Now as “Sid Vicious”and assorted other fake names, using 184.147.215.161. More here.

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They had the unveiling ceremony on Wednesday.  I couldn’t be there, and neither could be my Mom, but my great friend Bob Haslam was, and he took this picture for us.

I miss him.

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This is the oldest story I could find in which Stephen Harper claims he is writing a book about hockey.  It’s dated April 13, 2006:

PM visits Alberta base to reaffirm support for Forces and Afghanistan mission
Canadian Press Newswire
Thu Apr 13 2006
Section: National General News
Byline: BY JOHN COTTER

WAINWRIGHT, Alta. (CP) – Prime Minister Stephen Harper used a graduating ceremony for fresh-faced army recruits Thursday to emphasize his government’s support for the military and its mission in Afghanistan.

In a cavernous drill hall festooned with signs depicting past Canadian battle honours, Harper acted as reviewing officer as the unit of about 50 troops marched past bleachers filled with their family and friends.

Harper compared the service of troops in Kandahar to the sacrifices made by Canadians in the two world wars.

…Later Thursday, Harper took his young son to a NHL Calgary Flames hockey game.

The prime minister was careful not to give a prediction on who will win the Stanley Cup.

“I will get people more upset about my hockey opinions than any of my political opinions, but now that I’m in Calgary, how about this: I give the Calgary Flames and Ottawa Senators pretty good chances of winning the Stanley Cup.”

Harper, who had seats in the crowd, not in a private box, said he’s been working on a hockey book on professional hockey in the city of Toronto in the early 1900s.

“I’ve had an interest in hockey history since I was a boy and in the last few years I’ve used it as a kind of an escape form the pressures of the job.”

He said he had hoped to have it published by the end of this year but “since January 23rd, I’ve been spending a little less time on it than before, so we’ll see.”

It’s a half-decade later, and the book remains unpublished.  I find that odd.  I’m not a busy Prime Minister, of course, but I have a pretty busy firm, four busy kids, and lead a busy life.  And, since late October, I’ve written 55,000 words for my new book, which Random House is publishing in the Fall.  I don’t have 1,500 communications assistants to help me research the book, like Harper does.  Oh, and I’ve written three books in the time that Harper’s been “writing” his.

Part of my book is about how Harper has consciously (and cynically) sought out the Tim’s-drinking, Afghanistan-war-supporting, hockey Dad demographic, even though he seems to be faking it.

If anyone else has an earlier reference to Harper’s hockey book, which I am getting closer to calling “bullshit” about, please send it along.

As such, you can consider yourself one of my research assistants.  And I will name you and thank you in my book.

Which is coming out.

 

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The Vancouver Sun and Province have now turned over to the police never-before-seen shots of the Stanley Cup riot.  Click on the photo to see more.  It’s shocking stuff, still.

 

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Remember that scene in the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy and Toto arrive rather dramatically, and then something ghastly shows up?  Can you describe that scene?

Oh, here’s a hint.

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My guy, Obama.

You could not do better than this if you planned it: no clear winner in the Republican field, with assorted extremists doing well, and the one moderate doing badly.

And this all happens without you lifting a finger. Not bad.

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