Comments (9)

Weird.

The Green Party leader came by to post a comment on my personal website the other day. I’ve never had a leader of a federal political party do that before. It was really weird.

I mean, I figured — like you do, perhaps — that the leaders of political parties have lots of better things to do with their time than lurk in weblog chat rooms. But there was May, chatting away.

Like I say, weird.

There are three types of folks who hang out in web chat rooms. First, there are the regular commenters I get on websites like mine — Conservatives, Liberals, New Democrats, the undecided. The ones I get, I like. They tend to be smarter than me and I often find myself relying upon their analysis when I’m thinking about a political issue.

Second, there is a less-intelligent group who pop by, too. We call them “trolls.”

They use false names and fake e-mail accounts and they regurgitate all kinds of hate and dirt. I don’t ever approve their comments.

Finally, there is a third group whose presence we feel online, but don’t often see: The lurkers. They skulk in the background, but never really offer any comments. They just lurk.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, I assume, is a lurker, which is kind of weird.

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TORONTO, On. – An expert weighed in on the use of prisoner labour, following a proposal from Ontario’s opposition leader to force inmates to work.

If he wins the October election, Conservative leader Tim Hudak said he’ll force provincial inmates to earn their keep – doing things like raking leaves and mowing grass.

Former New York City Corrections Commissioner Martin Horn said… don’t expect [such programs] to provide 100 per cent security.

“There are ways to manage the risks; there are ways to diminish the risk, but there’s no way to eliminate risk. Will some inmates escape? Will some inmates walk away? It’s possible, and anyone who tells you it’s not is lying.”

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Which departing MPP(s) were giants within their respective parties, and treated with respect by their leaders – and which one was cruelly stabbed in the back by his leader, and treated like garbage, simply because he was a progressive, and because he opposed the far-right takeover of the party he’s belonged to for his entire adult life?

Kind of a leading question, I know, but I have a point to make.  Which is this: Tim Hudak will say and do anything to get back into power.

Liberal MPP Sandra Pupatello         PC MPP Norm Sterling                      NDP MPP Peter Kormos

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Anyone who knows me will not be surprised, at all, to see the scar on my ever-expanding forehead this morning.  I was walking Roxy Roller the Political Dog™ yesterday, you see, and I walked into a tree.  As friends and family will tell you, “Warren, did you know you’re bleeding?” is a question that gets posed more often than not.

As an added bonus, and for no charge, here is a photo of Roxy regarding me.

Sigh. My owner is a doofus.

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Those of us who worked for Jean Chretien always knew one thing about his schedule: sitting down for interviews with Peter C. Newman wouldn’t be in it.  Newman was enraged by that, and tried to get back at Chretien every chance he got.

Brian Mulroney learned, the hard way, why it is a big mistake to allow Newman and his wee tape recorder into your living room.

Michael Ignatieff and his inner circle are about to learn the same thing. He’ll say one thing, and do another.

Stephen Harper is boring? Not a chance.  I’ll bet he followed Chretien’s lead, and declined Newman’s offer.

Smart decision.

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The Heat are the most pompous, arrogant and detestable sports franchise on Earth. To deal with Canucks-related despair, I am revelling in the Heat’s despair. In this way, the sports universe achieves balance.

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Seriously.

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What we heard during the election was true. They lied. It’s a fact.

The questions that remain, then, are these: does this kind of deceit matter anymore? Shouldn’t it? Are the Conservatives right, when they sneer that you and your neighbours don’t care?

Comments (71)

It’s an old Cheap Trick tune, but I’m reminded of it when I read stories like the one below.  Seems like quite a few ambitious Conservatives don’t expect Stephen Harper to finish his term, no?

“They’ve won a third consecutive election victory and now control the first Conservative majority in 17 years, but Stephen Harper’s Tories have still found something to quarrel about as they gather for a convention in Ottawa Thursday.

The dispute is as old as the Conservative Party and hints at the fault lines in an organization that was only formed in late 2003 when the Red Tories in the Progressive Conservatives put aside their differences to merge with the right wingers in the Canadian Alliance.“

 

Comments (13)