Main author of cables in WikiLeaks release.

“When you take a gander at the mountain of classified U.S. documents WikiLeaks offered up on Sunday, you are inevitably left pondering the phrase “intelligence community.”

Turns out, it’s an oxymoron.

The “intelligence community,” clearly, is neither “intelligent” nor a “community.”

In fact, when you ponder what America’s top spies are pondering, it’s not so amazing that Osama bin Laden has escaped capture for more than a decade. The alleged Maxwell Smarts overseeing America’s intelligence-gathering aren’t particularly smart and they have a tenuous grasp on that important allies/enemies distinction, too.”

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I predicted on CBC’s Power and Politics, last week, that the Cons would win Vaughan, and that the Libs had an excellent candidate in Winnipeg North. Monte and Peggy laughed at me, heartily.

Meanwhile, in the Sun, I even rashly said that Julian Fantino would win “handily.”

“Handily!”

Well, I may have been right about Winnipeg on CBC, but I sure got it wrong about Vaughan in the pages of the Sun – I mean, blowing a massive lead of thousands of votes in two weeks, like the Vaughan Conservatives did, isn’t winning “handily.” It’s a huge embarrassment.

I am ecstatic, however, that old Chretien chum Kevin Lamoureux won in Winnipeg North! Great news, and a lot of fun to follow on CPAC last night. I particularly enjoyed irritating Sheila and Meredith.

Now, bon soir.

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• Vaughan
• Dauphin – Swan River
• Winnipeg North

poll by twiigs.com

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Still, after her ordeal, Bonds said she doesn’t want to think she was wrongfully arrested and mistreated just because she’s a young black woman.

“I hope and pray it’s not a racial thing. I don’t want to make it into a big black-white issue. I think it’s more of an issue of questioning authority and I’d like to tell people don’t be afraid to ask police questions. It’s your right. I’ve learned my rights and I think everyone should learn their rights and make sure they’re not stepped on,” Bonds told the Ottawa Citizen on Saturday.

Bonds, a theatrical makeup artist with no criminal record, was stopped by police in September 2008 while walking home from an after-hours party following a live musical performance downtown.

The police officers ran her name through the system. When nothing came up they told her to go home.

When she asked why she had been stopped in the first place, police arrested her and took her to police headquarters, where she was put in a jail cell where she remained topless and in soiled pants for three hours and 15 minutes before being given a jailhouse jumpsuit.

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From my brother Angelo: “Praising Ford for the good campaign he ran is like congratulating the weatherman for a sunny day.”

Brilliant.

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The last press conference he’ll run.

“To me, there’s never been much question that Conservative candidate Julian Fantino is going to handily win Monday’s byelection in a riding north of Toronto.

The question, instead, is why the hell Julian Fantino wants the job in the first place.“

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About a year ago, a Toronto Transit worker was photographed asleep.  If you lived in Toronto, you couldn’t have avoided the photo, or the many stories about the incident.  It even was a subject of debate in the municipal election campaign.

Now this story has appeared, occupying far less space – and being given far less prominence – than the original “napping TTC worker” demi-scandal.

Today, we learn that the man in photo is dead.  He was sick, and apparently sick at the time of the photo, too.  He left the job he loved, ashamed of what had happened, ashamed that he had hurt the reputation of his colleagues.  He had worked for nearly three decades with an unblemished record.

Why am I drawing attention to this?  Because it isn’t the exception; it’s the rule, now.  Because it should make some people – a lot of people, actually – feel ashamed for how this story ended.  Because, when our collective memory is determined by a Google search, and nothing is worth saying if it isn’t expressed in 140 characters, and the “news cycle” is shorter than a sound bite, and analysis is thinner than piss on a rock, this how things are going to be, from now on: someone’s life, captured in a completely unrepresentative moment, is completely destroyed.  And no one gives a shit.

I’m as guilty of this techno-mob rule as anybody – maybe more so.  As I know too well, as I’ve experienced many times, it takes a few seconds to put something out there in the Internet ether – but, as I told a U of T class this week, you can’t take it back.  And it’ll be there forever.  It’ll be there after you’re dead.

I feel sorry for what happened to this man.  He deserves an apology.

But apologies are the only things that are slow in coming, these days.

UPDATE, FROM LOUISE: “I am  proud to say I was related to George and had the privilege to know him and call him “friend”. We always looked forward to seeing him. He was just fun to be around and a kind and decent man. He was a true hero in his everyday life as he always put others first – he showed himself in everyday small kindnesses, not just one or two incidents of which the public has come to know. He was tremendously loved by our family and by his many friends. George was always happy and cheerful, with an open hand and heart. I’ll never forget his laugh and his bright blue twinkling eyes. I never heard George say a bad word about anyone. Wasn’t in his nature. He was a good friend, loving, kind, easy to be with and tremendously funny. A bright light has gone from our lives. He will be missed by all who had the good fortune to know him.”

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BCL has the deets.

Who are the Landowners?  Well, one of their top guys, here, says he’s VP for Randy Hiller’s riding Frontenac-area association.  He’s been investigated by the OPP for making death threats, and is notorious for his white supremacy and extremism.

We all know who he is, and what he stands for.  What we don’t get, however, is why Hudak, Hiller et al. haven’t denounced someone who would write filth like this:

“Typical n****r behavior. Concealed carry would have made the outcome much different. Note if the perpetrators had been White, they would have all got the death penalty for a hate crime against n*****s. And the lieberals wonder why a large segment of Whites hate blacks and distrust them. I am surprised the black bastards did not try to rape them, that is standard fare for n*****s.“

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B.C.’s next Premier?

…she isn’t in the race, yet, but I’ve already heard from many folks – Libs, Cons, you name it – who would jump at the chance to help her.  I know I certainly would offer whatever help I could, in the leadership race and beyond.

Having heavyweights (and, full disclosure, longtime friends) like Messrs. Boessenkool and Marissen at the helm would be a huge asset for a Clark leadership bid, too.  Two of the smartest guys in Canadian poilitics, hands down.

***

“The most intriguing potential candidate remains politician-turned-radio host Christy Clark, who is also said to be seriously considering a run.

She would certainly add some glitz and sparkle to the campaign. During her three-year stint in government, where she was education minister and later minister of children and family services, she was known for possessing superb communication skills.

Ms. Clark also established a reputation for a highly partisan, sometimes confrontational style that made her no friends among teachers in the province.

She is said to have lined up one of the top backroom organizers in the country, Ken Boessenkool, to run her campaign. Mr. Boessenkool has close ties to the federal Conservative Party and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose successful 2006 campaign he helped mastermind.

Ms. Clark’s former husband, meantime, is Mark Marissen, a brilliant campaign organizer in his own right who would undoubtedly lend a hand. Her brother, Bruce Clark, is a campaign fundraiser for the federal Liberals and would have a Rolodex, one would think, that would come in handy when it came to raising money. While she is being pushed hard to run, Ms. Clark, a single mother, has apparently agonized over the decision because of the impact it would have on her nine-year-old son, Hamish.”

UPDATE: The fact that she is pictured here with my friend Joey can only be a good thing, in my geriatric punk view.

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