February 09, 2007

 

A new mole


Dr. Strangelove over at Political Staples tipped me off to this:
During a closed door caucus meeting Wednesday, insiders say several MPs politely encouraged Dion to broaden his attack on the Conservative government and demonstrate to Canadians that he has a firm grasp on a wide range of issues.

...

Indeed, during the caucus meeting, insiders said there were some complaints that only a small group of MPs are being allowed to perform during question period.
Hmm... suddenly, there's a leak in the Liberal caucus, spilling embarrasing details of their meetings to the media. I wonder who that could be... :)

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February 06, 2007

 

Flaming hypocrite


'Nuff said.

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October 19, 2006

 

The Garth Party of Canada


I've been thinking about making a post like this (with the above title) for awhile now, but other than a few comments on other people's blogs, I haven't done much about it. I guess yesterday's events have forced my hand.

I rather liked Garth Turner when I first discovered his blog back in mid-2005. He seemed like the kind of straight-talkin' candidate we need in this country, and I liked how he and other Conservative hopefuls and MPs were using blogs to reach out to their constituents.

When Emerson crossed the floor, I didn't like it. As you all know, Turner didn't either. In retrospect, it's interesting to note his initial comments on the issue were rather tame, and it wasn't until a few days had passed that he started to get more acerbic and start grandstanding for the media. I don't know whether he planned to do this from the start or was pulled into it innocently, but either way, he soon became an expert at badmouthing the Conservative Party in order to promote himself.

Turner likes to say that the purpose of his blog attacks are to stand up for his constituents and let them know what's going on, but this claim doesn't stand up to scrutiny. For example, in this post, Turner makes a big deal of being on the outs with Conservative campaign manager Doug Finley, and ends with a vague threat. However, he never gives us any idea whatsover about what his beef with Finley is, thus eliminately any credibility on the "keeping you informed" front. The only purpose to that post was to shout "Look at me! I'm such a rebel! Ain't I kewl?" For another example, how exactly is Mr. Turner standing up for Canadians when he resorts to childish insults towards those who criticize him?

The Conservatives' stated reason for suspending Turner was breach of caucus confidentiality and unacceptable attacks on his colleagues. Stephen Taylor has already uncovered evidence of the former, while examples of the latter can be found all over his blog. Here's a nice one from less than a week ago; notice how he ends an otherwise reasonable post with a gratuitous shot at Jim Flaherty. And really, how can any serious political organization tolerate one of their members using his blog to brazenly promote the leader of a rival party? It's more than likely that Turner wanted the notoriety of being kicked out of caucus, and would have pushed things as far as it took to make that happen.

A good MP needs to break from the party line when it's the honourable thing to do, but in this case, it's got nothing to do with honour and everything to do with personal glory. D’arcy Keene was rightfully criticized for wanting to run on the single issue of same-sex marriage. This stands in sharp contrast to Garth Turner, who wants to run on the single issue of... Garth Turner.

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