How to avoid a spiral of cynicism

Dear readers,

 

If you were wondering where CWB had gone for, oh, half a year, well, wonder no longer.

 

It's called a vacation.  A vacation from following news cycles that make one laugh, cry, and stumble awkwardly in stupified disbelief.  Then there's Canadian politics.

 

In any case, here's one article that forced me to get back on the horse.  I stand in awe of Chantal Hébert's ability to follow Canadian politics for so many years and still treat it with an eye that infuses both analysis and context, all of which result in a reader's edification rather than patronization (is that last one even a word?).

 

So read Ms. Hébert's column on the Lisa Raitt controversy.  I would not have been so kind.  To any of the parties involved.

The deans of Canadian journalism have spoken

It would seem that Michael Ignatieff has been anointed Canada's next Prime Minister by both Lawrence Martin and Richard Gwyn.

 

I'm not sure why we even need an election.  Oh right, Craig Oliver hasn't weighed in yet.

 

Unless all my instincts are dulled and my antennae have rusted (most certainly possible), I'm pretty sure Ignatieff is going to become our next prime minister.

 

The innumerable qualifications and vague language, i.e. "I'm pretty sure," ensure that Gwyn has his ass covered.

 

Moving on:

 

Herbert asked whether Obama thought the world was now in the midst of one of those potential historical moments. Obama answered: "Yes, I firmly believe that."

 

Ignatieff could talk like that. Harper can't. That's why I believe that Ignatieff is on track to become our next prime minister.

 

Well, I guess it's settled, then.

 

Lawrence Martin, in a column several weeks ago, noted that Ignatieff's institution of a "kitchen cabinet" and his intellectualism would win over Canadians:

The Liberals are banking on the notion that Canadians, in their style of politics, are in no mood for continuity. They want elevation. Introducing a kitchen cabinet, getting away from clique rule and bringing back a degree of intellectual sophistication are not bad ways to start.

He does the Harper comparison thingy as well:

The country's politics have swung so low in recent years not just on account of Mr. Harper, who exists almost entirely in the realm of tactics, but on account of Liberal leaders as well.

It's enjoyable to watch these commentators elevate Michael Ignatieff to the second coming of Pierre Trudeau and make his accession to the leadership equivalent to the beginning of a new intellectual era in Canadian politics.  Dion was a Ph.D. and academic while Harper was your average nerdlinger economist.  That the putrid effort put forth by both in the last election would somehow be avoided in one fought by Ignatieff is questionable at best, and naïve at worst.

“We're going to welcome him in any way we can”

Obamamania hits Ottawa today, and it's interesting to see how Stephen Harper has been downplaying the meeting while the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition has been pumping it up:

 

"What I don't want to do is sound like a dog in the manger about this," Ignatieff said.

 

Hmmm...a dog in a manger.  Manger?

 

"I will speak frankly, in a dignified and sober way," Ignatieff said, noting he will raise the issue of maintaining open borders, free trade and the Canadian presence in Afghanistan.

 

Does Ignatieff speak in anything but a dignified and sober way?  The guy can induce narcolepsy from 50 feet away.

 

Some of Ignatieff's fellow Liberals think the Tories are being petty that Iggy's getting 15 minutes, versus the "about 20 minutes" Harper had with Dubya when the former was Opposition Leader:

 

"I think it's pretty cheap," said Liberal MP Dan McTeague (Pickering-Scarborough East). "It's very typical of Mr. Harper, not wanting to share anything."

 

Right.  15 minutes versus 20 minutes.  It's only the Tories that are being cheap.

 

It's hard to see what the big deal is anyway.  Ignatieff doesn't even need Harper interceding on his behalf to talk to Obama:

 

"It's not lost on people that Mr. Ignatieff has a number of people that he knows personally working in circles close to the president," McTeague said.

 "I just pick up the phone to some of my friends in his administration," Ignatieff said during a CTV interview earlier this year.

 

Ah, technology.  Amazing thing, isn't it?

Taxes, taxes, taxes

It was bound to happen: the transition team of then-President-elect Barack Obama was moving with such swiftness and agility in the weeks following his election it appeared almost inhuman.  The standard being set was one of near perfection, and it stood to reason that such a high standard would eventually come back to bite the Obama administration.

 

The first time occurred when Secretary of Commerce-nominee Bill Richardson got tripped up by his allegedly questionable links with big business as Governor of New Mexico.

 

The second time was the truly egregious episode of Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner admitting he had not paid Social Security and Medicare taxes.  The fact that the Department of the Treasury oversees the Internal Revenue Service made this all the more laughable.  In spite of this fact, and the lack of a reasonable explanation, the US Senate confirmed Geithner.

 

Now we hear that former US Democratic Senate Leader Tom Daschle also had a problem paying his taxes.  Although most felt Daschle would get the same ride Geithner did which would end up with an eventual confirmation, the HHS nominee asked that his nomination be withdrawn today.

 

What is it about paying taxes that's so difficult for these brilliant up-and-coming government servants?  If taxes really are the price you pay for a civilized society (and one imagines there are a few other items on that bill), those who are chosen to lead that society should probably make sure they pay what they owe to the commons.

 

Which brings us back to the Obama transition.  Perhaps they went a little too fast with their background checks?  How do you miss this in the interview?  Maybe they felt these were minor infractions not significant enough to doom a nomination.

 

In any event, when you add in news that the new administration's nominee for "Chief Performance Officer" also has tax problems, well it would appear that not paying your taxes is this administration's illegal immigrant nanny.

Funny

Vancouver's new civic administration got underway yesterday:

 

Vancouver's new council started its term yesterday with a native blessing, South Asian bhangra and Chinese lion dancers and drummers at a community centre in the heart of the city's Punjabi Market. Mr. Robertson promoted ethnic diversity in his own way, by wearing a kilt.

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times...

The farce that is playing itself out in Ottawa these days owes its genesis to the spectacular overreach of a Prime Minister who let his extreme partisanship show.

It put into question what most Canadians expected from the Conservatives: non-ideological competent stewardship of the country's public finances and national economy during a time of protracted financial crisis.

Harper and Flaherty came up with the cancellation of political party financing.

Wherever you fall on the spectrum in favour or against public financing of political parties, one thing is clear: it had no business being included in the government's "economic update" and at the very least should have been in the Conservative Party election platform (you may recall that the Tories didn't release a platform until the last week of the campaign, under heavy pressure and, it must be said, ridicule).

The goal of the economic update was to demonstrate the government's handle on the economic portfolio.  Unfortunately for the Conservatives, it accomplished that all too effectively.

The almost juvenile tactics of the Tories last Thursday may ultimately end Stephen Harper's brief tenure as Prime Minister of Canada and as leader of the Conservative Party.  Consider the following:

- How many Canadian swing voters would ever seriously consider handing the Tories a majority after witnessing the events of the past week?

- The Conservative intention to cultivate an image of managerial competence has been ripped to shreds.  That kind of credibility, which counts for a lot among Canadians who still remember the deficit mess of the early 90s, is damaged nearly beyond repair.

- Stephen Harper has demonstrated one too many times that he does not do what he says and he does not say what he does.  In essence, Canadians cannot trust the word of their Prime Minister.

The prospect of an opposition coalition led by Stéphane Dion, in alliance with the NDP and the Bloc Québécois is just as frightening as leaving Harper in the big chair.  None of this will even begin to be figured out until May, when the Liberals select a new leader.

If they want another chance at governing, the Conservatives should be thinking about getting a new leader by then as well.

Well done, idiots

A global economic crisis and a terror attack in India.

Meanwhile, the Members of Parliament who were elected a few weeks ago are in Ottawa doing their best impression of "Where's my navel again? Oh, there it is. What a nice looking navel. Gee, just look at that navel. Well, time for Christmas break!"

It is a generalization to say that most Canadians have an internationalist outlook. It is a truism to say that Canadian politicians are parochial nimrods.

While Canadian conservatives stop to admire the tactical beauty of the Conservative government's latest ploy, and Canadian non-conservatives backfill every online comment page from here to Sechelt with diatribes about Canadian democracy under attack, I am lamenting the sad performance of an ass-backwards "government" that so clearly demonstrates it has no clue of what to do about the economy, and the even sadder fact that there is no credible opposition party to take their place with any semblance of competence or credibility.

These are our leaders. Holy crap.