The Inauguration November 8, 2006
Posted by politicsranter in Politics.trackback
It’s my first post as The Politics Ranter! And what better to start with than a subject I’ve ranted about many times: Michael Ignatieff.
We were discussing him at dinner in Ottawa the other night. Where did it go wrong?, someone wondered. People tossed out their ideas. I said, “I think he went wrong at ‘Israel’ and ‘war crimes’.” That’s where I think he went wrong in terms of campaigning anyway. I’ve never agreed with him running, though, from the start.
Some people complain that he’s an academic, which I think is a ludicrous argument. You don’t want someone smart in charge? Good idea, get some dumb people running the show. It seems to have worked so far. Wait – it hasn’t worked at all. I don’t mind that he’s an academic. Some of the smartest academics I know are also the most grounded and compassionate. My problem is that he’s an academic from the US. I don’t understand how someone could live somewhere else for 27 years and then come back and go after one of the top jobs (and which could very well lead to having the top job) in the government. It smacks of opportunism and makes me think he doesn’t really give two shits about Canada. If he did, he would have lived here.
That’s my first problem. My next problem is the advantage he’s been shown from the media right from the start. The Star ran an entire series on him called “The Rookie” when he ran for MP. He had way more visibility than anyone else from the beginning. What happened to giving equal coverage to candidates? His NDP opponent was a 25-year-old law student. Now, THAT’S a rookie. Where was his series? It’s sad, but a lot of people vote for the name they’ve heard the most. That means a multi-part profile is a huge advantage, and one he did nothing to earn.
Despite this, he couldn’t keep the train on the tracks and I’ll be very surprised if he wins. Sure, he’s the frontrunner for now. But every week brings some new fuck up. His campaign just got fined $1,000 for being giant dicks (Alright, alright – for making “unproven allegations” against Bob Rae). And there was that whole thing about possibly signing up dead people for memberships (which makes it extra funny that he got fined for making fraud allegations against Rae) and paying for other people’s memberships . One more flip flop and that final bolt pops off and the whole wagon falls apart. I have no idea what the man actually thinks. I know what he thinks people want him to think. Every time he says something that gets people up in arms, he thinks he needs to say the exact opposite to make it better. That certainly doesn’t work. That just pisses new people off. “Did I say I didn’t care about people getting blown up? I meant that it was a war crime on Israel’s part.”
Please Liberal leadership voters – vote for Bob Rae and his pasty ass (as seen on The Mercer Report).
Paul Wells argued the same thing in an opinion piece published back in September.
“Can you imagine somebody getting elected president of the United States whose 30-year stint outside the United States had ended less than three years earlier? Can you imagine a president of France who’d lived for 30 years in San Francisco or Seoul?”
Most Canadians wouldn’t make such a person their prime minister, but the Liberal party was so desperate to sever ties with the Libs of the scandal-era that they championed a brainiac with extremely little political experience who reminded them of a young Pierre Trudeau.
Ignatieff embodies certain elements of Trudeau – brashness, youth, teremity – but also some of the worst elements of Trudeau, most notably, his incredible ability to alienate people (most notably people within his own party) with his statements.
I think Scott Feschuk summed up Iggy’s shortcomings pretty accurately in this mock “Dear Abby”-style column he wrote in Macleans recently.
Dear Michael Ignatieff:
Remember me? I wrote in a few weeks ago asking for advice about my girlfriend, who cheated on me. You told me to not to lose sleep over it. But some of my friends keep saying that what she did was pretty bad and I shouldn’t let her just get away with it. I don’t know — what do you think?
– Hesitant in Hamilton
Dear Hesitant:
I said that? Wow. Well, that was clearly an error of communication. With the benefit of hindsight, I can now say with great confidence that your girlfriend is one big-time slut! A real loose Lucy. Welcome to Whoresville, population: you. That kind of thing. Take it from me: go tell her all that and your problems will vanish. You’re welcome!
Woah, I don’t understand where this Rae-love-in has come from all of a sudden. For some reason I figured G.K. or S.D. would be most likely to win the hearts of young voters. I haven’t followed Rae all that much, but what’s his deal? I’ve been a Dion optimist as a default position because he appears to be the greenest candidate.
I’m not really sure. I used to call him a ship jumper. I think that part of it is that he’s really the only one who has a chance at beating Ignatieff right now (this from someone who despises strategic voting, eek). And maybe part of it is that he came from the NDP so that makes me like him a little more. And also, honestly, the skinny-dipping on Rick Mercer had more impact with me than it probably should have. I like to know that my politicians are real people and not stuffy, plastic jerks; it counts for a lot with me. So when a candidate goes skinny-dipping or I hear stories of politicians on drugs at parties, it makes me oddly happy. Also, it showed guts. I don’t like boring, meek politicians. I’m still hoping that someone will come and light a fire under the rest of Commons.
I’m surprised that you want Rae to win, given the numbers of seats he’d probably take away from the NDP, and more importantly, the amount of Ontario ridings he’d lose to the Conservatives. As bad as Igtwatieff seems, a Conservative majority government would be even worse.
It’s not really that I want Rae to win, it’s just that I think he’s the only one who CAN win, especially if I’m right about what Kennedy’s announcement at Ryerson is going to be tomorrow. I don’t think Rae would result in a Conservative majority. I don’t think anything could do that next election. Harper has struck too many people as shady and guarded, he’s broken too many promises and now all the rich old people are mad at him about the income trust thing, so there’s probably a huge chunk of the people who would have otherwise voted for him gone.
Rae couldn’t run a province so I doubt he can run a country. We need to throw away all the Boomer leaders and get some new blood – where’s our Obama?
For reals though, one of the biggest problems facing any government that takes power is restructuring our pension and health care systems. Boomers, as they age, are going to hoover up funds like mad. We need a leader from outside their ranks to make the tough decisions so that Canada can remain economically competitive.
New blood would be fabulous but I’m thinking in the context of the reality of this election and the reality is that Rae is the only other one who has a chance. I could actually give a shit if he wins. The post was never meant to be about him. That’s why he takes up one line at the end. And it was a throwaway, afterthought line.
Very good webpage you have here, and best greetings to all your visitors
YES,VERY GOOD WEBSITE!