Mr. Victim comes to town

It's easy to feel sorry for Dion. For some people at least. Here's a smart guy with a good ideas, they say, who got bullied and mistreated and suffered from a party that was not united behind him.

Dion is one of those people who feels sorry for Dion. After moping in his house for five days, he finally emerges like a little mouse, and reluctantly squeaks out his resignation.

"It's not my fault. It's all those other big bad people around me. They made fun of my accent. They posted an ad of a bird pooping on me. What could I do? I did everything right, but I never had a chance!"*

*this may not be an exact quote.

I didn't see his full press conference, but if Mia Rabson's column can be believed, he not only blames the conservatives, but his own party as well -- before he became leader!

Dion said the attacks on him and the propaganda against the Liberal Green Shift plan was a well-funded campaign by a Conservative Party which had far deeper pockets than the Liberals.

He said his party has struggled to adapt to new political fund-raising rules which were put in place by the Liberal government before it was defeated in 2004. (fp)

Wait a minute .. the fund raising rules that your own party created are responsible for your pathetic showing in the election?

Am I the only one who realizes that Dion was never equipped to be Prime Minister? The job of Prime Minister requires a number of skills, with 'Leadership' at the top of the list, and 'Book Smarts' somewhere around 16th or 17th.

If Dion had the leadership skills and ability to build a vision and articulate it to masses, he could have united the party behind him. He could have built popular support, raised more money and made people forget about Harper's ads. He could have showed better judgment in choosing his platform.

Leadership skills, good judgment, the ability to negotiate and articulate a vision, and to bring people with differing views together to common ground: these are not just useful skills in becoming PM, but in being an effective PM -- both in running national affairs but also in building a presence on the world stage and commanding respect from other leaders.

The man also appears to suffer from delusion. Just now on CTV Robert Fife reported that, as of this morning, Dion still believed he could survive a leadership review and had to be talked into resigning.

Good mental health, by the way, is also a useful attribute for a PM to have.

Mr. Obvious comes to town

Liberal MP Joe Volpe felt the need to publicly point out the obvious, two days after the election:

Toronto MP Joe Volpe said Thursday it would be best for Dion and the party if the leader signals his intention to leave as quickly as possible.

With the party broke and likely facing another election within a couple of years, Volpe said Liberals need to get on with rebuilding and they won’t be able to do it with Dion at the helm. (*)

adding: "I’d like him to go out with some dignity", while simultaneously removing Dion's ability to go out with some dignity.

Seriously, what's the point, Volpe? Dion's not retarded. He knows he's finished. He just needed a few days to come to terms with it, before announcing his retirement as leader.

Carbon Tax, Part 1

I had the idea to draw this cartoon about two months ago, shortly after Stephan Dion announced that he was hitching his wagon to the carbon tax, but I didn't get around to actually drawing it until now. The point at the time was to show that, while it is very admirable of Dion to commit to something that is very likely to be unpopular because he presumably believes it is the right thing to do, I thought it would sink his hopes of ever being PM. I saw it as being a hail Mary pass -- one last long bomb with the green football to see if he could pull out a miracle victory after letting the opponent run all over him for the first 59 minutes of the game.

That's not really how it's turning out. Dion and the Liberals are hanging right in there in the polls, and the "green shift" is not getting the negative reaction that I'm sure the Conservatives would love to see. Why? I think it's because Harper doesn't know how to fight it. Harper has ripped a page from the Hugh McFadyen campaign playbook by insulting the intelligence of the electorate with talking oil spots, and radio ads featuring a fake call-in show with bad actors. Harper is at his best when he approaches a subject in a cerebral and logical manner. Saying that the tax will "screw everybody across the country" falls far short of that. Unless he can find a way to explain the flaws of the carbon tax to average voters (without using the word "screwed"), or better yet - explain why his program is better, then this election battle will be a tough one for him.

I'll write a post a bit later (if I have time) about the carbon tax itself. À la prochaine ...

update: I may have spoken a little too quickly: Support for the Liberals' Green Shift dropping: poll

The world according to Garth

From Garth Turner's blog:

The moment Stephane Dion has been waiting for, the launch of his plan to heal both the economy and the environment, draws near. In speaking with him in private, I got the sense this is his time. ... Destiny may not be the right word in his mind. But it’s not far off.

Ooooo. I'm all tingly with anticipation.

It has taken a toll on everyone to eschew key votes and keep an undeserving government alive. The trolls are vicious, workers and loyalists dismayed, reporters dismissive, donors turned off and troops restive. Dion knows that, of course, but he has soldiered on to a moment of his choosing.

Really? The moment of his choosing is after Liberal party workers, loyalists, troops and donors have lost faith in his leadership, and the press is dismissing him? Wow, his intellect is obviously on a whole different plane than mine. (please no snarky comments).

He has to pull the trigger sooner or later. It would be really embarrassing to allow a minority government to survive an entire term. Let's see what trick he has up his sleeve (nitrogen taxes??) . Garth has my expectations up pretty high.

How far can we push it?

Ok. Now we know...

Stephane Dion & Co. are finding out the hard way how much crap Harper is willing to put up with. My guess is, the over-zealous Liberals will be much more careful about what they say outside of the libel-protected walls of the House of Commons.

Interestingly, the Liberal mastermind himself Warren Kinsella thinks that Harper is standing on solid ground ...

in fact - I'd hazard a guess that this isn't the action of someone who fears a full airing of the facts.

***
I forgot to add ... Warren has this interesting tid-bit on his blog as well:

Rick Dearden at Gowlings is acting for the Prime Minister. I articled under Rick when the firm was doing a lot of work for virtually every major media organization in the country. In the past twenty years or so, I can't recall a single libel case he has lost. FYI.

That would be pretty embarrassing -- for the lead of the opposition to be forced to compensate the PM. Ouch.

Jim wants to get in on the action too, apparently ...

Afghanistan

I just got back from the airport to see off a relative who is deploying this week on her second tour in Afghanistan. Although she volunteered to go, I can't say that she is looking forward to it. Nobody wants to be over there. War is a terrible thing, but sometimes it is necessary, and going to war is not something you can do in a half-assed sort of way. If a nation decides to go to war, it needs to commit to the objective and follow-though. Yes, our NATO allies should be contributing more (I'm talking to you, Germany and France), but their lack of support doesn't mean we should abandon the field and the leave the mission to failure.

I find it odd, and a little bit insulting really, that the people who are most vocally opposed to the mission seem to be people who generally have no personal stake in the mission. Progress is being made in Afghanistan despite what you might read in the press sometimes, and I personally don't want the efforts of our forces to potentially be in vain, by backing out of a mission when we are still needed. We may prefer to think of ourselves as a nation of peace keepers, but we have a proud history of excelling in a combat role when called upon. Now is one of those times.

Then there are those who don't have a clear position at all. Stephane Dion has been insisting that the combat role must end in February of 2009. On CTV's Question Period today he insisted that we must rotate out and let "some other countries" take over the combat role. Who those other countries might be, he doesn't say. He wants to stay to help with reconstruction, but he doesn't seem to understand that reconstruction can't happen without the security provided by the combat operation. But at the same time, he seems very hesitant to fight an election on this issue, giving the impression that he may in the end capitulate. This uncertainty and waffling is nothing new though, as Darcy demonstrates quite well over at the Broom. It will be interesting to see what he does when it comes time for a vote, and if Ignatieff follows along should Dion decide to take a stand on this issue.

By the way, I encourage you to check out The Torch -- probably the best website for a look at Afghanistan from a Canadian perspective.

Updates

Yesterday I wrote about Stephane Dion's odd quotes about NATO "helping" Pakistan secure it's border with Afghanistan. Today on the National, I just about pissed myself watching Mansbridge grill Dion about his remarks. Funny stuff. Watch it if you can. Apparently, the "option with the NATO forces" that he was referring to is the option of nicely asking Pakistan if they please wouldn't mind doing something with the insurgents in the mountains.

Two days ago I wrote about the city's water park proposal. Well, PolicyFrog has been doing some thinking too, and has some insights on the issue that are well worth checking out (as usual). I echo some of the Frog's apprehensions, and am slightly concerned that Katz's desire to see a big shiny waterpark added to his legacy as mayor may be the primary motivation behind this $7m contest. I should reserve judgement though, until I see how it pans out.

Stephane is schizophrenic

With apologies to the schizophrenics out there ...

The National Post has some intriguing insight into the mind of our fearless Federal opposition leader today. The article (also picked up by CTV news) quotes Stephane Dion as saying that we might have to "tackle the problems that often originate from Pakistan". Is this the same guy that wants us to pull out of a combat role in Afghanistan?

So, um, Stephane. Are Canadian troops going to be part of this NATO force to invade Afghanistan?

In an example of the disconnect between Dion and reality, he states that wants to "help Pakistan help us pacify Afghanistan". Let's see how Pakistan feels about that:

"any operation by any other country inside our borders will be regarded attack on Pakistan" <source>

ok then.

h/t: the Broom

I've got a Schreiber in my poll

What do we make of this whole Schreiber / Mulroney / Harper thing that's been going on? Is this the big break that the Liberals have been waiting for? A new poll has come out showing that support for the Conservatives has dropped and Liberal support has spiked several points, especially in Ontario. Wow, with results like that the Liberals might be tempted to actually vote on a confidence motion in the House. Can they parlay this into lasting support? A minority government? A majority government? An airport named after Stephane Dion?

Of course, just a few days earlier, this poll came out:

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper is soaring as Canadians' top pick to lead the country, while Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has plunged to third spot behind the NDP's Jack Layton."

Contoversy in the Conservative camp does not make Stephane a good leader. The impact of this depends on how Harper responds. What's happening here is that a shady business man is fighting tooth and nail to keep his ass out of a German jail, and if he's going down he wants to take everybody else with him. The only thing connecting Harper to this mess (so far) is a 7-month old letter that NDP MP Pat Martin considered important enough to throw dierctly into the trash can. Harper has shown that he can navigate tricky situations and end up more popular then before. From his first day appointing unelected individuals to cabinet, to the same sex marriage debate, to his backtrack on Income Trusts. If I were Stephane, I would not get too excited. Unless the Liberals can form a cohesive party with a compelling platform, they're still going nowhere.

Hey Mom, look at the Liberals!

Watching the federal Liberals tumble down hill from one day to the next like an armless legless Lucien Bouchard chasing a "yes" vote is becoming quite amusing. The newest amunition for Conservatives comes with the announcement that Stephane Dion would consider rescinding the Tories cuts to the tax that the Liberals once vowed to eliminate. (CP) I believe he said something like this:

We do not respect the Canadians who voted for your cuts to the GST, nor do we oppose the tax like we used to, so we will increase it back up to the levels that Mulrooney originally set, although we still think Mulrooney is evil, except that when we say we will rescind the tax cuts what we really mean is that we will actually do nothing because we are impotent.

Yes, that's right. It is all posturing and hot air, as Dion also announced that the Liberals will once again sit on their hands and not vote on the mini-budget. I am so happy that my MP is representing me by not voting in parliament. He deserves a raise.