Once again September is upon us, where Liberal Leader Mike Ignatieff is celebrating the end of his summer comedy tour by gathering with his esteemed caucus to perform a few more stand-up comedy shows before Parliament resumes. You may recall that last year at the Liberal comedy (err caucus) retreat he performed a hilarious satire of a responsible leader when he personally decided that he wanted to try and force and election less than a year after the last one. The end result of that failed strategy was pie in his face, as he was completely ignorant to the fact that he and Rick Mercer were the only people in Canada who wanted an election. He is out of touch, which ironically is what he accuses the Prime Minister of being.
After his performance last year that resulted in the entire country laughing at him, Iggy certainly has to be under enormous pressure to repeat that level of entertainment. How can he possibly top "Mr Harper, your time is up" on the comedy scale? Now he is claiming that his party is the "inclusive, responsible, compassionate alternative" versus the Tories that he alleges are mean and divisive. So when Mark Holland accused Helena Guergis of "assaulting airport security" and Marlene Jennings accused her of being a drug dealer, is that responsible compassion? When Bob Rae was on the Soloman Show and told Canadians that they would die of pig flu and it would be the government's fault, was that responsible compassion? Iggy accuses the Tories of governing by inspiring fear, and yet he leads a party that is very much guilty of fear mongering. Do as he says, not as he does.
We know that Iggy supports torture (sorry, "coerced interrogations") to extract information from enemy combatants, which is very compassionate of him; then he turns loose his former NDP Premiers to accuse our soldiers of being complicit in torture in violation of the Geneva conventions. The politics of compassion or the politics of hypocrisy? Then trying to re-open the abortion debate, the most divisive issue in the country, following the advice of Liberal pollster and donor Frank Graves who encouraged him to start a culture war to divide the country. The Liberals understand the politics of division all too well.
And of all the lofty platitudes and empty promises that we have come to expect from this Liberal leader, the funniest of all is that he seems to think he has a chance at a majority government. The Liberals would need to rise roughly 10% in the polls for any shot at a majority, and the probability of that size a shift with this disingenuous tourist as leader is very small. The most likely way for Iggy to wiggle his way into the Prime Minister's office is a minority coalition government.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, isn't an act but a habit."
-Aristotle
The most likely way for Iggy to wiggle his way into the Prime Minister's office is a minority coalition government.
ReplyDeleteWell he says now that they ARE the Coalition. At least he admits it. He can wear that forever.
"The Liberals would need to rise roughly 10% in the polls for any shot at a majority"
ReplyDeleteSince even their own pollster sayas they are currently 6 points behind, a 10% rise would only put them in minority territory. They actually need about 20% for a majority.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, isn't an act but a habit.
ReplyDeleteAristotle
"Winning is a habit, But then so is losing".
Bubba
They are more likely to drop 10%
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. It nicely sums up the Liberal Party and their actions since Ignatieff took the helm.
ReplyDeleteThe Liberal media can't contemplate another drop of a few per cent at the ballot for the Liberals.
The Liberal media is terrified of a CPC majority.
Iceman, nice to see you back. How's the job hunt? Did you find work already?
ReplyDeleteI love the Aristotle quote. I had it posted to my dorm room wall in college.
I think we're in for an entertaining session of Parliament this fall. The gun registry vote, and John McCallum's bill to reinstate the long-form census should bring some good laughs. Especially since McCallum's bill will leave out the penalties, which essentially makes the long-form voluntary.
"Ignatieff sets sights on Liberal majority government". LOL
ReplyDeleteThe Liberals keep finding new ways to insult our intelligence. And once again, we see one of the biggest mistakes that Iggy keeps making--his rhetoric is too far removed from reality.
You would have thought that they learned something from their "soldiers in the streets" debacle. But no. It's one exaggeration after another. Dion, with his "the fate of the planet is at risk, unless I become Prime Minister within one year". And now Iggy, gaining 78 seats, to put him back where Chretien was after the 2000 election !
"The big red tent" is not going to shelter Iggy from the onslaught of our anti-coalition ads, with video, pics and quotes of Iggy, packaged together in very compelling narratives.