Watching the 'ti' Jean tribute on Newsworld this evening, I am struck by a number of things:
- The Barra MacNeils kick Rankin arse anyday. My buddy Gary once said he wouldn't cross his lawn to see the Rankins and he was right;
- Jean kept us in the war on terror and out of the farce in Iraq;
- He got the armoured personnel carriers in to Bosnia and used the jets well in Serbia against the facists, who now lay in graves or war tribunal cells;
- He turned a fiscal basket case into one of the strongest economies in the G8;
- He put the lock on the throat of that protester to all our cheers;
- He said, in answer to a question about if the referendum were lost in '95, "If! If! If! - If my grandmother had wheels she would be a bus";
- The greatest federal financial scandals in the last decade involve weekend trips - to New Brunswick, for God's sake;
- He stayed in power for an extra term just to piss off Martin - during which time Canada avoided the burst of the IT bubble.
Comments
Mandy - November 14, 2003 2:07 AM
Jean will be missed...
portland - November 14, 2003 2:21 AM
how did he keep you in the war on terror? and look at you; now you're one of the guys who long for the good old days when there was stalinism in iraq? c'mon. i will give you that the line about the bus was good but remember that the question was being asked in the first place because he dropped the ball and almost didn't pick it back up again. and i've always hated that squeaky lead singer of the barra mcwhatsits. the rankins did a lotta lotta mediocre material but those girls sure could sing pretty. give em that. you're outta control mclead, least of all for suggesting that canada ever had a significant IT sector to go bubbling up. you're confused. you're thinking of ginger ale sector.
portland - November 14, 2003 2:24 AM
and grabbing guys by the throat is cool? what kind of night are you having? you need to lay off the pop rocks and music videos.
Alan - November 14, 2003 8:17 AM
[hehehehehe...]
I'll give you much because you know but consider the alternatives over the last three decades. Remember the Lalonde budgets of 40 plus billion deficit announced without the slightest shame. I know you are in the US but even you must be aware that we are policing the only bit of Afghanistan liberated by that war and playing a full role in the gulf blockade. When the US was sitting on its hands in the mid-90's, we were leveraging open Bosnia and, most sadly, begging for support that never came in Rwanda. No one is happier to see a dictator fall but you would have thought there would have been a plan for doing something with the place - no plan is what made the farce and Jean saw that and kept us out.
portland - November 14, 2003 10:01 AM
your points are well taken. and so i disappear into the ether again. i owe you letters. one is on the way. i'm thinking about cats.
Alan - November 14, 2003 11:19 AM
There is a great interview piece with Chretien in <i>The New York Times</i> this morning:<blockquote class="smalltext">"I don't think a kid of 17 years old who has a joint should have a criminal record," he said flatly on Monday in the broad-ranging interview in his elegant official residence as he prepared to retire after 10 years in office. While careful not to gloat about his decision not to send Canadian troops to Iraq, Mr. Chrétien, who is 69, was not apologetic either. "Of course he was not happy," he said, recalling President Bush's obvious displeasure. "I did not expect him to send me flowers."</blockquote>
Arthur - November 15, 2003 6:39 AM
"Of course he was not happy," he said, recalling President Bush's obvious displeasure. "I did not expect him to send me flowers."
There's a lot of people who are happy to see Chretien go, but the quote above shows the difference between experience and inexperience.