I parked this over in the sideblog during this time of the great head cold, but the question still has to be asked: was this guy the country's dumbest blogger? Paul Wells tells us who the guy is (now was.) Forget for a moment the shameful sense of humour and the shoddy use of such humour for one's political opponents. I cannot believe that the guy did not understand the essentially public nature of the Internet. Well, at least he has fallen on his keyboard as any good soldier who brings shame to the cause should:
A high-ranking official within the Liberal Party of Canada resigned today after he made disparaging comments on his blog about NDP Leader Jack Layton and his wife, NDP candidate Olivia Chow. Mike Klander, executive vice-president of the federal Liberal party's Ontario wing, stepped down after photographs of Chow, the NDP candidate for the Toronto riding of Trinity-Spadina, and a chow chow dog were posted on his blog dated Dec. 9 under the heading "Separated at Birth"...Stephen Taylor, who is coming out as the star blogger of the CPC in this election, noted this important past of what was posted on the blog in question:
Before Mike Klander took down his blog he posted on December 22nd, apologizing for his offensive comments:How can you write a public blog when you are a political figure and not think it will be seen by a lot of members of the public - including those who do not like you? This to me is a stunning revelation. The Liberal Party of Canada should be thanking God that they did not choose to rolled out anything about the information superhighway as a core plank in their platform this time around like they have in the past.It would appear that more people viewed my blog than the small circle of friends it was intented (sic) for. I apologize if anyone was offended by my comments...they were meant to be in jest. Anyway, I have removed my previous posts...
Bad taste plus bad political savvy meeting a seriously poor understanding of the way new technology works.
Comments
anon - December 27, 2005 12:55 PM
[Ed.: <i>A writer from BC has posted this link as comment...</i>]<blockquote>http://canadiancynic.blogspot.com/2005/12/its-time-for-rest-of-cbc-election.html</blockquote>
Alan - December 27, 2005 1:08 PM
In reply I can only point out:<ul><li>There is a presumption under that link that one would be interested in taking sides;</li><p><li>There is also a presumption that a certain someone has not spent the revenue from the CBC gig like a drunken sailor well before any coin has actually passed into his possession; and</li><p><li>If my past practice is any measure, I prefer to quit things in a solitary way so as to have less effect.</li></ul>
Flea - December 27, 2005 9:24 PM
"I prefer to quit things in a solitary way so as to have less effect."
That right there is a classic.
Hans - December 28, 2005 2:31 PM
anyway, in relation to your actual post, that Klander guy is clearly lying about writing his blog for small circle of friends. Every politico knows blogs are public. I think his problem was not that he didn't think people would see it; rather, I think he thought he was actually being funny. It was a pathetic display on a number of counts. Its good to know that Al, you're not the dumbest blogger in Canada.
Alan - December 28, 2005 2:39 PM
It's not so lonely down here among the lower rungs anymore, Hans.