The days events are best summed up by Bob at Let It Bleed:
IF ...in May 2005 you were OPPOSED to Belinda Stronach crossing the floor to the LiberalsThere is of course more so go read the whole post. How delicious to watch out new rural overlords ineptly and unnecessarily fall on their faces on day one and watching their bloggy pals split off the thinnest shavings of a hair you will ever see to distinguish the bad old Grits (quite evil actually) from the new ethical Tories. Thankfully, there are many blue bloggers and fellow libertarian travellers who are as disgusted as I am. Actually I am more amused than disgusted as I have every expectation the Tories will operate exactly like the Grits except for the sanctimonious grin on their mugs.THEN ...in February 2006 you should be OPPOSED to David Emerson crossing the floor to the Conservatives...
Now...to be fair...Don points out that PM Harper never said that this flipping of parties was wrong. He just never quite said it was #1 on his plan for governance.
Update: Steve the Angry Man twigs to what this new math means:
...There is also the independent. That means that a tie does not actually exist. Either the CPC+NDP or the Liberal+Bloc would have to entice Andre Arthur to their side...So the Quebec City shock jock André Arthur now holds the balance of power in the Parliament of my country. Excellent. Thanks Prime Minister Steve.
Comments
portland - February 6, 2006 6:29 PM
i'm for belinda stronach doing anything that gets her picture in the paper. sick of looking at the rest of them.
Arthur - February 6, 2006 7:27 PM
i'm for belinda stronach doing anything that gets her picture in the paper.
Crap. I was just going to submit my reader profile with picture... It's all Portland's fault!
Jay Currie - February 6, 2006 10:26 PM
I'm pretty impressed: who thought Harper had it in him? Emerson was a wildly competent civil servant and a very capable business guy.
Given the number of rats who refuse to board the sinking ship, it is nice to see the CPC grab one who is jumping.
And, Portland, while Belinda is better looking than....well someone...she is certainly not that cute. So stop provoking Arthur to horrors unimagined.
Gordo - February 6, 2006 11:20 PM
Full marks to PM Steve for upping the slime ante. A top-drawer floor-crossing before he's even parked his western ass in the big chair? Definitely impressive.
mitchell - February 6, 2006 11:38 PM
"Thankfully, there are many blue bloggers and fellow libertarian travellers who are as disgusted as I am"
It's nice that you found your ethical tolerances, Alan. I was just viewing your archives, May of last year, and noticed you didn't say much at all when Belinda jumped ship. And your comments on the subject were basically general mocking of Harper and the Conservatives rather than any type of judgement of Belinda.
Also interesting is how badly you guessed at the future of Harper/Conservatives half a year ago.
Alan - February 7, 2006 7:44 AM
Oooh, that hurts. I guess I better stop blogging. Thanks for nothing, Mitchell. Back to your trolling.
Alan - February 7, 2006 8:53 AM
Interesting to note that Stephen Taylor concludes after much loyal talk - admirable and all but really... - that this may just be practical reality over principle, par for the course.
Gordo - February 7, 2006 11:48 AM
When did politics start to have anything to do with reality? Practical or imagined?
Alan - February 8, 2006 6:23 PM
The hilarity gets another boost:<blockquote class="smalltext">The new international trade minister, who reacted angrily to the request in a newspaper interview Tuesday night, maintains <b>he ran his constituency office on a non-partisan basis</b> and that he moved to the Tories to serve his constituents better. In a letter to Emerson, the president of his local Liberal riding association says people who donated to the campaign wanted to elect a Liberal, not a Conservative. Ivan Curman is also demanding that the MP resign and run in a byelection in Vancouver Kingsway.<p>In an interview with the Vancouver Province, Emerson said his two children, age 12 and 14, were being treated with hostility at school because of his defection. He said he had raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Liberals while he was an MP, and that he felt like a "cash cow" for the party. Liberal attacks on his defection are a sign of "deep sickness," he told the paper.</blockquote>Chippiness. That will help. Bring you kids into it, too. Good move.