A stolen speech from 2003? Who cares? Not me. Not really. The issue is not that the speech was poached. I have every expectation that in a crisis a staffer will plagiarizer. "Plagiarizer, plagiarize: let no man's work evade your eyes." I was told that in my articling year and it makes sense. After all, no one has the right to an idea...though there is that little thing about expression of an idea...
But there is another issue - Mr. Cheater pants was still on staff and hadn't fessed up. That makes him a time bomb because once you do something like that successfully, you will go back to that well. Remedy - cut him loose. Which they did. Good for the Tories.
Still, all the firings, bootings, quittings, turfings, walkings of the plank, etc., do make you wonder what happened to the politically interested? Why do Federal politics attract those who leave us shaking our heads?
Other news for Day 25:
- Oh. This ain't good.
- Don Martin on Harper in Quebec.
- Viking mice.
- Isn't the real story the Tory drop from 39-40% to 34-36%?
Comments
sean - October 1, 2008 9:41 AM
I was always taught to believe that you cannot trust anyone who actually aspires to be Prime Minister. If it is forced upon them, or it just falls upon them to be the leader, not so bad. But if they once say "I have always wanted to be the leadr of the nation" you know its not good.
Over the years I have modified that to be "never trust anyone who aspires to have power over others for the sake of having power over others".
Nowadays, its more like "don't immediately trust anyone who aspires to be involved with anyone who aspires to have power over others and/or wishes to be prime minister"..
Hans - October 1, 2008 9:45 AM
The thing about Canada is: Harper's grand vision of a more "conservative" society doesn't make sense. Quebec, by and large, just doesn't buy the ideology he is peddling. While lots of other Canadians don't buy in either, it is particularly concentrated in Quebec. They like the arts, they don't subscribe to knee-jerk characterizations that artists are elitist free-loaders, they don't want to get "tough on crime" in order to flagelate teenagers. Western reformers like Harper just can't seem to understand that some people don't want to drink their kool-aid. But Canada includes all of these perspectives so do you try to muscle your ideology on to the nation like Harper is doing or do you try to balance all the perspectives? I guess we will see on October 14 if Harper's way is successful. I'd say alot hinges on the french language debate tonite.
theimpolitecanadian - October 1, 2008 10:02 PM
The other day, Stephen Harper was caught telling the truth.
"I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans." - Report Newsmagazine, March 25 2002
Stephen Harper doesn’t know all the facts because he has is head so far up George Bush’s back passage that George could get a gig as the two-headed freak at a traveling sideshow.
Stephen Harper, doing for Canada what George Bush did for America