Judging A Man by the Company He Keeps
The title of my essay came to me as I watched Mr. Martin in his news conference and again during question period on Tuesday. During his press conference Mr. Martin was flanked on the podium by the oleaginous defectors, Scott Brison and Jean Lapierre. In question period, after responding to the first couple of questions from Stephen Harper – the government never answers questions in question period by the way, ministers merely stand up and mouth some pre-packaged obfuscation – Martin turned the job over to Brison and Lapierre.
Why did Martin have Brison at his side during the news conference? Brison was mute during the entire proceeding, and merely gazed fawningly upon Mr. Martin during his prepared statement, no doubt cued by the light on the camera telling him when he was on screen. For his part Lapierre responded to a question or two from a French-speaking reporter. Is this the best of the Liberal caucus Mr. Martin could muster, or could Martin find no one else who would consent to join him?
What does it say about this “new Liberalism” that Mr. Martin brings two turncoats along as his acolytes for this important event? Why is it he turns to these two to serve as his Charlie McCarthy during question period?
I am told Stephen Owen’s brochure is appearing in mailboxes in Vancouver Quadra, and the word Liberal is nowhere to be found in his literature. Owen for the most part is nowhere to be found in Ottawa these days, which tells me this decent man may well be troubled by the cloud of corruption that surrounds his party.
The Liberal Party must transform itself from a decadent den of self-serving, self-perpetuating, self-aggrandizing lightweights and opportunists, into a party of honest, servant-minded, forward-thinking public servants. The transformation will only happen when decent men like Stephen Owen and David Emerson and Ken Dryden step forward to say ‘we have had enough, we can no longer abide the mendacity that suffocates discourse and anaesthetizes the intellect’.
At present, the benches of parliament, particularly those of the Liberals are filled with the half and half men (and women) Orestes Brownson spoke of when he said: “Nothing is more nauseating than lukewarm. Give us, we say, open, energetic uncompromising enemies, or firm, staunch friends, who will take their stand for the truth, to live with it or die with it, and not your half and half men.”
Mr. Martin could find no better example of half and half men than the vain and opportunistic duo of Brison and Lapierre, one a disgruntled loser in the Conservative leadership race, the other a reclaimed separatist – strange company indeed for a recently “exonerated” Prime Minister.
Why did Martin have Brison at his side during the news conference? Brison was mute during the entire proceeding, and merely gazed fawningly upon Mr. Martin during his prepared statement, no doubt cued by the light on the camera telling him when he was on screen. For his part Lapierre responded to a question or two from a French-speaking reporter. Is this the best of the Liberal caucus Mr. Martin could muster, or could Martin find no one else who would consent to join him?
What does it say about this “new Liberalism” that Mr. Martin brings two turncoats along as his acolytes for this important event? Why is it he turns to these two to serve as his Charlie McCarthy during question period?
I am told Stephen Owen’s brochure is appearing in mailboxes in Vancouver Quadra, and the word Liberal is nowhere to be found in his literature. Owen for the most part is nowhere to be found in Ottawa these days, which tells me this decent man may well be troubled by the cloud of corruption that surrounds his party.
The Liberal Party must transform itself from a decadent den of self-serving, self-perpetuating, self-aggrandizing lightweights and opportunists, into a party of honest, servant-minded, forward-thinking public servants. The transformation will only happen when decent men like Stephen Owen and David Emerson and Ken Dryden step forward to say ‘we have had enough, we can no longer abide the mendacity that suffocates discourse and anaesthetizes the intellect’.
At present, the benches of parliament, particularly those of the Liberals are filled with the half and half men (and women) Orestes Brownson spoke of when he said: “Nothing is more nauseating than lukewarm. Give us, we say, open, energetic uncompromising enemies, or firm, staunch friends, who will take their stand for the truth, to live with it or die with it, and not your half and half men.”
Mr. Martin could find no better example of half and half men than the vain and opportunistic duo of Brison and Lapierre, one a disgruntled loser in the Conservative leadership race, the other a reclaimed separatist – strange company indeed for a recently “exonerated” Prime Minister.
posted by Ben Buan | 9:02 a.m.
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