Galahad

- THOSE OF US familiar with your disruptive, deranged, dishonest, dispicable and disgusting conduct on discussion boards during the past several years find it truly hilarious for you to pass judgement on ANYONE'S "moral compass'. Watch it Unka. Our school monitor Greg gets pretty hissy when you get personal here. I think you're about to get a demerit & have to sit in the corner for awhile.

Jim McNulty of The Province (a Vancouver newspaper) did me a favor and put your comment to Mr. Martin. Said Jim: "Some pundits and Liberal critics, i.e. Mr. August1991, say you should have dummied up like Jean Chretien, rather than talk about the scandal." Paul replied: "You can't change the way things work if you try to bottle everything up and hide it. The only way to get people onside is to level with them." What do you have to say to that? (I'll try to get Jim to put your reply to Mr. Martin again, I promise).

Well no one seems to actually put in print what this "association" would entail, so it's hard for most people to form an opinion on it. People refer to it as Canada's proposed "Hawaii", but I have not seen one reference to it being proposed as a "province". My gut tells me that Canadians are not as open as Americans to inviting other places to become provinces...but I could be wrong on that one. Would we be able to move & work there as freely as we can to Alberta or Ontario? Would the Turks & Caicos folks be free to move here? Will Paul Martin's government have a different opinion? Only if the Canadian people WANT him to have a different opinion. And until we know what it entails...it's hard to form an opinion. If it means making them a full province...I say bring it on!

Well I wish that Canadians would vote with their wallets also ...for once. The decline of Canada over the last few decades is shocking. With respect to covering up government excesses, what is the difference between Chretien & Mugabe? Distributing contracts to friends? Sending the country down the tubes? Just because he's not sending out goons to kill people doesn't mean that he doesn't have a bit of Mugabe in him. Mugabe is not such a strange creature...it's only the part of the world that many leaders are born into that either stops or allows this type of personality to flourish. I've watched Chretien's moral compass over the years ...he's a lot closer to Mugabe than to Mother Theresa.

THAT'S ALL WE CAN DO, MAN! I would MUCH prefer God having given me a Rolls-Royce quality brain as he gave to Aristotle, Plato, Wilde, Sartre et al. instead of a Volkswagon type one. God wasn't a fair man, was he?

AHH, so THAT'S how they ended up with 124% total (46 - 42 - 36).

Well I didn't mean to sound condescending but it was YOU who used the word "extreme" for a view that is being touted in every Canadian newspaper. What could I say? Robert Mugabe wouldn't be in trouble with a little government graft either...this is a GOOD thing?

Simplistic? Yes. Extreme? No. Mainstream as dictated by the media.

Your idea of governments losing an election works with the Bush scenario...as he is actually DOING something that people either agree or disagree with. So if he goes down to defeat ( which he won't) it will be on his own merit. However...we're talking Canada here. Chretien didn't actually ever DO anything, and so he kept getting elected. We like our leaders to sit on fences like we do. We're proud that we take no stance. We think it makes us world citizens. Now Martin is trying to DO something. It's a new concept for Canadians. and we'll just have to see how Canadians swallow this entire American- style "take action" thing. The action he is taking is positive, so if he suffers defeat it won't be because we diasagree with him ( no one will admit to enjoying the civil servants robbing us blind), it'll be because he scared the pants off of us taking all this action. As for Kerry...in the US there are lots of folks who, if you stamped the side of a dead pig with the word Democrat, they'd vote for it. Kerry offers zilch. He's switched positions on every issue...but that won't stop a lot of folks from voting for him. These guys should live in Canada. I therefore suggest a mass migration North/South ( sort of like the partition of India & Pakistan) with everyone finding their rightful place. Barbara Streisand & her ilk can take over Toronto & the Albertans can hunker down in New Hampshire ( live free or die!).Quebecers can bop on down to the Bayou & add crawfish to their poutine diet. Me... I'm off to Hawaii.

Sorry about that. I emigrated here from an ex-communist country & took the oath at the Canadian border never to mention the name Marx again. It so scarred me for life that I popped Harpo into the Stooges unconsciously. As for our fearless leader Campbell/Nolte...I'll explain it only if YOU'll explain your Harpo clone...Charest.

Don't worry. That is only because there's a choice now between three stooges to pick from. Once it's down to only one, Harpo I think, the numbers will no doubt shrink.

Please tell me, what is it that Klein, Harris and Manning don't have that Harper does have that will give Mr. Martin's Liberals a run for their money? I'm all ears!

The Canadian public were ready to toss them out in 2000 but the amateur Reform whackos promptly tossed out the man responsible for this turnaround in favor of the Yahoo on the Seadoo. The Canadian public said ... NO THANKS! With another imbecile looming on the horizon, Firewall Harper, the only reason that I can think of why any thinking Canadian would vote CPC this time around is if they picture a minority government and a brisk new election with the real McCoy at the helm of the CPCs ...i.e. King Ralph or Comon Sense Harris, all the while holding onto the dream of a Preston Manning resurrection. Dreams DO come true, sometimes.

No. Yes.

That's exactly what I suggested & what Preston suggested. Grab "Think Big"...it's a great read & it'll make you weep that that man never got a shot at the brass ring. It's not pathetic at all. The accusations flying at that he is knee deep in this scandal & is lying about his involvement. Honesty IS the issue here. The old guy has a good handle on the crux of the matter.

So sorry Galahad, seems Steyn would believe the opposite of what you claim. Oh yeah? So where did Steyn prove that Mr. Martin was dishonest in that statement? 17 ships flying Canadian flag IS an overwhelming majority compared to the 19 that fly the flags of 9 or 19 other countries. No? Given enough encouragement, Steyn will try to prove Jesus Christ a liar. Remember the time Steyn thought of renaming his butt in honor of Chretien and how he could already hear his more intelligent fans remarking ... "Mark's talking out of his Chretien again" at times? Well, Goldie, the above is one of those times. Sorry you didn't catch it.

How many ridings are we talking about here? 2? Or will the BQ go full tilt boogie and let the CPC run alone in 3? This is one to be put into context. The Quebec "question" is ALWAYS there for any federal politician. In Manning's case he was perceived as an almost unilingual Westerner who could not possibly understand the deep soul of the Quebecois. So, although a joint Prime Ministership would never fly these days, having a right hand Quebec man with similar views to his could make him palatable to the Quebecois. It may have been 100 years ago, but la plus ca change...etc etc.. Mario was the man, but he came too late. At a reading I attended of Preston's even HE acknowledged the fact that Mario could have been his LaFontaine, but came on the scene too late. This quote is on page 182 of Manning's book "Think Big". The context was a looming election wherein there was a possibility of a minority government. Could it be any more relevant today? If he doesn't earn our great admiration in one term YOU BET he'll want to stay. But he will, mark my words.

Clear as a bell. However, I will not answer your question until you answer mine. REMEMBER? I asked you whether YOU believe, as do Paul Wells, Mark Steyn, Gordon Gibson, David Frum, to mention but a few, that our PM PM is a very honest and sincere man? Is that clear enough?

Chretien kill the principles? Chretien was the epitome of Liberal principles. He would have stayed in power forever. In private, Chretien accurately said "I'm at 60 in the polls. I must be doing something right. I don't care what the complainers say." If you're a Liberal, let me show you this same idea a different way. One of Trudeau's son was recently quoted as saying that his father told him not to get into politics because of all the distasteful things that a politician must do. IOW, a cursory examination of Canadian history (post 1896) will show that the federal Liberal Party exists for one sole purpose: to have power. Are you on drugs? Do you really believe PM PM is honest and sincere? (He wants to be King of the Castle. Full Stop.) But here's the question: If he wants to be King, why is he doing what he's doing? That is, why is he shooting himself in the foot? Is he a Nixon? "I gave them a sword..." or "I fouled up in the one thing I was supposed to be really good at: politics." Well, to be honest, I don't think PM PM is as interesting as Nixon. For starters, the stakes are not as high. But in addition, the case of PM PM can easily be explained with one word: hubris. Yes the Liberal Party exists for one reason only...to be in power. Does there exist a political party that does NOT want to be in power? They just set themselves up to be second banana? And yes Paul wants to be King. By definition every politician wants to be King of something. For some their limitation is being King of their riding...for others its King of the country. I prefer wealthy politicians like Martin. I know they won't be sticking their noses in the trough. The only thing that would compel a man in his position to want to be PM is to leave a legacy. They thus try their best & are honest. Bush falls into this category also. And I'm not a die hard Liberal....I swing with whichever party leader impresses me with their vision and/or honesty. I voted Alliance the last few elections (Manning is a political god)...but since Mr Sleaze-Harper took over I've crossed over. Paul's my man now. As to your question: "Do you really believe PM PM is honest and sincere?" YES I DO! And so do Paul Wells, Mark Steyn, Gordon Gibson, David Frum, to mention but a few. Don't YOU???

I still don't see your main premise that the CPC & the Bloc could form a de facto coalition. If this is so, why did we not see it already with the Alliance/BQ? As for Mario & Preston...Manning kept asking where his "LaFontaine" was, and at the time there existed no such animal as a conservative "right wing" Quebecois politician. Enter Mario. Had Preston & Dumont been able to pull off a shared leadership ala Baldwin & LaFontaine I think we could have pulled this country out of the doldrums. As for my predictions...I'll go with Preston's observations on this one.... Ontario hates uncertainty & risk. I say they vote Liberal...thus giving the Liberals their majority. I further predict that Martin may only want one term...thus enabling him to actually make a difference (no voters to worry about next round). At least that's what I'm hoping.

He's going against the Liberals' principles? But I (and many others I'm sure) thought that Chretien killed all of them. You know, I trust that PM PM is doing everything correctly now. Why else would so many of the brilliant talking heads today believe that while the Liberal Party is heading down in the polls, Paul Martin is heading up, and up, and up? And isn't that the only way the Liberals can comfortably survive this time around.....if we start believing that there is a new sheriff in town? We've got an honest guy for once, THAT'S for sure. And I'm comfortable with his abilities also, although I wouldn't mind double checking on that one with Presto or Super Mario, just to be 100% sure.

Zero! Sorry .... had to run & became very terse with my reply. I just don't think that it is possible for ANY Canadian party to form a coalition with a party whose main objective is to break up Canada. The Bloc is certainly not pushing the issue now, but it has not issued a statement that it's aims have changed & it would be political suicide for any other party to join up with them until such time as they did. They'll get together informally for certain issues, as any two parties will...but a formal pact? Zero chance, as I said. Now if only Mario Dumont's ADQ were a federal party and Preston Manning were the leader of the CPC then I'd bet my bottom dollar that they would join forces and that Paul Martin would be shaking in his boots now.

Zero!

Isn't ANYBODY amazed that John Kerry didn't know? Madeleine Albright didn't know she was a Czech Jew either. Does anyone actually BELIEVE that?

Yeah...he had three adoring children , an ex wife who still thought the world of him & his funeral was attended by hundreds of personal friends who mourned his passing. Sounds very lonely to me.