Question Period

[capricorn]

If you notice Duffy is turning out to be quite the con cheerleader,

I guess if he's going to be palsy walsy with politicians it may as well be with the governing party. He's got to get his scoops from somewhere. That's showbiz.

[Canuck E Stan]

NDP member rues laptop furor

At the time Mr. Moore appeared stunned by the allegation, especially after it was amplified by Liberal MP Karen Redman, who said it was a “very serious allegation” and suggested Mr. Moore “look in his heart, perhaps look on his laptop.”

Where is Liberal MP Karen Redman's apology for jumping on the NDP' member's accusation bandwagon?

Without any proof Redman tarred and feathered Moore as well.

Wiil she look in her heart to apologize,perhaps look in her brain for the words, "I'm sorry,I was really stupid to say anything."

[August1991]

As far as all this goes, I can't see why Mathyssen would be making up something; clearly what she saw offended her. How would she know it was a girlfriend and how would the people in the gallery know it was a girlfriend? I have to question Moore's common sense in having a picture of his girlfriend, scantily clad, up for all to see. It doesn't have to be a scantily clad stranger on a screen to be seen as inappropriate.

Huh? It is not for you or even a fellow MP to judge this. It is up to his constituents.

It is fundamentally dangerous for one MP to censure another MP on whatever grounds. It should only happen under severe circumstances. This is where "political correctness" has brought us. It truly is the new religion. Mathyssen bears all the hallmarks of the righteous women of the Christian Temperance movement.

----

What is terrifying in this little episode is the comment of James Moore about what he has had to live through in the past 24 hours. By luck, the photo was his girlfriend. What if he had no quick, acceptable explanation?

This episode could have destroyed his career. Modern politicians live under severe pressure. And it's depressing to think what kind of people, as a result, are attracted to the occupation.

Edited December 7, 2007 by August1991

[Fortunata]

I guess if he's going to be palsy walsy with politicians it may as well be with the governing party. He's got to get his scoops from somewhere. That's showbiz.

If I wanted to watch showbiz I would tune into entertainment tonight. If he is palzy walzy then he cannot be anything but biased, and watching him lately, it is apparent he is. He shouldn't be on the news.

Huh? It is not for you or even a fellow MP to judge this. It is up to his constituents.

Not if it offends someone and if it is available to public viewing from the gallery then it is up to someone to judge. It's inappropriate to bring in scantily clothed pictures into a work venue unless you are working by yourself or in a strip lounge. And, like I said, I wonder how the girlfriend likes to be viewed by all and sundry in a perhaps, your eyes only, photo.

I do agree however, that Mathyssen could have and should have handled this differently.

[August1991]

Not if it offends someone and if it is available to public viewing from the gallery then it is up to someone to judge. It's inappropriate to bring in scantily clothed pictures into a work venue unless you are working by yourself or in a strip lounge.

This isn't a "work venue". It's the House of Commons. Comparisons to a work place are wrong. But if I suffer it, Moore's "employers" are the voters in his riding - not his fellow MPs who are not even "colleagues"

An MP has the right to do whatever within the rules established by the House. And I happen to think that it is wrong that one MP can censure another so easily. It is up to the MP's constituents to make that judgment.

----

Look, in political terms, I understand what the NDP is doing and I understand their embarrassment. In political terms, painting the Tories as "anti-women" seems a good ploy. If Harper is going to get a majority, he has two routes: women or Quebec.

If I were in the NDP or Liberals, I'd try to portray the Tories as drunk ugly lecherous neanderthals too. (In public, Brad Pitt can look at bikini clad women but not Dick Cheney.)

Edited December 7, 2007 by August1991

[Topaz]

If you notice Duffy is turning out to be quite the con cheerleader, from telling Nicholson(?) what a good long friend he's been and he's (Duffy) sure he'll do a good job, to criticizing viewers for complaining about the treatment of Schreiber when his pants fell down, to this. I'm not sure who he is trying to emulate from down south but, as on other procedures that ctv has come up with, it's a copy.

I glad you said that cause I've noticed the bias that Duffy is showing. I rather like Grahame when he fills in for Duffy. He's seem more neutral and asks the hard questions to everyone. When Duffy really gets too much I turn to Don Newman. I think all these guys should be neutral in thought.

[Topaz]

Moore is 30 years old and he had to know he would have gotten caught and another point is if this is his girlfriend, did she send him a personal e-mail. What would her employer say? Why didn't he just say it was personal e-mail and apologize for it?

[Wild Bill]

Moore is 30 years old and he had to know he would have gotten caught and another point is if this is his girlfriend, did she send him a personal e-mail. What would her employer say? Why didn't he just say it was personal e-mail and apologize for it?

You just won't let it go, will you! Because he's a Tory he has to be dirty!

If the NDP can drop it in embarassment, what more do you want?

[M.Dancer]

I would never apologise for a personal email.....My wife sent me an email of her and her friends by the pool at a hotel in New Orleans a few yeras ago.......only a raving NDPer would consider that offensive.....

[guyser]

.......only a raving NDPer would consider that offensive.....

There is only one way for us to judge the validity of that. ........ahem.....

[M.Dancer]

There is only one way for us to judge the validity of that. ........ahem.....

yeah yeah I know...

pixplsthxkbye

Luckily I don't keep 7 year old emails.....

[capricorn]

When Duffy really gets too much I turn to Don Newman. I think all these guys should be neutral in thought.

Why is it that when the left doesn't like what it is hearing, neutering is the first solution that enters their mind.

IMO Duffy and Newman are entitled to their opinions and to voice them. It makes for a more entertaining program. They've been around long enough to know that alienating some viewers will affect their ratings and they act accordingly. In fact, the more outrageous they are in their opinions, the more likely I am to watch their show.

[Fortunata]

Why is it that when the left doesn't like what it is hearing, neutering is the first solution that enters their mind.

IMO Duffy and Newman are entitled to their opinions and to voice them. It makes for a more entertaining program. They've been around long enough to know that alienating some viewers will affect their ratings and they act accordingly. In fact, the more outrageous they are in their opinions, the more likely I am to watch their show.

I want news in news. I don't need "entertainment". That's what dummies down news and what gets people so screwed up. I don't to be fed my opinion as Duffy tries to do; I want to make up my own mind based on neutral and real news, not sensationalism. That's the difference.

[myata]

I want news in news. I don't need "entertainment". ... That's the difference.

And the world around us, no doubt, should be build entirely on the presumption of what you "want" and "need" from it. Simply switching the channel isn't enough. All channels must be there to show the same news. As in Cuba (ever seen Cuban TV)? Also, all people should be looking at the same things on their laptops. That's the key presumtion of the socialist left - that everybody is the same. Correct?

(Except, of course, in all known cases where socialist dream was realised in practice, it didn't happen, anyhow. There were always somebodies who were better, and deserved better, than everybody else. But that was, of course, by everybody's consensus. 100% perfect absolute consensus).

[Fortunata]

And the world around us, no doubt, should be build entirely on the presumption of what you "want" and "need" from it. Simply switching the channel isn't enough. All channels must be there to show the same news.

No, I'm saying if something is billed as news it should be news. If it's entertainment then it should be billed as entertainment. In the case of Duffy, his show should be called, the Duffy Perspective and billed as an editorial or an entertainment show. They say they keep politicians honest and call on them to answer the hard questions - pretty misleading. Or has news ethics changed to reflect our never-ending need to be fed opinion, perspective and sensationalism?

[rover1]

Well, the woman is entitled to her opinion, even if narrow or uninformed. It seems rude or unmannerly however to make a formal protest without first stating her concerns to the other person involved, especially when information has come to her by overlooking or eavesdropping, and not by public means.

The NDP seem to have been involved in other mistakes relating to individuals lately, and are not doing themselves much good with such unconsidered tactics. Perhaps if they confined themselves with opposing government proposals which they disagreed with they would improve their public image.

[myata]

No, I'm saying if something is billed as news it should be news. ... Or has news ethics changed to reflect our never-ending need to be fed opinion, perspective and sensationalism?

When you say that "should", do you mean, private suggestion of individual to another individual, or perhaps some Politburo body that'll decide how the news are "billed"? There're any number of things individuals can do that other individual may find that they shouldn't. Some smoke, others drink, others still explore scantily clad pictures. What can be about all these improprieties? Find an NDP member to stand behind everybody's back? Or simply switch the channel, if it isn't what you think it should be like?

[Fortunata]

When you say that "should", do you mean, private suggestion of individual to another individual, or perhaps some Politburo body that'll decide how the news are "billed"? There're any number of things individuals can do that other individual may find that they shouldn't. Some smoke, others drink, others still explore scantily clad pictures. What can be about all these improprieties? Find an NDP member to stand behind everybody's back? Or simply switch the channel, if it isn't what you think it should be like?

I think that I will just say that perhaps we disagree what real news is. I like my news without sensationalism, without editorializing or without the host's point of view that is presented as the way things are. IMO, that keeps a lot of people from analyzing for themselves and trying to see how things fit in with their own world and it gives credence to the two second soundbyte. And that's my view, while different from yours, is not any more wrong than yours.

[Alexandra]

Pat Martin should be classified by The Star as the "biggest and best of the NDP Junkyard Dogs",

Mathyssen wasn't around yesterday but her NDP colleagues were smarting over her attack on Moore.

"I'm not proud of (Wednesday), believe me, and I know James Moore, I like James Moore and I don't believe for a minute that he was up to anything wrong in the House of Commons," said Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre).

Will the militant feminists in the House now screech at Martin for being a - gasp - sexist?

Doubt that Jack Layton nor Olivia Chow would have the chutzpah to take Pat Martin to task for his outrageous comments about the women in his party in interviews (Duffy?). Pat Martin may be one step behind Layton in a popularity contest for the leadership. Scarey thought. For Jack.

Even the Liberal's Ralph Goodale is taking shots at Layton,

"The NDP have this sanctimonious air that they like to put on ... but the fact of the matter is what they've engaged in here has been a kind of political bottom-feeding," Liberal MP Ralph Goodale said.

"This kind of abusive approach corresponds more with Mr. Layton's leadership style.... This is the kind of junkyard dog approach that Mr. Layton is famous for," Goodale said yesterday.

Where's Jack? He usually can't resist any opportunity to opine to the 'working families' on the NDP's Canadian values;

Layton, usually quick to the microphone to speak with reporters, stayed out of sight yesterday. Davies did not respond to an interview request.

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/283448

[cpidgeon]

The house of Commons Chamber is not the place to check emails or doing crossword puzzles. Its a place to ask the government questions regarding their constituency. The New Democrat apologized for making this an issue and admitted she was wrong for looking at someone's emails.

I have yet to see MP Moore apologize to his consituents for wasting valuable time and doing personal business on government time.

Time for these conservatives to start governing like professionals instead of like high school children looking at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

[capricorn]

The house of Commons Chamber is not the place to check emails or doing crossword puzzles.

It's called multi-tasking.

Its a place to ask the government questions regarding their constituency.

How boring Question Period would be if MPs limited their questions to the respective problems of constituencies. Then we wouldn't be treated to all those questions of privilege that enable MPs to embarrass themselves then forced to issue apologies.

The New Democrat apologized for making this an issue and admitted she was wrong for looking at someone's emails.

And who wasted time in House of Commons by making damaging and false accusations against another MP? That would be the NDP. The NDP MPs should all be issued crossword puzzles to pass the time while the real work gets done by more serious representatives.

I have yet to see MP Moore apologize to his consituents for wasting valuable time and doing personal business on government time.

Are you in Mr. Moore's constituency? If not, it's none of your concern. If you want to question if someone is doing personal business on government time ask yourself why the Honourable Paul Martin, former Prime Minister and MP for LaSalle-Emard, has not been seen in Question Period or in the House for some time. What do you suppose he is up to with all that free time on the government's payroll? I'll leave it to your imagination which you evidently have plenty of.

Time for these conservatives to start governing like professionals instead of like high school children looking at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Why don't you acquaint yourself with the facts under discussion before making such asinine comments.

[Shakeyhands]

Why is it that when the left doesn't like what it is hearing, neutering is the first solution that enters their mind.

You think that holds true? My experience shows me that its the opposite. Look at 'Focus on the Family' and other groups like that, are they on the left side of the spectrum?

[Topaz]

The house of Commons Chamber is not the place to check emails or doing crossword puzzles. Its a place to ask the government questions regarding their constituency. The New Democrat apologized for making this an issue and admitted she was wrong for looking at someone's emails.

I have yet to see MP Moore apologize to his consituents for wasting valuable time and doing personal business on government time.

Time for these conservatives to start governing like professionals instead of like high school children looking at the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

I agree with you 100% and its too bad Moore didn't apologize and I hope the press gets picture of his girlfriend in the Xmas holidays.

[capricorn]

I hope the press gets picture of his girlfriend in the Xmas holidays.

We're all waiting with bated breath.

[Alexandra]

I agree with you 100% and its too bad Moore didn't apologize and I hope the press gets picture of his girlfriend in the Xmas holidays.

['capricorn' date=Dec 7 2007, 07:48 PM' post='276984]

We're all waiting with bated breath. "

You must have missed the picture of Moore's girlfriend, on the beach, in a bikini, in the background. Moore's dog was front and center in the picture he was showing to the 'liberal MP' according to Ian MacDonald's CTV interview.

Madame Mathyssen appears to have had more interest in a female in a bikini rather than a female dog in a fur coat. On the beach. In the summer.

Makes for a thought provoking discussion with respect to Madame Mathyssen's interests. Bikinis' or fur coats.

`

Edited December 8, 2007 by Alexandra