Blue Like You

Joanne, the bigger story here is the Liberal Party. Ritz comments just became public a few days ago, yet the Liberal Party has been able to produce an attack ad in such a short time?

Someone should ask Dion why he sat on the comments for so long, while at the same time having attack ads made up.

And hey, anyone have a link for Dion’s comments about taking “the high road” in campaign ads?

This looks to me like CTV [ Craig Oliver and robert Fife and Mike Duffy] are working to help the Liberals prepare Canadians for this attack ad.
I have no respect for the CTV. Another Brenda Martin story to help the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party have big debt to CTV now , Craig Oliver clearly spelled this out a few days ago on his blog.
All Canadians need to very afraid of our MSM.

I’ve been wondering all this time too, how any government could be responsible for a dirty meat slicer.

Exactly, Ruth. The Government has a responsiblity to do as much as possible to ensure safety in the food chain. If some necessary standards or measures have been overlooked, we need to hear about that.

But ultimately, it is in the best interests of a private company like Maple Leaf to do all they can to ensure a safe product. If they don’t, they will lose consumer confidence and no longer be economically viable.

What Canadians need to hear is an undisputed assurance from everyone involved that they have learned something from this tragedy and that steps have been put in place to attempt to ensure that it will never happen again.

But apparently the listeria bacteria is everywhere, so saying it will never happen again is likely impossible.

The Liberals’ attack on Gerry Ritz and the CPC is actually taking away from what should be the main focus - restoring confidence in the food marketplace.

That is not just the responsibility of government.

This all shows what a formidable force the Big Red Machine (BRM) still is. I have no doubt that the Liberal war room was planning something like this, and is orchestrating the follow-ups to a large extent. This is all kind of a repeat of the 2004 campaign, when an interview of Randy White (”activist judges”, etc)for a CBC “documentary” surfaced in the final week.

The main question now is, at what point will the BRM be seen to be beating a dead horse. There is some more pushback from columnists in todays NNW.

We should be thankful that Dion isn’t able to use the Cadman tape with Harper talking about “financial considerations”. Now if THAT came out for the first time late in an election campaign, then we would be in a whole mess of trouble from the piling on and haranguing of Harper.

Too bad for the LPC that Dion didn’t get the urgent memo from the BRM strategists to be election-ready after Flaherty’s 2008 budget, when Cadman also surfaced.

this Bob Rae ??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXxe5cq6gSU&eurl

This ad is from the bowels of liberal desperation.
It says by undertone:
the Canadian food supply is unsafe
the Government is killing people

For eleven (11) years, the meat slicers were not deep cleaned because the manufacturers cleaning guide didn’t advise to deep clean.
For 2 Chretien governments and a Martin government, meat rotting in the depths of a meat slicer was good enough.
Where is the common sense in the industry?
Where is the common sense in the Unions and Inspectors that for 11 years meat was left rotting in machines?

paulstuff, I would agree that the BRM is not as formidable as they used to be. But they are still dangerous.

There are many special interest groups (eg enviro advocates), once-high-profile Harper haters (Joe Clark), and annonymous beauracrats with an axe to grind (the Ritz leaker). So the BRM has lots to draw on. The challenge is to co-ordinate it all, get the media to play along, and create a “narrative” that works to their advantage.

Even if they don’t sway many voters over this Ritz affair, they still motivate their base of LPC workers to keep fighting hard against that “evil” Harper. I’m just saying, don’t take the BRM lightly. Like Harper said when he won the 2006 election, the Liberals are going to fight back like cornered rats.

Luckily for us, Harper is an amazingly composed, savvy, effective, hard-hitting campaigner.

You cannot set a bar so low that a Liberal cannot slither under it.

This in a nutshell is why Liberal’s are so desperate. We have all seen Tory support pretty much firm in the high 30% range. Liberal’s can throw everything, including the kitchen sink, and it won’t change much:

“With Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion trailing his Tory, NDP and Green party counterparts in approval ratings, the Liberals are bleeding support to their opponents. The poll finds approximately 58 per cent of decided voters who supported the Liberals in the 2006 federal election are sticking with Dion’s team this time around, while many others are drifting toward the NDP (16 per cent) and the Greens (10 per cent). And 13 per cent of former Liberal voters say they will vote Conservative.

In contrast, the Tory voting base appears solid, with 86 per cent of Canadians who supported Harper in 2006 saying they will do so again.”

By the way, don’t be at all surprised if Harper turns this ad back on the Liberal’s, showing voters how desperate they are, even using this tragedy to try and secure votes.

[...] worst part about this is that, once the Ritz jokes were leaked to the Liberal Party, they sat on the information for weeks as they started to create attack ads (believe me, this is probably the most benign one created for this purpose. Then, once a few choice [...]

Its starting to look like Gerry Ritz is the one that deserves an apology. This was obviously a set up by the Liberal Party with the help of CTV and the Globe and Mail.
I am still waiting for accountability form the media on the connection of Gloria Galloway to the Liberal Party.

Of course the Liberals want to play in the gutter, it’s where they live.

I stole my post title from your first commenter

Matt, Eskimo’s comment was very witty!

Most people, except the perpetually offended, can see the humour in Ritz’s comments. Trying to play Ritz’s jokes into political advantage is about to backfire big time.

As a long suffering Canadian I am tired of having to apologize whenever someone else steps on MY foot.

This Post article from back in July may shed a bit of light on the situation, in terms of motive.

ABSOLUTE MUST READ (link please Joanne)is Christie Blatchford in the G&M on this topic…”A bit of private black humor has the sanctimonious seeing red”
From the column..and she does a terrific job on cbc/Boag..this stands out..
At the Toronto Star,which gave the late Terry Fox the properly warm and reverent coverage he deserved (I was there then and wrote some of it),the newsroom also had a pool guessing the date Terry would die.
Tremendous article,and FINALLY an HONEST journalist.

Sammy, that is an awesome column. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I actually met Christie Blatchford once. She is one of my favourite columnists.

I wonder if anyone from the National on CBC will go interview any of the victims families asking their opinion on the ad.

Canadian Press leaked the story on Gerry Ritz’s clumsy attempt to be a little bit lighthearted about this tragedy they had been dealing with for 12 days at the time during and pivate and confidential internal briefing conference call.

Canadian Press are also the scumbags that are tracking down relatives of listeriosis victims for heart wrenching quotes.

Ever wonder how confidentail any of our private and confidential information is in the hands of a government full of dishonest ethically challenged beaurocrats who would leak anything to score points to get their benevolent masters the Liberals back along with nice comfy fur expence accounts and unaccountable cushy jobs for all their friends.

Scary isn’t it?

Ever wonder how confidentail any of our private and confidential information is in the hands of a government full of dishonest ethically challenged beaurocrats who would leak anything to score points to get their benevolent masters the Liberals back along with nice comfy fur expence accounts and unaccountable cushy jobs for all their friends.

Scary isn’t it?

Lorraine, that is scary alright. I’m sure the vast majority of government bureaucrats are honest, but this isn’t the first time there has been an attempt to discredit the government from the public service.

Where do we draw the line between “whistleblower” and “mole”?

I would suggest that the difference is that the latter is someone who waits until the exact moment where he or she can inflict maximum damage and revenge.

I don’t find it shocking nor am I surprised that any political party would do or say the things they say …First they are human and we all share a sense of morbidness and can find ourselves chuckling from time to time .
Getting elected ranks very high on all politicians lists to do’s .most are willing to maybe bend or even subvert the truth .I found this little clip that shows how our neighbours to the south are willing and apparently have gone to do so …
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/430.html
I know that we Canadians are a few years behind our neighbours with some things but lets hope politics never comes to this ….

Or perhaps the CBC will turn it’s attention to adult issues that are on the minds of adult Canadians.

Or perhaps The Mothercorps will start realizing that providing fair and equal coverage might save their own skin in the event of a Harper majority. Right now they are only making a case why they should be dumped.

Thanks for those tips, Sammy. I’ll check them out.

Nice to see Taber pussy-foot around the Dipper Dopers with Layton,and totally let him off the hook!!!As well,good of Craig to let the arrogant,smug,Bob Rae lots of time to slag PMSH.I just cannot take his ‘I’m better than you’ attitude.
Next to nothing on QP about the biggest about face of the campaign,with the dump of the green shaft…but,then again whats new?

Another,somewhat more realistic view of the Lib.campaign from Craig Oliver on ctv’s election blog…and why can’t Craig be a bit more honest on tv,when interviewing hapless libs??? From the blog post:
‘Sincerity,intelligence not enough for Dion’
Many Liberals believe the problem with their campaign began Dec.2,2006 in Montreal.the intervention this week by the two runners-up to that leadership conv. spoke volumes about the decision Libs.had made.
The appearance of the two stars,Iggy and Rae,left the beleaguered Stephane Dion suffering by comparison.there was a telling moment on Thurs.when the Lib leader was fumbling for an answer to a question about Ritz,and Ignatieff stepped in,skewering the ag.min.and shredding his boss,the PM.
Likewise,the day before,Rae had jumped in when Dion was having trouble with answers to questions about the deficit and the economy.
-the mission of the duo is not to save Dion,it is to save the Liberal party.
every day now,the talk is of the team,calling the attention of voters to its bench strength.Across the country,in four provinces last week,I failed to see Dion’s name on any lawn signs-his photograph was nowhere.
There is more to Craig’s piece,but I have a question for any Libs trolling here….hello Gayle…When Dion needs to seek help,answering a reporters question on the campaign trail,how in H.is he going to present himself on the world stage in a major crisis?Can any of you envision this “leader” of astronomical waffling,weakness,and mixed messages,at the UN,NATO,or anywhere?Think back to PMSH speaking on the world stage,and the glowing reviews from other countries on how he presents himself,what strengths he has,and sadly under-reported in Canada because of a highly partisan MSM.I shudder to think of Dion representing us.

The ShamWow guy is even worse!

Sammy, good questions. I hope Gayle or some other Liberal answers.

Craig does seem more candid on his blog for sure. I wonder why?