Liz J has very perceptively analyzed Peter Donolo’s strategy to turn Iffy’s elitist image into a positive, and juxtaposed it with Monte Solberg’s latest column – Grits must step up on the double-double.
Solberg is saying that you need to appeal to the Tim Hortons crowd to get your message across. Donolo seems to think it would be wiser to set Iffy above the common folk and allow us to all marvel in awe at the gems that escape from his superior brain.
The Liberals have several challenges right now. Their messages do not resonate with Canadians. Moreover they are hampered with a leader who was never actually elected to the position. He was dumped there with very little political experience. He is like a fish out of water as he flounders and twitches in the brutal spotlight of Canadian politics.
Donolo’s task is daunting, if not impossible. What he should be doing is attempting a reverse-Pygmalion, but Iffy is so out of touch and has been out of the country for far too long to really understand the average Canadian.
Liz J observes:
…There’s not much hope on the horizon with Donolo at Iggy’s service with his attitude towards the common folk who frequent coffee shops.
I won’t tell the brains running the Liberal party to go to Hell, they’re already there. Proliferating a boorish attitude by implying their man Iggy is above the coffee shop patrons is not going to rise them from the abyss.
The best Peter Donolo can do is to hide Iffy far away from the merciless glare of the House of Commons and hope he doesn’t cause much damage.
Stay tuned for the Never-ending Iffy Road Tour – coming soon to a trendy little Cappuccino bar near you.
* * * *
* * * *
Update:
Featured comment by Mississauga Tom:
Solberg is so right. The Cons understand “double-double”. The Libs just chase “trouble-trouble”.
Heh. I have such clever readers.
If anyone uses that, please give Tom proper credit.
* * * *
Tuesday Update:
Liberals need time to find vision and spine – John Ibbitson:
…Beyond lack of focus, or lack of political will, is the question of purpose. Simply put, and many are putting it: What do the Liberals stand for?
What direction would they take the country that differs from the ruthlessly pragmatic (and, arguably, visionless) approach of the current government?
“What’s in it for me?” asks the guy nursing his double-double at a suburban-anywhere strip mall, or the immigrant Canadian struggling to make it in this cold, new land, or the senior fighting to stay in her own home…
(Link found on NNW but it doesn’t seem to be working now.)
CRU/AGW is big? You aint’its heard nothing yet.
AbNormal says*: Mrs. Dion is gonna jump into bed with Taliban Jack LaytoNDP.
Will Liberal Citoyen Dionky follow? It’s a what? Troisamerde.
Our FactChecking Dept. has corrobotaed it’s true: Giggles** says:
“**Ms. Krieber’s is an expert in terrorism”.
It’s Iffy’s best scenario: Free at last; the Citoyen Albatrosses are gonzo.
…-
“*Credit the NDP”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/spector-vision/credit-the-ndp/article1373668/
“**Family spat spells more PR misery for Liberals”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/dions-wife-goes-rogue-family-spat-spells-more-pr-misery-for-liberals/article1373514/
After watching Robert Fife on Canada AM,where he jokes that Iffy’s wife may be writing the same thing on her facebook next year. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that the caucus has dumped Iffy next. The question is, who will they appoint to lead the party this time?
The government has been grilled all last week about torture, and where was Michael Ignatieff in QP, or ANYWHERE for that matter? *POOF!!!* Donolo pulls a disappearing act.
Imagine what will happen today when Ignatieff (if he shows up) stands up in QP to try and grill the government about torture.
I suppose the Conservatives are going to be blamed by the media for this Kreiber diversion ( a University professor who Liberals have previously told us is bright and intelligent) since they can’t blame the Conservatives for the attack itself. Kreiber, who isn’t just some plain jane, Ms. Smith, has made some serious accusations, and by the apparent standing of Liberals in the polls, she has her finger on the pulse, because with all the mistakes and incompetence that the Conservatives have shown in wafergate, carnival signs, Olympic logos, torch relay path, doorknobs, H1N1, stimulus spending in Conservative ridings, 20 foot scrolls of patronage appointments etc.etc. Liberals continue to flounder.
My memory seems to be a lot better, than members of the media, who don’t seem to recall in 2005 the Liberal government of Paul Martin, led by Defence Minister Bill Graham, signed a deal to hand over prisoners to Afghan officials instead of the United States. Only Liberals would rather send detainees to Afghani prison rather than anything run by George Bush. Once in Afghan custody, it is alleged that detainees were tortured by Afghan police, and thus by allowing this to happen the Liberal Government was complicit in violating the Geneva Conventions. They signed the deal that sent innocents into harm’s way, and failed to ensure proper oversight and humane treatment of detainees in the deal that they signed. When the new Liberal hero Richard Colvin was sent to Afghanistan in 2006, immediately after the Liberals were removed from power, he noted that abuse and torture of innocents was rampant. Ergo, under Bill Graham and the Liberals master plan, we were knowingly sending scores of civilians into torture. For me Colvin has added nothing new to the Afghan story except some unfounded allegations – has he given you some startling new revelations.
May I let you in on a little observed, or a least commented fact, that Liberals on the one hand although they are saying they have an intellectual as a leader, on the other hand, all that Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella (Iggy’s hand picked war room strategist) offers Canadians on behalf of Iggy and Liberals are cheap stunts and gimmicks, which are not even worthy of High School politics. The fact that the Liberal downslide coincides with Kinsella’ s employment is not a coincidence ( what sane person wants or needs a sponsorship tainted protege of David Dingwall around). Some people with a perverted sense of humor may find these high school antics funny but you can be sure there are no votes in these cheap antics as the polls indicate. Liberals in the field should be and are embarrassed.
Last week the big joke was Wayne Easter (of doorknob fame who Liberals should know by now no one takes seriously even inside the Liberal party) appeared on Power Play with a humongous 20 foot scroll of supposed Conservative appointments which when confronted by the host who truthfully said Liberals have done the same thing, he was then told by Easter – of course we do but everybody expects that and worse from Liberals – that is the type of a defense for Liberal actions we can expect from a door knob.
Solberg is so right. The Cons understand “double-double”. The Libs just chase “trouble-trouble”.
Mississauga Tom, that’s hilarious!!
Tom, you realize that phrase is going to get stolen, right?
I have stopped following Canadian news for the last while, it’s just so dam* boring. It’s like watching reruns of a TV series that wasn’t that interesting the first time around. A stale formula that starts primarily with”Harper and the CPC are mean-spirited and unethical because [trot out scandal of the week]” and then the media drones on and on and on and on about it. Occasionally, there is “Liberals/MI suck but this new guy will save them”. Whatever. I still read the NP site regularly but G&M, CTV, CBC are just a quick glance to see if they are covering any interesting news. For instance, Where’s any in-depth article about the East Anglia CRU e-mails? Potentially the biggest story of the decade concerning an issue that directly ties into Canadians standard of living and global power structure and yet nothing but casual references. Pitiful but expected.
This editorial in the National Post addresses the theme of the current Liberal Party being out of touch with ethnic voters.
And this piece gets into how important it is to understand how people feel about the issues before you pick your battles, something the LPC seems unable to do.
For Ms Krieber to speak out means the coup is over. Iffy is out and at the first opportune time will retire from Canadian politics. PMSH should now create the excuse for an election.
Congratulations LC Bennett. Welcome to the land of the happy and unphased!
Good for Krieber for sticking bye her man! That in itself she has more leadership potential than either her hubby or The Waffle.
The myth that the LPOC have united is just that a fairy tale. Krieber did what the Liberal media refuse to do. For that I thank her. I also think that Dion as bad a leader as he was has been treated badly by his own party. I hope he walks.
I say let Donolo let Iffy to be himself, because so far when he’s left to think thoughts and lecture Canadians….they’re not buying it!
The SS Minnows going to run aground no matter how many times you change the crew, it’s the skipper who needs changing.
I’m getting that McKenna makes a play for the Liberal leadership at some point.
stop referring to wafergate as a conservative problem it was a concocted lie that Ignatieff Liberals have failed to come forward to admit
someone convinced a newspaper editor to change a reporters story and print lies and to edit a CPAC film of Romeo Leblanc’s funeral if anyone takes the time to review that CPAC film you will see a very different picture
I hope that the investigation into this matter is ongoing
a CTV reporter
was overheard by me saying that the view of the Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper was blocked by the priest after he received the wafer Sorry I can’t remember his name but it was a male reporter he knows who he is
At no time did CTV mention that the clip they showed had been doctored and if compared to the original would show a blocked view of the Prime Minister of Canada after he received the wafer
You MUST review the tape it is available on CPAC web site
Ignatieff Liberals throw out this lie with pride They should be ashamed to continue repeating a lie
fh
I’m getting that McKenna makes a play for the Liberal leadership at some point.
Perhaps, however, that could be a LONG while off.
There is a reason that Liberals of any intelligence or substance have stayed away from the prospect of the Liberal leadersip for the past four years. When you see the third place loser from a long gone leadership convention behind the scenes agitating to replace the second place loser, who in turn ousted the winner of said convention, then you know that there is no way you are going to chain yourself to such a sinking ship.
How smart is Krieber, when she thought the Coalition of Losers was the way to go? I mean REALLY??
Dumber than a bag of hammers! No wonder our university students are turning into little marxists.
Out of touch and out of power, thank God!
Soccermom – I found that astonishing too, that she still supports the coalition idea after all this time.
“Once their comments are published, the blogs take over and public confusion grows deeper.”
“It’s a shame.”
It’s Blue’s fault, and others, spreading “public con(sic)fusion”.
…-
“Hamilton: Why media tell climate story poorly”
http://www.thestar.com/business/cleanbreak/article/729339–hamilton-why-media-tell-climate-story-poorly
Peter says:
November 23, 2009 at 9:56 am
“…. with all the mistakes and incompetence that the Conservatives have shown in wafergate, carnival signs, Olympic logos, torch relay path, doorknobs, H1N1, stimulus spending in Conservative ridings, 20 foot scrolls of patronage appointments etc.etc. Liberals continue to flounder.”
Mistakes and incompetence?
I’ll agree with you that sticking a Conservative logo on an over-sized government cheque was ill-advised but everything else you mentioned was Liberal bulls**t pure and simple.
Wafergate was a false story planted by the Liberals in a Liberal newspaper and the Liberal media ran with it. It petered out when proven to be false but there were no apologies made.
Olympic logos were designed independently of the Conservative government but used by the Liberals to imply politicalization of the Olympic movement.
Torch relay route too.
Door knobs was a Liberal prop.
H1N1 was way over-blown by the Liberals and their media but most Canadians agree that it was handled well by the government. Where are the Swine Flu stories these days?
Stimulus spending was spread evenly throughout the country but more seemed to go to Conservative ridings because those are more rural and contain many smaller centres compared to the more urban Liberal ridings.
Patronage appointments? What would you have the Conservatives do? Wait until the Liberals are back in power and let them appoint senators?
As for the 20 foot scroll, the government is obligated to fill any vacancies and they did just that. I actually had a moment of pride when the scroll was unrolled because it showed that the Conservative government was doing their job despite all the crap being thrown at them by the Liberals.
Your etc,etc must include Afghan detainees and that, again, is a Liberal attempt set an agenda of smears and ridicule just as the PM returns home from a successful trade mission to India. The opposition has gone completely ballistic and their media has taken to interviewing ‘experts’ who accuse the Canadian government of war crimes.
There are no mistakes or incompetence in the list you provided. Just Liberals on the attack.
Joanne, this just shows her elitism – she didn’t give the West even a backwards glance if she still supports the coalition.
Maybe she’s not just picking out Steffie’s suits; she’s picking out his ideas for him, too. Run for office, Janine. Let’s see how far you get.
It’s Blue’s fault, and others, spreading “public con(sic)fusion”.
Ha. So they’ve effectively tossed the story aside. Just what I expected from the Star.
From the article:
“What these emails do not show is that there’s any conspiracy or that consensus around the reality of human-influenced global warming is beginning to crack.”
Gee, I don’t know about that.
Joanne,
I posted this on Raphael’s blog yesterday and thought it a perfect fit with this post. I hope you don’t mind if I copy and paste? He had linked to the same Donolo article as above.
Interesting article you linked to.
Donolo wants to ‘unpackage’ Ignatieff believing that the Conservatives packaged him in order to hide his Trudeauesque strength as a thoughtful and insightful deep thinker.
That was the very reason that so many Liberals and their MSM colleagues were absolutely giddy when Ignatieff first came on the scene. Images of Trudeau filled their heads and the collective thoughts of actually winning elections again over-whelmed them.
Ignatieffmania was born right there and then.
When Ignatieff said “A coalition if necessary but not necessarily a coalition” they collectively wet themselves.
Then Ignatieff started thinking and he started thinking deep. The problem was that the deeper he thought the longer he took thinking.
Pretty soon he had thought tons of stuff but wouldn’t share it with anyone because he didn’t want the Conservatives claiming that they had thought of his thoughts first.
I think my head hurts just thinking about it.
Then, somehow, the Conservative thugs packaged Ignatieff and did such a good job that even the Liberal MSM started demeaning his authority and stature within the party by referring to him as Iggy.
So they brought in Peter Donolo.
Why Donolo would compare Iggy to Trudeau in the first place is beyond me. Trudeau was very popular but it wasn’t because he was a deep thinker. He was a very smart man but he didn’t waste any time thinking thoughts that were too deep. He’d pay people to do that for him while he danced the night away with Barbra Steisand.
He didn’t waste any deep thoughts in bringing the FLQ crisis to a grinding halt with the War Measures Act (“Soldiers in the streets with guns, in our cities”) and I liked him and voted for the Liberals because of that one particular action.
I liked the fact that he was a bit cheeky (fuddle duddle), to the point (“Just watch me.”), a man of the world, a snappy dresser and received good press outside of Canada.
I also came to revile the man but by this time I was living out west.
Go ahead Peter, repackage Iggy as Trudeau and see how far you get with that one.
PET Cemetery Archives:
Liberal times are bad times.
Here is the Word from the communists:
“More importantly, mimicking the high interest rate policy pursued by US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker, the last Trudeau government deliberately drove up unemployment so as to bolster the corporate drive to slash wages. In December 1982 the official jobless rate reached 12.9 percent. The high interest rate policy also caused the cost of servicing government debt to soar. Under the combined impact of high interest rates and slump, the annual federal deficit rose in 1984 to $39 billion. Trudeau had been elected in 1968 on the pledge to establish a Just Society. But when he left office, cities across Canada were dotted with food banks for the first time since the Great Depression, and governments across Canada, most notably in Quebec and British Columbia, were slashing public services.”
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/oct2000/trud-o10.shtml
…-
“Retail sales top expectations
Spending rises 1% in September, marking seventh gain in nine months, on higher car, supermarket sales”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/retail-sales-top-expectations/article1373730/
Angry’s back with his Big Bang-Bang Liberal Theory.
Angry backs up his theory with facts, nothing but the facts, Iffy.
Go for the comments. Read all about Iffy’s Lost Separatist Coalition.
Who slew/killed the socialist-leftist Red-Green dragon?
T’was St. George to the rescue: Prime Minister Harper.
…-
“Janine Krieber letter points to a far more serious problem for the Liberal Party
I predicted back in January that the Liberal Party would face an internal explosion of exactly the sort that happened on the weekend, when for Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion’s wife, Janine Krieber, published a letter excoriating current Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff and predicting the dissolution of the Liberal Party itself.
It is the left wing of the party, and Canada’s Left in general, finally exploding in fury over the lost chance of the Coalition.”
http://stevejanke.com/archives/295043.php
P.S. I’m not sure which is worse; Toronto elites or Montreal elites. But it’s nice to see they are beginning to loathe each other, lol!
Can the Liberal caucus appoint Frank McKenna to lead the Liberal Party if he is not a member of parliament? I know he can run for leadership but can he bypass the leadership convention and be appointed by Caucus and elites?
Somewhat O/T but related to your last post
“The Washington Times also interviewed Senator Inhofe about the surprise revelation from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (CRU) e-mails over the past few days, especially in how they manipulated data and deliberately hid contradictory information while building their “consensus” on anthropogenic global warming. Inhofe told Melanie Morgan and Jed Babbin that he would call for a Congressional hearing on the e-mails and their impact on the credibility of the AGW movement, especially as it relates to the IPCC and the United Nations. (My emphasis)
Perhaps our intrepid Canadian MPs might be more usefully employed following the good Senator’s example rather than worrying about Afghan detainees.
”Donolo seems to think it would be wiser to set Iffy above the common folk and allow us to all marvel in awe at the gems that escape from his superior brain.”
It’s called ‘saving the furniture’.
Iffy has lost the left and the right in the LPC
but still has a grasp on the ‘thinking elite’.
o/t
While the evil Harper govt is successfully giving ‘homeless persons’ hope:
http://www.canada.com/news/Research+project+gets+mentally+Canadians+streets/2255807/story.html
The Liberals in committee and their environutjobs continue to use the constitution to try and back door the shut down the oilsands
http://www.canada.com/health/Feds+failing+duty+protect+water+from+oilsands+development+Report/2255805/story.html
I said earlier that Ignatieff will look silly trying to bring up torture during QP. There was a nice swipe by Layton towards Ignatieff today in QP. To paraphrase, he said “unlike some party leaders, you won’t see us bringing up the issues of torture while having written books that support it”.
BAM!!
I guess Peter had tongue in cheek when he listed the so called gaffes, bob boo’s,and bungling as perceived in the small minds of Liberals on which they made a futile attempt to gain political traction and certainly never captured the imagination of Canadians. Everything they raised fell flat.
Mr. Harper, tear down that oppressive CRTC wall!
Take a look at the canadian sentinel blog
Layton is a fine one to talk about ‘torture’ when he supports HAMAS, a group known to have put innocent children in schools and in other buildings where the HAMAS bombs laid.
Also Layton supports the taliban who tortured, stoned innocent souls particularly women and children.And said nothing.
Ujaal Dosangh,wants an inquiry into allegations of torture of Taliban prisoners to clear the Canadian Forces of blame. Eh, what? With nothing proven absolutely, who has been blamed and by whom? Has Ujaal Dosey just admitted they blame the Canadian Forces until proven otherwise by an inquiry?
Have they given any thought to the mental anguish the loved ones of the soldiers in the field in that most dangerous mission, the hell hole of Afghanistan, are going through? I’d say they are enduring a mental torture every day.
The idea the Opposition have made these unproven allegations a political tool to score points is despicable. Sadly that’s what they’ve taken up on the heels of the now dead Swine flu issue.
Michael Harkov – Heard Layton’s dig at The Waffle – beauty. I was waiting for someone to point out to Iggy that if he was so concerned and is leading the charge where was he last week?
I couldn’t help but notice a few things during QP today:
– Ignatieff looks really bad, very tired and grey like he’d eaten a bad kipper
– his caucus around him, no matter how many times they get up on their feet in adoration simply
don’t look enthused.
– many Liberals missing
– and some who didn’t stand up during “adoration time”.
Monte Solberg’s article is very good and suggests what most Canadians know – that our minds are still here in Canada on the economy, not in the far off reaches of Liberal fairy tales.
The chances of Iggy and the Liberals winning down the road are smaller than the chances of winning the 6/49 lottery.
Either you have it or you don’t, Iggy doesn’t. For such an “intelligent” man, it’s amazing he doesn’t get it. Oops, wait a minute, there’s ego!!
You can re-package a Lada,but it’s still a Lada!!
“The Liberals are so blind that they cannot see.”
Jen @4:16
“Mr. Harper, tear down that oppressive CRTC wall!”
On that note: Harper to loosen telecom rules?
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=cc7b7728-5861-444d-9907-17f63fa575b7&p=1
Global news continues with its bias. Heavily biased reporting again tonight. Same thing with CanWest news reports appearing regularly in newspapers. It’s always about those damn Conservatives, putting them down at every turn.
Tonight, Global TV reports on the handling of terrorists while leaving out pertinent information that allows for the portrayal of the Government in a bad light. The continual, outrageous, disgusting Liberal bias is revolting!!
Not a word about the comments of Dion’s wife (“the total collapse of the Liberal party”). Imagine the media frenzy if it was a Conservatives’ wife making those allegations about her party!!
Not a word about the global warming revelations either!! It’s incredible, it’s so blatant!! As others have stated here, the problem (evil) goes much, much deeper!!
Meanwhile, as Iffy’s stomach turns:
Did you know this? “*Harper is a Member of Parliament for a riding in Calgary.” (Sweater/T Canadian Press)
Citoyen Dionky to Iffy: Je t’aime, Iffy. RSVP.
D-I-V-O-R-C-E.
…-
“Dion pledges loyalty to Iggy despite wife’s opinion”
“Other Liberals were playing down the impact of Krieber’s pessimistic prediction that their party is headed for the dustbin of history.
“Well, she has her own history, her own views,” said Liberal finance critic John McCallum.
“I don’t think she’s an opinion leader within the Liberal party and therefore I don’t think the story is going to last.””
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/11/23/11892831-cp.html
…-
“*Canadian lacrosse team presents sweater to Prime Minister Stephen Harper
OTTAWA — The Canadian men’s field lacrosse team has added Prime Minister Stephen Harper to its roster of supporters.
The Prime Minister met in his office with Dean French, the team’s executive director, on Monday afternoon and was presented with a national team sweater bearing the number 10, which represents the team’s 2010 target of winning a second straight world title.
“It is an honour to be presented with a jersey from the men’s team of Canada’s national summer sport, lacrosse,” Harper said. “I know all Canadians will look forward to cheering on Canada as the players compete for the world championship in July and once more bring the gold back to Canada.”
The world tournament is held every four years. Canada’s 15-10 win over the United States in the 2006 final in London, Ont., ended a 28-year American winning streak. Manchester, England, is the host city in 2010.
“We’ll need all the support we can get to beat the Americans again,” said French. “We know that the Prime Minister is a devoted fan of Canada’s winter sport, hockey, and we hope he’ll be cheering us on when we take Canada’s national summer sport onto the world stage again in Manchester.”
Joining French to talk lacrosse with the Prime Minister were defenceman Brodie Merrill of Orangeville, Ont., faceoff specialist Geoff Snider of Calgary and high-scoring forward Merrick Thomson of Hamilton. Merrill and Snider helped Canada win the world title in 2006, all three were key players for the Toronto Nationals when they won the Major Lacrosse League pro field crown last summer and they’ll have prominent roles in the 2010 lineup.
“Winning the world championship in 2006 was a special experience,” says Merill. “It is rare in life to have the opportunity to represent your country.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jaUeEiWa4rcdhfDsGnlVQXbrbmCA
Did ANYONE enjoy Tommy Clark’s PP this evening?
ed at 5:39,
Please don’t use the 6/49 analogy anymore.
Every time I pass by a convenience store and see a 6/49 sign I hope to win it big next draw and I don’t like thinking that my actual chance of winning is as bleak as slim to none.
Actually Liz J, I absolutely loved the comments by Paul Zed. They indicated so clearly exactly why the Liberals are tanking in the polls. The guy is clearly so consumed with hatred – Harper’s “secret” plan to keep troops in Afghanistan, the billions that are being kept from New Brunswick in transfer payments, and of course that old chestnut, no daycare for St. Johns – he cannot focus on what needs to be done if he wants to bring the Liberals back to power. I wish he were on every week, he is just too ridiculous for words. Even Clark looked a bit embarrassed.
Also Mike Robinson’s comments on Mme Krieger were really classless. I guess you shouldn’t trash a diplomat who makes unfounded allegations, but when a former leader’s wife says what everyone is thinking, then she’s fair game.
Also John Ibbitson’s comments that the Liberal base is eroding. This is a theme that a number of commentators are picking up on, including John Ivison on P and P.
Donny Martin continues to flog the Taliban prisoner abuse issue in today’s NP: “Credibility grows on PM’s dodge”.
Too bad the public aren’t on board with the Liberal/Left on this one, they’d really have something to get a bit of levity. Meanwhile,Iggy looks like he may need a shot of Geritol.
That should read “Credibility GAP grows on PM’s dodge”. How could I have left out the KEY word?
[...] first is to follow Peter Donolo’s plan to capitalize on Iffy’s so-called brilliance, and the other is to play the ‘politics of [...]
LizJ, do you expect me to believe that immigrants who were abused by the taliban will protest against the PM for the way the taliban are mistreated.
Only the opposition parties and their media, will.