Michael Ignatieff is now trying to sell “compassion” on his Summer Bust Tour.
And that rings as hollow as his phony I’m-one-of-you campaign:
“The other guys, the adversaries, think: Just let the market do it,” he said. “I believe in a competitive market economy, but I do not believe that compassion just happens. I do not happen to believe that justice just happens. … It happens because you have compassionate, fiscally responsible government that stands up for the people.”
Ah yes. Compassion. Being touted by the man who warned his younger brother to keep his distance during his ‘public education’ years:
“We went for a walk, and he said, ‘I want to make one thing absolutely clear to you. When we’re at Aunt Helen’s house or Aunt Charity’s house [Charity Grant, their mother's sister], you can say whatever you want to me. But if you ever see me on the school grounds, you’re not to talk to me. You’re not to recognize that I’m your brother. You don’t exist as far as I’m concerned. Do I make myself clear?’”
This same younger brother was the one who ended up caring for the mother that Michael so often quotes on his tour across Canada. Michael was the ‘absent brother’.
David Frum wrote of Scar Tissue:
Scar Tissue is not merely a study of decline and death: It is a work by a man without empathy trying to understand those who possess it; of a man who has arrogantly separated himself from the suffering human race grappling with the realization that he belongs to it; of a man who has despised the unbeautiful and the unclever confronting the possibility that in the ways that ultimately count most, one particular unbeautiful and unclever person is his own better.
The Liberal Party is going to have a tough time selling compassion with Michael Ignatieff as leader.
* * * *
Update
Ignatieff Photo Op Tour Stoney Creek Dairy: Production Closing – Canadian Sense
Good one Joanne. They put him out there…HE is then open season for comments from all of us. Onward and Upward we go.
Its funny isn’t it, how hawkish he was on many issues (like torture) until he became Liberal leader and all that was conveniently brushed aside in what is now in the named of compassion.. But then, sometimes, the light gets in between the cracks and we see the real Ignatieff, where for example, he didn’t “lose any sleep” over the deaths of Lebanese civilians.
Just so that everyone in the hinny kissing MSM never forgets who the REAL Michael Ignatieff is -
http://gowans.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/ignatieff%E2%80%99s-mea-culpa/
Only the man lacking them will spend as much time as Iffy does talking about compassion and empathy. This is a clear case of the Iggy doth protest too much.
I almost feel sorry for the chump: He’s been given a script to read by the LPC backroom boys and has been asked to take centre stage in a one-man show without having either learned his lines or any stage craft with which to deliver them. We’re watching a train wreck in slow motion and it’s painful.
Not only are the Liberal$ arrogant SOBs, they’re sadists as well. They’re letting Iggy twist in the wind, while planning their strategy to get Power Corporation’s man, Bob Rae, onto the theatre program as director and lead actor. ‘Cynical and cut-throat politics, thy name is Liberal.
”It happens because you have compassionate, fiscally responsible GOVERNMENT THAT STANDS UP FOR THE PEOPLE.”
Except when it comes to citizens threatened into giving the government their personal information on census forms.
Then it is all about the special interest groups getting data.
As predicted, the Taliban love wikileaks
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/30/taliban-says-it-will-target-names-exposed-by-wikileaks.html
Portions from the above cited artiocle -
============================================
Like the sophists who hired out their forensic skills to the highest bidder, Igantieff is an intellectual whore who trades his credentials and skills of persuasion to shape public opinion in support of his patron’s wars for profits. His mea culpa is no apology; it is simply an attempt to save face now that the humanitarian disaster of Iraq has become an embarrassment that can no longer be ignored.
Ignatieff’s deep feelings of humanitarian solidarity extend only to ethnic minorities whose plights Washington uses as a pretext to intervene in the affairs of other countries.
It’s impossible to take Ignatieff seriously. His self-appointed role is to justify the US ruling class’s naked pursuit of its class interests by dressing them up in the galvanizing language of humanitarianism to bring the rest of us onboard. For this he is amply rewarded with high-profile academic positions, a pulpit in high-circulation establishment newspapers, and financial backing for his dalliances with electoral politics.
Ignatieff speaks the language of the bamboozler.
=====================================================
Ignatieff is the proverbial leopard and the Liberals conveniently overlook the spots.
in a Walkom article about a day in the life on the magical bus tour:
Most of all, however, he emphasizes that he is at one with his audience. “Everything good that happened to me happened because I had a publicly funded education in Ontario,” he says.
In fact, Ignatieff attended high school at Toronto’s elite and privately funded Upper Canada College.
In 1994, he referred to his UCC time as “the most successful single period of my life”.
but but Iffy said he got his ‘start’ at the publicly funded UoT….
Iffy’s truth depends on the audience he speaks to.
Fake.
Untrustworthy.
Actually, compassion does “just happen” because it is an intrinsically human trait, unless you are a Liberal, in which case it’s a bureaucracy. What could be more dehumanizing than relinquishing our most defining characteristics to administrative bureaucracy? Is “compassion” to be reduced to filling out your tax form and having your wealth distributed to the Liberal’s favourite special interest groups every year? Do the Liberals see us as nothing more than wealth production units whose soul consists of rules and regulations ensconced in some binder in the Ministry of Compassion? These guys are nuts.
Justice? Like CHRC? Is that what this freaking nut is talking about? Official Bilingualism? Where’s the justice in fascist language policies? Voting against property rights? Is that another example of Liberal justice? Does one need to go on? Just how stupid does one have to be to fall for this crap?
PET Cemetery’s Ziffy’s I-Me-My-tunes Presents for your delectation:
Throw Liberal ZiffyO under the bus, a kiss, a kiss;
wave ZiffyO under the bus a goodbye*.
As ex-Liberal leader Citoyen Kyoto Dionky foretold:
The ZiffyDogs, I&O, the O’Harvard buddies, have been bammed**.
…-
“BBC Implying, Obliquely, That Obama Is Being Pushed Under The Bus?
Remember how the Romans tried to discover the will of the gods by slicing up a chicken and the Vikings did it by reading stones? And Kremlinologists looked at a man’s placement on a podium overlooking Red Square?
Well, the American left elite sends it’s signals via the media elite (WaPo, NYT etc) and sometimes, oddly enough, this is bounced through the UK’s BBC because, as any fule kno, there is a symbiotic relationship between the great and the good of both nations.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2562288/posts
**Citoyen’s “Bam, the Dog!”:
http://themaplethree.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html
(*H/T Irving Gordon)
The big question for me today is, will Hillory wear pants or dress at the big wedding. LOL
Another question is. Conrad Black not welcomed back in Canada as he turned his back on us years ago. But, having turned his back on Canada years ago, dissed us in many ways, called our Flag a beer can label, said those in Quebec talk funny, lost no sleep over civilian deaths, is supposed to be welcomed by us to be PM. -very confusing to me.
One third of Canadians vote for PMSH, and according to guess who, that is not a consensus for all he is doing, and they vote voluntarily for him.
But, forcing one third of those same Canadians to divulge personal information on threat of jail or fine, is a consensus, and according to the sp interest groups, good for us.
Iggy says to get a majority HE needs their votes and their money. I thought it was liberals who needed votes and money.
Does he know how many seats he needs to win, plus keep all they have, to get a majority-78. Where will he get them and still be a national party. The west is gone for generations.
We are supposed to vote for him because his uncle farmed in Canada centuries ago, while he has no idea of what farmers of today face, other than jail if they sell their own wheat.
Seems the larges crowds he has gathered is around 100-200. And why does he eat yogurt for breakfast when he is going to a breakfast-stupid. And why isn’t he holding a Tim cup, stopping and not buying is not a good sign, unless his wife hasn’t given him his allowance and he doesn’t have the money.
Obviously a progressive would not believe compassion “just happens”. It must be legislated. People don’t have souls, there is no God, according to them. Don’t forget, it’s conservatives who give way more to charity; progressives can’t be bothered. They would rather make “the rich” pay.
This from the group of people who believe compassion is killing an unborn baby. Twisted and sick? Absolutely.
This is why I am so, so proud to be conservative.
Ignatiev claims Canada needs more progressives, hmmmmmm Hitler was a progressive. How’d that work out for Europe?
This from the David Frum Link nails Iggy:
On Ignatieff’s writing…
“It is a work by a man without empathy trying to understand those who possess it; of a man who has arrogantly separated himself from the suffering human race grappling with the realization that he belongs to it; of a man who has despised the unbeautiful and the unclever …”
“..of a man who has despised the unbeautiful and the unclever …”
I guess Iggy hates himself, then.
How do Iggy and his handlers figure they can traipse around the country in a bus peddling Iggy as something/someone he is not?
We know Iggy has said politics is acting but good actors are convincing in their rolls, Iggy needs a few more lessons to try to pass himself off as a beer sluggin’ ball cap guy. Flipping burgers here and there, dancing in the streets, riding bikes and petting horses really aren’t attributes for the role of Prime Minister. It’s a little more complicated than that, we need to hear his vision, his plans to improve upon all the things he opposes and critiques about the Harper government.
Phoniness is easy to pick up, Iggy oozes it. He should can the nonsense, get serious and fire his director and finish the road show as HIMSELF, the person he and his handlers are trying desperately to hide.
Canadians are instinctively suspicious of opportunists.
Ignatieff is a man who took from Canadian taxpayers for a few of his early education years then left and did not contribute to this country in return.
He paid no taxes to Canada for his entire productive working life. Even his children and wives are not Canadian.
He did not contribute to Canadian society, businesses, community, institutions or values. In fact, he ridiculed Canada when he was “away”.
He stated openly that he chose the Russian heritage as his badge of honour and pride and ticket to getting doors opened. He bragged he used his title “Count Ignatieff” to get invited to high society parties in Europe.
This tour of Canada, which many senior citizens like him take for pleasure is considered by him to be “working hard”. All expences paid yet. Remember, when he took breaks (many of them) from 2006 on he went to Bermuda, Europe, London and France for pleasure. Being in Canada is “hard work”.
I believe he needs a pension so has to work in Canada for at least 5 years to qualify and 6 years for the MP pension. He has 2 more years to collect the Old Age Pension and qualify for the MP pension which will give him a nice little retirement income.
At this point he has no financial stability and admits he knows nothing about investments or money management.
His wife is not a Canadian citizen to my knowledge. She may have a pension from the BBC where she worked as Ignatieff’s publicity agent. I think she is already in her late 60′s so may already be collecting a pension from her own country wherever that is. She would not trade off her citizenship for a Canadian one that has no pay cheque at the end.
Ignatieff, who left Canada at age 6 weeks is as much a Canadian of convenience as Omar Khadr and family. Liberals love them both. Conservatives love our country too much to hand it over to opportunists and charltons don’t you think.
TO’s Liberal “Pride” Report.
Bye, Ziffy.
We hardly knew ya.
Off to your shack in Provencal where the latte and the vin flows?
We understand, Ziffy. You was “Just Visiting” Canada, eh?
Say cheese, Ziffy.
…-
“Caribana says goodbye to its ‘saviour’
Toronto Star “
My,my,my, how does one top the brilliant and insightful comments here so far? Great job!
Those “compassionate” Liberals, Mr Zzzzzz included, would be gobsmacked that Conservatives indeed have PLENTY of books, in plenty of rooms and are capable of expressing themselves without peppering a statement with foul adjectives and angry innuendos.
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/014533.html#comments
Of Ceremonies.
The ceremonies:
1. Islam’s “99 times”,
2. “Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton will wed”.
Liberal Ziffy’s O’Harvard buddy was not invited to either ceremony.
…-
“Chelsea Clinton to wed in upstate New York”
“Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton will wed her longtime boyfriend Saturday in a ceremony that has been shrouded in secrecy but is likely to be attended by a plethora of famous faces.”
http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100731/chelsea-clinton-wedding-100731/20100731/?hub=MontrealHome
…-
“Iran stoning sentence woman asks to be reunited with her children
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, said she thinks of nothing other than hugging her children and that she was mentally broken when authorities flogged her 99 times in front of her then 17-year-old son, Sajad.
She thanked the world for launching the campaign for her release but said part of her “heart is frozen”. “Every night before I go to sleep, I think who would throw stones at me?”, she said.
The message was read by Mina Ahadi, of the Iran Committee against Stoning (ICAS), at a press conference in Conway Hall, in London, this morning .
“Put Sakineh’s picture beside Neda Agha-Soltan’s and don’t let Iran repeat what it did with Neda again with Sakineh,” said Ahadi, an Iranian human rights activist. Agha-Soltan was shot to death in the aftermath of Iran’s disputed election in June 2009 and became a symbol of Iran’s post-election rebellion.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2562314/posts
“Caribana says goodbye to its ‘saviour’
Toronto Star “
maz2, what has Caribana got to do with their saviour Toronto star. Is there a falling out somewhere?
The data-luvin’ Libs should be in seventh heaven in a few days. The Pundits Guide is reporting that Elections Canada will soon be releasing second quarter fundraising results for them, us and the Greens
(Bloc and Dipper results are already out).
Never mind just having a coereced 20 % sample to analyze. The Lib brainiacs will have the numbers for the whole population of donors to pore over ! After crunching all those numbers, they will surely come up with a great new fundraising strategy. Unlike us Tories, who rely on ideology, psychology, motivation, leadership and all that secondary stuff.
If need be, I’m sure the unemployed ex statscan boss will help the Libs in calculating all them there confusing (to us rednecks) standard deviations, confidence intervals, and the like.
I miss PMSH. All this spotlight on Iggy is nauseating.
According to link from here (Joanne’s side bar) the last photo added was early July. I hope our Prime Minister and his family are having a wonderful vacation.
I get the feeling Iggy is continually thinking ‘look at me, aren’t I cool?!’
So petty, so superficial, so shallow.
And still no well defined policy for Canada from the power hungry Libs. They insult Canadians by their method.
CJ…I’d really like someone to dig up the story behind the ex-stats Can boss. MSM and PPG tried to spin it, then it faded. My gut tells me the truth will look really bad on the Libs and the leftover beaurocracy in Ottawa.
Ha! Iggy wouldn’t know compassion if it hit him in the face.
Re: The StatsCan deputy minister who quit in a huff: He was only appointed to that job in 2009. He was never involved at all with overseeing a census-the last one was in 2006.
His last main important job was in drafting Paul Martin’s 2005 budget – and we all know how that went.
So, this guy has no hisotirc experience or reference except departmental hearsay on conducting the census. He was probably looking forward to the big honour and make work taking 2 years to generate the stats from 2011 which will not be out until 2013.
Real current stuff huh.
Meanwhile more make work for beurocrats continue at the tune of $500 million per year doing “studies” and “surveys” – all with voluntary respondents – so according to StatsCan themselves how can we trust the data????
Hyporcrits all.
From the Star’s Thomas Walkom (hardly a Conservative supporter):
Amazing isn’t it? The never-ending pot of money.
Love that headline too. Normal?
And this is pure gold from way back in 2006:
And check out the comments!
It is time for iggy to examine the tax form, and realize there are tax breaks for pesons taking care of aging relatives or disabled children, or persons in nursing homes.
Today he is supposed to have again said he would cancel the jet contract. We should find out how much that will cost taxpayers. Perhaps he plans to use the cancelled tax cuts to pay for it.
And think what it will cost us if IRuby’s private members bill gets passed. OAS for those in Canada for 3 yrs, with never having contributed a cent.
And how much is it costing us to support all those sponsored family members, when the sponsor reneges on their deal. They sign a contract to fully support said relative for 10 yrs.
Renege on sponsorship, deport the family member.
Even sponsoring someone for marriage, marriage breaks up, you still are responsible for their support, as they can’t work in Canada.
Re statscan boss quitting. There is some truth when he says he had no input into any decision. 2 yrs before a census all consultation takes place and finalized, and results are published in Canada Gazette. This guy wasn’t in that position during the 2 previous years. The 2006 census was signed sealed and delivered a year before SH was elected PM. Liberal appointees were totally involved.
Perhaps those appointees were ignored in the latest census and they are afraid that affirmative action and political correctness would not be so important anymore and they might have to work for their pay.
Joanne that is Platinum from 2006
Job well done.
fh
Joanne, here is something else from that article that you cited that jumps out at me -
“There are two things worth noting about the way Ignatieff dissents in the review. They’re notable because both occur and reoccur throughout his career. The first is the way that, even as a fledgling writer, Ignatieff took pains to distinguish himself and his ideas from the common crowd.”
So now with this vaunted Liberal Express, Ignatieff seeks reapprochment with the “common crowd”?
One look at this video, especially at the 0:26 mark, tells anoyone how “common” this man really thinks that he is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq1BfkEWwy4
Michael Harkov – Very good. I missed that. Yes how can he presume to be ‘one of the crowd’ when he has worked his whole life to be above us all?
Does anyone know where that clip originally came from of Iggy blowing kisses to the crowd that Michael mentions in the youtube video? Just curious.
And from the same article, this is worth noting too:
Always about Ignatieff.me
Russian bomber presents has escalated since 2005; hmmmmmm, Ignatiev arrives back in Canada 2005. Coincidence, think not.
Compare the way iggy treated his brother to how our olympic medalist treats his disabled brother.
Iggy with shame, our medal winner with pride.
Mary T – That’s a very good point.
OT, but all those that think windmills are the way to go should visit A Few Figs and watch the video. Did these accidents get any coverage in our media.
And where is Dalton planning on putting in these farms.
Joanne “The Liberal Party is going to have a tough time selling compassion with Michael Ignatieff as leader. ”
or with anyone of them for that matter Joanne.
Great post, Joanne. By the way, if the Liberal Distress tour was in full election mode, someone in the media would be tracking the cost of Iffy’s plentiful promises. I hope someone at Conservative Central is doing this.
“Our margins have been shaved away by the Conservatives,” said Ignatieff, adding that he takes the need to reduce debt levels “very seriously.”
“We will look very carefully at the indicators and if we need additional stimulus we will say so, but we will also say where we would target it and where it will come from,” he said, citing his party’s plan to eliminate corporate tax cuts. “I don’t want to shut the door. I don’t think we’re out of the woods. It’s that simple.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-30/ignatieff-says-it-s-too-soon-to-shut-the-door-on-more-canada-stimulus.html
Additional stimulus spending? Measures to reduce debt? Those are contrary policy ideas, are they not? Everything he said flies in the face of the potential spending he announced from his Distress tour. Iffy is speaking out of both sides of his mouth.
Thanks Louise. (And NB Tory Gal)
Yeah, the Waffle wants to keep all his options open I guess.
Interesting perspective from the Guelph Mercury:
No I think Canada has already figured out what Ignatieff is and it sure isn’t what they say.
Re the Guelph Mercury: I certainly don’t see him as “full of political and policy promise.”
No. Guelph Mercury and the Record are part of Torstar.
So it was remarkable that they even criticized Iffy at all.
Is this the mode he plans to campaign in, or will he be himself. How will the media cover that abrupt change. Wont he turn a lot of elite voters off if they see him as a hillbilly. Will they think they have been duped by finding the real Iggy.
Wonder if his handlers thought of that.
PMSH out campainging as the PM and dressed for that position while iggy is out and about in a plaid shirt and jeans.
Will Layton still sing, lend me your vote.
And how will the hillbillies react when they find out they have been used as a training ground.
Who owns the Guelph Mercury? ‘Obviously, a Liberal. If Iffy was actually “full of political and policy promise” wouldn’t we know it by now, OR wouldn’t he know it by now?
He was elected an MP in 2006, for Gawd’s sake, after being parachuted into his riding, and then was crowned Liberal leader in 2008. He’s had plenty of time to show his political and policy potential.
Either he’s a really late bloomer — not advisable in politics — or he’s a dud.
I know what I think.
Hang on tight. Going to be working on a few upgrades/updates [technical stuff].
If you need any help Jo, just e-mail me. My short hiatus does not mean I’m not around.
Thanks Sandy. No problems so far.
I’d say we Conservatives can take some credit for Iggy going off his true self and trying to be the exact opposite of how we defined him right out of the gate as exactly who he is.
It’s not working for him, we had him pegged in the right slot from the start. He and his handlers got panicky and went off in an attempt to prove us wrong by having him play the role of ordinary Joe, which he isn’t and his acting ability stinks along with his directors/advisers.
Iggy is sooooo much worse than the hapless Dion it is now way beyond pathetic.
Hi Joanne, been too busy lately, thought I better stop by.
Have a good weekend everyone.