POSTED RESPONSES TO A COLUMN BY ADAM GOLDENBERG IN TORONTO'S GLOBE AND MAIL
I do not even understand why Adam Goldenberg has written
this hatchet-job piece.
And I do not understand his qualification to do so, since
having been a chief speechwriter to Michael ignatieff is pretty much an
overblown claim to nothing.
Ignatieff plainly is the most terribly failed politician of
our time, and his poor judgment and lack of skills have given us a legacy of a
national government bent on copying the right wing of the Republican Party down
to almost every detail.
Many of us knew that it would be so: Ignatieff is by nature
a standoffish man and his spoken words have always been considerably less than
dazzling. Mr Goldenberg's efforts appear to have no spice to a dull dish.
Of course, there was Ignatieff's past service to the worst
war crime of this generation, the invasion of Iraq, an event in which a million
or so perished. his claims to being a genuine liberal (small "l")
were always tenuous.
He proved himself a much overrated person in a dozen more
ways when he took on the Liberal leadership.
He made a dumb speech at the convention attacking his own
party which then became useful attack-material for the Harperites.
He accepted being parachuted into a riding, and then
arrogantly chose not to live there, after having promised he would.
He accepted being parachuted into the leadership, an act
which starkly cast doubt on Ignatieff's democratic values.
Ignatieff went on that ludicrous Ma and Pa Kettle Cross
Country Bus Trip when it became obvious to Party leaders he had no ability to
communicate and empathize with people.
Since when does a bus trip change one's character? It only
made him look ridiculous on top of all his other shortcomings.
He always raged and blubbered against a coalition when it
was clear to many - given the Liberal Party's weakened status - that that was
the only way to wrest power from Harper's minority.
And Ignatieff chose when to call an election - he didn't
have to do so, but he did - and it was the most destructive election call in my
lifetime.
Compared to Ignatieff's fumbling, preachiness, lackluster
speechmaking, poorly chosen issues, lack of organizational skills, and just
plain boring personality, Bob Rae still looks remarkably good.
"Then he ran and
lost, then ran again..."
That is subtly but definitely dishonest. There was no
second-time race. Ignatieff was handed the leadership by a small group of
Liberal Party insiders.
I and many others believe Bob Rae could have beaten
Ignatieff, Rae being one of the most eloquent politicians of our generation,
rising to levels of clever observation and well-chosen words Mr ignatieff could
only dream of.
Of course, the genuine question is not why the talented Bob
Rae ran and is running but why the inept Michael Ignatieff ever thought he had
something to offer, other than some kind of legacy claim to crown his family's
achievements. Pure arrogance.
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"Liberals are now
in third place and electing a man with a track record of failing to run
provinces well during a recession (which is exactly the situation we are in
now) will do nothing to fix that."
You have it precisely wrong: he ran it well under the
circumstances.
There were hard choices to make, and he made them.
"Rae Days" were a thoughtful and decent option to
large dismissals.
Union leaders and cheap columnists have never forgiven him.
And that doesn't say a lot for their speaking in an informed
manner or displaying effective intelligence.
For completely different reasons however I think Bob Rae's
day may have passed. I do not see the Liberal Party regaining its position any
time soon.
Harper's potential for growth is exhausted, 39.6% certainly
being his high-water mark, a number interestingly which is close to the highest
number achieved by the National Socialists when they ran as a democratic party
in the early 1930s.
There is a dazzling new star on the political scene, and his
name is Thomas Mulcair.
I do believe he has a serious chance of making the NDP
Canada's other major party and of rising above the old sort-of Boy Scout image
from which the Party long has suffered.
I don't see anyone else in the Liberals remotely up to the
challenge. Talk of Justin Trudeau is pathetic. He has more of his mother's
genes than his father's.
Dalton McGuinty is sickening and tiresome to almost everyone
in Ontario, and it is only the PC's stupid moves that have kept him going -
first, John Tory's insistence on committing political suicide and then the
Party's electing the current nasty gnome, Hudak, as leader.
Dominic LeBlanc is an intelligent and attractive candidate,
but he never seems to have caught fire in the Party.
While intelligence is important, politics is far from a
rational process, many emotional and lucky factors playing roles.
The Liberals cannot succeed without Quebec, and they are now
far out-shown there by Mr Mulcair.
