Nothing like a breath of fresh death...
Time for a little role-playing. You're a relatively high-profile Liberal MP contemplating a run for the leadership of the party. How do you react to a positive reccomendation from the National Citizens Coalition?
The article, originally posted here at canada.com and gleefully reproduced at Fatherland Central reads as much like an endorsement of a Liberal leader as you're going to find from our corporatist friends at the NCC. And who gets the "benefit" of this endorsement? Martin Cauchon.
Now why he people behind Stephen Harper be interested in who leads the Liberal party is an interesting question. I think the main reason might be statements he's made on medicare:
Note that he has avoided the buzzwords "two-tier" and "user-pay", but Canadians should be very suspect of anyone who wants to open this "debate" up too widely. Monied interests have a way of hijacking these kind of debates and we should all be very leery of this. There is a reason that many people view even entertaining this debate as a wedge that can be used to tear apart our health care system as we know it.
Okay, back to our role playing. If you were the aforementioned leadership hopeful, how would you play this "endorsement" by the National Citizens Council? Would you shirk from the article? Or would you post it on your blog?
As it turns out, Martin is still only "thinking about it", you know balancing his ambition with his private law practice and the requirements of "family" (the same reason that Emerson ultimately won't run for the Conservatives next election.) However, since he's titled his blog "Martin Cauchon for PM", we know where his heart is.
[Edit: Dan pointed out in a comment to this that the Martin Cauchon for PM blog is written by a "Cauchon supporter", not necessarily the man himself. I really have to learn to read. Or send things to Dan for editing. Of course, writing a blog using a pseudonym and then using cauchon_supporter@hotmail.com as a contact email is an awfully easy way to sort of hide. Trust me, if I ever run for office, I'll put more than "kevvyd" on this blog. Of course, if I ever run for office you might want to start looking for those horsemen...]
[Edit 2: Just went through the Cauchon for PM blog, and it is public fawning and wankery at its finest or worst, depending on your point of view. If it is not operated by Martin Cauchon or a tech-savvy flunky he should find out who was doing it and ask them to stop. If it is run by Cauchon, then he has no shame and probably spends way, way too much time in the bathroom mirror.]
The article, originally posted here at canada.com and gleefully reproduced at Fatherland Central reads as much like an endorsement of a Liberal leader as you're going to find from our corporatist friends at the NCC. And who gets the "benefit" of this endorsement? Martin Cauchon.
Now why he people behind Stephen Harper be interested in who leads the Liberal party is an interesting question. I think the main reason might be statements he's made on medicare:
"But talking about changes to health care is still a great Canadian taboo," Cauchon said in a printed copy of his speech.
"The nature of democracy is to allow discussion and debate. To reject the simple idea of exploring alternatives is unhealthy for the future of health care in this country."
Cauchon avoided specifics and did not make any references to private health services or to re-opening the Canada Health Act.
Note that he has avoided the buzzwords "two-tier" and "user-pay", but Canadians should be very suspect of anyone who wants to open this "debate" up too widely. Monied interests have a way of hijacking these kind of debates and we should all be very leery of this. There is a reason that many people view even entertaining this debate as a wedge that can be used to tear apart our health care system as we know it.
Okay, back to our role playing. If you were the aforementioned leadership hopeful, how would you play this "endorsement" by the National Citizens Council? Would you shirk from the article? Or would you post it on your blog?
As it turns out, Martin is still only "thinking about it", you know balancing his ambition with his private law practice and the requirements of "family" (the same reason that Emerson ultimately won't run for the Conservatives next election.) However, since he's titled his blog "Martin Cauchon for PM", we know where his heart is.
[Edit: Dan pointed out in a comment to this that the Martin Cauchon for PM blog is written by a "Cauchon supporter", not necessarily the man himself. I really have to learn to read. Or send things to Dan for editing. Of course, writing a blog using a pseudonym and then using cauchon_supporter@hotmail.com as a contact email is an awfully easy way to sort of hide. Trust me, if I ever run for office, I'll put more than "kevvyd" on this blog. Of course, if I ever run for office you might want to start looking for those horsemen...]
[Edit 2: Just went through the Cauchon for PM blog, and it is public fawning and wankery at its finest or worst, depending on your point of view. If it is not operated by Martin Cauchon or a tech-savvy flunky he should find out who was doing it and ask them to stop. If it is run by Cauchon, then he has no shame and probably spends way, way too much time in the bathroom mirror.]
Actually, it's not Cauchon's Blog - the profile says it's a Cauchon Supporter - he might not even know it exists
Posted by
Dan |
Wed Mar 01, 07:07:00 PM
ooops, my bad.
Posted by
kevvyd |
Wed Mar 01, 09:15:00 PM