Lou Dobbs’ Broken Borders Brains

CNN’s Lou Dobbs makes some good points about the race issue in America –

but then he utters a racial slur and looks like a … well, you decide:

HT bastard.logic

I like Al Gore… but….

If you thought it was a bad idea for the Democractic Super Delegates to have control to change the race from a Barack Obama assumed victory to a Hillary Clinton assumed victory, then you should be mighty offended by this story.

I like Al Gore and I think he’d make a great nominee. But this post isn’t about Al Gore or a venue for the throngs of conservative nut bags to bash Al Gore. What about democracy people!? Al Gore got screwed by votes that were cast for him but not counted so why should he now benefit from votes that were cast for Clinton/Obama and be chosen by party officials as the nominee?

It’s pretty sad if the DNC just spent millions upon millions of dollars and several months choosing a candidate only to override the entire process to choose Al Gore. I think this whole idea or rumour is half baked and would be a travesty of democracy. People voted for the candidate they wanted to win. Al Gore was never a candidate.

And another thing — once you’re proclaimed the nominee you can choose anyone you want to be your running mate. What’s to say Gore wouldn’t choose someone other than Clinton or Obama and completely override the entire primary/caucus system? Again, a pretty half baked idea.

Smearing Brenda Martin

Foreign Affairs doing what it does best — blowing hot air and accomplishing absolutely shit all.  Shame.

Me: Prolonged Democratic race “beneficial”

From CNN.com:

Dodd: Prolonged Democratic race “devastating”

Sen. Chris Dodd said Thursday a protracted Democratic presidential race would be “devastating” to the party, and argued an agreement should be worked out after the upcoming contests in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and North Carolina.

“We’ve got five more months to go before the Democratic convention at the end of August and, candidly, we cannot go five more months with the kind of daily sniping that’s going on and have a candidate emerge in that convention,” said the Connecticut senator.

Maybe Democrats should start considering how a prolonged two-voice campaign could benefit their party. That of course would mean both Clinton and Obama would have to focus on the key issues facing American voters and focus on John McCain instead of spending so much time nattering back and fourth!

Is Ottawa the worst managed city in Canada?

If it isn’t right now then it is certainly headed in that direction. Critics agree.

Already one of the heaviest taxed cities, Ottawa is digging and digging and digging deeper but not to build a transit tunnel.

All because we have a mayor who couldn’t be honest with taxpayers and lead a council toward a tax increase that would match inflation. Our reserves were gutted to pay for his promises and now we’re scrambling to find money to pay for snow storms that we can’t pay for so we’re taking money from the province that was earmarked for infrastructure.

Too many people have dug in their heels and have created the perfect financial storm.

Pierre Poilievre to resign: Pierre Poilievre

“Godspeed, tiny snapdragon. Save the last pixie dance for me.”

0 Larry O’Brien!!!

Ottawans are facing the largest tax increase in the history of the City of Ottawa with a potential 5.4% property tax hike. Say what!?!?

But didn’t we elect Mr. Clean on a promise to never raise taxes for four years? Wasn’t “0 Means 0″ that guys slogan too? Didn’t he say he’d not raise taxes “come hell or high water”? Well I guess all that snow has melted and the water has come and swept Mayor Quimby’s promise away.

Here’s a screen capture from one of Larry’s campaign ads….

My other favourite part of the ad is when the voice over says the mayor, facing two criminal charges in connection with his election, will “deal with personal and property crime”. Right.

CFL Back in Ottawa? Don’t count on it

It’s contigent on City Hall actually making progress on something like a stadium.

Yah, right. And pigs can fly and LRT can be built too!

I’m thinking we call the new team the “Ottawa Swaggers” — to coincide with a mayor who may or may not be in jail by the time the franchise comes to town.

Sleezy Conservatives

So I rip up my Liberal card a couple of weeks ago. Consider shopping around for a new place to plant my vote and then just get more and more pissed off at the federal Conservatives.Who in their RIGHT mind over at Conservative HQ thought it’s smart to pick a fight with Ontario? Likely only the guys (Pinhead Pierre, Jimbo, Johnny B and a bunch of other clowns) who want someone to blame when Canada’s economy slows down and plaster it alllll over conservative.ca

Picking a fight with a wildly popular two term Liberal majority government which governs the most vote-rich province in Canada is perhaps the stupidest move Harper’s clowns have thought of yet.

I may have ripped up my Liberal membership but I’m still an Ontario Liberal who’d volunteer on the Dalton McGuinty federal campaign in a heart beat. No one wants advice from Mike Harris’ old group of jokers.

And another question, where the hell is Peter Griffin Van Loan these days?

Detroit is the new Ottawa

We both have “rockstar” mayor’s facing serious criminal charges that could result in jail time.

Ottawa is swaggering along with Motown, baby!

Why McGuinty shouldn’t listen to the bozo

Well, Dalton should listen to every Ontarian but first of all Jim Flaherty must still be drunk on his green beer if he actually thinks Ontarian’s want advice from a guy who served under Mike Harris.

Secondly, an announcement filled with suggestions for the Ontario government to consider for it’s budget probably is just a stupid stunt if it comes less than a day before the budget is announced and already drafted.  

Jim Flaherty for Ontario PC Leader!  Get your lawn signs now to ensure another election night loss for the PC’s in three and a half years!

Helena Guergis, I’m really pissed at you

From the Collingwood Enterprise-Bulletin:

In the House of Commons, Guergis said her government has been in contact with Brenda Martin, who has been in a Mexican jail for two years waiting trial, but Martin is on record saying she had not been contacted by Guergis or her government.

Guergis did find her way down to Mexico, but did not visit Martin. This is the same Guergis who mockingly applauded (Liberal Leader Stephane) Dion for “finally finding Afghanistan on the map after a year.”

Martin told The Canadian Press last week she was livid upon learning where Guergis was.

“She went to a cocktail party with some Canadians, sat and had hors d’oeuvres and drank Perrier water while I am in here languishing,” she said.

Guergis’s office didn’t respond to an interview request.

 

So what exactly was it that Helena was attending?  This man explains the event he was at with Guergis that night in Mexico…

About 20 Canadians were already there, said Dan McTavish, a retired Canadian living in Mexico.

“It was just a social gathering so that she could meet some of the retired Canadians living along the north shore of Lake Chapala,” McTavish said.

 

Contact Helena yourself at each and every one of these numbers, emails and faxes to let her know how inept of a minister she has become. Happy Easter. Unfortunately, it’s not so happy for one Canadian.

Conventions don’t have to be coronations

Progressives in the Canadian blogosphere are offering up opposing views as to why Hillary Clinton should or shouldn’t drop out of the Democratic race for her party’s nomination.

Scott Tribe feels she can not possibly win and cites anonymous remarks from her campaign insiders who fear that too. So he feels she should drop out of the race and not risk ripping apart the Democratic Party.

However, Steve, Scott Ross and Antonio say she should stick it out and I too agree. But perhaps for different reasons.

Remember that other Democrat who had a great future ahead of him and was on his way to possibly being a Democratic nominee for president one day but then the wheels fell off because it turns out we didn’t really know him? I’m not talking about Howard Dean. I’m talking about Eliot Spitzer.

No one saw that coming. I’m not saying Obama has hookers on the side, but I think we should remember that anything can happen.

That said, I don’t think Clinton should just stay in the race with the hopes of Obama becoming embroiled in scandals. Clinton has every right to stay in this race as Martha Hall Findlay had every right to fight right up until Montreal.

Surely Liberals and Conservatives and NDP’ers in Canada all realize that political conventions don’t have to be and should not be coronations. Why does anyone have to drop out if the odds are long? Not very many people demanded that Scott Brison, Hedy Fry, David Orchard, Belinda Stronach and Martha Hall Findlay drop out and abandon their respected leadership campaigns before those conventions over fears their presence in the race would hurt their party.

The rules state when the votes are cast and when the convention is to be held. Welcome to America where they (usually) play by democratic rules and just one scandal can completely devastate someone’s career over night.

Most of the controversy over these past few weeks on the Democratic side of the race would all have probably happened had Obama been the only person in the race and Hillary had dropped out. It’s not going to get any easier for any one of these candidates.

Are you a “typical white person”?

OC Transpo is a Disgrace

Alain Mercier, director of OC Transpo, should consider rolling some heads down at OC Transpo. In fact, maybe it’s time for Mercier himself to step down. OC Transpo is a complete mess.

2007 saw a ridiculously higher than normal amount of phone call complaints about service, drivers, and Mercier himself acknowledges that OC Transpo’s customer service is in bad shape. I can vouch for this but I have to give credit to the majority of drivers who are very courteous.

But today’s front page story in the Ottawa Sun is disgraceful. A disabled man claims he was lost on the transit way, handcuffed, ticketed for being drunk (with no evidence) by OC Transpo rent-a-cops and dropped off at his house with no assistance to get back inside. His wife claims he was nearly in tears and worst of all — a gold necklace is missing.

OC Transpo isn’t talking — claiming the matter is “before the courts”. Sun writer Ron Corbett holds no punches and reminds readers,

Now, I’ve known plenty of people that ducked stories by saying “the matter is before the courts,” but I’ve never heard the excuse used for a bylaw ticket.

OC Transpo needs a shake up and it should start at the top and shouldn’t end until everyone is disciplined over this despicable mess.