You already knew that I’m a slacker pundit who would rather pun than dit. I don’t know what that means but I like the sound of it. You can always put it in your ditty bag or some such shit.
How was that for a confusing first paragraph? I pride myself on sowing confusion. Why? I’ll never know. Here’s my confession: I don’t like televised political debates, which also makes me a piss-poor political junkie. I only watch the general election variety because they *might* matter; not that it helped John Kerry that he cleaned W’s clock in every “debate.” They’re not really debates. I prefer to use Dan Rather’s term: joint press appearance. I didn’t watch last night but I’ve done my reading, which I usually find more illuminating.
Now that I’ve trashed the genre, I must say that I’m proud to be a Democrat today. Our candidates conducted themselves with grace and dignity. They declined to be measured for clown shoes and Senator Sanders even stuck up for Hillary Clinton on the email thing in between talking way too loud. Well played, y’all.
I’m particularly pleased that Hillary focused her fire on the crazy party. Electing a Republican Oval One before the prion fever breaks would be a disaster. It’s bad enough to have that lot control the House and Senate. I’m cautiously optimistic that the Democrats will retake the Senate in 2016 but the people’s house will continue to be the monkey house until the next census. I hate that because I worked on the House side and retain a vestigial fondness for it; unlike most of its current members.
In other election news, it looks as if the Canadian Liberal Party has a good chance to win next Tuesday’s election. Justin (Son of Pierre) Trudeau is running such a strong race as leader that he’s making a good case for political dynasties as well. The current Canadian Conservative party is not your Peepaw’s Tory party, Prime Minister Harper is a full-blown wingnut:
I frequently tell my American friends, who know little about Canada, thatStephen Harper is the last remnant of the George W Bush administration in North America. The response I get is usually a mixture of dismay and pity. Bush’s worldview and politics of fear have been rejected by Americans in the last two elections, many of whom now lament his era as a period of folly and hubris.
My American friends are also confused. How could Canada, a country widely regarded as being full of socially-progressive and tolerant people, elect someone from a party so antithetical to that image?
Harper doesn’t represent the values my neighbors and I grew up believing in: collective responsibility, generosity, multiculturalism, multilateralism, the championing of peace and human rights and the importance of environmental stewardship. For ten years Harper has steered Canada away from these values, and many Americans, indeed many Canadians, don’t understand how far he has shifted the country.
I will surely be driving Dr. A crazy next Tuesday with my desire to watch the Canadian election returns. What’s not to love about a country that calls its parliamentary districts ridings? Tally ho, eh.
Here’s hoping that Trudeau the younger will make like Dudley Do-Right and free Canada from the clutches of the Snidely Whiplash of Prime Ministers.
Yeah, I know Trudeau looks nothing like Dudley, but if Harper had a Rollie Fingers mustache, blue skin, and a topper he’d be a dead ringer for Snidely.
I think I’d take ol’ Snidely over Harper any day – at least with Mr. Whiplash ye knew where ye stood! Here’s a fabulous piece o’ trivia on the young Mr. Trudeau and his family (Cousins through Marriage, as it happens). There’s a New Orleans connection!
M. Trudeau’s family is related to none other than Marie Laveau; whose name is in fact Marie Trudeau dit Laveau. An ancient French tradition (similar to many other nations) is to maintain an honoured name from a Family Matriarch (in this case, Marie’s GG-Grandma) by adding it to the family name with “dit”. Because it’s a Matriarchal name, the Women often used it alone, while the Men opted for either both (often in reverse order without the “dit”, Laveau Trudeau instead o’ Trudeau dit Laveau) or simply the Patriarchal name alone. Marie’s Father, Charles Laveau Trudeau (aka ‘Don Carlos’) was a political type himself – Surveyor General o’ Spanish Louisiana for about 20 years and Mayor o’ New Orleans in 1812 (for six months)! He was also responsible for Lafayette Square.
I did not know about the Trudeau-Laveau connection although Justin’s father was a bit of a political sorcerer in his time.