Tuesday, February 07, 2006

High Expectations

Maybe I was being too hard on Stephen Harper and the Conservatives for the whole David Emerson turn-coat routine.

Yesterday I thought Emerson’s defection to the Tories was an act of gross political opportunism.

But on sober second thought maybe the government is just giving the people what they want.

The voters, after all, had no problem returning famous floor-crossers Belinda Stronach and Scott Brison to Parliament.

And other smart political observers whom I respect are making good cases as to why the Emerson switch is not such a big deal.

See here and here.

What’s more the whole thing will probably blow over in a few weeks when the media begins to focus on other crucial issues such as whether or not Jen and Brad will ever get back together again.

So maybe the problem is me and my goofy high expectations.

All I know is that the Tories had better start introducing some strong policies to make government more accountable and more honest.

Then maybe I will forgive them for this faltering start.

Update:

I am going to be on Mike Duffy Live, tonight at about 5:25 PM EST to discuss Senate reform.

Update:

Mike Duffy just cancelled me!

7 comments:

rondi adamson said...

Brad does not deserve Jen. And what do you mean "in a few weeks"? I'm already SO over Emerson. Oh, and, by the way...have you heard somewhere that Jen may take Brad back? Now, *that* would be hard to stop talking about!

Gerry Nicholls said...

Now that Jen/Brad scoop is a shocker. What's next-Belinda getting back with Peter?

Monkey Loves to Fight said...

Vancouver-Kingsway is one of the least Conservative ridings in all of Canada so David Emerson has absolutely no chance at being re-elected. In addition, Belinda Stronach jumped 11 months after the election and she did have many disagreements with Harper over the direction of the party. Scott Brison was elected as a Progressive Conservative party, so his party no longer existed after the merger, so I believe he had the right to join whatever party he felt most comfortable with.

As for David Emerson who jumped ship after a mere two weeks after being elected as a Liberal so it looks like opportunism to me. Yes he is a very qualified individual and will no doubt do a good job in his portfolio, but the point here is Harper ran on being a more ethical government and so far he has failed.

Gerry Nicholls said...

Yes Miles, but you didn't address the important question: What about Brad and Jen?

Anonymous said...

Could you cut the new Prime Minister some slack ...the old Conservative joke was that when their was trouble , we circled the wagons and then shot inwards ...like what we are doing over the Emerson affair.And it is only Day #1.
PMSH is a wise man and he has wise men and women to support him .
How about us ...are we supporters or not ?
NOTHING has changed for me , I am a Conservative and a Harper fan .
I still believe in Bryan Mulroney ...and I still think that Martin and Chretien were a disaster for all Canadians .
blessings from Virgil Ontario

Anonymous said...

Gerry -- I stop by to see what you've been blogging about, and the topics of the day (in this comment section) are Jen-Brad and Belinda-Peter. It could have been worse, however -- imagine if it was Jessica-Nick! : )

Anonymous said...

Typical Conservative response. SH is along term thinker. I hated Mulroney like many Candians but I've come to understand what really occurred. Let's give SH a chance.
Neither he, nor Emerson did anything illegal, nor, to many people, unethical. SOme disappointed voters in B.C? They will get over it when they see him perform as I hope he does.
Gettig the best people in the right jobs is a key to a successful business and we've all wanted the gov't run more as a business.
The partisan Bulls..t doesn't make it run smoother