Cross-posted at my blog.
Well, last night I sat in front on my TV for 4 hours. The first hour watching Duffy’s show on CTV NewsNet, the next two watching the french debate (which, by the way, I actually enjoyed) and the last hour watching the commentary on Duffy’s show.
I have a few random thoughts:
Why does Mike Duffy have partisans on to “discuss” the debate? I mean, come on. I think we ALL know what their comments will be. I find it very annoying. And then Duffy himself has the audacity to be rude to the NDP guy! He asked him what he thought of the debate, the guy responded with, “I think the NDP did great.” and Duffy snidely replies, “Of COURSE you do!” and rolls his eyes! Well that goes for the two partisans sitting beside you too Mike. If you know what they are going to say, why bother having them on? I much prefer listening to real political analysts with some bit of independent thought.
I find particularly annoying the Conservative partisans that get on these shows nowadays. Haven’t they figured out yet that the FOX model won’t work in Canada? We are for the most part literate here, we aren’t sheeple Americans who fall for simple words and divisive phrases. Have these new Conservatives gone to the same school Ann Coulter and JimmyJeff went to? I partly blame CTV News for this. If I wanted to watch conservative Republicans, I’d watch FOX News, not CTV. (And this goes double for Mr. David “Axis of Evil” Frum, he’s just an American pretending to be Canadian as far as I’m concerned. But wait… So is Stephen Harper! Are they friends, I wonder??? Hmmm….)
Now I know I’m probably going to upset some people with my next beef, but whatever. What the HELL is the Bloc even in the debate for? Seriously? I get absolutely infuriated with this separatist bullshit. It reminds me of my 28 year old nephew who stays at home playing video games, whining about how he deserves better in life, while his parents continually foot the bill and allow him to stay. He won’t leave and his parents won’t kick him out. But guess what? He’s still family and I love him to death. But either shit or get off the pot. Figure it out one way or another and then STFU.
On a more polite note, Gilles Duceppe is REALLY good… I probably agreed with about 70% of what he said! He is intelligent, comfortable in his own skin, speaks with confidence. I can’t really blame Quebecers for voting for a Party this guy leads. It’s just the principle of the thing. They are very clear in the fact they are a Separatist Pary. If you are a French Canadian in Quebec who loves Canada and believes, as I do, that Canada isn’t Canada without Quebec, why on earth would you vote for the Bloc? Do you really hate the Liberals THAT much? I dunno, something seems a little wanky to me here…
On to the NDP. I like the NDP. I’d probably vote NDP if Stephen Harper wasn’t the leader of the Conservative Party. (Heck, I might even vote Conservative is Stephen Harper wasn’t the leader of the Conservative Party!) But the negativity that comes out of Layton’s mouth just doesn’t feel NDP’ish to me. Maybe it’s my problem with my perception of the NDP as the party of nice people who act like grown ups. The moderators, if you will. The “Miss Congeniality’s” of the race. So when Layton starts off a comment with negative attacks, it kind of makes me a little queasy and I lose a little bit of respect for the Party as a whole.
And finally, how long is it going to take before these guys realize that the Gomery thing is OLD NEWS! Yes, it happened. It would happen to ANY Party with too much power. That kind of corrupt behaviour due to too much power is not strictly limited to the Liberals. And EVERYBODY knows it! The other parties are beating a dead horse with that one, Canadians don’t much care about that scandal anymore… Face it. This is what I hear from EVERYONE I know. They don’t give a shit.
It’s the bread and butter issues people care about and most Canadians haven’t been forced to switch to margarine just yet, so the status quo is just fine. If it ain’t broke… and all that. Trying to convince a Canadian that this country is broke and needs change is just going to piss them off because it’s simply not true. It just makes you sound like a trouble-maker who is forcing the average Joe to go vote in the dead of winter for what? No good reason. Well guess what? THIS voter is going to vote Liberal just for spite! (Even though I’d vote Liberal anyway. But this IS what I’m hearing…)
All right, that’s enough for now. I’ll be back tomorrow with thoughts on the English debate being held tonight. Ta ta!