The Shepherd And His TROC

      Is it just me (no, it's not) or are the Martinets invoking a double-standard by playing coy and positive in Québec while playing rough and negative in TROC (in political circles, the acronym for "The Rest Of Canada," otherwise known as "the rest of us that don't really deserve to be treated with intelligence")? This, by the way, is hot-on-the-heels of Martinet candidate Brian Tobin claiming on CTV's Question Period on Sunday that voters in Québec are the most sophisticated voters in the country. Ah.... After all, the PMS PM admits he needs Québec. So I guess it's time to do a little shameless toadying in the province in which the citizenry have a fundamental second choice which is currently leading in the polls. I can begin to describe to you the comfort I take in knowing that Marty and the Martinets think so highly of those of us in TROC. On Sunday, Tobin suggested that the Conservatives and the Bloc Québecois were practically in collusion with one another to break the Martin campaign, suggesting basically that a vote for he Conservatives was an indirect vote for the separatists in Québec, though none of the articles I've seen on the topic have quoted Tobin's exact words. (I wonder why that is....) Oh boy oh boy oh boy, this is nasty politics, though Tobin's very smooth demeanour kept it from looking as nasty as it actually was, and it really is a shame that someone of Tobin's charisma isn't working for a more noble cause-- or even a Liberal policy agenda of which to speak. Natch.

      So this is where we're going: not just demonizing the Conservatives (and to some extent the NDP, but certainly much less so), but playing off regions against one another, and intimating that any vote against the Liberals Martinets is a vote for separatism, whether by self-exclusion for voters within Québec, or a vote of exclusion of or indifference to Québec from anybody in TROC. Nice.... Haven't we seen this particular brand of nastiness before? Oh yeah, in the various Liberal nomination races. And, I hasten to note, in the "You're either with us or you're against us" doctrine peddled by the Bushies. You're either with Team Martin or you're against it, and the implication is that Team Martin represents The New Canada, the nation, now under Fearless Leader, on the cusp of its Golden Age. Sad thing is, I don't think I'm in the lease overreading into this. The Martinets have been speaking (ad infinitum) in the language of The Brand New Day, the Coming Of Paul who will lead us out of the desert. I wonder if Northrop Frye, were he still alive today, would describe Martin as a demonic parody of Moses. Maybe in his notebooks.

      By the way, all this talk about the Martin manipulations reminds me: The Stepford Wives is due for release soon, and, boy, check out the cast. Impressive.