Okay, we can't say that Paul Martin was "a reptilian kitten eater." Natch, been done before. So, what's the next best thing? Hmmmm.... Can we call him a kittenish reptile eater? Nah, too soft, and most people don't like reptiles anyway. Have to go harder, meaner, nastier. After all, he's saying we're gonna rip up the Canada Health Act. That makes us look like monsters, and not just the ones that hide in kids' closets at night. Hmmm, kids' closets..... Hey, wait a second.... I GOT IT!Yikes. One can imagine the added bonus: "Hey, if it'll work on the Liberals, it'll work on the NDP too!" Oh, wait, the charge against the NDP was done first. But it's obvious the smear can work both ways.
Well, you can imagine how PM PM responded. How bad is all this? It's hard to say, as Mr Harper has only partially retracted the accusation (retraction, plus partial restatement = partial retraction), but even some more rabid supporters of the Conservatives are shaking their heads in dismay. But they're still not going to remove the implied slur against the NDP from the website. Go figure. So, Mr Harper, what are you trying to allege, exactly? Do you even know? Do you even care?
This is despicable. None of these paramecia deserve to govern. And they wonder why the electorate is cranky. They just don't get it, and I'm thinking more and more they never will.
You know, if I were writing a column for a newspaper or a magazine, I'd probably put together a piece on the strange juxtaposition of matters right now: in Canada, we languor through a campaign that is unremittingly mean-spirited, ill-mannered, and empty--- right at the same time that Ray Charles is feted as a kind-hearted and generally-civil symbol of soul and substance. It would be nice if the latter could bring into relief the misanthropy of the former.
Two other thoughts occur to me as I consider all this. The first is the bizarre question of whether or not all of these guys are desperately trying to LOSE the election rather than win it. The second is equally troubling realization that if we took this campaign and told its basic facts in a film, you'd think the film was a satire on the absurdities of politics. ("Gee, Bob, we really need to win, so how do we do it?" "I know: kiddie porn!" "Eeeeee-ksellent....") Forget The Candidate. We're talking Bulworth here. As Bulworth says, "You know, there's a lesson here, which is never try to make life or death decisions when you're feeling suicidal."
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