Why I'm glad to have left United Financial...

"The relationship between staffer and boss is marred by the Jeeves Principle, which holds that in most large organizations the really intelligent people end up as subordinates while the blandly charismatic, effortlessly slender, excessively well-groomed ones end up as top dogs. "

David Brooks, NYT, April 2, 2006

Fahrenheit 451... or Kennedy Killed the Hat

Is it just me or are some of the themes in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 becoming more and more apparent in our politics.

In one scene in the book, Montag, the principal character comes home to his highly medicated wife who announces whom she is going to vote for, based on her consideration that one candidate was more pleasant looking than the other.

This is what Western democracy has come down to. Gone are philosophical debates. They're over. Margaret Thatcher won. This past week the entire Liberal campaign has been squandered due to some exceptionnally bad muck-rakeing, and the NDP are asking Liberals to "loan" their votes. Steven Harper was criticised for not smiling genuinely enough...

ugh.

Elections are lost by the governing party, not won by the opposition...

Under the column, Elections are lost by the governing party, not won by the opposition...

What is surprising in this election hasn't been the sudden and unexpected rise fo Steven Harper, or the dithering fall of Paul Martin's Liberals, but more... Why has it taken this long?

If this election turns into a win (either a minority or a majority) for the conservatives, it will largely be due to two things. After wresting control from Jean Chretien, who left him the present of the adscam, Martin had to silence those who weren't onside with his take-over in the Libs. Martin needed to silence them.

So to do so... he had two choices,

The first, in true Machievellian politics, he needed to Eliminate the Chretien loyalists. While Sheila Copps and Warren Kinsella certainly have been the most vocal opponents of Martin from the Liberal camp, there are others. "The Mole" for instance...

Tony Valeri and others overran Copps, Kinsella went into private practice and started playing music again... but they didn't roll over. Martin is now fighting a two front war. A guerilla war within and an election without. Fighting a two front war isn't a recipie for success.

The second, and more difficult option would see Martin mend the fences. It would have been a tough pill to swallow, but it may have smoothed over the rough patches.

Martin chose option one... and now he looks like George Bush in every Democrat's wetdream. He's surrounded himself with a cabal of insiders and bought men, sycophants, who know how to fight a in-house turf war, but don't realize what plays with the masses. He looks like someone who feels entitled to be Prime Minister, not someone who believe's he's worthy of public trust. Someone who lives in the psycological shadow of his father, and is not his own man. Who provided us with that image... Copps, Kinsella et al.. by via of Martin's acrimonous dumping of them...

Add to that, the sheer frat-houseness of the Liberal Campaign... the beer and popcorn stunt, the sheer despiration in the tone of the Liberal Attack ads, the supposed bribing of an NDP candidate...

This last issue aside, I have to ask, why has it taken this long, and why are these the issues that are turning people away from the Liberal banner?

Canadian Election

One of the inspirations for creating this weblog is to get my views out into the world. Many of the media outlets have begun to blurr the line between fact and editorial. I am tired of partisan reporting, of opinion superceeding fact.

I recently moved from Manitoba to Alberta. When there, I was an active member of the board of the PC Party of Manitoba. I watched as respected news media outlets pandered to the NDP government, and as FoxNews in the US turned from Newscast to cheerleader.

Today, the Globe and Mail, on its front page posted a picture of Steven Harper beside a picture of the actor (in Character) who plays Ricky in "Trailer Park Boys." And actually had a full length article on the fact that they are distant cousins.

I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a joke, or an attack on Harper... but nonetheless, its not news, while funny (either as a joke or as a pathetic display of partisan editorial) I don't think its front page material...

So that was the straw in this camel's back that prompted me to put my ideas out into the ether... I'm going to be my own editor of my own weblog and put my opinion out there...

Open for business

Welcome to my weblog, Slane's Castle...

Named after Slane Castle, a estate in Ireland that holds historical, political and current pop-cultural significance.

Located on the River Boyne, the site of the famous victory of William of Orange over James II in 1690, Slane Castle today hosts an annual music festival.

The name represents a mix of history, politics and fun... what I aim for my blog to discuss...