The Clown Show Files IX

The press is brimming with stories about how Harper just whacked into disarray the opposition Liberal Party and put Liberal Leadership candidate Egghead Harvard Brat Ignatieff in a precarious position.

Of course, in all this they avoid the obvious hypocrisy, that most of these distinguished honorable members of parliament in the Party of No Principle, were all too ready to be silent about Afghanistan when they were in power. No, back then Afghanistan was a mission deemed worthy of Liberal support.

Now the Liberals are divided over the subject.

That's quite a conversion process for a party that was a hawk on Afghanistan. I guess that now they are part dove part hawk - - depending of course on whether or not they are in power or not.

For all the banter about how this was a strategic move on Harper's part meant to back Ignatieff into a corner there are too many circumstances here that were out of Harper's control. First of all the vote was close - - were talking within a few votes.

For a strategic vote, it seems like an awful big risk. Harper did not run in the last election on anything remotely close to a foreign policy centered platform. Now that may be part of the strategy for the next election - - though I highly doubt it.

Harper's future lies in Quebec. And my thinking is that Harper sees the real opportunity here when it comes to the fiscal imbalance. I expect to see serious movement from him at the end of this year and the beginning of next. An agreement with the provinces, and Quebec in particular, is what is required. That agreement will be what the next election will be about in my humble often wrong opinion.

I think what this does more, is it exposes how much the media has nothing good to write about right now. No doubt that some leadership candidates made strategic decisions in this vote, but on the overall the Liberal Party does not want to go into an election right now. They can't. They would be decimated. I would be surprised if there wasn't some structure set up by the Liberal whip ensuring the vote would pass.

So all in all, I don't find much here to be concerned about. There isn't any conspiracy by Harper to take down Ignatieff. The question is, is there one by Liberals in the Liberal Party? I think some former anti-Martinites might know something about that.

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