Dion and der Policy

Some policy meanderings from the Dion:

"Never before has a Canadian government done so little with so much. This budget is unfair, this budget is shortsighted, this budget is dishonest and this budget is divisive," Dion said.

He said it increases the gap between the rich and the poor, ignores the environment and does nothing for Aboriginals, students and single working mothers.

This is what we've all been waiting for. Finally a Liberal starts talking about policy. Now we can have a real debate... Here it goes.

The gap between rich and poor was definitely addressed in the budget. The government provided for millions in tax cuts that affect every single Canuck big or small, rich or poor, Liberal or Conservative, Aboriginal or yes single working mothers. It even created tax cuts geared at encouraging more people to get off the welfare rolls.

It committed significant amounts of cash to the environment - especially for Quebec. 4.5 billion is big enough a sum to be spending on something for it not to be considered "ignored." That being said I feel the sum is money down a dark hole that no one will see again.

Also they increased post-secondary education funding by %40. On that score I can actually agree with Dion. It will do nothing to help students. Increasing funding was a ploy for the party to move to the center on the debate. In reality increasing post-secondary school funding just increases the mentality in Universities in this country that students are not paying for their education and as such should be ignored. After all the university gets its cash from the state. Why should they care about students then? I've had a TA once remark that he didn't care what his students thought since he wasn't paid by them. He was paid by the government, or so he said.

In reality that money comes from students in the form of years and years of paying taxes. Quite frankly that measure will do more harm than good. Yet I highly suspect that's not what Dion meant. In reality I think Dion meant that even that amount of an increase was not good enough.

RCMP Reckoning?

For years there have been rumours of corruption in the RCMP. Some people even whispered that the relationship between the liberals and the Mounties was "unnatural." I don't think it was much of a secret that the top ranks of the Conservative Party felt much the same.

That lead to questions about their motives during federal campaigns, and questions about why the Tories were delaying release of the Grewal tapes. Conservatives, especially high ranking ones from conversations I had with certain nameless sources, were much more comfortable with the OPP investigating material than they were with the Mounties.

I find it interesting today that they're uncovering serious amounts of corruption over the handling of the RCMP pension plan. I can almost smell the rotting stench.

My thinking is that these "allegations" have been a long while coming. Canadians should know the depth of corruption that 10 years of Liberal rule brought.

Super Mario Aftermath

This commentator managed to sum up last night's stunning events up pretty nicely:
"They were sick and tired of the old parties. They had other priorities, like family values ... and taxes. They felt the other two parties weren't listening to them," Jean Lapierre, a former federal Quebec politician-turned-commentator, told CTV.
The party that stood for lower taxes, family values, and a reduction in the size of the state managed to astound the Quebec and Canadian elite by propelling itself from a mere 5 seats to 41. It formed the official opposition to the minority governing Liberals and displaced the socialist and separatist Parti Quebequois to third place.

Separatism could very well be on it's way towards the dust bins of history in La Belle Province. But what no one is paying attention to is that this may very well spell the end of the rampant socialism that has afflicted the politics of that province for far too long.
"This is a cry from the heart from the people that we heard tonight."
Quebec, the province that gave us the Marxist-Trudeau, is now looking more and more Conservative and classically Liberal. It could be argued that it was the politics of Quebec that drove the spread of socialism all across the country over the last 30 years.

If socialism dies in Quebec, what does it mean for the rest of the country? One can only hope it means a similar death and rebirth everywhere.

Super Mario Strikes

Can someone please pinch me... These results... They are... Well they really are a "turning point" in Canadian politics:

PartyElectedLeadingTotalVote Share
ADQ25214631.54%
LIB31144532.12%
PQ18163429.07%
QS0003.39%
GRN0003.67%
OTH000.21%
Last Update:March 26, 9:23:21 PM EDT

Even if the ADQ's numbers are half this good by nights end Mario Dumont is still the clear victor of this election campaign.

Another Gibson Tirade?

Claims are being thrown around that Mel Gibson went on a "tirade" over accusations that he was racist:
TMZ has learned Mel Gibson exploded in anger last night on a college campus after an expert on Mayan culture accussed him of racially stereotyping the Mayans in the movie "Apocalypto."
As happens frequently the media's version of events and the actual version from someone who got off their derriere and went there are totally different:
She kept accusing him of being racist, irregardless of the fact that these things DID happen in the Mayan culture. The faculty of CSUN turned off her microphone and Mel Gibson said "No, let her talk. Please." And she became angry and said that her voice was being silenced even now by the fact that they were turning off her microphone. Mel Gibson said "I'm listening to you! I can still hear you!" She began berating him again and accusing him of not doing ANY research. He kept repeating that he HAD done his research and that the story was not about portraying the Mayans as violent people but it was a chase story and about a man trying to get back to his family. He then said "Lady, you're nothing but a troublemaker and Fuck OFF!"

At which point the AUDIENCE cheered. They were there with the SOLE purpose of putting on a demonstration. Mel Gibson was at that school to give the Anatomy of Film Production class an opportunity to ask questions and some faculty were welcomed in to see the film themselves. There was a LINE of students wrapped around the building and only 22 were allowed in.
I don't think what Gibson did was the best thing - when you use the language of an alley cat, you tend to make yourself look like an alley cat. If he had kept to the high road I think the headline would have been different at the end of the day.

h/t Relapsed Catholic.

Climate Change Idolatry

It's funny how life works. Just yesterday I suggested that climate change believers were indulging in "idol" worshiping of the Earth or nature like some golden calf.

Then a democrat suggests that Al Gore is a "prophet."

Then Al Gore makes comments like these:
"I fully understand that Kyoto, as a brand if you will, has been demonized..."

"Our world faces a true planetary emergency. I know the phrase sounds shrill, and I know it's a challenge to the moral imagination."
Ok the "moral imagination" part is pretty standard fluff from a man with a liberal relativistic mind. But for him to use the word "demonized" and for people to start saying that he's a "prophet?"

It's hard not to see a religious dimension here, particularly since these people seem to be inviting it on.


So much for helping the poor...

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty's logic behind this is weehakee-woohoo:

The government fears a large jump in the minimum wage could cost tens of thousands of jobs if employers move to keep their payroll levels the same after the hike by getting rid of staff.

"We don't enjoy the luxury of being wilfully blind to economic consequences of a rapid acceleration in the size of the minimum wage," McGuinty said.

"It would be irresponsible to hike it overnight."


But it wouldn't to do it gradually so that no one notices the layoffs? I can't assume he's the devil incarnate, so believing that he's doing this slowly so no one notices doesn't seem too sound.

I'm thinking he's probably thinking that somehow doing it gradually won't bring the exact same layoffs. Just where does he expect the money to come from? Money doesn't grow on trees.

Either employers will lay off workers or they will hike prices which will lead to someone else getting cash strapped prompting someone else seemingly unrelated getting a pink slip. Though 'cuz it's happening over a longer time period no one can point a finger of blame on the Ontario Liberals. It all seems random and unrelated.

This does nothing to help the "working poor." All it does is hurt them and produce a whole bunch of injustice to people that can't afford any of it.

A Bitter Success

That's the best way to describe private up-start SpaceX's bid to break open the launch market to real competition.

Robot Guy says it best when he discovered the rocket didn't make it to LEO:

"Dang, double dang."

I think I had more of that reaction when they confirmed that it crashed into the pacific after getting up to 300 clicks before crashing into the deep blue.

Though I doubt Elon Munsk is all that put down. He's still pushing ahead. A little bit more realistically, and less wet behind the ears? Probably.

Looking back last year's attempt to launch a DARPA research satellite looks premature. His clever naming of this launch as being a "demo launch" was no doubt a reflection of a new caution on his part.

Rocket science aint the domain of the weak hearted or the cash strapped. Hopefully though one day thanks to nutsos like Elon, we won't be able to say the "cash strapped" bit.
“The rocket business is definitely not a low-stress business, that’s for sure, but I don’t think I’m disappointed. In fact, I’m pretty happy.”
I'm hoping he stays that way - and that he proves to be right in his gamble on low cost rockets.

Religion and Climate Change

Religious leaders are having a march for awareness of global warming in New Hampshire...

In snowy weather.

I'm convinced God has a sense of humor:
“God has given us this Eden, and our behavior is making a mess of it,” said the Rev. Jim Antal, president of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ, the state’s largest Protestant denomination.

The religious walkers are part of Religious Witness for the Earth, a 6-year-old national interfaith environmental organization. Supporters include clergy from the Catholic, Unitarian, Jewish, Episcopalian and Muslim faiths.

The leaders are calling for individuals, businesses and government entities to reduce fossil fuel emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

(....)

Many members of Religious Witness for the Earth have used their position from the pulpit to make their congregations aware of climate change.
A "Religious Witness" not for God but for the "Earth."

There is one problem with this ecological love in. It's that love of nature can be a bad thing if it's taken to it's extreme.

Time to call on Cardinal Biffi:
"...the Antichrist presents himself as pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist...there are relative values, such as solidarity, love of peace and respect for nature. If these become absolute, uprooting or even opposing the proclamation of the event of salvation, then these values become an instigation to idolatry and obstacles on the way of salvation."
The question is, do these God fearing people love nature a little too much? Are they treating respect for nature as a moral absolute?
“The interfaith aspect of what we’re doing heightens awareness among everyone,” said Rabbi Justin David of Congregation B’Nai Israel in Northampton. “Climate change is a moral issue and it’s a collective issue. It transcends the differences of faith and politics and generations. This is something everyone needs to pay attention to.”
Climate Change is a "collective issue?" It "transcends differences of faith?"

Idolatry doesn't seem that far off if you ask me.

SpaceX Woes...

Apparently launching a rocket on the cheap means being reasonable and postponing a launch or two if necessary.

SpaceX's woes make us all cringe. I pray that this next attempt is whole lot happier.

The True Climate Change Deniers

Are those that still persist in claiming that we can make 30% reductions of CO2 emissions without affecting the economy. Cutting CO2 emissions will require sacrifice. Anyone that tries to sell something for nothing is deluding themselves:
In a thought-provoking statistical analysis, Tsigaris has concluded that whether or not climate change can be wholly attributed to human factors, it makes strong economic and environmental sense to take action as though it is human-caused, and mitigate the effects of global warming beyond taking measures to adopt.
I would point out that the only country in history that has managed to ever reduce their CO2 emissions was Russia during the Soviet economic meltdown.

Somehow I think the costs of implementing Kyoto aren't as high as this guy would let on.

It Finally Comes

Dion has finally done it. The days of carbon taxing have finally been suggested.

This is exactly what those of that have been following the Kyoto debate since 2002 feared the worst. The prospect of new taxation under the guise of being for the environment.

I'll give this to Dion: at least he's suggesting something that will work. Emissions will lower over this tax. So will economic productivity and prosperity as well. The insane position that some have had that we can have our "Kyoto Cake and eat it too" prompts me to respond "There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch."

Actually trying to meet our Kyoto targets will cost jobs, hurt the economy, and bring us into a recession. You can't implement Kyoto without sacrifice.

After all the only time in known history a country has reduced it CO2 emissions was during an economic meltdown... A Russian one no less... A fact no enviro-fascist likes to mention.

Dion's Weakness

Dion has been compared roundly to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Both are former professors. Both are policy wonks. Hell, I bet both supported the clarity bill even.

What no one has paid attention to the biggest difference between Dion and Harper.

Harper is a brilliant strategist. Dion is not.

Dion's greatest ace is the unity file. Of course it's also his greatest liability. Being from Quebec, and because of his prominent role in the unity file it gives him leverage in that file. But with Separatism dying in Quebec that card doesn't seem like something he could pull out in the near future.

Over the last few months his problems I think are probably mostly due to Harper's strategy and Dion's lack of one.

One thing Dion has down pat is knowing how to build a coalition.

Dion's only ace left was the environment. Then again it seems like Dion might have some strategy in him after all.

Trad Sisters

What CBC doesn't bring up in this piece is that these Sisters come from one of the most traditional and Conservative religious orders in North America - and they're growing like nuts.

It's really amazing and untypical of the CBC to even allow a piece like this to be run.

I wonder why the Curt Jester hasn't picked up on this one yet. He's usually pushing that order whenever he can.

The Great Global Warming Swindle

Watching this documentary, makes me think two things:

a) These scientists are about to loose their jobs, their reputations, and possibly their entire lives over their appearances in this piece, and

b) The counter-arguments to this documentary are so weak, feeble, and either misleading or confused in themselves I have to wonder just who they think they're kidding.

My doubts about human induced global warming have always come from two facts no one has been able to explain away to my satisfaction: world temperatures lowered in the past century when carbon emissions increased, and existing climate graphs are doctored to discount a period of climate history called the "little ice age" which has plenty of historical evidence proving it's existence.

Until those two facts are reasonably explained away by the enlightened few out there my stance will remain the same: CO2 caused global warming is either exaggerated or non-existent.

Pre-Debate Thoughts

Talk is abound about Quebec politics. With the PQ and the Liberals in the slumps, it seems as if "Super Mario" ADQ leader Mario Dumont has a shot at upsetting the established separatist/federalist dynamic of French Canadian politics.

Charest made the mistake of brining up the "p-word" giving the PQ the opportunity to pounce. All the while Dumont had to put down fires started by ADQ candidates unwilling or unable to keep their mouthes shut.

A poll later and nothing's changed. The debate is tomorrow and that leaves one last chance for Charest to save his leadership and Boisclair to keep the separatist movement alive.

Suggestions are being made that this is a "turning point" in Quebec politics.

Turning points become turning points only after they become turning points. Otherwise they just end up become mindless media dribble that no one remembers the next time someone labels an event a "turning point."

Anyways, the end game is here. Dumont has exceeded expectations and really can only hope not to screw up. Boisclair's position can be best described as a dying man on his last rungs. I expect mistakes of desperation are his worst enemy.

Charest's only hope is that somehow Dumont falls under the intense scrutiny and pressure he now faces. Charest I expect, for the most part, will focus his guns on the ADQ for the time being. Just what is the point in attacking Boisclair? The separatist leader has been reduced to his primary base and there is little hope in much movement from separatists to Charest.

Maybe this is a "turning point" election. Or maybe it isn't. I really doesn't matter. What matters is that the rise of ADQ seems like a foregone conclusion driven by two factors: Quebequers in the 21st century have tired of the separatist debate, and they yearn for a conservative alternative to years of near complete socialism in La Belle Province.

The ADQ, both Conservative, and ambivalent towards the unity debate has become the vehicle of time. In some ways it must be asked if the ADQ merely was at the right time and the right place, or if it was the place and time that spurred the creation of the ADQ.

So regardless if separatism dies in this election or in one to come, that very conclusion seems as inevitable as the setting of the sun.

It's a thought not lost I'm sure by Prime Minister Harper this afternoon.

The Worst Possible Climate Prediction

Lorne Gunter provides the one insight that bothers me the most in the Climate Change debate. What if in a couple decades the earth starts to cool?
Here's a prediction: The sun's current active phase is expected to wane in 20 to 40 years, at which time the planet will begin cooling. Since that is when most of the greenhouse emission reductions proposed by the UN and others are slated to come into full effect, the "greens" will see that cooling and claim, "See, we warned you and made you take action, and look, we saved the planet."
And that very well could happen. Sooner than we think. One scientist suggested a global cooling cycle could begin starting in the year 2012. The year, coincidentally, when the Kyoto accord is supposed to be done and implemented.

I have a distinct fear, that even though carbon emissions will have seen a rapid increase over the years of implementation of Kyoto, that environmentalists will still try to claim credit for any cooling that will occur after 2012.

"We saved the planet!," may not be far off the mark from what the enviro-fascists out there will say. It will bolster predetermined opinions, and encourage more eco-worship-like activism for "mother earth."

Still A Three Way Race

Dumont is living on a high after these poll numbers:

The CROP survey, conducted for La Presse and released Saturday, put Liberal support at 33 per cent, PQ support at 29 per cent and ADQ support at 26 per cent.

Dumont said Quebecers should not fear a minority government, citing Ottawa as an example of minority success.

This is the first poll that covers the time period containing Charest's partition gaffe and Dumont's candidate woes.

The poll numbers show absolutely no movement at all. Stability for Mr Dumont, is a Godsend right now.

Gotta Love The NDP

The one thing that I'll never get over is that you can never disagree with a Canadian member of the Liberal Party for the most part. Their is nothing to disagree on. They believe in "good government" and "a better Canada" or something to that effect.

The dippers on the other hand I'll completely disagree with. Though I'll be able to say exactly what they stand for.

Case in point, the NDP's new parliamentary wish list. Now here are some policies! All bad ones, but at least we can have a real debate now:
The NDP is calling for incentives to help low-income Canadians leave welfare and enter the work force and for more funding for postsecondary education that improves affordability of and accessibility to higher learning.
I can't believe the dippers have gotten to the point where they're worrying about getting people off of the pogy. No doubt what they mean by "incentives" is no doubt some sort of monetary incentive on top of what welfare recipients already receive. How patronizing is that? We need to bribe these people to go back to work?

Here's an incentive: stop paying so much out. The welfare system in this country is so generous that it's more economically advantageous for some people not to work. Reducing welfare is one surefire way of creating an incentive to work.

As to the post-secondary bit, There Aint No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. We pay for education no matter which way the route goes. If the government pays for it, it's collected from us through our taxes. So no one should think that for the majority of the Canadian population isn't paying as much for their children's education

What will happen though is a whole flock of people who don't need or shouldn't be getting a degree in English lit will get one. They'll graduate and do a job they'll never use their degree for. That's the end result of increased access to post-secondary education as far as I'm concerned.

You want to help the poor get a leg up?

An end to a special tax break for the oil sands that allows some firms to write off investments quickly.

That one I can't agree with. Lower taxes don't just benefit Alberta, the oil sands, and big corporations - they benefit everyone. It means those corporations in Alberta can hire more people which means more jobs.

Rebates for fuel-efficient cars.

Because we already don't have enough incentive already to get rid of gas guzzling SUVS... See what's happening to Chrysler lately? That's the power of the free market responding to higher gas prices. As gas prices go up, the incentive will already be there for more and more fuel efficient cars. I disagree with this one only because I think it's useless. It's not really damaging in itself.

Increases to seniors' monthly Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Of course decreasing the taxes seniors have to face already isn't an option.

Energy efficiency home retrofits for low-income families.

Because Canadians are too dense to want to save money by making their homes as energy efficient as they can already... This whole initiative completely dismisses individual initiative or responsibility.

A national disability income-support program.

I don't know the details on this so I can't offer up an opinion.

Accelerated recognition of foreign credentials of skilled workers.

Ok now this is just fluff. That's a nice idea, but how will you force an organization like the PEO to recognize more engineers? That promise has to be the biggest whopper of promises made by everyone... Who doesn't want more doctors and engineers and technicians? Who wouldn't want it? The problem is that it's just takes a while to get done.

Funding for child care.

Great. Support Harper's child care policy and we're good.

Establishment of a federal minimum wage of $10 an hour.

Because we haven't harmed the employment chances of Canadian teenagers enough. You want to help the poorest of the poor? Try getting out of their way. Stop taxing them. Stop regulating them. They are quite capable of moving forward if you let them. That's at least the principle I stand by.

What If Taxes Kill Space Tourism?

Via the Space Frontier Foundation, a little tidbit on the Oracle space tourist sweepstakes winner I was unaware of:
"Emmett won a future spaceflight as part of a 2005 sweepstakes sponsored by software giant Oracle Corp. He forfeited the prize after calculating he would owe $25,000 in taxes for the spaceflight valued at $139,000."
Wow. That's almost as bad as the good ol' Canuck Dominion itself. If that flight were taking off from this Queens land it would no doubt be charged GST/PST at a rate of 14% requiring him to pay $19,460 in taxes.

And I wonder if our airline security taxes would be applied to him to boot.

In any event, I can't help but wonder if the real challenge that space tourism faces isn't technical and isn't regulatory... What if the biggest challenge to space tourism is taxes?

Some of us are crazy enough to put a second mortgage on the mansion in order to pay our way to space (myself included). But the question is on top of all that, am I willing to sell the car and the boat too?

Yikes. That's another question altogether. I can see where the bub is coming from, but really for him a ticket was paltry 25 grand not the 139 gee's I'm willing to go for.

He should've ponied up the cash and taken the chance.

Meat Eating Causes Global Warming

Via Classical Values PETA has a beef with Al Gore:
" Norfolk, Va. -- This morning, PETA sent a letter to former vice president Al Gore explaining to him that the best way to fight global warming is to go vegetarian and offering to cook him faux "fried chicken" as an introduction to meat-free meals..."
(...)
"The effect that our meat addiction is having on the climate is truly staggering. In fact, in its recent report "Livestock's Long Shadow--Environmental Issues and Options," the United Nations determined that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined."
I can't help but wonder, as Classical Values does, just why are environmentalists ignoring this? How come no one has talked about the horrors of the evil corporate farmer raising his livestock and destroying the environment...

Better watch out for those farming deniers that refuse to accept the reality that global warming is real and unless we get farmers under control Iceland will melt, New York will flood, Africa will turn into the surface of the sun, and Al Gore will start wearing one piece bathing suits as outdoor wear.

h/t Transterrestrial

Gaffe

Charest's only gaffe in his so far flawless campaign may prove to be last:
"DEUX-MONTAGNES, QUE., MONTREAL, ST-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, QUEBEC — In his first major misstep of the campaign, Liberal Leader Jean Charest was forced to backtrack last night on controversial remarks suggesting Quebec could be partitioned in the aftermath of a separatist referendum victory."
This gives Boisclair, who's been in the doldrums lately, the perfect opportunity to hit the Quebec Liberals where it hurts while they stand on the political high ground. The PQ wanted this campaign to be about separatism. Now Charest gave them exactly the issue they needed to make it so.

Dumont is mysteriously silent today on this issue. My guess is he's taking the tact that it's better to keep his mouth shut and to let Charest burn a little bit so that people will forget this.

Addendum:

Super Mario coughs up a quote after all:

"Action democratique du Quebec Leader Mario Dumont accused Charest of talking about the partition of Quebec because the premier is still dreaming of being prime minister of Canada."

(...)
"Dumont also said if Charest is seriously thinking of partition then 'he's not able to govern Quebec.' "

Dumont has it right there. That was a slip from the federal Charest who is still alive and well underneath the provincial Charest.

That won't change one thing though: what Charest said was right. If Quebec has the right to secede, then the regions of Quebec have the right to secede from Quebec.

Wait! This is sacrilege!

The Red Star reports that the Tories are swimming in cash:
"Flaherty has lots of revenue to work with. The Conservatives, who consistently blasted predecessor Liberals for running higher than forecast surpluses, are headed for a 2006-07 fiscal surplus approaching the $13 billion recorded last year – nearly four times higher than Flaherty forecast 10 months ago."
Wait... Wouldn't that mean that the rhetoric from the left two years ago that Tory spending projections were way off mark and would put us all into deficit were actually closer to reality than anyone else's?

Isn't that sacrilege against the Liberal/Kyoto/Trudeau/anti-Gun/pro-choice god?

Polling To Death

Angus Reid's latest 3,000 small poll shows the Tories surging like no tomorrow well beyond any confidence intervals. What's worse for the Liberals the latest Decima poll is doing a good job of confirming those numbers.

What's most significant about these numbers isn't that the Tories, which benefit from being the party in power, are leading, but that Harper's Tories are leading every demographic - women, youth, urban - yet they are still retaining their traditional base. A fragile voter coalition perhaps, but a coalition nonetheless.

And what's worse, he's getting the numbers he needs in Ontario for a majority.

So the verdict is in. The Tories are officially acceptable in Canadian society. I am now part of the mainstream. It feels weird and somehow wrong.

All this polling has prompted more polling on who should be the next leader of the Liberal Party after the Dion.

Assuming your opponent is dead is probably the first mistake done in war. Dion still is leader of the party of broken promises until death or parliamentary maneuverings force him to part.

Given that, this must be prompting some sober thinking in Liberal benches this morning. Particularly some from Dion himself. Obviously Harper's attempts at forming a "new national governing party" are showing some results.

Dion has made comments already to the effect that Liberals must hunker down and weather the storm. Unfortunately that presumes that this will only be a temporary hick-up. Canadians will eventually see the light. Just give them enough time.

Somehow I doubt that thinking will last long in Dion's office. I expect that a new aggressive tone will be coming out of the office of the leader of the official opposition - and soon.

In terms of strategy, I expect that the focus Dion has put on the environment will soon fade. The Tories have taken the tact that they will meet whatever commitments the Liberals make while still refuting the possibility of meeting our Kyoto targets.

Dion must see the wisdom in this, because I heavily doubt that he believes that a nation that has already exceeded our targets in excess of 27% will somehow pull off a miracle and meet our targets in the next five years. In this strategy the Tories can still claim a moral victory when 2012 rolls around and say "see we told you so, and we did everything you told us would work."

Without the same sex marriage drum or the Kyoto dog Dion becomes a leader of a party without purpose. That thought must be weighing heavily on Dion as he decides what to do next.

Dion's next tact? My guess is that security issues, and foreign policy will become Dion's new sword.