Monday, May 08, 2006

Oi, what schmucks

Is it ok for me to seriously hate the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador right now? I've had my moments of disliking the Liberals over the years. Lord knows I saw enough boneheaded stuff when Tobin and Grimes were in charge. And yeah, that was worrying because they were running the province. But the opposition was normally half-way competent so there was at least the odd racket if something truly demented was being contemplated.

But the Liberals right now...I don't know. When was the last time there was this level of incompetence by a political party? Seriously. There must be a political scientist or Newfoundland historian out there that can point out a political party acting this dumb.

It was bad enough the Liberals let Jim Bennett win the leadership without even so much as a hint of a challenge. That was pretty gutless. Then, three months later (surely God, that has to be a Canadian political record) the long knives come out and they do him in. But not before the fiasco with Kelvin Parsons.

You know, I kind of respected Parsons a bit. Thought he wasn't a bad guy. But honestly, if this story is true (and he doesn't seem to be denying it), that he offered to resign for a judge's seat and that, just for icing on the cake, his son would run in his abandoned seat for the Conservatives, well, that's a spectacular piece of scumery. You stab your party in the back, cost the taxpayers money on a useless byelection and get your son a job. Not bad for a day's work.

And all of that, all of that, would be bad enough under normal circumstances except the premier of the province just announced plans to undertake what is quite possibly the riskiest venture in the history of the province by developing the Lower Churchill on our own.

Dear God. I mean, that statement terrifies the hell out of me. The number of things that can go catastrophically wrong with trying to do Churchill solo are unimaginable. What we need is a strong opposition to question and hammer away at the Conservatives, to make sure that this makes sense. And that if it doesn't, that they break the deal. A good opposition can do that. They have in the past.

The Liberals right now couldn't break a piggy bank. Helpless, pathetic, ill-organized, stupid and selfish. This is Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Dear Christ.

I hate them. Fiercely. Because any group behaving as stupidly as the Liberals are right now doesn't deserve to live.

And yes, I know the NDP are still there. I'm trying hard not to think that the sole hope for protecting democracy in Newfoundland is the NDP. It's almost as depressing a thought as where the Liberals are right now.

At this rate the Liberals are going to be wiped out in the next provincial election, a mere 18 months away. Which is the worst thing that could happen to the province - Danny Williams in charge with no opposition.

But you can't blame the people of the province if they decide to pick a government that seems half-way competent vs. an opposition that can't find its ass with both hands. But it's still a terrifying thought. No good can come from that. Then again, considering the quality of Liberals currently in office, no good can come from voting Liberal either, apparently.

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7 comments:

Edward Hollett said...

Imagine how some people feel who actually at some point voted Liberal.

Anonymous said...

I think Parsons applied to be a judge in response to a public ad and expressed his interest to the Minister. Not uncommon. The problem is when he offered his son to run in his place as a Conservative! I guess his only hope of being a judge now will be for the Port Aux Basques Carvival Kareoke Contest :) !

The lack of opposition scares the hell out of me. Not that Danny isn't doing a good (or adequate) job but that he is sure to become increasingly arrogant and make stupid mistakes if he is unchallenged from across the house. This is not a Liberal/PC thing as each is capable of becoming detached from the voters, arrogant, and reckless. Only thing is that by the time that happens (usually 2 or 3 terms) we kick them out and replace them. But we could see such arrogance and recklessness with the PC's in record time and be left with no replacement.

It's a sad time in the political history of Newfoundland. I blame Tobin for a lot of it. He screwed us up so badly that poor Grimes could not defend the Liberal party's position on anything. We needed to punish the Liberals so we just needed anyone who was even remotely credible to come along. Enter Danny. Interesting enough you could say the same thing federally exchanging Tobin/Grimes/Danny for Cretien/Martin/Harper.

Anonymous said...

That's right--the government is looking for several judges and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Kelvin Parsons applied. I believe the ad was in the paper two weeks ago. After all, it's a more lucrative position than politician with a lot less hassle.

towniebastard said...

Fine, you apply for the job...but maybe you don't call the Justice Minister to inquire how the interviewing process is going. And you most certainly don't offer up the name of your son as a possible Conservative candidate in the next election.

Parsons should have enough brains to know that if it got out (which it did) the public perception of what he did looks terrible.

Oh, and Colette, Pat hasn't been a lawyer long enough to make judge yet, has she? I know how she pines to wear the robes.

And Ed, I have voted Liberal in the past. I've voted for all three major parties at one point.

Anonymous said...

No, I understand calling the Justice Minister about the job--it wouldn't be unusual for any job seeker to call anyone you know on the inside to find out how things are going. (C'mon Craig--wouldn't you?) Talking about his son is, I agree, beyond the pale. Of course, there's always the chance he was using the job thing as an excuse to call and chit-chat....I don't know if the competition has closed yet actually.

And Pat will be sitting on a bench on day, her protestations to the contrary. She's got another three years before she's eligible to apply (isn't that right, Pat?)

Edward Hollett said...

The Justice minister called Parsons to discuss an issue related to the courts. That's perfectly fine and acceptable since Parsons is a former minister and atty general himself.

Where the whole thing went off the rails was when Parsons began talking about his personal business, i.e. his application for a seat on the bench and then went completely into the trees when, even by his own admission, he discussed the prospects for the seat once he vacated.

The only place for Parsons at this point is out. Out of caucus and likely out of the House altogether. He certainly can't be carrying on within the Liberal caucus since clearly his motives can and should be questioned every single time he rises to pose a question or make a comment.

Craig: the Liberal comment was meant to refer to people who typically vote Liberal, not the people, like yourself, who vote based on something like oooh maybe issues, the character of the candidates and other nonsensical stuff. (j/k)

In other words, if people otuside the party are feeling queasy over the current state of affairs, imagine the wretching going on inside. Craig, your comments overall were spot on.

Anonymous said...

I'm eligible on October 2009 ... not that I'm keeping track or anything.

I want a miniature gallows to put on the bench when I get called ...