Sunday, April 20, 2008

Let's Stay Focused

Okay, Monday is going to be a spinorama of biblical proportions. All the usual suspects will be out, pointing to nefarious aspects, diversion, counters, basically a maelstorm of bullshitification. Just remember one thing:

The agent for the federal Conservative Party in the last general election "made materially false and misleading statements" on its financial returns, Canada's elections commissioner alleges in the court documents...


Allegedly, people knowingly LIED.

There's the beacon in the rolling Con fog.

20 comments:

Gayle said...

I have posted this a couple places now, but my favourite part so far is this (from the Star):

"One of those emails included an email by an employee at the party's media buying agency referring to a call from the head of the Conservative Fund, Irving Gerstein.

"They may be spending up to their legal limit on this campaign," wrote David Campbell advising others of Gerstein's call. "They are also thinking of 'switching' some of the time over to the ridings. It sounded like the reason was to legally maximize advertising expenditures.""

I am not saying it is true, but it sure justifies that warrant.

I challenge any and all CPC supporters to address this issue without mentioning Adscam.

Good luck

Steve V said...

gayle

Did you read the part where the Cons said the RCMP "stormed" the headquarters? It was a visit when you were downplaying, now its storming when you play the victim.


Yes, no adscam, and no saying the Liberals and NDP do it too. Apparently, they didn't.

Gayle said...

Just a cautionary note - it is important to remember this is still unproven. We do not even know if charges will be laid. Search warrants always set out allegations but do not always result in evidence to support an offence.

To be honest, as much as I like to see the CPC squirm, I opposed releasing the search warrant until, and if, charges are proven. I believe it is unfair for anyone to have to defend themselves in the court of public opinion, but I do not feel sorry for Harper because we all know what he would be doing if it were the liberals under investigation.

Steve V said...

"Just a cautionary note - it is important to remember this is still unproven. We do not even know if charges will be laid."

Yes, yes. I'm just pointing to what is at stake here, the only question that matters.

Gayle said...

Oh I hear you Steve. I am just a bit anal retentive about some things. Better safe than sorry and all that rot...

sassy said...

private meeting, private meeting (as said on the video)

Were two hotel meeting rooms booked (in advance) for this private meeting?

Loraine Lamontagne said...

I note from the G&M that
..."the material handed out to television networks by officials yesterday amounted to about 70 pages. Ryan Sparrow, a party spokesman, refused to explain when contacted by The Globe and Mail, why the Conservatives released only a portion of the documents."

Indeed, let's stay focused.

James Curran said...

And the penalty is only $1000 for the agent and $25000 for the party. What happens to the 100s of thousands paid out in rebates to the 65 of 67 candidates?

Gayle said...

james - the money was not paid out. The CPC is suing Elections Canada for it.

In retrospect it appears this lawsuit may have been a pre-emptive strike because it was initiated after the current quasi-criminal investigation began.

wilson said...

''Allegedly, people knowingly LIED.''

But Steve, the email quoted says the opposite:


''It sounded like the reason was to legally maximize advertising expenditures.""

They were of the understanding it was legal.
And if the party has the money, why wouldn't they maximize their ad exp.?

James Curran said...

Yes. Exactly Gayle. But, a la Mulroney, they want those rebates anyway. How dare anyone question Conservatives when it comes to money.

Notice the amazing absence of Tory trolls on all the blogs this evening.

James Curran said...

Oops. I spoke too soon

Gayle said...

Wilson, if ignorance of the law was a defence I guess they would be OK.

The point is that if this email is true, it is evidence the CPC used the scheme as a means to circumvent the cap on national advertising, which means they knew the "local" ads were not local at all.

James Curran said...

Here's an email Wilson. From the Star.

One of those emails included an email by an employee at the party's media buying agency referring to a call from the head of the Conservative Fund, Irving Gerstein.

"They may be spending up to their legal limit on this campaign," wrote David Campbell advising others of Gerstein's call. "They are also thinking of 'switching' some of the time over to the ridings. It sounded like the reason was to legally maximize advertising expenditures."

Sure sounds like they were knowledgable about the fact they were going over their limit.

Saskboy said...

These people are running away from reporters using fire escapes, said the MSM tonight! The wheels are off the bus! From Cadscam to election fraud, they've got it covered.

Anonymous said...

I notice the media invited in on Sunday included the Toronto Star, CTV and La Presse and excluded CanWest, CBC, Canadian Press and Macleans.

I was a bit surprised to see the Toronto Star on the list, and then disappointed to see that the article they ran last night didn't even mention they were among the special invited, whereas CTV explicitly mentioned this.

Anyway, some of the more colourful descriptions came from the excluded press:

The documents were supposed to be made public Monday, but a bizarre attempt by the Tories to get ahead of the news by briefing select reporters on Sunday led to a slapstick scene that saw party representatives switching hotels, slamming doors and scampering down fire exits to escape pointed questions from journalists who weren't invited to the meeting. [Canadian Press]

Mike said...

You know what this reminds me of?

My 2 year-old. When hit takes a dump and we ask him if he pooped in his diaper, he likes to claim it was his 7 year-old brother who did it. O his 9 year-old sister. Or me or my wife.

But everyone knows who really pooped in his diaper, and he knows too, but, being two, he keeps denying it.

Its kinda cute for a 2 year-old. Its pretty goddamn embarrassing for a national political party that is the current government of the day.

Its going to be a wild and interesting day. I look forward to more of Wislon's utter nonsense and Pierre Poilievre's paranoid ramblings.

Gayle said...

"I look forward to more of Wislon's utter nonsense..."

On a BT blog she was claiming it is no big deal because the penalty is a fine. Apparently breaking the law is OK so long as you are not overly penalized.

Gayle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steve V said...

mike

I like the analogy, my daughter just lies, when I ask if she pooped, "no".

wilson

Is that all you've got? Give it a few hours, I'm sure the party will come up with something for you to parrot. Maybe the ink on the warrant can be traced back to a firm that once contributed to the Liberals.