A touch of irony here, the guy who shuns the media on a regular basis, who refuses to take questions from VOTERS in an interview, who stifles his own candidates, now rushes to the cameras in unprecedented fashion to expose a new scandal. What a SMALL, small man:
The Tories delayed their flight so their leader could watch the tape and comment on it. Stephen Harper usually talks to the media only once a day, but last night he met journalists again.
“When you're running a trillion-and-a-half-dollar economy you don't get a chance to have do-overs, over and over again,” he said. “What this incident actually indicates very clearly is Mr. Dion and the Liberal Party really don't know what they would do on the economy.”
He said Mr. Dion can't blame his difficulties with English. “I don't think this is a question of language at all. The question was very clear. It was asked repeatedly.”
Delayed the flight? Oh my goodness war room, is it really this bad, are you really in such a dire circumstance, did you just read the latest battleground poll for British Columbia?:
Here are the parties' results in B.C. (Brackets show percentage-point change from Oct. 1-4 poll):
Liberal: 33 per cent (+6)
Conservative: 31 per cent (-7)
NDP: 23 per cent (+1)
Bloc: n/a
Green Party: 14 per cent (same)
I suppose when you're in freefall, naked desperation clouds your judgement. I watched the tape, and I seemed to have the same reaction as most fair minded observers- what's the big deal? I completely understood why Dion was having trouble, and I don't even equate with a hearing problem, although in politics, it would be wise to play up that angle, since we are in the gutter and all. The question was bizarre, Dion wanted clarity, it's a simple as that.
To turn this incident into a indictment of Dion's capacity to lead is such a SORRY statement on the Harper Conservatives, and their media minions, that I actually thinks this helps Dion. I thought this last night, today Dion comes out and answers the questions, given an opportunity to turn it around, express himself clearly and PUMP his message. Well, that interview just occured this morning, if anything Dion is the sympathetic character here and he has done himself some favors.
Mr. Harper doesn't look Prime Ministerial, he looks like a man who can clearly see the possibility of defeat now, his team are flailing at anything, because they essentially have nothing left. More about the messenger than the message, as this shakes out in the media- advantage Liberals.
20 comments:
Mr. Dion clearly heard the question. He was flustered because he didn't have an answer. Can you imagine Mr. Dion at a table with world leaders and asking someone to repeat themselves 3 times?
Here's a tip to Mr. Dion . . . Mulligans are only available in golf.
I saw the interview and thought the first question needed clarification. My gut reaction to the second version was irritation because the 2nd was different from the first. So, I'm thinking, what the *** is the interviewer asking? At that point I was more confused than I was during the 1st round. Am I supposed to pretend a magic fairy has made me prime minister in presto time? If so, isn't that the same as saying what would I do in mere days if elected PM? Because the effect is the same: until you figure out what precise information the current government has and hasn't been sharing then you can't really do anything.
The Con trolls are out in mega-force today, copying & pasting the same comments all over Lib blogs.
What a bunch of losers!
Yes they are definitely back for the third period.
Let's see now:
-A question that is so confusing that it was either posed by a buffoon or was rehearsed in advance,
-A breach of ethics by Duffy in bringing this up that on his lousy show leads to
-Harper delaying his plane for the one and only unscripted scrum where he happens to have a tv available and
-The trolls are out with the talking points.
Looks like the chess master is at it again. The obvious complicity of Bell Globe media is very disturbing.
penlan at 10:05 - I noticed that as well.
Saying you are not going to air false starts (CTV) and then doing it = lack of journalistic integrity.
Interesting / revealing that the failing economy did not excite Harper nearly as much, nor as quickly as this clip did.
PrairieKid, TV routinely has "do overs". That you don't realize that is a little odd.
Dion has a plan, it's called the Green Shift. It includes a huge income tax cut which will stimulate the economy. People will also buy new appliances and vehicles, among other things to save energy.
Can you imagine a Harper Conservative at a table of world leaders, muzzled by their leader, and useless? Or worse, allowed to speak?
Saskboy . . . TV do-overs are on make believe TV, NOT THE REAL WORLD! Is Dion going to get a do-over when he's sitting at a table with world leaders?
And tell me the last time a politician said that a new program was going to be revenue neutral and it actually was?
When you add a tax onto a business, that business has 3 options:
1. Increase the cost to consumers of their products.
2. Lay off staff to compensate.
3. Institute a hiring freeze.
All 3 options will stifle the economy.
Everything we use will be increased. Is the Green Shift going to reduce my income taxes by 25%? Of course not. But that's at least what my expenses are going to increase by the time the dust settles.
And the final question I have for you.
How much will our emission reduction be?
Every Liberal including Mr. Dion has not answered that question.
Here's a fact for you to digest.
Canada contributes approximately 3% to global emissions. If everyone in Canada stops driving and flying for a full year, we might reduce that number to 2.9%. Now, with China putting a coal-fired electric plant on line every week or so, and India increasing their automotive industry by 35% a year, our 3% is a drop in the bucket.
The Green Shift is like skinning your knee when you were a kid and your mother kissing it.
It didn't do a damn thing to heal the wound but it made you feel better. That's the Green Shift.
Personally I would be just fine with Dion as our PM sitting with other leaders insisting on clarification to points and issues he doesn't think are clear. That is better than just copying what the Australians and Americans are saying.
Penlan
"Interesting / revealing that the failing economy did not excite Harper nearly as much, nor as quickly as this clip did."
I wish I had said that. I hope Dion does.
Constant Vigilance - I didn't say that, Sassy did...she made a comment to me in her comment & then went on from there. :)
Here's what I saw:
The question was not terrible, but the time frames were imprecise: If you were Prime Minister NOW, what would you HAVE DONE ...
Dion asks for clarification of a hypothetical question (Does NOW mean "elected in 2006", "elected today" or "elected at some other time - say, 6 months ago")?
Here's where it went off the rails. CTV interviewer Steve Murphy didn't offer clarification; he just repeated the question more loudly: "If you were Prime Minister NOW". More confusion followed and then they went for a fresh start.
CTV decided that this was something that Canadians just had to see.
Stephen Harper says that this is proof that Dion has no plan.
Dion says that this is proof that Harper has no class.
Dion is right.
You know every time I hear people complaining about Dion's language I think that this is a slap in the face of every person in the country who has an accent or a speech impediment.
I'll let people in on a secret. People who are hesitant when they answer a question are people who are thoughtful and trying to respond honestly to the question. People who always have a glib answer are not engaging with the person who is asking the question.
What do you want? Someone who sees the world in ideological terms, so he always has an answer no matter what the facts are. Or do you want someone who sees the world new and is always willing to think things through?
This gets back to the issue of what people think "leadership" involves. Is a control freak who will not allow anyone competent around him a "leader"? Or is someone who attracts strong people, brings out their best and gets them to work together as a team? The first is a bully, the second is a coach.
Harper is not a leader, he is a bully. Dion is a coach.
I am disgusted with the discourse of this election. I've learned that most people in politics are hyper competitive drones who have zeron interest in fair play, intellectual honesty or the objective good of the nation.
No wonder so many people refuse to get engaged in politics!
I thought about this last night when I first heard it so am sort of done with the topic, but the one thing that struck me this morning more so than when I first saw it was the reporter did NOTHING to clarify the question.
One does not clarify a question by simply reiterating the exact same words in your "clarification" . . . "no, today," was about the most he offered.
He actually furthered the confusion by responding to Dion's inquiries by saying he was NOT talking about him being PM next Tuesday and NOT talking about him being PM since 2006. But he never once clarified when the hypothetical timing was, which is why Dion finally focused on the interpretation of literally becoming PM "right now," which is what he answered on the final take.
Dion answered a tense-mangled question, and CTV decided to "make" it a moment. Very faux news style, 5 days before an election. Bravo, CTV! You're "arrived"!
It was just a wonderful south-of-the-border moment, which sadly just reminds me of the deplorable influence of the US style of campaigning on Canadian elections. We can all thank Harper and his CRAP friends for that.
This was an instance of Harper letting the 'liberal-friendly' media carry his water. And they carried it well, breaking an ethical wall (huh, who'd have thought CONs and ethics were even in the same universe?) to achieve their goal.
Unfortunately, Dion prefers to understand a question before replying, and one in his second language that poses conflicting tenses and is hypothetical (so he was leader in the 2006 election?) certainly looks bad on the 'journalist' too. But both he and Duffy will get their reward, no doubt.
Oh, and one talking CON troll said this: "When you add a tax onto a business, that business has 3 options:
1. Increase the cost to consumers of their products.
2. Lay off staff to compensate.
3. Institute a hiring freeze.
All 3 options will stifle the economy."
All those options are also true in regards to both the CONs and NdP's cap and trade deal: increase the cost to consumers.
And we don't get the income tax cuts.
"He was flustered because he didn't have an answer."
Dion has been talking about what he would do if won the election for weeks. To say he didn't have an answer is wishful thinking, for a party reeling from it's own blunders. You guys are sad.
Funny how the trolls suddenly return, where you guys been the last couple weeks? Too busy sulking...
Prairie Kid's been a busy boy(I assume) today.
Hey, Prairie Kid - did you not try to learn anything over the last few weeks. Did you not read the Pemina report and Harper is misleading you? Try getting some info before you make comments, cause your comments are the Tory talking points - can you not speak for yourself or think for yourself?
PS: Pembina also says Layton's plan will cost a fortune (environmental, that is) and appears the BEST plan is Dion's. Well, well.
Did you know that Sweden and Denmark use the carbon tax plan VERY successfully? Na, didn't think so.
For you NDP'rs - Sweden/Denmark (socialist countries) also give tax breaks to corporations, as does Gary Doer of Manitoba.
...sigh.....
Speaking of CTV and ethics....what about the CRTC rules? Can someone lodge a ligitimate complaint against CTV? Just curious.
penlan
I stand corrected.
All hail Sassy.
How quaint, going out of your way to properly recognize someone else's thoughts. I thought Mr. Ordinary thought that was no longer necessary.
Well, constant vigilance, I certainly wouldn't want to be accused of "plagiarizing" like some others do. ;)
Prairie Kid, did you hear the results of the Jaccard Report the Conservatives had done?
Do you HONESTLY think that Dion would be so stupid as to ask world leaders for a do-over on an answer? Give us a break.
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