Tuesday, April 06, 2010

The Conservatives "Rising Star"

Yesterday, I heard Charles Adler on CTV joining the Shelly Glover chorus, arguing that she's one to watch in Harper's caucus. It would seem Glover is being annointed by both partisans and media alike as the new "rising star" in the Conservative fold. Okay, I admit I'm perplexed, because I've watched Glover several times now, and about all I get is the impression of somebody fighting above their weight class. I suppose with such a weak back bench, impressing people is relatively easy, but from the Liberal perspective, I see more Glover as a net positive.

Last week Glover appeared on a panel, the topic crime. Here's an excerpt:
There’s a problem when you talk about numbers. First and foremost, when you talk about that number you just provided, does that include things that perhaps don’t cost money? For example, in our prison systems, we promote reunification of families. That doesn’t cost a dime. We promote that our inmates visit counsellors when they need to speak to someone. That doesn’t cost a dime. So, again, numbers can be skewed any which way, but I do take issue with the misleading comments made by my colleagues. I worked in this system. I’ll tell you straightforward, Canadians are seeing an increase in crime. I don’t care what Stats Canada has reported because they only count reported crime. They do not count unreported crimes. And as a police officer, I’ll tell you, I worked sex crimes for four and a half years, 92% of sex crime victims do not report their crime.

Follow the hilarity for a moment. Glover doesn't care what Stats Canada reports, their numbers are meaningless, THEN she uses her own STAT as retort. Alright then, stats bad unless they further my argument, then by all means.

Yesterday, Glover appeared on another panel, this time dealing with the Graham James issue. Glover started accusing the Liberals of not supporting certain measures, when in fact they had, confirmed by the NDP member of the panel. I'm sitting there in disbelief, because I've yet to see one appearance by Glover that I would catergorize as effective. About all I see is a complete lack of sophistication and depth, bordering on amateurish.

Shelly Glover may well prove to be an asset, but I would submit it remains to be seen for which party.

28 comments:

Anthony said...

she did own Justin Trudeau because the guy got so frustrated he shot himself in the foot several times.

Besting the Liberal party wunderkind certainly had its advantages Steve...

Steve V said...

Was that the QP appearance, because I missed it?

Anthony said...

yes it was Steve

she didnt say anything enlightening, just put Justin in his place after he kept interrupting her.

I've said she is our Sarah Palin because shes got five kids, is really conservative, and is media savvy.

She is as dangerous as Sarah Palin is, but remember, as impossible as palin is to elect, she does command quite the following.

That said on the substance versus style scale, Glover and Justin are also quite similar.

JimmE said...

Steve, I did wonder what member of her staff planted this story.
I mean this is the same person who didn't seem to know who a certain Mr Flanagan was. I think you may have had a link to her doing the best Sara Palin impression ever by a CDN POL. (It was the best because performed sans irony.)

JimmE said...

Anthony,

Justin style over substance?

Drink much?

Omar said...

In that QP segment Glover came across as the intellectually narrow individual she most certainly is and Trudeau presented as someone not suffering fools gladly and becoming overtly frustrated because of it.
I would hardly say she "bested" him in that appearance.

Carter Apps, dabbler of stuff said...

Have sex crimes always been under reported or is this a new thing that suddenly happened? It's pretty simple assumption that if the rate of report has not changed and the 8% that do report has decreased then the 92% who did not report has also decreased. She's a daft one alright.

Anthony said...

She bested him by keeping her cool, even if she wasnt making the correct argument.

I have warmed up to Justin over the years, and I think the guy has a lot of potential. But for now, the guy is still known more for his style than he is for his substance.

I am not saying it will stay that way forever. It will take time, and he showed a lot of humility after that QP appearance by acknowledging publicly he acted inappropriately and should have let Glover spew the nonsense she was spewing

Anthony said...

Sex crimes are underreported because it is often difficult to get a conviction.

Many women fear they will be better off moving on than reporting it, which is sad really.

Defense lawyers always find a way to make the victim look like a whore

Steve V said...

Anthony

Thanks for clarifying. I just knew your initial comment was more to do with a bias against Trudeau than anything meaningful about Glover.

As for sex crimes being unreported, everyone knows why that is the case. The POINT, using a stat after you just said stats don't matter.

DL said...

I hope the Tories give as much profile as possible to Shelly Glover. Every time she appears on TV she loses the Tories thousands of votes.

Anonymous said...

I'm getting really nervous about this Conservative fascination with crime in Canada, as if this is such a rough & tumble nation to begin with. Having more people in jail doesn't mean the government is doing its job, it only means they don't know how to do it well.

It really contradicts the Conservative ideal that government should leave the people alone. More people in jail isn't a failure of society, it's a failure of law.

Anonymous said...

Given the flame-outs of Lisa Raitt and Helena Guergis (not to mention their staff-members), maybe the Harpercons are running out of women to front their policies.

Jerry Prager said...

Here's a crime I would like our government to do something about as it applies to

Canada,http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2009/dec/13/drug-money-banks-saved-un-cfief-claims

but then to tackle this you'd really have to be serious about crime.
Keep a file on her.

DL said...

Is it just me, or do other people find that these extreme rightwing women (e.g. Glover) always seem to come across like they are auditioning to play the part of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest??

Steve V said...

There is that vibe.

penlan said...

Bruce, I, too, don't like the direction this fascination with crime is going. And now this:

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/791129--more-firepower-on-the-way-for-mounties-on-parliament-hill?bn=1

Submachines for Mounties guarding Parliament Hill. Shudder...

Steve V said...

Don Martin floated that this was in response to the Greenpeace stunt on Parliament Hill.

RuralSandi said...

Trudeau wasn't rattled at all. He had a smirk on his face - his mission was to stop Glover from changing the subject and he succeeded.

On the other panel discussing the sex crime issue, the NDP'r (I can't remember his name) said that since 1992 the Parol Board has sent reports to the government. In other words, Harper's gang missed it and NOW Harper's think's he's going to politicize it. Did he know and wait to use it or is his justice,crime and security folks messing up again?

Shelley Glover rising star or an image? Cute, tough on crime thing. Harper is image conscious more that substance conscious.

Diane Ablonczy is smart - but image wise not good enough?

Steve V said...

"Diane Ablonczy is smart - but image wise not good enough?"

On the gender question, she's the best of the bunch. As for image, this is party that throws out the likes of Pierre, so pretty much anything goes on the "image" front. My dog actually howls at the television when he appears.

Karen said...

For me the bottom line is she fit's the Conservative image of strong woman. (gag) Intellect isn't paramount, hitting the narrative is. She has Palin tendancies, which attracts of course, but repels as well.

So, those who think she is the next star, are short sighted, imo, but I think that includes the gov't. She could be a benefit for the opposition. She is ridiculous, both on panels and in committee. Maybe committed to her current job and past, but her lack of depth is frightening.

As to her stand off with Trudeau? Please. Akin to Coulter suggesting someone is being rude to her.

Steve V said...

I wonder if Glover gets moved into the QP camera shot?

weeble said...

I think that the Tories would be silly not to be quietly looking for someone to replace Harper. He is obviously unable to resonate with the Canadian people, despite many years of opportunity.
Be interesting to see who they find...the stars shine pretty dim right now.

Adam M said...

I couldn't agree more about the stats. I saw that one.

She even looked like someone who was losing an argument they were desperate to win and scared about being seen doing it so they just make stuff up.

The StatsCan numbers are wrong. Just like that. How do we know? Because of her sense of how many crimes she knows that go unreported in her jurisdiction. Clearly enough to show that the crime rate is not going down but is going up. Interesting. Also, unreported crimes don't lead to arrests and she was trying to argue a point about the prison system. I do not understand just how everyone suddenly thinks she's a rising star.

I think it has to do with the notion that she doesn't seem to be married to a list of talking points from the party but is it really known if she's given free reign to say whatever she wants or was she just going rogue?

Anthony said...

Steve

My bias against Trudeau has long since disappeared. That nomination race was a long time ago.

I got to know Justin during that nomination and since. He is very important to the Liberal Party, but intellectual heavyweight...not yet.

Even Justin admitted to losing his cool during that interview. The other person won because he lost his cool.

Learn to accept valid criticism Steve, like your friend Justin has

Steve V said...

Anthony

Come on now. Why do I have to accept valid criticism within a post on Shelly Glover? You're the one fixating on Justin, I never said he was a heavyweight. As a matter of fact, I wasn't even talking about him :)

Anthony said...

Part of the reason the media love Shelly Glover is because she knows how to appear in front of the media due to her time as a police (or RCMP)spokeswoman in Winnipeg.

Her appearance on QP helped her image even though she added nothing to the debate. Her demeanor and poise while mouthing off talking points is a big reason her status is going up.

Disagree if you want, but most of the positive feedback I hear about her from my friends in the media are about how she appears on their programs.

I used the QP interview as an example because it is a perfect illustration of my point. Even if you are correct, you can often lose a debate by being less poised and collected.

She is a rising star because she sticks to her point and can thus effectively make it. (Whether you agree with her or not is, in this case, beside the point)

Steve V said...

Well, I was in Montreal during that QP, maybe I should watch it. From what I've seen though, her appearances don't win converts, she's a poor advocate, prone to exaggeration. I think she's just a rising star because the Cons are desperate to put a credible woman in the window. The media don't seek her out, the party places her as the spokesperson, just like Pierre. Anyways my friend....