CalgaryGrit: And so it Begins

Thursday, April 27, 2006

And so it Begins

Gerard Kennedy has officially jumped into the leadership fray, with Ken Dryden to follow suit tomorrow.

While I would have preferred to see Kennedy's launch in Winnipeg to play up the Western angle, the last campaign to launch out of Manitoba was probably Louis Riel's and that one ended rather poorly. The optics of having a dozen MPs standing behind Gerard, with Parliament in the background, are very positive considering he might be perceived as an anti-establishment outsider in some circles.

As for the launch itself, Kennedy hit upon the key themes of his campaign: Enterprise, an internationally competitive Canada, immigration, and Liberal Party renewal. And anyone who mentions my all time favourite Liberal, Mitchell Sharp, in their campaign kick-off speech always gets bonus marks from me.

94 Comments:

I saw the speech that Kennedy gave in Ottawa, and found it to be very good. 'Canada can do more' was his phrase for the day, and he talked about making our country the best place in the world to start a business, and bringing back Canada's voice to international affairs.

By Anonymous, at 1:15 p.m.
I might have headed over to his website too early, but you can't click on any of the links. It's like one big picture.

By Jim (Progressive Right), at 1:19 p.m.
The Sharp story was my favorite part too.

By Anonymous, at 1:22 p.m.
No university degree.

Forgot to capitalize first name.

What do I tell me kids?

Only a Liberal.

In Canada.

Really.

International Canada.

By Anonymous, at 1:30 p.m.
I thought the speech was quite boring. For a guy who promises "excitement" and a new generation of leadership - his launch was dull, drab and unoriginal. I was very disappointed - I even went over to Nepean's point to watch it live.

And Joe Fontana as the lead off speaker? Doesn't say much really...

By Anonymous, at 2:06 p.m.
Sandra... boy those campaign ad jokes never get old... they were funny... 2 months ago.

By Anonymous, at 2:08 p.m.
It blows me away that Gerard had twice as many current federal caucus members on stage at his launch than any of the other candidates.

I thought his speech was fantastic.

By Anonymous, at 2:10 p.m.
I wasn't able to catch this -- which current and former MPs were there? I've heard Fontana. Did Godfrey end up there to support him?

By Anonymous, at 2:13 p.m.
Who really looks to see if you capitolized your first name?

In Canada.

Because it's getting old.

By Anonymous, at 2:38 p.m.
Not sure about Godfrey, but Kennedy praised his work on cities in the speech.

"Some of the folks at launch: Janice Nicholson, Fred Gaspar, Paul Raina, Scott Bradley, Angela Christiano...there is a large number now arriving on foot. Looks like Kennedy will have 15 or more MPs and former MPs...Fontana, Bains, Silva, Sims, Senator Peterson, Mercer, Holland, Mahli, Patry, St. Denis, Peter Adams, Charles Caccia and more."
http://harperbizarro.blogspot.com/

Oh and his official site is almost completely up and running. Check out the pimpin' beard he's sportin' in the 4th picture. hehe

By Dan McKenzie, at 2:51 p.m.
I heard that the original website brand "Call me Fred" was rejected.

I thought Gerard gave a really interesting, compelling speech. The caucus support is huge for him. Not sure how Kennedy has more support in caucus than David Smith...I mean Iggy but it looks like he does.

By Anonymous, at 3:01 p.m.
Iggy had I think one MP at his launch. (correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard one) Guess they don't have as much support as one would imagine given the hype.

I'm very pleased to see so many members of caucus backing Kennedy publicly. I think it is very telling of how much support he has on the ground, even though his campaign is relatively new to the game.

By S.K., at 3:44 p.m.
In other news, your dark horse Paul Zed announced today that he isn't running for leader (Gee, who would have guessed after he showed up a Iggy's campaign launch).

I personally thought that he should team up with Maurizio B and run as a single candidate. They could cover twice the distance and no one would be any the wiser.

By Anonymous, at 3:49 p.m.
Kennedy #1 said...
Who really looks to see if you capitolized your first name?

Answer: Any grade 1 or 2 teacher.

Can someone tell me if Kennedy did or did not get his degree? If Sandra is not lying, why not?

By Anonymous, at 4:00 p.m.
As a Ontarian, (btw Albertans, cough up some oil money for Ontario will you?)

I hope Dalton throws his hat into the three ring circus.

What is wrong with sharing the pain?

By Anonymous, at 4:16 p.m.
The man is green. And sounds it. But I've always been for Harper - even when he was green. Gotta start somewhere.

I saw a bit of his speech and don't know what the fuss is about. Shouldn't a leadership candidate be able to recite the virtues of his party without referring to notes? At least memorize those parts.

Anyway, Gerard's mistaken if he thinks he can score points by disparaging Mike (two provincial majorities) Harris. Translation: I'm nice and sweet. He is already sounding like a leader who needs to be loved. He has only distinguished himself in his current portfolio by trying to please everyone. In my view this will be his biggest achilles heel.

But the guy sure has a face for TV.

The lack of a university degree - if correct - should not work against him.

By Anonymous, at 4:42 p.m.
I love Sharp too. That's a man who spent 10-20 minutes talking to a high school kid about politics when he visited my school because he was so happy to know someone was interested. What a great man, glad Kennedy respects him.

By Shawn, at 4:56 p.m.
Sandra isn't lying but is implying that a university degree is a mandatory requirement to be PM. For some people it matters that he doesn’t have a degree, if you are one of them, fine don't vote for Kennedy. For many of us, Kennedy's achievements and politics matter far more.

Kennedy's popularity seems to have scared both Tories and supporters of other candidates. I suspect they are both behind these petty attacks.

By Anonymous, at 5:03 p.m.
Of course he will score points disparaging Mike Harris. In Ontario, Harris is LESS popular than Bob Rae. Once having won a majority is not the same as current public opinion.

You think Adscam was bad? That was nothing compared to what crooks did with the HWY407 deal.

By Anonymous, at 5:08 p.m.
Think of Kennedy's education this way. When that Pie Waggon Harper was writing scholarily tomes on building firewalls for Alberta oilmen and such, Kennedy was feeding the hungry.

By Don, at 5:25 p.m.
I missed the speech but am glad that he's finally announced. The campaign will be a good place to build a larger profile, but he has to watch out that he doesn't peak too early. But I'm sure he and his staff are well aware of that.
Saw his interview on CBC Newsworld afterwards. Do you think they should have taken him to a barber yesterday?

By Anonymous, at 6:03 p.m.
Don,

In the interest of full disclosure, you should acknowledge that many of the hungry Kennedy was feeding were soldiers at CFB Edmonton which successive Librano governments treated as doormats, paid so poorly they had to rely on food banks to feed their families. Yes these are the same soldiers that they now use dead versions of as political props.

To paraphrase John Crosbie, put a Liberal in a sewer and you add to it.

By Anonymous, at 6:10 p.m.
Don,
You are absolutely right. Gerard gave up personal education time for the greater good. I'll take a leader who has compassion and empathy for people over an egghead everytime.

By Anonymous, at 6:14 p.m.
Kennedy is not a high school dropout (like Klein). He might not have a degree but has years of postsecondary eduction, and was admitted to University twice.

By Anonymous, at 6:25 p.m.
Parliamentarians in attendance today:

-Joe Fontana (by the way to Dave at 12:06pm; he was a phenomenal opener passionately revving up the crowd)
-Bernard Patry (great face for the Quebec campaign)
-Sen. Terry Mercer
-Navdeep Baines
-Mark Holland
-Omar Alghabra
-Borys Wrzesnewskyj
-Sen. Martin Peterson
-Scott Simms
-Mario Silva
-Andrew Telegdi
-Gurbax Malhi

BAM!!! How’s that for a show of support for this supposed “nobody” and “outsider”. It makes other “frontrunner” caucus support look nonexistent by comparison.

And as for the education thing, let’s clear this up once and for all and never hear of it again. He went to Trent U for their hockey program. When it folded he transferred to U of Alberta. He was approached to be the executive director (i.e. manage and operate) this nation’s FIRST food-bank. As a result he never finished his final year. Does this make him any less “educated”, “accomplished” or “capable”? If you answered YES then you have a serious screw loose. If you answered NO then you are educated and know a thing or two about post-secondary; i.e. it isn’t the be all and end all of personal success, nor do many of the people who come out with degrees necessarily deserve them or prosper themselves. And for the record, Einstein and Bill Gates didn’t/don’t have degrees.

By Anonymous, at 6:35 p.m.
J'aime excuse. Add Brent St. Denis to the list... I forgot.

By Anonymous, at 6:40 p.m.
stock also believed in a 6000 year old earth.

By Anonymous, at 6:54 p.m.
Personally, i don't give a crap if a politician doesn't have a university degree.
Maybe that's in part because i don't got one. And yeah, my grammar sucks.

George Bush has a university degree, doesn't he?
Whoopee, doodee.

Lots of chatter that Harper's got it in the bag for a Majority next time.

I say bollocks and frick that.

I'm an "indy" voter. Usually NDP or Green.
I have a certain level of distrust of all the political parties.
But, i am quite "political" in some respects.

I'd like to see Stephen Harper as a one term PM.
You too?

Great.

How 'bout we invite as many greens /ndp and Lib voters as possible to loosely unify, riding by riding, and vote to make sure the Con candidate doesn't win in that riding?

I think that would be really fun.

What d'ya think?

By Anonymous, at 7:24 p.m.
I'll take someone with an education like Ignatieff or Dion or Rae or even Volpe over a drop-out like this fool.

How he can even hope to be in the same room as someone as smart as Ignarieff is pure ego on his part.

By Anonymous, at 7:31 p.m.
According to the press reports on Mike Duffy,Kennedy was a big snore. I would never support Rae or Volpe but they are much better on TV than Kennedy. I think Kennedy appeals to urban nerds who have fantasies about how "cool" and "progressive" they are, but that is a limited pool of support.

By Anonymous, at 7:48 p.m.
If Kennedy appeals to urban nerds who want to show how "cool" and "progressive" they are, than I must say that Ignatieff appeals to an even smaller demographic of wannabe liberal arts PHD canidates that want to show how "worldly" and "intellectual" they are.

Right Jason Townstead?

Just Asking?

By Anonymous, at 8:35 p.m.
You know another slacker who never finished his degree? Mike Lazaridis. What's the country coming to?

By Anonymous, at 9:01 p.m.
If you ever read the Globe's online comments, which I do as I obviously have nothing better to do, you'll know they are often very negative especially to Liberals. Well the comments are about 80% very positive for Kennedy today under the article about his launch. I myself was surprised as this is a ringing endorsement the likes of which I've never seen in the Globe from its online commentors.

Interesting.

By S.K., at 9:16 p.m.
Oh! Oh! It's s.b. again (come up with your own abbreviation)! Poor Kennedy supporters. I'm sure they wince everytime they see her post.

By Anonymous, at 9:22 p.m.
*shrugs*

By bza, at 9:28 p.m.
S.B. on her own blog wrote:

He does have a degree in economics and politics. It was reported in the globe and mail this morning, and I think they caheck their facts. Now why would Liberals be going around saying he doesn't have a degree? Hmm

Everytime she reminds people that she is a teacher I wince!

By Anonymous, at 9:30 p.m.
Who was the last prime minister to not graduate from University? Alexander Mackenzie? Kennedy is the intellectual peer of Stockwell
Day and Joe Clark. Joe actually finished university but failed law school. I am sure he shares their potential for success.

By Anonymous, at 9:50 p.m.
Who the hell cares if Kennedy doesn't have a degree? As if school is the only place in the world where people can learn things. I'm two years away from my second degree and don't know a thing compared to Mr. Kennedy. My father only got his Bachelor's a few years ago and is one of the smartest people I know.

If Stephen Harper can get his MA, obviously a degree does not a good education make.

By KC, at 9:56 p.m.
The lack of a degree will be an issue.
How many of the people in the press gallery who will be covering this race don't have a degree? I suspect not very many.
How many PM's have not had a university degree? You have to search back a LONG way to find one.
I am anxious to hear his answers to the questions when they come. Has he not heard of night school? Of correspondence or distance education?
He has had over 20 years to finish so why hasn't he?

By Anonymous, at 10:04 p.m.
According to the political media panel on Duffy live at 5pm Kennedy didn't do so hot. Kennedy it seems was "over-hyped", "over-billed" and his speech was described as "boring" and "lacking any connection to the audience." His French "wasn't as good as many touted it to be." Apparantly, "Kennedy has a long way to go to show he's got the goods for leadership. Maybe he has time to grow into the job and learn from his mistakes." Count CTV as unimpressed by what I saw.

I have to agree to a point. There was a lot of meaningless fluff and little substance to what he was saying. The sentiment is always sweet but who cares? I expect more from a leader.

By Anonymous, at 10:26 p.m.
Not only will the lack of a university degree hurt, it will likely make it more difficult for GK to grow if the race moves to multiple ballots.

By Anonymous, at 11:01 p.m.
I like Kennedy just because he doesn't have a law degree like everyone of our former PM's.

As a lawyer I know that any jackass that can memorize torts can get the piece of paper. I am that jackas. It means next to nothing. Same with a BA.

Kennedy's experience shows that has more than enough abilty to be a good leader.

By Anonymous, at 11:13 p.m.
As an undecided card carrying Liberal, I was impressed by what I saw on tv coverage of the launch.If some of you complainers think Kennedy was boring, wait till you see Dryden tomorrow. I think it is astounding that a non member of caucus can have at least 12 MPs already onside.And Im also hearing that more members of caucus are also committed and will be added intermittently to show momentum. Watch for at least Keeper,Chan,Meratsy and Dosanjh to join the Kennedy team over the next couple of weeks.
As for the degree issue,my opinion is that, if thats the best(worst) slam that the smear doctors from Iggy's camp can come up with then Kennedy is looking stronger every day.

By Anonymous, at 11:26 p.m.
Right, everyone can get a degree except for all the people who don't. Personally, I don't care that this Kennedy fellow didn't get a degree, I'd never vote for someone lacking a degree but that's beside the point. Although I think you all look at the food bank thing as though somehow it qualifies Kennedy for sainthood and its baffling that his three miracles have yet to be identified.

When you come right down to it, all it does is suggest that in the 80s instead of learning to do something useful with his life Kennedy was probably sitting around in a Che Guevera t-shirt, reading Mau, smoking weed and listening to Bob Dylan while working at this food bank. Which for the most part makes him entirely out of touch and unable to relate to every day people.

Nor do I think someone with some messianc socialistic bent is going to really appeal to Canadians. Liberals tend to over estimate the tolerence the average citizen has for the mobs of people who've been given a free ride in this country. "I'm entitled to my entitlements" draws a very negative reaction from people for a reason.

Like it or not the last leader the Liberal party had that people could relate too was Jean Chretien. He had a certain folky charm and a background people could relate too. That wasn't true of Paul Martin, nor is it true of most of the Liberal front runners which is what's going to kill Liberals in the suburbs.

By Chris, at 12:34 a.m.
I debated with myself for a long time over Gerard not having completed his B.A. As other have mentioned, many other people have dropped out of university and become successful (Bill Gates for one). Bottom line, if he had dropped out of school for lack of interest, or ambition, it would be a problem to me. Dropping out of school to found a major non-profit organization (first of its kind in Canada) seems however to be neither of those. Settled. For me at least.

Go Gerard!

By Anonymous, at 2:52 a.m.
John Major was prime minister of Britain for 7 years and he did not have even one year of university. Kennedy went to university for 4 years and left at the end of his program to run the Edmonton food bank.
The smear workers from other camps and parties will soon discover that having a degree or degrees has nothing to do with being a great politician and prime minister.

Go Kennedy!

By Anonymous, at 2:59 a.m.
DEGREE DEGREE DEGREE!

It would be better if he had one, but a couple of things...
1. Does anybody really think the man is too dumb to have been able to finish one?
2. Has anybody ever heard a better excuse for not finishing than becoming the Executive Director of Canada's first food bank?

It's not like he left the country for the better part of 30 years. That to me is the greatest weakness that any of these candidates has in their pasts. I don't give a shit how smart Iggy is, he has spent nearly his entire adult life living somewhere other than the country he hopes to lead...that's fucking incredible! Degrees are not everything, I have one, so did all of my profs, and not I or any of them would make a good leader of the LPC.

Maybe we should make long-term foreign residency and a PhD mandatory minimum requirements for the next time we go through one of these races.

By Anonymous, at 3:01 a.m.
Yes, there is a much better excuse for not finishing your university degree - found a multibillion dollar software company.

By Chris, at 4:24 a.m.
The degree to which he can move the Liberals up in the polls is ultimately all that really matters. Ignatieff couldn't match him in a month of Sundays.

By O'Dowd, at 4:25 a.m.
Kennedy admitted Thursday that he is 3 courses short of a degree.
I think it is wonderful that he started a food bank. But why over a 20 year period could he not find time to complete 3 courses?
Canada's current and 14 immediately previous PM's had a degree. What a great distinction for a possible PM, in the information age no less, to possibly be the first PM since the early 1900's to have dropped out and not graduated from university.

By Anonymous, at 8:20 a.m.
He may not have a degree, but just like many other cocktail socialists, he attended private school in his Jr. years(St. John Ravenscourt I believe) and touts public for the rest of us.
Taking after Trudeau, Martin, Rae.

Oh, and Kennedy's the absolute worse speaker I've ever heard. Stumbles, repeats and can pretty much bore an audience.

He's also led folks to believe that he saved Ontario's education system.
Ask any parent on the ground, and they'll tell you that while he may have pacified the teacher unions he did little else. left way too much undone, made deals that school boards can't afford and then flew the coop.

By Anonymous, at 8:20 a.m.
No university degree?

This is the best attack on Kennedy?

I'm completely baffled here.

Someone has got to explain the logical connection between an uncompleted university degree and "bad thing".

Would a college degree be acceptable? How about an apprenticeship? Or is this some kind of litmus test that says only people with university degrees are competent and erudite?

Is it that by dropping out he revealed a character flaw, some lack of resolve to see a project through? Because I would think the rest of his biography addresses this issue immediately.

Is the issue that we promote education to our children and having a Prime Minister without a degree would so discourage tomorrow's undergraduates that the malls would be filled with academic rejectionists?

Or is it that we all cling to our university degree as a pitiful badge of honour that we desperately hope says to the world "I matter, and should be respected and listened to" and for someone to succeed without that badge devalues the degree and, by extension, ourselves.

I just can't figure this thing out.

Please, please.

Someone explain the root of the argument to me.

We didn't cover this in by BA or MA classes.

By Anonymous, at 8:22 a.m.
Anonymous obviously not a teacher, get a real name and stop being a lying coward of a troll and maybe I'll think about what you have to say.

I've always been s.b. and the only people who bring up my teaching are trolls. A real teacher wouldn't criticize someone for being a teacher.

Yeah I read the Globe, what's your point? Their mistake not mine.

If all you have on Kennedy is that he's supported by techer's, someone forgot to capitalize his name, and he left his last year of University in Business and Economics to run a food bank, I guess you guys really don't have much to criticize about him do you?

By S.K., at 9:25 a.m.
I do not understand why the other candidates are sending their workers to "smear" Kennedy.

What is more laughable is that they say the same thing, over, and over, and over.... and over.

"Oh no, he went to a private school!"
- Show me the records

"Oh no, he left university"
- To found Canada's first food bank

Anyone who claims a university degree is a "MUST" is most likely the most sheltered individual on the face of the earth. The emphasis on the degree is no longer the emphasis as Ontario schools have been supporting students in their endeavors in various other ways. University is no longer the “destination” of everyone.

Co-op, mechanics, apprentice... etc

By Anonymous, at 9:43 a.m.
No degree, not really a big issue, the issue is more why do people think he has a degree, who led them to believe that.
One other thing, he did not found the Edmonton food bank. He became the executive director but the bank started about 2 years prior.
The psyco pep squad has to be a little more carefull about their phrasing.
Deflecting the lack of a degree by saying he FOUNDED a food bank is gonna get you to.
He did not.
He worked there.
He was the executive director and this is yes a good thing. HE is obviously a good man.
I just wish that that the St Gerard psyco pep squad would give it a rest and quit streching the truth.

By Anonymous, at 10:35 a.m.
Dryden launches campaign!! It's a good day for Canada.

http://www.kendryden.ca/

By Anonymous, at 11:07 a.m.
frankly the degree thing is stupid. who cares. he's got family money to make up for it.

the more important point is that he sucked yesterday. he's all hype and spin. his launch was average at best. and his french is weak.

By Anonymous, at 11:12 a.m.
How many of the young MP's backing Kennedy can actually deliver their riding delegates? The old boy's network is what will be delivering the delegates. Can someone like Tina Keeper actually have much power if there is a strong group of Chretien or Martin supporters running her riding executive?

By Anonymous, at 11:27 a.m.
Hey Don't pick on Tina Keeper. She has to be one of the nicest people, let alone MP's I have ever met.
IF, she endorses Kennedy that is a big win, not enough to offset having Andrew Telegdi on side but close. Having Boris and Telegdi on side is NOT good news for Kennedy fans

By Anonymous, at 11:39 a.m.
Telegdi backs Kennedy? That should be enough to sink him right there.

By Joanne (True Blue), at 12:04 p.m.
Why does everyone pick one Kennedy and Volpe these days. So they have a lot in common.

By Anonymous, at 12:12 p.m.
DEGREE! DEGREE! DEGREE!... WHO CARES!

While a want-a-be-American was living outside this great Country of ours, this man Kennedy was out in the trenches fighting and helping fellow Canadians who were trying to make ends meet. Intellects and academics, to me are not leaders. Give me a person who isn’t afraid to role up his sleeves to help his fellow men and I’ll vote for him any day. Education is good but it has never made a man. I would say to the readers of this great blog disregard all those comments written by these so-called supporters who are too wimps to write their own names on their comments. Who are all those “anonymous” writers any way? For all we know they could be Conservatives or even worst NDP afraid to run against a great leader, they will do anything to discredit Kennedy because they know that they will go down in defeat against him. Leaders are people who are not afraid to stand-up and be accountable for their actions and Kennedy is that guy. He’s honest, dependable, and loyal and has more integrity than all those other liberal contenders put together.
A good leader shows the way and he inspires people to follow – Kennedy is that man, he does not lead from the rear.
A good leader gets the right thing done, he gets it done well, and he gets it done willingly Kennedy is that man.
Here are more qualities of a good leader:
• Achieve professional competence
• Seek and accept responsibilities
• Lead by example
• Make sound and timely decisions
Who among all the contenders have those qualities? I think Kennedy has.
Is wrapping yourself in “diplomas” and hiding in books the leadership qualities we need? I don’t think so, at least they’re not listed as one of the requirements for good leadership.

So, if you have something to say about Kennedy please have the decency to sign your comments with more than “anonymous” at least we’ll know what kind of leaders you are and are representing.

Signed a disgruntled supporter

Marcel

By Anonymous, at 12:45 p.m.
Saw GK on Canada am this morning. They also showed a clip of Ken Dryden who talked to them earlier. GK was very relaxed and focused. Nice interview but short. Looking forward to more.

P.S. I wish people would go blog positively about a candidate they DO LIKE instead of foaming at the mouth about someone they don't like. Being an armchair critic is easy, building something worthwhile takes hard work.

By Anonymous, at 1:00 p.m.
Why is it that everytime there is anything about Kennedy on this site, the Iggy wolves come out and start attacking his lack of degree (yawn), his charisma (the guy is a fantastic speaker), his age, his french, his hair, the fact that he doesn't do botox or drink Grande Lattes from Starbucks?

My message to Iggy's folks: keep attacking Gerard. Keep attacking Rae. This is going to be a long race and if you can get 50% on the first ballot, god love you. Otherwise you are getting really close to an "anyone but Iggy" campaign getting started.

By Anonymous, at 1:02 p.m.
I, for one, am really glad that the worst the annonymous trolls can throw Kennedy's way is that he is three courses away from a University degree. If something completely irrelevant to his qualifications to win an election or lead the country is all he has in the negatives column, then that bodes really well for the guy. Especially when it's something you can't really throw at him during an election campaign without sounding like a pretentious snob, or reminding people of the food bank stuff.

If I were 22 and had a choice between taking Roman History 423 and Latin Studies 474 or helping to feed thousands of people, it'd be a no brainer to me.

By calgarygrit, at 1:29 p.m.
Good post DF.

Aristo, I am surprised at you as a known Iggy supporter that you would attack Kennedy.

Not very smart at all.

Your candidate has the greatest negatives to overcome and everyone knows it. Do we really need to start the list again?? I guess we do since Iggy supporters are coming on here to attack Kennedy.

Iggy has no political record. He has no experience leading any organization. He supports the war in Irag, now for humanitarian reasons-clearly not a Liberal policy. He has lived out of Canada for 30 years. He speaks English with an American accent and French with an American accent. He stated 3 times in his U of O speech that Alberta is "very well-governed" because they give expenditures to health and education!!!!!

Gee, shall I continue??

By Anonymous, at 1:39 p.m.
Bart,

I have to say that your slander against Roman History and Latin studies is quite the disapointment to myself. Rome is the founding state upon which our entire Western society is built upon and Latin is the romance language upon which all others are based.

I very much would choosen to learn about Rome or speak Latin with the other cool kids, rather than give up and be an uneducated fool, feeding other uneducated fools at a food bank.

I have news for you, if you know how to speak Latin, I can gurantee that you will not be using a food bank.

Sincerly,

Micheal Ignatieff P.H.D and all around super genuis and CANADIAN (at least for the past 8 months)

By Anonymous, at 1:44 p.m.
Yeah, it really just makes the Ignatieff people look desperate when they come on here to smear Kennedy.

I think the fact that so many people are taking the time to throw these silly attacks his way shows that he's a threat to be reckoned with in both the leadership race and a general election.

By Anonymous, at 1:50 p.m.
CG,

I know if I had a choice between Roman History and Classical studies or feeding the hungry, I'd be saying 'hail caesar' faster than Kennedy could say 'pizza pizza'. After all what have the poor done for you recently?

By Chris, at 2:01 p.m.
People who criticize Gerard's French are obviously those who can only speak it by the book and speak it with a fake France accent. It might not be perfect but close to it and at least it's the French you'll here in the streets of any francophone community across the country. I had a discussion in French with him and I was satisfied even though I am really picky on this issue. He also has enough vocabulary to beat Harper in any French debate which is essential. When asked about his French I heard him say "pas pire" once, I loved it knowing by friends from France would freak out like they always do hearing this expression. So what if Chirac think he has a funny accent when he meets him, as long as the Tremblay, Leblanc, Gagnon and others are happy and vote for him.

By Anonymous, at 2:54 p.m.
80% of the candidates for the leadership of the BlocOntario are from the Big Smoke.

Impressive.

By Anonymous, at 3:36 p.m.
Gerard Supporters,

Not all anonymous comments can be traced back to any particular candidate. The truth is they may actually not be Liberals at all.

Therefore, please resist from accusing others or criticizing others. A quick look at

http://www.demochoice.org/dcballot.php?poll=libmay2006

will show you why it is critical to remain above the fray and to remain courteous and civil.

When our candidate does win on the last ballot, we need the other candidates and their supporters and their volunteers to help us fight our true opponents.

Peace.

By Anonymous, at 3:43 p.m.
gimme a break
AS a known Iggy supporter, I am very clear. I am not attacking Kennedy. I will again say that the degree is not a huge deal.
I have a concern about how his supporters get carried away and strech the truth. IF Kennedy won the tories would kill him on stuff like this.
If Kennedy wins I an Iggy supporter will get to work in helping rebuild the party and selling memberships and trying to win the next election. But people like say shosahnna need to be carefull. Insisting that Kennedy has a degree and accusing others of smearing when there is no degree is a problem.
I also am curious about the smearing going on that it is the iggy folk attacking Kennedy.
It is not! It is certainly not anyone attached to the campaign officially. Senior Iggy people and senior Kennedy people are freinds, they will be working together whoever wins. I know that the entire Iggy team has been told "No attacking the other candidates" and it is meant. I am sure the Kennedy team and the Dryden team and the Dion team and every other team has been told the same thing. Sure in the heat of commenting we may go overboard and I guess that is to be expected. I have said the odd negative things about others and if so I apologize. In my last post I stated Kennedy is a good man, I mean it. He is putting himself up to lead our party and anyone willing to do so deserves our respect.
I am not attacking Kennedy, if anyone thinks I have call me on it. I am saying that some of his supporters should make sure that what they post is accurate prior to posting. I will also say that anyone officialy attached to Iggys team should not be doing any smearing as they have been told not to.

By Anonymous, at 3:46 p.m.
"One other thing, he did not found the Edmonton food bank. He became the executive director but the bank started about 2 years prior.
The psyco pep squad has to be a little more careful about their phrasing"

Why jump on Aristo for pointing out it's better to stick to the truth?

By Anonymous, at 3:56 p.m.
"One other thing, he did not found the Edmonton food bank. He became the executive director but the bank started about 2 years prior.
The psyco pep squad has to be a little more careful about their phrasing

Why jump on Aristo for pointing out it's better to stick to the truth?"

He (1) co-founded it and then (2) became its first executive director.

Is this really the best you guys have got?

By Anonymous, at 4:04 p.m.
Aristo, point well taken "me culpa" on comments I wrote about Iggy however it gets quite frustrating when all these so called know it all supporters who don't have names have freedom to just criticize at will without being challenged. Freedom of expression is great however lets have the decency to stand up for what we believe. I don’t have a problem signing my name to comments I write and I just wish the rest of them would do the same. It’s one thing to critique, it’s an other to smear.
All is well on the western front. Go GK Go! Go GK Go! Go GK Go! (I’m just warming up for the next Flames game)
From High River
Marcel

By Anonymous, at 4:08 p.m.
Aristo, point well taken "me culpa" on comments I wrote about Iggy however it gets quite frustrating when all these so called know it all supporters who don't have names have freedom to just criticize at will without being challenged. Freedom of expression is great however lets have the decency to stand up for what we believe. I don’t have a problem signing my name to comments I write and I just wish the rest of them would do the same. It’s one thing to critique, it’s an other to smear.
All is well on the western front. Go GK Go! Go GK Go! Go GK Go! (I’m just warming up for the next Flames game)
From High River
Marcel

By Anonymous, at 4:11 p.m.
As a Dryden Supporter, you Ignatieff people make me glad i'm not on Iggy's side...Coming here to trash Kennedy is childish at best!

By Anonymous, at 4:25 p.m.
Oops! Finger problems or is it just stuttering, who knows?

Anonymous from HR!

Ah what the heck, I made a mistake and pressed the send button twice. Beside, I wanted to make sure you got my message!

By Anonymous, at 4:26 p.m.
The anonymous Dryden supporter is lucky the Iggy supporters don't torture him until he converts.

By Anonymous, at 4:28 p.m.
Cofounded it? Before you rush out to print with that you better be sure he was heavily involved in the initiation of the Food Bank between April 1980 and January 1981.

By Anonymous, at 4:50 p.m.
From Gerard's own website:

Kennedy lived in Edmonton and worked as a historical researcher and then as the first executive director of the groundbreaking Edmonton Gleaners Association/ Edmonton Food Bank, Canada's first such organization, from 1983 to 1986.

I've never heard him claim that he cofounded it.

By Anonymous, at 4:55 p.m.
"I've never heard him claim that he cofounded it".

Exactly.

Aristo got flak for pointing out that supporters should stick to what they actually know.

By Anonymous, at 4:59 p.m.
"Is this really the best you guys have got?"

Yes. The truth is best. Kennedy can't possibly be happy to see folks stretching it.

By Anonymous, at 5:03 p.m.
"Coming here to trash Kennedy is childish at best"

Pointing out that some Kennedy supporters are peddling claims that Kennedy isn't making is hardly trashing Kennedy.

By Anonymous, at 5:06 p.m.
Aristo, You're going to give yourself a heart attack, calm down.

I clearly said Kennedy "ran the Edmonton food bank" and that the Globe reported he had a degree. That's why I source my info on my posts. I don't know the man personally.

I'm beginning to worry about your health, really. Take a pill.

I have three degrees, I'd be a crappy leader of the Liberal Party. One does not necessarily lead to the other, but I am entitled to MY opinion.

Candidates open themselves up to criticism. Party members, especially those that use their real names don't deserve to be attacked for having an opinion. It is petty, juvenile and cowardly, not to mention undemocratic.

Like I've said before, use your real name and I'll take what you have to say seriously.

By S.K., at 8:46 p.m.
s.b.

So what is your first and last name so we can get your teaching degree credentials checked.

By Anonymous, at 9:50 p.m.
Nancy, you are welcome to click on my initials which will take you to my blog and my full name and my e-mail.

By the way, if I were an unemployed, mental health patient, highschool drop out, criminal, sex maniac, I would still be entitled to MY OPINION. I vote. Deal with it and stop trying to silence people.

By S.K., at 10:01 p.m.
"The last campaign to launch out of Manitoba was probably Louis Riel's and that one ended rather poorly."

The last campaign launch in Winnipeg that I can recall was Richard Bedford Bennett's 1930 campaign. And that one ended quite well... sort of. They shattered the Liberals' hold on both Quebec and the Prairies. Not like Dief, but it was enough to form a majority and crack Liberal strongholds.

Of course, the fact that King insisted the Great Depression was nothing more than something the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy had cooked up probably pissed off a lot of people, too...

By Jarrett, at 3:19 a.m.
I thinked Jeffrey Simpson nailed it in the Saturday Globe and Mail.

"Mr. Kennedy stopped by The Globe's offices this week, and one thing was immediately clarified. His official biography says correctly he was educated at Trent University and the University of Alberta; he graduated from neither. He does not have a university degree, which is not the end of the world but looks rather odd in a contest against candidates with imposing academic firepower.

When the conversation switched to French as a kind of test, Mr. Kennedy flunked. He's got some vocabulary, grammar, syntax and sense of the language, but he's hard to understand and certainly a long, long way from reasonable fluency. Unilingual English-speaking journalists might fall for the impression that Mr. Kennedy is bilingual. He is not."

Kennedy is trying to play in the big leagues now. The Ottawa press gallery will not give him an easy ride. The degree thing will be an issue, like it or not. And now it seems his overhyped command of french will be an issue too. Welcome to FEDERAL politics Mr. Kennedy.

By Anonymous, at 12:06 p.m.
All the candidates have strengths and liabilities. The other leader of the pack, has not lived in Canada for 30-35 years, supports the US invasion of Iraq (present tense is deliberate), and supports soft tortue. You can argue with that all you want. His book is titled, "The Lesser Evil", meaning torture is ok sometimes. He hasn't lived here. His family is not Canadian. He has virtually no political experience. And was more than smart enough, with a Phd, to know exactly what was going on when the US invaded Iraq, which had nothing, 0% , to do with the Kurds. They had been under UN protection for 11 years by then. He knew that. High school students in Canada could see through the US smokescreen. Am I supposed to believe a Phd at the Kennedy school of government didn't.

Yeah I'll take the Canadian who has worked to make Canada better for the last 20 years, not the one who hasn't been here and is full of doublespeak.

I don't care how many degrees either of them has. It just makes Iggy's choices more questionable, if we are to believe he is so smart.

Being a few courses short of a degree really seems minor next to those liabilities.

By S.K., at 1:14 p.m.
Iggy should be stumping in BDSM clubs, "Ignatieff - Soft on Torture, He likes you to hurt so good".

By Chris, at 2:57 p.m.
s.b: Actually, it's not that surprising- there was (and is) rather powerful groupthink effect for a lot of "liberal" foreign policy pundits on the subject of Iraq, where in order to be seen as legitimate they had to support the invasion.

(Why? Republicans control Washington. You need to be heard in Washington to have any voice at all. The pundits want a voice. Therefore, they're not going to substantially contradict the Republicans, who already see them as pseudo-communists in the first place)

Iggy just added onto that a layer of self-delusion about the human-rights consequences of a Republican invasion.

Doesn't make him a great candidate for a Canadian PM who can stand up to American demands for Canadian assistance on their next brilliant adventure (Hello, Iran!) or won't roll over on trade issues (hello, softwood!)...and for those reasons alone, he should be treated skeptically.

By Demosthenes, at 11:04 a.m.
This is the man to beat. Iggy and Kennedy in the final round.

By Wise G, at 9:59 p.m.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

And so it Begins

94 Comments:

About

Previous

About Me

Thursday, April 27, 2006

And so it Begins

94 Comments:

About

Previous

About Me