Yesterday I tried to imagine how disappointed the Con media must have been, after trying to turn Elbowgate into a monster scandal.
Only to discover that far from destroying Justin Trudeau, their breathless coverage, and the clownish overreaction of the Cons and the NDP, had only made Justin even more popular.
So I'm glad somebody out there is wondering how could the pompous asses of the parliamentary press gallery have misread the country's reaction so badly?
Because that question really does need to be answered.
If denizens of Canada’s Parliamentary Press Gallery used the Victoria Day weekend to visit with family and friends back home, they will have noticed a vast gulf between their impression of elbowgate and the views of citizens at large.
Gallery reporters pounced on Prime Minister Trudeau’s gaff with alacrity rarely displayed during the dark decade of Harper. CBC reporter Catherine Cullen pronounced it “clearly the worst day this prime minister has had in office.” Many early reports ignored the role of the NDP in provoking the confrontation, and failed to indicate Trudeau’s elbowing of MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau was inadvertent—though the video makes this incontrovertible.
Why did they distort what had happened to try to make Justin Trudeau alone look bad?
When even an NDP supporter, like Rob McCaghren of Nanaimo, could see that Tom Mulcair and his clown bullies were also to blame...
Watching Tom Mulcair and his caucus create a wall of bodies with which to block Conservative whip Gordon Brown from getting to his seat for the vote on bill C-14 was like watching a clique of jocks blocking the new kid from getting to his locker. Or the shy kid from getting out of the washroom. It was weird, passive aggressive, and horribly childish….
The way I saw it, it was a gesture of assistance–the NDP acting like brats, grinning and smirking while blocking the path between a whip and his seat, and the Prime Minister of Canada–an elected leader of the country who has the task of leading–comes over and puts an end to their silliness by getting Brown to his seat.
How could our hapless MSM scribblers be so disconnected that they couldn't understand that most Canadians would consider that the opposition's attempt to turn the incident into an assault on women, was both outrageous and disgraceful?
In any case, Trudeau responded with a string of increasingly abject apologies for his odd behaviour, which is what the public wants in such a circumstance, while tone deaf opposition MPs milked the episode with quavering voices and offensive attempts to conflate the events with the deadly serious issue of violence against women.
How could they not comprehend that many Canadians might feel like Molly Johnson from Cape Breton did?
For the first time in a long time, I see qualities in our Prime Minister which I know in myself, for better or for worse. I much prefer this to anything else currently on offer (except for Elizabeth May, she da bomb). I definitely prefer it to the soulless backroom dictatorship of one Stephen Harper. How wonderfully normal that our Prime Minister has recognizable emotions. How refreshing that he would take ownership of his actions, even when others share the blame. If I was Trudeau and this was my worst day in office so far, I’d pop some champagne.
Or might react to the opposition's cheap little games like this guy did...
But sadly of course, the two main reasons our useless press gallery poobahs misread the public mood so badly are these:
Press gallery reporters have been chafing under the PM’s extended honeymoon. They don’t like Justin nearly as much as the public does, and some were overly eager to take him down a peg.
They wanted to take Justin Trudeau down a peg, to satisfy their massive egos, in a little town like Ottawa...
Where if they're not sleeping with each other, they've got to do something or go crazy with boredom.
And of course, need to also pleasure their big bosses in a shameless manner, to try to keep their jobs.
So this is also true.
I doubt Trudeau is popping champagne, but Wednesday’s fracas damaged him less and the NDP more than media coverage suggests.
The men and women who report on Parliament need to get out more.
And I'm happy to report that at least one of them, the one who called Trudeau a political thug in the Guardian, seems to have learned some kind of lesson.
I did not see this coming. Was pretty sure it would hurt him. https://t.co/TyFGYJtfHG— Stephen Maher (@stphnmaher) May 24, 2016
And hopefully progressives will also have learned a useful lesson.
We can't count on the Con media to be even slightly balanced. We need to break up the Postmedia conglomerate, where everyone sings from the same songbook. Or else.
We need to encourage and financially support the independent media in this country.
And we also need to understand that when the Con excrement hits the fan we can only count on our social media to get the truth out.
Just like we did in the last election, to get out the vote, and help defeat Stephen Harper and his filthy regime.
And the best news? A Con media that is so disconnected from ordinary Canadians is a blind giant indeed.
Stumbling around in the darkness.
And almost certainly heading for oblivion...
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34 comments:
Trudeau got off lucky this time, next screw up is going to be worse.
simon!!!!!!!!!! did you hear - harper failed at politics at home, so he wants to fuck it up for the whole world - by approaching it from the corporate side:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-will-step-down-as-mp-before-parliaments-fall-session/article30133335/
funny how rona is remaining irrelevant (even with her 'profound' self (at least she is consistent) throughout this nonsense.
is this not the time for the courts to call harper in for new testimony about duffy, given the new circumstances? i'd be a willing taxpayer. in fact, i am an indignant citizen and would like (and think that i, as all Canadians, should have) some answers.
anyhow, there is a legacy passed from harper to the Cons not so much of an ideology but of their relationship to power and to people that should put all of us on guard. and until harper is called to answer about who did what, that party will always be subservient to him, not to Canadians. i would like the lorax to come and judge him too but seeing him in court would be enough.
I think the establishment media's war on Trudeau is related to his electoral reform initiative. They will be willing to do anything to kill it. Under FPTP, they only have to manipulate a 40% minority into supporting a party that represents their interests. So if Justin reforms the voting system, with even simple ranked ballots, he will end the establishment's stranglehold on our democracy. It will even allow us to end the disastrous neoliberal era.
So the establishment media is going to keep going after Trudeau like they do Bernie Sanders. Trudeau is clearly not at Sanders' level. At least not yet. But his electoral reform initiative must succeed so the Liberal party can return to being a party of the center-left -- as opposed to being beholden to Red Tories on the economy and environment or else lose elections to the Cons.
With any kind of electoral reform, there will be no more 40% false majorities. No more Stephen Harpers the people hate and didn't vote for. All governments will represent 50% majorities. That means real government of the people, free from establishment indulgences and corruption.
This is the second time Tonedeaf Tom has blatted about sexual ( pant,pant,wheeze,wheeze ) to get attention. This is the second time it failed. Mulcare needs to start doing his job or he will be fired. Oh,wait .
And what the NDP needs is to see the back of Tom Mulcair sooner rather than later. Doctor up that photo, Simon! 'Resign' should be replaced with 'Just Go'.
Maybe he can give Haper a knee to the nuts to get him to 80%
What I found most infuriating about your piece Simon was the part about the media out to take down Trudeau a notch because they dislike how popular he is in the nation, when during the Harper years they were way too deferential to the whims of Harper whenever he tromped (or given events down south should I call it Trumped) all over the prerogatives and privileges the PPG had built up over the decades in this nation. To the PM who reduced their access and ability to do their jobs they showed throat and asked please sir may I have another, to the PM who restored them to their proper place they are eager to destroy because the cannot stand that he is actually well regarded and well liked only 6 months into his first government.
I agree with you regarding media consolidation in this country, but then I've been of that view for a few decades from when the problem wasn't as bad as it has now become. We need to have diversity of ownership to make sure we do not have a vital part of a healthy democracy essentially controlled by own overarching source. I cannot agree with you more about this.
Well, that was the most sycophantic column I've read in a long time. His international experience is basically limited to love-ins with Benjamin Netanyahu and the late and unlamented PM of Australia Tony Abbot.
Other than that he seems to have screwed up in the international sphere as incompetently as he did in the domestic sphere. Who in their right mind would waste money on a Harper institute?
I note he is also looking at some corporate boards!. Isn't that a good way to have your stock nose-dive?
Got off from what? You make it sound as if he were guilty of something. What would that be? Or, are you just satisfied to use filthy innuendos with no evidence to back anything you say.
People aren't falling for this crap anymore. Canadians have rolled the tape and have seen with their own eyes what the con media continues to lie about. There is nothing to see here move on.
When Harper was in control, he was in control of EVERYTHING: the PMO, finance, Canadian media (if you don't print what we want, we won't lavishly spend Canadian taxpayer dollars on ad campaigns ...), Speaker, the House and other institutions up and down the Hill.
What's important about Steve is that despite having his fingers in all of the pies, he never got sticky. Nothing ever got back to Steve because his cult of Cons always swarmed around him to protect him. He always had a 'fall guy' like Baird or others to take the heat ... and dish it out.
Justin's mistake - yes, a mistake - was a rookie issue that he MUST learn from if he's going to evolve into a decent leader of this country.
He was pushed to make an apology and an apology makes you weak. Once you're weak, you can be wrong. Once you're wrong, your leadership can be questioned. By the media and everyone else.
So ... Justin needs to set himself in a way that will improve 'Brand Justin' without really having a negative impact on the rest of Parliament as well the way Harper did.
More importantly, he has to set his sites on antiquated protocol in the House of Commons that invite opportunities to make more rookie mistakes.
It's his game to lose.
And, what the NDP fears most of all, no minority governments that have to rely on their support. Maybe Mulcair will see the light and apply to become a (real) Liberal again.
MSM is a pathetic estate for sure. That said, it appears that Andrew Coyne is not bought and paid for on Twitter (also sadly pathetic). His tweets revealed a general ambivalence about the whole manufactured #elbowgate affair. So now the last bastion of the fearless MSM journos is dished out in 140 characters or less.
Keep up the great work Simon!
S.
Did you see this, Simon? Harper may have had a few tools he could call upon, but "enormous integrity" was absolutely not one of them. Nenshi is a fool.
I think it's hilarious that someone who boasted about not even having a passport until he was elected PM thinks he can handle foreign affairs. "Hmm...I don't think we're in Calgary Toto" is about the extent of it.
To be fair, the MSM is a little out of its element where Trudeau is concerned, and it's really not their fault. What have they had to deal with in the last decade? They've been shut out and they've only had rumour and scandal to publish.
Trudeau makes mistakes, admits them, takes responsibility for them, addresses that head on, apologizes and takes action to make amends. That kind of adult behaviour is something we haven't seen in Parliament for a long time now and the press just don't know how to handle it any more.
It will take them a while to catch on, but I look forward to the day when Playground Politics suffers the derision it deserves.
The idea that an apology makes you weak is juvenile. Trudeau has it right.
No voting system is going to fix the problem with politicians behaving badly and ignoring their constituents once they get elected. That said,a simple ranked ballot could be an improvement as it discourages vote splitting with the successful candidate still tied directly and accountable to a specific group of voters. Other more complex proportional voting systems where all parties end up with the the number of representatives proportional to the number of total votes obtained could be a disaster.It would make it difficult for any party to gain a 50% plus majority and possibly foster an increase in the number of special interest parties that appear mainstream but are really there for the purpose of throwing their support behind the highest bidder with the most attractive back room deal that stealthily supports their cause.A constant stream of minority coalition governments could weaken party identity and boost the lets do a deal mentality at the expense of the electorate.The NDP were caught playing personal games with a majority government on an important piece of legislation, imagine what would happen if there were a constant stream of minority governments to play with.
RT
Reading the truth is so pleasant and refreshing. You have a new fan.
hi anon 8:39...you sound like you're disappointed, or bitter. But then I don't blame you. Even Con analysts conceded that Trudeau will most probably sweep the next election, especially after he brings in electoral reform. So you're almost certainly stuck with him until at least 2023. So please try not to go crazy....
Hi Luce...yes, I've heard that he now fancies himself as business leader, no doubt due to the only real job he ever had in the mail room of Imperial Oil. And worse he thinks of himself as a statesman, after having disgraced us in the eyes of the world. But then he's been humiliated, he's still in a "delicate" state of mind. So he doesn't really know what he's saying or he's doing....
hi Julie...I know it's unbelievable isn't it? He hardly left the country before he became Prime Minister, he views the world through a Cold War lens, and he thinks he's a statesman? I understand that other leaders used to draw straws to see which unlucky person would be forced to sit next to him. And really who can blame them? Can you imagine anything worse? The man is delusional and should be taken away in a straitjacket...
hi Luce...believe it or not, some Cons are going to try to pass a motion at the Con convention to change the rules and allow the Droner to run for permanent leader. So you can imagine how desperate they are. Harper created the Cons in his depraved image, and until they can purge at least eighty percent of those Con clowns, they will remain his party, and they will go nowhere...
hi anon 10:00 am...yes I'm sure electoral reform is one of the reasons the Con media are after Justin Trudeau. For as you say, only by preserving the FPTP system can the Cons even hope to snatch another majority again. Which of course is why we must make sure that electoral reform passes, for it will destroy the Cons once and for all...
hi RT....as I've said before I really have to educate myself on the different systems available to us. And although I favour proportional representation, I am willing to consider a ranked ballot if it's the best way to bury the Cons. And if it buries the Mulcair Party as well, after the way they are behaving who really cares?
hi rumleyfips...I believe that Mulcair has corrupted his party as badly as harper corrupted his. There is a nasty edge to them these days, that I simply don't recognize, and is not the NDP I once knew. Like other Trudeau haters in this country, their bitterness blinds them...
hi Omar...I felt that way at the NDP convention and so did a lot of other NDP members, but the establishment got its way, crushed the dissenters, and now they are paying for that fatal mistake. I should feel sorry for them, but after the disgusting way I have been attacked by some of them, I wouldn't care if they disbanded tomorrow.. But don't worry I will work on some new Mulcair photo-shops. And keep encouraging the party to fire him and his cabal as soon as possible....
hi Steve...no I wouldn't want anyone to hurt Great Leader, I'd rather watch him destroy himself. And focus all my efforts on destroying his legacy. Which let's face it, shouldn't be too hard...
hi Scotian...yes, the bit about taking Trudeau down a peg really bothered me too. Who do those press gallery clowns think they are? When those ghastly hacks are the ones who need to be taken down a peg or two, for being so mediocre, and for having collaborated so shamefully with the Con regime. But as I said in my post, they are out of step with the wishes of most Canadians, they are disconnected from reality and living in their little bubble. And unless they can mend their ways, which I doubt, they are heading for disaster...
hi anon...I agree with Julie. I think that by apologizing Trudeau made the Cons and the NDP look really bad. Because remember, a lot of people were actually impressed by the way he flew across the aisle to rescue the Con whip. So I think by apologizing he managed to have his cake and eat it. But yes, I do agree with you that Justin should remember that however nicely he treats the Cons or the Mulcair Party, they still will try to destroy him. So he should show them no mercy, and make it very clear who won the election...
hi S....yes I have to admit I might have been a little unfair to Coyne on this occasion. For he did on Twitter criticize the absurd overreaction of the Cons and especially the NDP. But I didn't have time to change the graphic, so he had to pay for his past sins... ;)
hi Omar...I did see that and for a moment I wondered whether I was hallucinating. Nenshi is one of my favourite political figures, and the very idea of him running for a Con seat really blew my mind. And needless to say if he ever did, he would lose all the respect I presently have for him...
hi Julie...well it's true that the Ottawa media were treated badly by the Cons during the ghastly Harper years. But they did roll over too easily, and you'd think they'd be grateful for the way Trudeau answers their questions in a far more open manner. But no, now that they have a decent Prime Minister they are attacking him far more aggressively than they ever attacked Stephen Harper. I am not impressed, and at times quite disgusted.. But as the guy I linked to said, they really need to get out more....
hi anon...thank you. I try my best to fight the negativity and the hate which are the products of the Harper years. And hopefully we will move out of he darkness and into the light. After the grim Harperland years, I am enjoying our new Prime Minister, and the new hope he has brought to this country. Welcome aboard and feel free to contribute to the discussion....
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