For most of his short and undistinguished parliamentary career, Erin O'Toole has been little more than a mouth that roars.
An annoying but relatively harmless Harper stooge.
But now he's running for the Con leadership. Again.
And he's posing as a warrior, or a great defender of Canada.
Nine years ago Justin Trudeau offered Peter MacKay a chance to fight him in a charity boxing match.
MacKay turned him down, so Patrick Brazeau took his place. Only to wish he hadn't.
But despite that, MacKay now says he'd welcome a chance to fight Trudeau.
There are many reasons I dislike Peter MacKay, starting with the way he sought to pleasure his master Stephen Harper, by trying to turn this country into a prison state.
The way he attacked our precious Supreme Court for daring to stand up for our Canadian values was absolutely disgusting, as was his ugly serial misogyny.
His Great War on Marijuana was right out of Reefer Madness.
I must admit that when the "stable genius" Donald Trump made the unstable warmonger John Bolton his national security adviser, I thought our goose was cooked.
And that Bolton would be the one who would push Trump over the edge, and get us all blown up.
So imagine how happy I am to think that Bolton could be the one who blows up Trump.
As I watched Peter MacKay officially launch his leadership campaign this morning, I felt like I was travelling back in time.
Back to the days when MacKay was Stephen Harper's most faithful stooge, even though he had stolen his party from him.
So the idea that Dumbo could now ride to the rescue of Canada is totally outrageous...
It was just another day in the Con clown leadership race, but before it was over the real face of the Harper Party had been revealed. Again.
And it couldn't be more ugly.
Or for the Cons more like the Day of the Dead.
It was Andrew Scheer's fatal flaw, the one that more than all the others cost him the election.
His religious fanaticism that made it impossible for many women and LGBT Canadians to trust him.
So not surprisingly those who would replace Scheer are desperate not to make the same mistake.
And one leadership candidate, Pierre Poilievre, is even trying to whitewash his past.
Over the course of the last year Justin Trudeau has had to deal with some of the darkest days of his political career.
The ugly Cons attacked him like a pack of rabid hyenas over one fake scandal after the other.
Their media stooges joined in the attempted lynching. with some of them even claiming that Trudeau was unfit to be a Canadian prime minister.
But not any longer.
In one of my recent posts I mentioned that Stephen Harper had been spotted stumbling around in his zombie crypt.
And was threatening to intervene in the Con leadership race, to make sure the party he created remained the Harper Party.
Well now EVERYONE should take cover.
Because Great Zombie Leader has left the land of the living dead...
For days after the shooting down of that Ukrainian airliner Justin Trudeau spent most of his time demanding answers from the Iranians, and mourning our dead.
He didn't have time to play cheap politics as our bestial Cons were demanding.
But after the Iranian military admitted it had shot down the plane, he did speak out.
And said what really needed to be said...
Two years ago Stephen Harper told an American audience that he could still "easily" be Con leader, but didn't want to turn the party into his "personal political vehicle."
But now he is working behind the scenes to elect the next leader.
An associate told the Star that Harper is supportive of a number of those seen as contenders for the leadership, including his former parliamentary secretary Pierre Poilievre and former cabinet ministers Peter MacKay and Erin O’Toole.
Which couldn't be more disastrous for his zombie party.
The contrast couldn't have been clearer, or more brutal.
At a vigil in Edmonton to remember those killed in the downing of that Ukrainian airliner, Justin Trudeau calling the crash a "Canadian tragedy."
“Your entire country stands with you tonight, tomorrow, and in all the years to come,” he told about 2,300 people who attended a memorial service on Sunday.
And asking Canadians to unite in this "moment of national pain."
Which was as beautiful as this is ugly.
The 176 bodies have apparently been retrieved, including those of 57 Canadians whose lives were so brutally ended as they were on their way home.
The Iranian military has admitted that they were responsible.
And said that they are very sorry for bringing down the plane with a missile, in the fog or the darkness of war.
Leaving Justin Trudeau in the darkness of an Ottawa winter having to deal with the diplomatic fallout, and the anger and grief of many Canadians.
Canada's SoCons have been unusually quiet since their leader Andrew Scheer was brought down by Justin Trudeau.
And went to hell in a bucket, so to speak.
But not any longer.
Now that the Con leadership race is officially underway, the religious fanatics are speaking out, and they're NOT happy.
For a moment last night the situation looked bleak. With Iranian missiles raining down on two American bases.
And the crazed Donald Trump huddled with his generals, no doubt threatening to do what he has been promising to do for days;
But when he addressed the American people and the rest of the world this morning, it was clear that he had been brought at least temporarily under control.
As you may remember, I thought the sight of Donald Trump praying with thousands of evangelicals one day after ordering the killing of Qassim Suleimani absolutely disgusting.
Especially his claim that God is "on our side."
But what makes that even more disturbing is that the inspiration to assassinate Suleimani may indeed have come from above.
As I'm sure you remember, the last Con leadership race was an absolute horror show that seemed to go on forever.
And despite the large number of candidates stumbling around only managed to produce a loser like Andrew Scheer.
Well now the Cons are trying to speed up the process by announcing that the new leader will be chosen next June.
It couldn't be a more disturbing sight. The depraved Donald Trump soaking up the love of the religious right, bragging about the assassination of the Iranian general Qassim Suleimani.
And claiming he ordered the killing to stop a war.
When in fact the evidence suggests the opposite.
I was so happy to get back to Canada just in time to see the last sunset of 2019.
And I was looking forward to enjoying a slightly more peaceful year in 2020.
So imagine how I feel to see us such a short time later, teetering on the edge of World War III.
