The Shotgun Blog
« The RCMP and the Liberals: Looks like Gomery was the right thing to do | Main | From "Never again" to "Never mind"? »
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
It takes one to know one
Isn't it refreshing to hear such nuanced foreign policy discussion from our honourable senators?
Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay got a rough ride in his first appearance before the Senate national security and defence committee, but the proceedings turned particularly ugly when Liberal Senator Peter Stollery hurled an insult at Karzai, Afghanistan's interim president, who MacKay said would soon be visiting Canada.Senator Stollery would certainly know a stooge more than most, considering that his position at the heart of Canadian political power is due to his being "put there" by Pierre Trudeau:"You know Karzai, he's a stooge. He was put there by Americans. Everybody knows that," Stollery said.
[Stollery] was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal candidate in the 1972 election for Spadina riding in Toronto. He was re-elected in 1974, 1979 and 1980 elections. He served for a time as Chairman of the Parliamentary Caucus.In 1981, Stollery was appointed to the Canadian Senate on the recommendation of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau wanted to open Stollery's Spadina riding so that Trudeau's aide James Coutts, could be elected to Parliament in a by-election.
He's getting on in years, so perhaps I should forgive Stollery's faltering memory of his patron's own admiration for totalitarian stooges. In any case, I hope this answers the question as to the effectiveness of a Triple-E Senate.
Posted by Rob Huck on May 30, 2006 | Permalink
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515b5d69e200d834c3b51969e2
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference It takes one to know one:
Comments
So is Karzai a stooge or not? A personal attack on the senator does not answer the question.
Posted by: me | 2006-05-30 11:37:02 AM
A personal attack on the legitimacy of an unelected Senator is, to me, an appropriate answer to a personal attack on the legitimacy on an elected world leader.
Posted by: Rob Huck | 2006-05-30 11:49:05 AM
Which in no way answers the question of whether the duly elected Karzai is a stooge. Why avoid the question by descending to their level?
Posted by: me | 2006-05-30 11:52:13 AM
I did answer your question: Karzai was elected through an election monitored by foreign observers who concluded that it was run in the most free and fair manner possible. Stolley wasn't.
Who's the stooge?
Posted by: Rob Huck | 2006-05-30 11:56:23 AM
Even if Karzai was an American stooge, I would find that infinitely better than if he were a Saudi stooge.
So would a lot of women in Afghanistan who are now permitted to learn to read and write.
Posted by: John | 2006-05-30 12:07:13 PM
I think this CBC clip is worth watching.
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-1773-12071-10/on_this_day/politics_economy/twt
ALL senators are stooges.
Yes, Karzai was put into power by the US Army and remains alive and in power by the support of Western forces.
Is Karzai a stooge? Maybe not. He is ruling with Sharia law.
Posted by: Speller | 2006-05-30 12:36:45 PM
Stooge or not Karzai is certainly preferrable to a brutal Taliban totalitarian dictator who may or may not be a stooge of al Qaeda or Iran.
What "me" and Senator 'Stooge' Stollery have failed to do is indicate their own preferences as an alternative to Karzai. The Taliban?
Posted by: JR | 2006-05-30 1:06:18 PM
So apparently Conservative Minister Fortier is a stooge? Now Huck has me really confused.
Posted by: me | 2006-05-30 1:11:35 PM
me confused?
you are me, right?
that can’t be me.
methinks? seldom
now me has me confused.
Posted by: nomdenet | 2006-05-30 1:30:50 PM
Is it just me or are we just becoming stooges of the vast (fill in the blank) worldwide conspiracy against truth.
Posted by: Set you free | 2006-05-30 1:31:39 PM
don't worry SYF
it's just me
Posted by: nomdenet | 2006-05-30 1:33:47 PM
"In any case, I hope this answers the question as to the effectiveness of a Triple-E Senate."
Can you say "non sequitur"? I knew that you could! The fact that a non-elected Senator said something outreageous is no evidence either for or against the effectiveness of a Triple-E Senate. The two are entirely unrealated thoughts ... that is, to people who are thinking ... which may be your problem.
Posted by: Mark Logan | 2006-05-30 1:41:05 PM
When elected MPs do the outrageous, then ”thinking people” through the bums out.
What can we do with the outrageous when they are political patronage appointments for life? Nothing!
That’s when “thinking people” change the rules.
Posted by: nomdenet | 2006-05-30 1:50:47 PM
Whoops, I meant "throw"
I guess I wasn't "thinking"
Posted by: nomdenet | 2006-05-30 1:52:54 PM
Unless we change to elected senators, the present system serves no purpose whatsoever other than a financial drain on the rest of us. To continue supporting the present situation makes all of us stooges.
Posted by: verdad | 2006-05-30 3:09:48 PM
Mark, I agree that my linking of a Triple-E Senate to this article might be considered tenuous.I had wished to address, at least in passing, the lack of elected accountibility of this public official with respect to Russ Kuykendall's discussion on an "elected Senate" posted earlier. Perhaps I should have used that term instead of "Triple-E", as the two concepts are related but far from equal.
.
Posted by: Rob Huck | 2006-05-30 3:13:58 PM
In my heart I will allways believe there are really only three stooges.
Posted by: cricket | 2006-05-30 3:53:41 PM
... well ok, four if you count Shemp.
Posted by: cricket | 2006-05-30 3:54:28 PM
... well ok, four if you count Shemp.
Posted by: cricket | 2006-05-30 4:03:21 PM
I like that idea.
Posted by: Rob Huck | 2006-05-30 4:06:28 PM
kk,
I think if we were to ask permission of Iqualuit citizens to send the Senate there, they would have Nunavit.
Groan
Posted by: BoomNoZoom | 2006-05-30 4:40:25 PM
Typical Liberal Party contempt for democracy, human rights and basic decency. Unlike President Karzai, this guy was not elected to his office, just appointed by a real heartless criminal dictator. Heck, he hasn't even been in an election since 1980!
President Karzai is more than welcome in Alberta at any time. Only Chavez, Morales, and especially Fidel the Criminal are not welcome. Castro should be arrested and put on trial for crimes against humanity should he set foot in Alberta. Indeed, the Trudeau sons should stand trial for their fathers' crimes: the 1970 Invasion of Quebec and the NEP.
Well, Osama Bin Laden isn't welcome either but should he ever come to Alberta he would be on the next plane to NYC where the FDNY and NYPD would take turns on him, after Mayor Giuliani.
Posted by: Scott | 2006-05-30 5:04:02 PM
Eh?
Posted by: Windy in here, no? | 2006-05-30 8:56:05 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.