Liberals gone, hate lives on

Maybe it's just me, but isn't the Liberal leadership race really dull?

It seems the federal Liberal leadership race is sort of a saunter, a mosey. It doesn't appear to have any sense of a finish line. I've been waiting for the first weekend in December for years, it seems, and I've even lost track of the Nova Scotia Liberal leadership quest. It's hitting on the “who cares?� mark.

In the federal case, the only ones I would consider aren't even thought to be serious contenders anymore are former Martin cabinet ministers Scott Brison and Ken Dryden.

The big Liberals --Frank McKenna, Brian Tobin, John Manley and the like - are sitting this one out. I think we can see why.

The party is being called to atone for an increasing number of things - from outright corruption, needlessly bad intergovernmental relations, weakening national security, debilitating pandering to special interest groups and so on. The Afghan mission is exposing just how bad successive Liberal regimes had weakened our international capabilities. The Middle East war this summer showed, instead of being a nuance-mastering honest broker in that region, Canada has essentially been a non-entity for some time - there and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, preparing for the worst - being beaten by the second-string players seeking the job - Brison is confident former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae and former Chretien cabinet minister Stephane Dion aren't left-wingers. For Scott's and our sakes, I hope he's right. I know the Liberals too well.

The ex-Tory and still conservative Brison has new ideas for his new party - he should, they're true blue and green. He understands the importance of the economy and that everything - including social services - has to be paid for by someone. Being an Atlantic Canadian and a rural Canadian, he knows the importance of environmental concerns and green energy and economy. Like the rest of us, he has to be practical, and see things practically. It has to work, pay for itself and make money on top.

Hopefully, regardless of the Montreal convention's outcome, Scott remains on the front benches, whether in government or opposition. Otherwise, he'd have to call his conservative political home soon. He says he doesn't want to do that. I'm sure, at this stage in the political game, no one there would answer the phone, anyway.

Meanwhile, the NDP isn't stepping forward to offer any viable alternative government. In fact, NDP MP Peggy Nash did a political suicide bombing on CTV last week by claiming NATO troops were bombing Afghan villages. Her undeniable implication: this is wanton, intentional and widespread. Jason Kenney, Harper's parliamentary secretary, rightly energetically condemned her folly as “outrageous.� In fact, his response was low key for such a horrible, well, outrage.

Nash's shameful attack on NATO is a significant sign her party's aim is not just “peace at any price.� There appears to remain a dangerous element in that party that continues to hark back to less politically productive - and less realistic - times. Let's not forget that the attack was on NATO - the greatest and most beneficial economic, cultural and military alliance the world has yet seen - and what it hopes to help the UN do in Afghanistan.

Things are gawd awful rough over there for those Canadians - mostly rural Canadians, some say - trying to help that miserable country. Our young people there - and their NATO allies - don't need any more crap from the likes of Nash.

It appears some in the federal NDP don't want to be a responsible government - choosing to stay in the political sidelines and play at being outrageous protesters. I suppose it beats working for real. It's a pity, and it's costing the Canadian people a political alternative.

And it is indicative of a reverse of an old political saying. Brought up in a Liberal family, it was often said that the Tories were so mean - “mean as cat piss� - “they wouldn't give you the sleeves off their vests.�

Somewhat more recently, I heard a speaker at Acadia note an old western Canadian adage: “not all Tories are haters, but all haters are Tories.� A bit harsh, I thought, especially out here in the east - but an interesting observation.

Well, Nash and the others in her party - and many among the Liberals - appear to hate our military and our allies, along with corporations, etc.

Recall 19th Century British Tory Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli's comment on the “cosmopolitan critics who love all countries save their own.�

Just for fun - whether a George Bush supporter or not, (I'm not) - approach a conversation among a group of folks you know to be of the left and, every once in a while, interject “George Bush� into the conversation. No need to say anything else. Just watch the rage and hate flare.

Amazing, and fun. Until they catch on.