Et Tu Manley
Many are saying Manley is a pawn in Harper's game, that he has been duped. Do you know how stupid one would have to be not to figure out Harper's agenda? Really, really stupid. I don't think Manley is that stupid, so he knows that he is the latest in Mr. H.'s jabs at Dion and the Liberals. If he knows this, then he has chosen to either a) use his inside position to keep the Liberals apprised and to express the current Liberal position or b) to move into the cons camp and do a little damage in the process, a sort of 'Emerson deluxe' manoeuver.
The possibilities of the first, highly unlikely - he was generally known to be at the far right of the Liberal party and he appears to love the US (his support of a common currency, etc.). Is he still even a member of the Liberal party?
I opt for the second: I think he still wants to be a big political cheese and this is a perfect opportunity to position himself, check out how much room for growth there might be with the cons, and push his personal (not the Liberal) position on staying in Afghanistan. There is no problem switching parties - it's still a free world, he has no constituents to disappoint - but why then make such a big deal about claiming to be a Liberal and taking this on as a public duty? What a joke, is his ego really so big that he thinks that if Mr. H. is mean to him he can return to the Liberal fold and that Liberals are so stupid as to ever want him back?
The possibilities of the first, highly unlikely - he was generally known to be at the far right of the Liberal party and he appears to love the US (his support of a common currency, etc.). Is he still even a member of the Liberal party?
I opt for the second: I think he still wants to be a big political cheese and this is a perfect opportunity to position himself, check out how much room for growth there might be with the cons, and push his personal (not the Liberal) position on staying in Afghanistan. There is no problem switching parties - it's still a free world, he has no constituents to disappoint - but why then make such a big deal about claiming to be a Liberal and taking this on as a public duty? What a joke, is his ego really so big that he thinks that if Mr. H. is mean to him he can return to the Liberal fold and that Liberals are so stupid as to ever want him back?
posted by Susan at 10:20 AM
6 Comments:
Manley is what Libs used to be . . . before they became "Progressives/Socialists/Marxists".
He can actually have a real conversation, unlike the majority of the left today. The left just keeps moving further and further from the centre, the Ndips and Greens are getting squeezed big time. The land of the Ultra-left is getting soooo crowded!!!
And you don't think it is possible that Manley accepted the position as a non-partisan, just as he said??
Manley has held many high profile positions in a Liberal government.
He was Chretien's deputy PM, being groomed to take over as Liberal leader.
Chretien felt him worthy of becoming the PM.
And today's Liberals question his intelligence, judgement and motives in heading up a panel, on a mission he has a deep understanding of, from it's genesis.
Maybe it's me who is naive, believing that people will serve their country, without reward.
oldschool
The left is crowded because that's where most Canadians are.
Wilson
Yep, naive, that would be it!
Susan . . . most Canadians are in the middle . . . Canada's left-leaning parties have all left that territory years ago. The LPC today is almost indistinguishable from the Ndips and the Green/watermelon (green on the outside, red on the inside) Party . . . they have all moved into Progressive/Socialist/Marxist land.
Go read some old speaches of people like John Kennedy, Lester Pearson . . . you would call them right-wing today!
oldschool
It doesn't really matter what you label it, most Canadians do not espouse the thinking and values of Harper and Manley, especially on the issue of Afghanistan.
I don't suppose it occurred to you that Manley simply might feel very strongly about one issue in particular (Afghanistan) and doesn't really care about the political ramifications of him providing Harper cover on the matter.
I wholeheartedly urge you to continue to agitate for an election, by the way. It's going to be a rude awakening for you when you discover your typically Liberal "Canadians-are-largely-left-leaning" theory is about a mile wide and an inch deep.
People, especially Canadians, aren't ideological. And right now its the Liberals that look way, way more ideological compared to anything Harper is doing.
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