Revolutionary Moderation

Guess who hasn't been getting laid for a while?

Seeing as I'm the host of the Gaffe-o-Meter, it seems I should comment, so here you go:

Watching all the furor over Peter MacKay's comments during an exchange of heckling in the House, I'm trying to figure out who's being stupider over it all. Is it MacKay himself, who, although he got in a "good one", should have the political instincts to know when a "good one" will create a shitstorm? Is it the Liberals, and particularly Stronach herself, who looks at best disingenuous in trying to make MacKay's "good one" out to be some sort of example of the Tories' alleged general misogyny? Or is it the media, who are eating all of this up with a spoon, at the expense of the Tories nonsensical legislation?

Frankly, I barely blame MacKay at all, except in his actions since. The initial comment was neither premeditated nor just an angry rant. McKay was having some fun at his ex-girlfriend's expense. As friends of mine know, I have a lot of sympathy toward that. My only complaint is about his denial that he said it. Instead, he should have thrown a press conference: "Yes, I said it. I was implying that my ex-girlfriend is a bitch. It seemed funny at the time, and still kinda does. I'll leave Canadians to judge both those issues. However, here are some of the things I've done on behalf of Canadian and more recently Afghani women, most of whom are not power-hungry opportunists..... . Finally, a personal message to Tie Domi. Get away while you still can."

(Hmmm... power-hungry opportunists. He certainly has a type.)

I have some beef with the Liberals who should have just recognized a "good one" and moved on. They're now the ones who have shifted the focus away from the Clean Air legislation, when Canadians should be thinking very hard about that legislation and what it doesn't do. Stronach herself I blame a little less, because she was painted into a corner by her colleagues who made an issue of it. It doesn't really leave her in a position to say "I'm sad he's still hurting, because I'll always have a place in my heart for him. But Tie 'n' me, we got something really special....." Or, you know, whatever it is ex-girlfriends say in these circumstances. Still, she might have gotten away with "I think that caucus is a bad influence on Peter. I know he's not a misogynist, because I don't sleep with misogynists, but it's sad that he thinks he has to say things like that just to impress his new friends from the old Alliance party....." and then start naming names and examples.

Finally, the media. How can I blame them? "He said, she said" is so much easier to cover than a complex environmental issue, and it sells more papers.