Those truculent Liberals

So, it would seem the prospect of our annual federal election has dissipated for the moment thanks largely to NDP leader Jack Layton’s ability to master the incredibly obvious.  Pity Michael Ignatieff hadn’t the same basic skill set.

But then Liberal arrogance is nothing new in this country.

I was amused to read the story that ran today on the amount of money spent by various government departments on golf balls and tees.  The winner was the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation who spent a whopping $37,419 on golf balls and $7,967 on tees. Wow!

I’m a golfer and I can’t get my head around how many tees $7,967 would buy.

But bureaucrats with a sense of entitlement spending our money on frivalous things is nothing new. Would that it were.  No, what was really interesting from that story was this comment that appeared on the CTV website:

It’s a comfort during this recession to see that the conservatives are such wise managers of money, end of joke, laugh here! How dare they complain that the Liberals wasted money? Parliament worked until the conservatives took charge and they have wasted how much taxpayer money on their annual quest for a majority? Millions upon millions. Canada can’t afford the conservatives – we can do better with the Liberals!

It’s hard to know where to begin with that blind stupidity.

In the first instance, no matter what political critics might like to stand up on their hind legs and bleat about, profligate spending on stupid things by entitled bureaucrats is rarely the fault of whichever politicians happen to occupy the corner office at that time.  Unfortunately, the nameless, faceless bureaucrats who actually tend to run things do what they want with our money with a sense of righteousness and entitlement that would make the Artful Dodger blush.

Using discretionary budgets for things like golf balls is just not something that would ever get to the ministerial level unless that minister happend to evade all the bureaucrats in the civil service whose job it is to keep the minister occupied, and go poking around their department.

But what was really hard to take from the intellectually challenged individual that wrote that little bit of vitriolic nonsense – which I might add sounds a lot like the vitriolic nonsense that is forming the majority of the Liberal Party’s talking points these days – is the assertion that bureaucratic mischief with the public purse was the fault of the Tories and if only the Libs were back in power everthing would be different.

That’s really an “Oh my God! Stupid!” statement.  Consider the HRDC Billion Dollar Boondoggle (it was really three billion, but why quibble?), Adscam, Chuck Guite, their very own godfather Alfonse Gagliano, never mind the unholy alliance with Power Corp and the selling out of this country’s sovereignty to the government of the People’s Republic of China or Chretien’s own real estate deals on the back of napkins.  The administration of the last majority Liberal government was the most corrupt government this country has ever seen.  Bar none. There is not even a debatable second choice.

Don’t be surprised at the blind stupidity though.  Liberals all over seem to be afflicted with the same disease.  Look no further than the still alive (barely) former US President Jimmy Carter and his ‘anyone who criticizes Obama is a racist’ drivel.  People all over America are criticizing Obama because his socialist policies defy what they believe in, not because he is Black.  The last harbour of a liberal is to start name calling.  Any critic is racist or homophobe or Islamophobe or some other type of phobe yet to be invented.  I know, I’ve been called all manner of things over the years depending on whose ox was being gored.

The worst part is that neither Ignatieff, nor Carter nor the comment writer can ever establish any reasoned argument for their stated position.  In point of fact, when presented with a reasoned argument against their stated position they inevitably start name calling.

On the other hand, with dozens of MPs from all parties without vested pensions, all the election talk was likely just posing anyway.  Something that appears to be particularly suited to Michael Ignatieff.  With any luck, he will be unsuccessful in the next election, whenever that may be, and he will run off back to the USA and the ivied halls of Harvard.

See ya.

Leo Knight

primetimecrime@gmail.com