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Politics : Canadian Political Free-for-All -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cogito Ergo Sum who wrote (6775)	12/28/2005 7:31:17 PM
From: Stephen O	Respond to of 37332

I found this on a blog: It's little wonder Liberal bloggers are cleaning their drawers more often. Sheila Copps' column eviscerates these turkeys in her column. Some excerpts: The sophomoric, insulting comments on the web blog of Mike Klander, the Ontario executive vice-president of the Liberal Party of Canada should have surprised very few people. Klander's references -- rightly seen, in my view, as racist and sexist -- comparing NDP candidate Olivia Chow to a breed of dog reflect the quality of backroom discussions in the Martin Liberal Party. As with Scott Reid of "beer and popcorn" fame, the public got a glimpse of what current high-level Liberal Party officials actually think of them. Klander, the son of hard-working immgirant steelworker parents in Hamilton, rose to great heights in the Liberal party by working hard to fit in. In the Martin backrooms, fitting in tends to mean "old boy" and bathroom humour, and ensuring your place is secured by tearing others down.... Perhaps all he wanted from his dog blog was a big chuckle from the big boys. Reviewing his website over the past year gives some insight into the current level of erudition in the executive offices of the Martin Liberals.... It was not always this way. I remember when, as a young high school student, he came into my office interested in knowing more about the Liberal party. His father was a diehard New Democrat, but Mike thought the Liberal Party might be a more realisitic way to help people. As a young man, he wanted to get involved to make things better. Over the years, it became simply about the win.... His blog struck me as stunning in its ignorance. No depth there, simply hate. Martin good, everyone else bad. He mocks the facial disfigurements of former PM Jean Chretien, as well as Canada's first elected quadriplegic, Tory MP Steven Fletcher. He refers to one of Canada's first elected Muslim MPs as "ethnic" Rahim Jaffer. He makes what I view as misogynistic and homophobic comments in many entries. What is even more amazing was the reaction this week by Martin spokesman Stephen Heckbert. He downplayed Klander's comments because they were on a blog: "Partisan blogs get a little heated, especially around election time. You'd see some language that might curl your hair." ...I wonder whether it would even occur to the Martin backroom boys that there was anything wrong with the Chow-Chow "separated at birth" posting -- more likely, they would pass it around, smirking at anyone who did not get it. The same backroom boys use the race card when it will play well for them. "Trade one Sikh candidate for a Ukrainian as long as it will get votes andkeep them quiet," is a view I have actually heard expressed by a key Martin organizer. In today's party machine, non-white voters are viewed as commodities, to be traded for seats which will guarantee a majority. The only difference in the Klander blog is that the public actually found out. Patrick \| Homepage \| 12.28.05 - 3:44 pm \| #