Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Hollow Words.

More from Michael Ignatieff, but this time he has gone international with his hollow words.

Canada's "fragile" unity is being rattled by a rigidly Conservative government that plays "region against region and language group against language group, "In our country, a politics that arouses ethnic and regional resentment, creating wedges in order to mobilize a conservative base vote, is playing with fire."

He has gone from coast to coast saying that he will not play the divisive politics game, but to date we have only heard the words. But the words mean nothing if they are not backed up with actions and so far Ignatieff has waffled on pretty much everything he has ever said or written. Seriously, has there been anything he has stood by? Yes Ignatieff is that predictable, and I expect him to again shy away from taking a stand or show any type of real leadership.

So you tell me. Will he waffle again or will he stand by his oft spoken words and for once show some balls and publicly distance himself from his alleged 'war room guy' for playing perhaps the most divisive card possible, religion. At the funeral of the Godfather of his own daughter no less.

It doesn't get more divisive and blatant than that people.

I say he waffles again even though he really can't afford to do it again. The man has almost no credibility left and the polls are starting to reflect this.

25 comments:

Rick said...

Ignatieff is nothing more than another cheap opportunist attempting to grasp a niche in Canadian history without any qualifications not that there are many out there. Where are the leaders of the Forties, the Churchills, the Trumans, Eisenhowers etc. Where are the leaders, the men who could inspire. Today its all a facade total gossamer silk in front of your eyes. Bullshit.

Ardvark said...

"Nothing is personal in politics, because politics is theater. It is part of the job to pretend to have emotions that you do not actually feel"

Micheal Ignatieff
New York Times Aug 5, 2007

Anonymous said...

Ignatieff went into Eastern Ontario and supported bilingual signs (he doesn't do this in Quebec). People get along fine in this area, but there are a few groups pushing for the area to be officially bilingual with official bilingual signs. As it is I find I can usually be served in either language in many of the stores in this area, in fact often better than in the West Island of Montreal.

Anonymous said...

Why did the sleazebag liberals devise the green shift so it would take 40% of it's revenue from the west but only spend 15% of it there?

Why did the liberals start funding the separatist with their %1.95 per vote and why did they protest so hard when Harper tried to remove that subsidy?

Anonymous said...

Hello Ardvark,

I just read an interesting opinion column found in today's Chronicle Herald, it's a must read.

More generous EI will increase unemployment
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Opinion/1131296.html

Roy Eappen said...

This is rich coming from the party that has encouraged multicultural ghettoization for votes for years.

Calgary Junkie said...

This is all just predictable, mediocre, boiler-plate Liberal-speak. It's not going to resonate with voters outside the Liberal base. First of all, because Charest, the staunch federalist, has a majority gov't for another three years or so, and is leading in the polls. And secondly, because the economy, especially jobs, is the over-riding concern of Canadians, and will be for a long time.

Like I've said many times, Iggy just cannot play the political game anywhere near Harper's level. My suggestion to him is that he put together a "green job creation" platform, heavy on specifics, paid for by a 2 % raise in the GST. We are vulnerable on the unemployment front, especially in Ont., and Iggy would be smart to focus there.

Ardvark said...

He has to come out publicly and distance himself from what his 'war room guy' wrote and that type of politics in general.

He cannot afford to again waffle on his own words. That is not leadership, that is being spineless.

Gayle said...

So, how has Ignatieff pitted region against region again???

Wsn't it YOUR guy who defended himself from the coalition by attacking Bloc and NDP voters?

Anonymous said...

Iggy will simply claim that his speech was taken out of context.

Ardvark said...

Gayle give it a rest. Take your sad attempts at spin and distraction somewhere else.

Ignatieff has from the day of his coronation decried that he, and as an extension the Liberal Party would not play divisive politics, but his self proclaimed war room guy does that very thing by using religion as a political weapon.

Not only is it classless it shows that Iggy has no control of his own people and does not back up his hollow words with actions.

Not a leader part 2.

Soccermom said...

"Rigidly conservative"????

That's the one thing this government HASN'T been, come on!

Anonymous said...

Correct me if I am wrong but didnt Iffy say almost the exact same things about the Bloc Quebecois wanting to destroy Canada that Harper said?

Harper doing so was being divisive. Iffy doing so was a sign of brilliant leadership.

The thinking of liberals amazes me at times.

Ardvark said...

10:42 Anon you are correct about what Ignatieff said about the Bloc. He also has said that the entire coalition idea would have caused a "permanent division" in our society. But yet, with all of his doubts Ignatieff signed on the dotted line anyway.

The hollow man Ignatieff treats his signature like he treats his words; meaningless.

And please try not to feed the trolls. Even when you directly answer their questions they just ignore the facts and you end up wasting your time.

Marie said...

We should ALL be offended with the constant claim that Ignatieff uses that it was LIBERALS who built this country.

How is that for divide and conquer politics.

Anyone but a Liberal is a slacker and contributed nothing to this country.

Look closer - the Canadain ancestors Ignatieff boasts about were NOT Liberals. His Grandfather Grant wrote the famous "Lament for a Nation" which was a rallying cry against Liberals and what they were doing to destroy Canada.

Ignatieff thinks none of us stupid Canadian plebian sheep are smart enough to do our own homework on his vacuous empty rhetoric. ????

Ardvark said...

"This is unworthy … I will never descend to that level of attack because when we do this, we fragment our country, we divide our country. We create suspicion and fear and hurt, where there has to be healing.”

Michael Ignatieff July 4, 2009

Put your money where your mouth is Mr. Ignatieff and put a stop to the smears coming from your own side.

Ardvark said...

The truth on what really happened.

”The priest who delivered the homily at the funeral mass of former governor-general Romeo LeBlanc said Stephen Harper behaved properly when he took part in the communion service last week.

“The Prime Minister did consume the host; he did not put it in his pocket,” said Father Arthur Bourgeois, who had been a friend of Mr. LeBlanc for 30 years….

“We were so flattered that the Prime Minister took the time to come down so we feel embarrassed by the whole controversy he faced,” he said.

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/07/09/chris-selley-wafer-scandal-sinks-political-reporting-to-new-lows.aspx

So will WK now claim that the priest is a liar? Stay tuned.

maryT said...

So saying the West is French, and liberals built Canada is not divisive.

Anonymous said...

This was low budget smear at its worst and the fingers of Kinsella are all over it.

Gayle said...

Oh dear Aardvark. Are you having a bad week?

I cannot help but notice that in all your responses to my posts, you fail to actually address the point.

Which is rather telling...

Ardvark said...

What point? The region thing or Ignatieff saying “I could be sitting here as your prime minister, but I turned it down because I didn’t think it was right for someone who believes in the national unity of my country to make a deal with people who want to split the country up,” or that the coalition would have caused "permanent division" in Canada.

Do you mean those points that were previously addressed or was there some other point that you are referring to?

I think it is telling that you can't read.

Gayle said...

It is telling you have turned comment moderation on. Does that mean you wish to censor comments you do not like? Hmmm

In any event, if the only example you can find of Ignatieff pitting one region against another in this country is that one reference he made to the Bloc, I would point out that comment did NOT cause any mass reaction in Quebec, unlike Harper's relentless campaign against "separatists and socialists" in December. If you want to argue that he is pitting regions against each other, don't you think you might want some evidence that what he says is actually doing that?

I suggest Harper set the groundwork for the backlash in Quebec when he campaigned that voting for the Bloc was just a big waste of money...

So, whether or not you permit this comment, I think we both know you have come up short here - maybe that is why you so quickly turned this into a personal attack rather than a reasoned argument.

Ardvark said...

Gayle comment moderation was on because I went on a little vacation and made a point to stay away from computers in general while I was away.

I don't care if Iggy's comment did not cause the same stir in Quebec that the PM's did. They were essentially the exact same thing and are an example of Iggy playing the region game. I know you will not be happy with it and will again move the goal posts, but it does answer your question.

FoxtrotBravo said...

Gayle asks:

"So, how has Ignatieff pitted region against region again???"

Gayle's answer:

"Quebecers do not deserve to be in a permanent opposition in Ottawa. Their place is in power,"
Ignatieff .. Mar 22/09

Ardvark said...

Never mind region vs region, the man is dividing his own party with stuff like this: “It’s disgusting in my own country, and I love my country, Canada, but they would rather bitch about their rich neighbour to the south than actually pay the note,” he said, in response to a question about peacekeeping. “To pay the bill to be an international citizen is not something that they want to do.”
“entirely bogus reputation as peacekeepers” for 40 years and for favouring “hospitals and schools and roads” over international citizenship. “If you are a human rights defender and you want something done to stop [a] massacre, you have to go to the Pentagon, because no one else is serious,”

The man is a one man unity show.