Pretty straightforward question, "Have you heard enough or do you want to hear more?"
That's the question posed to the Senate by their beleaguered colleague, Mike Duffy, as he tabled a first batch of documents for their consideration.
Do you want to hear more? What does that imply except that there's more to tell. There's more to be known about the Senate expense scandal as it relates to the Cavendish Cottager, more to be known about Wright-Duffy-Harper scandal, more to be known about the senior Tory leadership within the PMO and the Senate itself. Who can say what else there's more to know about?
So, what are the senators going to do? Do they want to hear more? Sure, if there's more to hear, and the documents tabled today suggest there must be, then of course they want to hear more, they want to get down to the bottom of this. They owe no less to Parliament and the Canadian people.
But what if they don't want to hear more? What are we to make of that? The guy who's offering to tell them more, to share more documents with them, is the guy who is also pointing fingers at some of them who just happen to be those most keen to shut him up, to bury him. That doesn't seem quite right, does it? Doesn't seem Canadian at all.
You see, if after this guy produces documents that support or are at least consistent with what he's been saying all along, they still don't want to hear more they had better come up with a solid explanation of why not. And if they don't do that we are right to assume they're trying to save their own skins and maybe their prime minister's too.
The Conservative convention doesn't open until Friday. There's plenty of time left to hear more, to peruse more documents, to ask and answer important questions. All they have to do is say yes, they want to hear more. Don't hold your breath.
An anonymous commenter drew my attention to this delightful clip that should lead every newscast in the country, every night until the Great Dissembler comes clean. Enjoy, if you can avoid weeping.
7 comments:
Please sir, I want more.
I've never been a Duffy fan and I've had some concerns about Brazeau, at least regarding his personal life and his apparent demons, but I will give them both points for consistency. Both have been consistent in what they've been saying for months. Harper and his minions can't even keep their story straight from one day to the next.
Oh to be a fly on the wall of the PMO tonight.
I too lost a great deal of respect for Duffy when he pulled his infamous hatchet job on Dion and thereafter became a full time shill for the Harper government, punching his ticket into the Senate.
Be that as it may, it has to be said that his position from the outset is consistent with the evidence being unveiled and the subsequent events suddenly seem very consistent with his contention that he was extorted into accepting the cash-under-the-table deal with strings attached.
Talk about selling one's soul to the devil. Once you fall into that sort of deal, you're a "bought and paid for" commodity for the rest of your days. That's why we have a law that specifically prohibits gifts or loans to senators in connection with their office. Without that prohibition, it's an open invitation to institutional corruption.
I think Harper is busy working out the odds of his political survival and figuring out how to game the system. We saw him do just that in the Bruce Carson scandal.
When Harper stepped back from the story about Nigel being some rogue, lone gunman, he did that for a very specific reason, one he's not sharing with us.
When he went from Nigel retiring honourably to Nigel being fired out of hand, there was another very specific reason Harper is keeping to himself.
I'd love to be a tap on the phone line between Stephen Harper and RCMP Commish, Bob Paulson.
Leader of the Opposition Harper, on PM Harper:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COwvznzJkV8
I haven't had much use for Duffy the man, the journalist, let alone the Senator since from well before Chretien retired. Unlike most people who never met him I still managed to pick up on Duffy the person via others who had and was aware of just what kind of raging egomaniac lay behind that avuncular just folks persona he loved to put out there. Since I also have a chunk of my family from PEI, and spent my childhood summers and honeymoon there I have some familiarity of the culture and Duffy always rang false for me that way too, and I knew more than a few Islanders who thought he had sold them out a long time back. So I find it more than a little ironic that this man may well be the tool by which the politician I have been most opposed to in all my life gets brought down.
I find myself in the odd position of believing Duffy, his story has been consistent, and I can even swallow the idea that he was forced into this deal, mainly because of his overweening ego. If he really believed he did nothing wrong and that it was only a political perception issue then the idea of issuing a public apology and being seen as paying restitution would be a very difficult thing for the man. Now, am I convinced that is what happened, no, but I will say I find it more plausible with him than I would for most, ironically because of things about him I always disliked. I am also more than a little surprised that it seems Harper and company are so poorly prepared for what they unleashed when they decided to target Duffy, especially in the Senate to remove his perks and privileges. This reaction was really easy to see coming, and to think a former major media political journalist and later anchor of a national political show would not make sure his behind was covered by documentation and that he would make sure of it from the very beginning seems to me hubris beyond measure by the PM and his people.
I've always suspected Duffy had the goods to back up the bulk of his claims (I do think he polishes it up a bit, but on the whole essentially accurate, unlike what we have seen from Harper), but until he was in direct threat he would keep his powder dry. So for Harper to decide to risk having Duffy go active instead of continuing the silence that had lasted for months, and to do so right before his policy convention at that, shows a man clearly not connected much to reality anymore, because what we have seen happening was easily foreseeable. I even think Duffy went out of his way to do things so as to first squash last week Harper's attempt to stage a triumph in the House with CETA as well as to start defending himself in the Senate, and I would not be surprised of part of the timing today was intended to reduce whatever Harper could get from releasing CETA details as he announced for tomorrow. I think Duffy is a very vindictive personality and when you combine that kind of trait with what always happens when you corner any animal, especially the human animal, well then what else would one expect to see?
Duffy was always a bitter pill on the inside, and Harper is finding out just how bitter that pill can truly be. At this point I do not think Harper can get away from this scandal anymore. I think what we saw come out in accusation AND documents finally make it beyond any reasonable persons credulity to believe Harper did not know, or that to try and argue he did not know demonstrates a level of unforgivable/inexcusable incompetence by Harper because he should have known unless he actively made sure he couldn't which is equally bad.
Harper has survived by being the most vicious power player around, I find it more than a little ironic he missed just how vicious a power player Duffy could be, especially when forced to be, despite all the evidence out there, not least the Dion affair itself.
well said Scotian, well said!
MoS:
If you haven't seen it yet you should take a look at Paul Wells latest at Inkless Wells titled: "How Stephen Harper gets to the bottom of something". It makes some incredibly good points about how Harper can and has done a serious investigation into what one of his CoS did when he actually wanted to know it, and the contrast to the Wright affair and how it shows either Harper doesn't really want to know or already does but doesn't want the rest of us to know he does.
Just thought I'd mention it before I call it an early night. See you later, likely after some more revelations tomorrow...LOL...*SIGH*.
deb Scott:
Thanks, one tries, especially when one is as much of a natural blowhard as me...*chuckle*.
Yes, indeed, goodnight to everyone. Even out here on the Left Coast it's feeling very, very late. For reasons I don't understand simply following this sorry saga is draining.
Like Scotian, Cujo and others, it's hard not to pull for Duffy despite the fact that he has done nothing to deserve our sympathy. It's just that Duffy, the little guy in this, appears to be telling the truth while the other guy,Goliath, is plainly lying through his teeth.
Any benefit of the doubt that Harper might otherwise claim if only by virtue of being prime minister is gone, lost to him through previous scandals - Cadman, Grewal and, in particular, Bruce Carson. No one has to mark Stephen Harper for a liar. He's done that well enough himself.
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