Month: September 2008

From the Liberal War Room comes the first “Harper's Index”. Note to Libs: Did you check with Harper's? I'm pretty sure that Harper's Index is copyrighted 🙂

No doubt we'll see more of these before Oct. 14.

Harper's Index – Week One

Number of campaign events that Stephen Harper has held so far that have been open to members of the public: 0

Number of campaign events that Stéphane Dion has held so far that have been open to members of the public: 18 (including two town halls)

Number of times Jason Kenney has been seen in public since the puffin incident: 0

Total savings a Canadian family could receive from Mr. Harper's two-cent-per-litre diesel tax cut if it fully “trickles down” to consumers and is not absorbed by suppliers or transporters: $15 annually or about 25 cents per week.

Number of Conservative campaign events that used unwitting new and expectant mothers as human props: 1

Number of apologies Mr. Harper has had to issue so far for gaffes by his staff: 2

Number of female party leaders Mr. Harper has tried to exclude from the leader's debate: 1

Number of times the RCMP has been used to physically shield Mr. Harper from questions: 1 (2 if you count This Hour Has 22 Minutes)

They're pretty mild as attack ads go, but new Liberal French-language television ads are now airing in Quebec that tell viewers that Stephen Harper is hardly a great leader, because great leaders don't engage in personal attacks and don't use the politics of fear. The “truly, great leader” in this campaign, a voter in one ad says, is Stephane Dion.
No politician appears in these ads. Instead, the ads consist of a several everyday Quebecers shot mostly in close-up on a white background, saying a few lines about Stephen Harper.
One twenty-something man says Harper is following the policies of U.S. President George Bush.  Another says, “They made cuts in culture; they want to censor our films. Is that a strong a leader?”
Each ad ends with the tag, “Cette fois, je vote Liberal” or, “This time, I'm voting Liberal.”
“The criticisms of Mr. Harper's leadership style featured in the new advertisements are the direct result of comments that Liberal candidates across Quebec have heard on doorsteps from average Quebecers,” the Liberals said in a press release.  “While Stéphane Dion and the Liberal Party will continue to engage Canadians in a mature discussion of which Stephen Harper wants no part, preferring personal attack ads to debate. These new Liberal ads stand in sharp contrast with Conservative ads that focus on Stephen Harper as a family man instead of the political issues currently at stake.”

Great profile of Maurice Sendak (left) in Sunday's New York Times ..

That Mr. Sendak fears that his work is inadequate, that he is racked with insecurity and anxiety, is no surprise. For more than 50 years that has been the hallmark of his art. The extermination of most of his relatives and millions of other Jews by the Nazis; the intrusive, unemployed immigrants who survived and crowded his parents’ small apartment; his sickly childhood; his mother’s dark moods; his own ever-present depression — all lurk below the surface of his work, frequently breaking through in meticulously drawn, fantastical ways. He is not, as children’s book writers are often supposed, an everyman’s grandpapa. His hatreds are fierce and grand, as if produced by Cecil B. DeMille. He hates his uncle (who made a cruel comment about him when he was a boy); he hates anything to do with God or religion, and Judaism in particular (“We were the ‘chosen people,’ chosen to be killed?”); he hates Salman Rushdie (for writing an excoriating review of one of his books); he hates syrupy animation, which is why he is thrilled with Mr. Jonze’s coming film of his book “Where the Wild Things Are,” despite rumors of studio discontent. “I hate people,” he said at one point, extolling the superior company of dogs, like his sweet-tempered German shepherd, Herman (after Melville). He is, at heart, a curmudgeon, but a delightful one, with a vast range of knowledge, a wicked sense of humor and a talent for storytelling and mimicry. When Mr. Sendak received the 1996 National Medal of Arts, President Bill Clinton told him about one of his own childhood fantasies that involved wearing a long coat with brass buttons when he grew up. “But Mr. President, you’re only going to be president for a year more,” Mr. Sendak said, “you still have time to be a doorman.” Mr. Sendak insisted he was trying to be ingratiating, not funny.

Read the full story …

Technorati Tags: maurice sendak, literature

I've been remiss not to mention that Canwest's Chris Lackner is co-ordinating a new election blog at our site. It's called The Trough. Check it out.