Dimitri Soudas is gone. According to Paul Wells, it was not a graceful exit:
Tonight, Hand-Picked Dimitri has become Ass-Kicked Dimitri, having resigned (CP’s first version) or been fired (CTV’s version) or been told to resign so he wouldn’t be fired (the later CP version) from his job as dynamic and hand-picked Executive Director. And all with barely 70 days left to go in his urgent, pressing, critical, essential mission to save the Prime Minister and, with him (of course) everything Canadians cherish.
Wells reminds readers that, when it comes to executive directors, the Conservative Party has been playing musical chairs:
Recall (he said as if there was any chance you actually would recall) that Soudas was the Conservatives’ third executive director in six months, replacing Dave Forestell who replaced Dan Hilton who was left standing without a seat when the music stopped on what is known in Conservative circles as “the C-Vote mess.” That the PM’s communications director would take the pains to tweet Soudas’s arrival (the same comms guy made no such announcement about, say, the arrival of Joe Oliver as finance minister) is explained by the fact that Soudas’s return was intended to mark a return to skill and competence in the Conservatives’ management of their internal affairs, after the unfortunate business of a personal cheque, a PMO chief of staff, and a telegenic senator. There was, and still is, the small matter of a federal election to plan for. Another signal Soudas was meant to send was that it will be Harper’s election, not some successor Conservative leader’s, to win.
But it's all part of a larger pattern:
Lately when the PM sticks in his thumb he has not managed to handpick many plums: Mike Duffy, Nigel Wright, Marc Nadon, Soudas.
All is not well aboard the good ship Harper.
32 comments:
For a man often tagged with such complementary labels as brilliant strategist, statesman, economic leader, he sure has been making some poor choices for his inner circle. Our main problem is that he does so again and again and again, and none of this seems to stick, on to the next brilliant move by an unwavering and unquestioning media. Joe Oliver for Finance Minister? Come on.
All of which leads to the obvious question, waterboy: How could a man who consistently makes bad choices be elected Prime Minister of Canada?
To answer your question Owen, it seems Harper's not the only one who makes bad choices. Sadly, 28% of Canadians still can't see they made a bad choice.
I can't help but think of a line from Hamlet today, Owen, after he reveals to Horatio that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have been 'dispatched':
"Why man, they did make love to this 'terminated'."
So goes the fate of Soudas, probably Eve Adams, Nigel Wright and all the others who were such sycophantic followers of their 'King,' only to ultimately discover they were no longer of any use to him.
One wonders, Lorne, why anyone would work for Harper -- knowing that they would be "dispatched" as soon as they were no longer useful to him.
That, unfortunately, is quite true, Anon. They are lambs to the slaughter.
Oh well, I guess Dimitri will have more time to chauffeur Eve around in her candy pink Mary Kaye Cadillac.
Hi Owen, I just realized i made a mistake in the Hamlet line. It should, of course, have read, "Why man, they did make love to this employment."
I feel a bit sheepish as a retired English teacher who does not always proofread as carefully as he should.
It certainly is a good thing that Justin used that awful adjective fucking to permit the pmo to quickly comment on his 'poor judgement'.
I guess the pmo takes their dear leader's constant glaring poor judgement as a divine right and not open to question.
Paul Wells' essay ends with "Tonight it emerged that Justin Trudeau swore at a charity boxing match. The PM’s spokesman said the incident spoke poorly of Trudeau’s judgment."
That is how Harper stays ahead of the game. No matter how bad the mess, Harper and his minions find a way to make it stick to the Liberals. They do it so well that your average Canadian rarely does more than nod.
And today just happens to be the day the major media are obsessing about "Justin said fuck,Justin said fuck, Justin said fuck."
Could we have some adults take over the press please?
It's missteps such as Justin's recent gaffe which keep Harper in power, Toby.
It does no good to make yourself one of Harper's targets.
I agree, Dana and Ron. I'm sure that -- despite Mr. Harper's claim that he is an evangelical Christian -- he has used the participle frequently.
However, hypocrisy is one of his strong suits.
The same thing happens to me frequently, Lorne. Most days, my wife proofreads my posts.
When I do make a mistake, you'll know that it's one of those days when she hasn't served as my proofreader.
The pink Cadilac serves as a potent symbol, Anon. It's all about covering up blemishes -- and there are all kinds of them.
"This request was just called in by Eve, to her sweetheart, so we'll just go ahead and play it. And don't stop listen' to WCON, where we play all the hits, all the time."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y56S9vIuODo
Owen said, "It's missteps such as Justin's recent gaffe which keep Harper in power, Toby.
It does no good to make yourself one of Harper's targets."
Agreed but it is impossible to be so totally pure that they can't find something to accuse you of. In practise, they can always find something, even if they make up lies. It is simply easier to slur an opponent than it is for said opponent to defend him/herself.
Agreed, Toby. The politics of personal destruction is all about finding dirt on your opponents. And nobody is pure.
It's interesting to note that, so far, the mud they have flung at Trudeau hasn't stuck. Perhaps that's because -- as Tom Flnangan says -- there is now way too much mud on Mr. Harper's hands.
Could it be possible, Anon, that people are getting tired of hearing the same old song?
Didn't Flaherty use the f-bomb word?
I just don't understand how, Harper's team can support him either. Harper is so toxic you would think his crew, would avoid Harper like the plague.
Alison has the video of someone whose judgement truly is terrible.
http://creekside1.blogspot.ca/2014/03/f-bomb-shows-lack-of-judgement.html
Alison, as always, does great work, Dana. And there could be no better saboteur of the PMO than Pierre Polievre.
Absolutely true, Anon. I believe he told Jason Kenny to STFU.
I just hope, Owen, that people get tired of listening to the wrong songs for the sake of human reason.
Agreed, Anon. Some popular songs are -- and always have been -- garbage.
This reminds me of a story I read as a youngster in "the Canadian Magazine" which used to come out in the Calgary Herald newspaper and it was a free national publication that used to come out occasionally (not daily)across Canada in home town papers.
Anyways the story was about a head chef in Toronto who was under so much duress he not only fired a few chefs, preparing for the Queens arrival, he fired an entire kitchen staff, more than once. This is how I see Harper and why he changes his minions more often than I need to change my motor oil, he is running scared and he is stressed. He knows he may be at the end of his reign after all if he does not pull off a victory in the next election he is politically dead. He has been cornered and the unfair election act is purely a move of desperation. Now is the time, my fellow blogsters for the battering ram on his 'crusader' castle which are 'our' Conservative reps across the country.
I urge you all to meet with your Con MP personally in their office and outline all the Harper governments bad bills and bad actions and ask them why they sit by do nothing and support these abominable acts, be blunt not rude.
I am making my appointment with my con Davis Wilks and I can't wait, remember him? He was the one that did the Revelstoke choke as I call it. -story here;
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/05/23/conservative_mp_david_wilks_breaks_ranks_and_says_budget_bill_should_be_split_up.html
A quote from that story:
"He explains, however, that his vote — like that of the entire Conservative caucus — is subject to a “three-line whip.” That means, says Wilks, he would likely be evicted from caucus for dissenting from the budget decisions already made by the prime minister and cabinet."
Proof we have a dictatorship, the rest of the party has to be getting tired of being a trained seal.
I figure the government (based on polls) is at its least popular right now. These men and women (after all they are Canadians last I heard) must be tired of being gagged and scripted we need to use the momentum and break down the 'crusader castle' one member of parliament at a time, one on one.
Most of you write fairly eloquently about what bothers you about Sacredly Pants Harper and I see his handling of the press as his fear to confront them and be confronted nothing else. If we can get our MP's to listen all across the country Harper will no longer have that 'castle' to insulate and fortify himself and he will crumble. To action I say!
There is plenty of good work on the web dissecting each and every omnibus bill most of our work is already done for us thanks to Canadians who care for Canada.
Stephen on omnibus bills;
“Mr. Speaker, I would argue that the subject matter of the bill is so diverse that a single vote on the content would put members in conflict with their own principles.”
“…Second, in the interest of democracy I ask: How can members represent their constituents on these various areas when they are forced to vote in a block on such legislation and on such concerns? We can agree with some of the measures but oppose others. How do we express our views and the views of our constituents when the matters are so diverse? Dividing the bill into several components would allow members to represent views of their constituents on each of the different components in the bill.” (Hansard, March 25, 1994)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/in-praise-of-stephen-harper-the-opposition-mp-who-fought-omnibus-bills/article5661305/
Stephen again on the evils of omnibus bills:
“a contradiction to the conventions and practices of the House.”
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/05/03/john-ivison-how-stephen-harper-learned-to-love-omnibus-bills/
Mogs
The evidence of Harper's hypocrisy is everywhere, Mogs. What is remarkable is that his caucus seems completely non-plused by it.
But, as you suggest, there comes a time when even trained seals refuse to eat what is tossed at them.
The trained seal in my riding, Dan Albas, absolutely won't say boo without checking his Conservative playbook. He refuses to entertain any suggestions that he enter the fray on a number of critical issues. The riding is overrun with grumpy old white people who will vote for anyone or anything wearing Conservative blue; consequently, Albas need not fear for his seat no matter how badly Harper misbehaves. To the contrary, Albas will be in place long after Harper is gone. In the meantime, Mogs' suggestion would be a wasted effort here.
That's a sad state of affairs, Toby. As Lawrence Martin has written, those who won't be here that much longer are determining the future for those who will be here long after the oldsters are gone.
Toby my next door neighbor sounds like yours (grumpy, old & white), these people and the worshipers of the extreme right wing and the 1%. If the young people knew this is what is enabling this government it may motivate them, because mostly they don't like any of the above. I'll still try and wake-up my coward Wilks.
Sorry for not explaining the Revelstoke choke to readers who don't know what that is all about involving David Wilks Conservative MP for Kootenay-Columbia where I live. He was caught on video by a group of young people in a Revelstoke (part of Kootenay-Columbia)cafe saying “I will stand up and say the Harper government should get rid of Bill C-38.” in May of 2012 when the so-called budget bill, C-38, was being introduced. It has later been referred to as the 'Environmental Destruction Act' by its critics because it was so thorough in destroying environmental protections as we knew them to be until Harper grabbed the reins of majority government power.
After Wilks returned to Ottawa from his riding he later decieded that serving Harper* was better for his political career than serving his constituents, some representative. Turns out all the elected cons dance to the same tune. So that's why I call it the Revelstoke choke because when Wilks returned to Ottawa he choked on his famous words and outed himself as a coward and bowed to Harpers malevolence. Makes me wonder what Harper has on everybody? Years of illegal surveillance?
*" Re-education of David Wilks on omnibus bill a lesson on the decline of parliament: Andrew Coyne - May 30, 2012 National Post;
Nobody gets killed for his beliefs in our democracy; nobody is jailed or beaten for speaking his mind. Nevertheless, there are moments when the curtain is pulled back, and we see the interplay of power and subordination in its rawest form — the humiliations, the lies, and most humiliating of all the obligatory lie, the forced confession, in which some poor schmuck is dragged in front of the cameras and required to state that day is night, even when, especially when, the whole world knows that day is not night, and knows that he knows day is not night but has been forced to say it anyway just to rub his nose in it, or rather to rub our noses in it, to assert the primacy of power, not just over poor schmucks, but over truth itself — and it all looks just a little bit Darkness At Noon."
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.co
m/2012/05/30/andrew-coyne-re-education-of-david-wilks-a-lesson-in-the-decline-of-parliament/
Mogs
Hi Toby, I too am in Albas riding and his messaging dare not waiver from the harper playbook. I've longed stopped reading his "columns" because when the lack of critical thought is not at the forefront a false connection with the riding is made to virtually every bad decision or piece of legislation this government musters up. At least I know of two people that aren't voting for him, you and I.
I wonder if Wilks and Albas read this blog. I doubt it.
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