Backpedalling Dion quote ignored: Media instead seems fascinated by his mangled fat joke about Harper
~ Lorne Gunter, The Edmonton Journal, Friday, February 02, 2007
Posted on 02/03/2007 8:18:20 PM PST by GMMAC
Lost in translation
By MICHAEL COREN
Toronto Sun
Saturday, February 3, 2007
There is an elephant sitting in the corner of the room and the political elites are pretending it isn't there.
Or to put it more directly, the Tory attack ads on Stephane Dion are missing the point. The most obvious problem about the leader of the Liberal party is that his English is appalling and he is often entirely unintelligible.
There. That which we are not supposed to mention. It's okay to lambaste English-Canadian politicians for their lack of French, even if they represent completely English-speaking ridings, but never point out that a man who wants to rule Canada and speak to and for 20 million Anglophones has an often-impenetrable accent and a bewildering vocabulary.
He's far from stupid. But he learned English late and has spent far too little time in English Canada and with English-Canadians to have developed an even acceptable ability to communicate in the English language. Which in itself reveals just how insular he is and how little he genuinely understands Ontario and especially western Canada.
Even before becoming Liberal leader, his ineptness caused all sorts of problems. In 2004 a Jewish school in St. Laurent, Que. was firebombed, the terrorists leaving a note saying the attack was in response to the policies of the then-Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon. Dion publicly condemned the outrage but said it was wrong "because not all Jews support Sharon's policies."
The logic of the statement, of course, was that the firebombing would have been acceptable if all Jews did in fact support Sharon. Dion and his people went into a political spin and explained it was all a language issue and he had not meant to say that at all. Firebombing schools was, it seemed, never a good idea. He was, we were told, lost in translation.
Which may or may not be true. But prime ministers can't afford to be lost anywhere. What makes it all the worse is that Dion is one of the most arrogant politicians in Ottawa, who frequently exhibits contempt for those who question him, including members of the media who are supposed -- in theory at least -- to be asking questions of behalf of the Canadian public.
Dion dismisses contrary opinion and is renowned for having an absolute belief in his own particular and sometimes peculiar views. He is willing, however, to retract important statements within hours of making them if there appears to be any political advantage.
This occurred when he was questioned about his French citizenship, surely a fundamental issue for an aspiring national leader of a sovereign state. Initially he rudely told reporters to stop discussing it and that the subject was closed. Shortly afterwards, when it was revealed just how negatively his dual citizenship was effecting his popularity, he announced he would indeed be willing to become purely Canadian.
Similarly with his statement about readmitting politicians soaked in scandal and who had been expelled from the party. Initially he welcomed and forgave them but back-peddled within hours when his people told him how hypocritical he looked. More turnip than Trudeau. Is this a man who is qualified to govern a country as great and diverse as Canada? The question is rhetorical and the answer is obvious in any language.
PING!
T'row me down the stairs me shoes, I got to toss the cow over the fence some hay!
Sounds like he is incoherent in two languages
He is!! This drip murders both languages. Liberal logic is all up there in their asses situated between their ears. CO
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