The Scene and Herd

If he can sell a paper with his views on exercise and sandwiches, then maybe he can be our new Trudeau…or at least our Obama (you heard me right). Optimistic? Yes! A bit of a stretch? I’ll say yes, but only to calm you people down. You know I love the man, and it looks from the end like this is going to be a weekly foray. So Monday mornings just got better.

My question is, what happened to the two screenplays? Shouldn’t someone be on that?

I wish i had a subscription to The Hill Times. All I can get is this teaser and it’s making me CRAZY! (not enough to shell out, though) 
What was said?! What was done?! Was Ignatieff serious or was he trying to make Harper mad? Was he…teasing him? 

Can’t say I blame Harper for not acknowledging. If he moved into Ignatieff’s house he would have to change the way he ran the country. He would have to change himself, get vulnerable and indebted to the leader of the opposition. Damn, Ignatieff, way to take the high road and shake things up. I love you.

I also love the way this highlights how rich Ignatieff is inside his soul. This is the kind of thing people do when they are old money. “You’re the prime minister and you’re kind of down and out so…take one of my houses. I don’t need it right now.” 

MI knows how to be completely rich and completely generous at the same time. He’s so smart and sneaky. It’s kind of Christ-like.

I don’t even know what’s going on anymore. After a week without internet, I return online obsessed with my income. So I’m either checking charity village and craigslist  incessantly or I’m online-paralyzed, too cash guilty to indulge myself with poli-blogs…
The last thing I remember is leadership hysteria and a Toronto Star cover quoting Ignatieff threatening the PM to FIX IT!!! It was thrilling. But despite my disconnect, it feels like things are calming down and I’m so happy to have my cds and a kitchen again that all I want to do is hang around making soup and bread (with the bread maker I took from my parents’ house) and watching the whole last season of LOST (two and a half days…I had a cramp in my arm by the last episode. Thank you 2Q video for the great rates).

But I want to come back. The thing is, I’m different than I was two weeks ago. I look at politics differently. 
Now, the economic meltdown is affecting me! I seriously never imagined. I believed that I was immune because no global economic trend has ever had any bearing on my life. But my boss says to me “I don’t think you’ll get any work because of the economy…” and totally blew my mind. Tuition, minimum wage, health care…these things affected me but didn’t affect me because they didn’t interfere with my relationship with goat’s cheese and wine (for example). And now these are sort of the only things missing from my life. Because I can’t afford them. Because of the economy. 

So I’m going to be looking at politics and poli-blogs through a different lens. I’m sort of like, a citizen now or something. I’m a citizen who is worried about the economy. I’m a concerned citizen with an agenda and a few tangible yardsticks. Goat’s cheese and wine for example.

Now I’m distracted. It was my intention to return at some point and say something to the merits of MI. But all this chaos. All this wonderful and exciting and terrifying chaos…

What terrifies me most is imagining what Harper is thinking. He must be freaking out, totally. The idea of that man feeling something chills me a bit, but the idea that he might be feeling rage…that is a nightmare!

Everyone is losing their minds and I’m not sure who to blame. I want to make it clear that I would rather not blame Harper. For the liberal leaning, this is too easy and it bores me. I’ve spent considerable time trying to glean something noble from his character. It can’t be easy leading a minority government.  Really, he is being very difficult. But I don’t think he is “out of touch” with the average Canadian or a total jerk. I believe
that he believes
that he has no other option. 

He is…pressing on because he practically has a phobia. A cooperation phobia, like the idea that he might work with the opposition flies right over his head. Since the election he has been hyper aware that cooperation is looming. He probably has cooperation nightmares. So when everyone else rejected the conservative economic package and someone breathed the word “cooperation” Harper freaked and blurted out “we’re doing it anyway!” 
And subsequently conceded a few things outta panic and now he’s screwed. He swung from one frantic end to another. A man usually so calm and self assured…

I still maintain that Harper could be a good leader. He just needs to really ATTACK this issue. And by issue I mean his issue with cooperation. And by “attack” I mean give it some gentle consideration.

My hopes and dreams of the past two years have finally come true. I’m not sure I truly believed there would be another chance to watch Ignatieff come through. Not so soon, at least. And Warren Kinsella is supporting him. I can’t believe my luck. Last time Kinsella was involved I didn’t care about politics. I’ve never really witnessed him in action and now he’s backing my favorite living political personality. The next few months will be a dream! blogsblogsblogsblogs. 
What a glorious time to be essentially unemployed. This is all getting out of hand. I am giddy.

And I have been to seven delis in three days.
And I am going to my second Reel Asian Screening for free to tonight.
And I have a metro pass (which is a JOY, let me tell you).
And I just ate half a bowl of chocolate frosting with, so far, zero consequences (aside from the consequence of a sudden burst of optimism).

Later rant – the genuine and superficial merits of MI.
Thanks be to God.