The Legislature Raids

"We could lose all the success we've had in the last eight years in a heartbeat"Gordo on an NDP victory...

Well that's the kind of loss I would consider a real gain for the people of British Columbia, except for a few of the Chosen!

It has been consistently the case that the press in Ontario has given better coverage to the issues surrounding the Legislature Raids and BC Rail Trial - but now even the Canned Waste flagship from the center of the universe outdoes the local birdcage liners. Even Justice Bennett as we recall can find out more about the case from the local press in Montreal while on vacation/business - a pathetic indication that something (OK, many things) is rotten in the state (which Gordo would prefer BC to be) of BC.

""The time this case has taken to come to trial has been devastating for my client," said Mr. McCullough. "It is as if he is already serving a sentence."

Then why doesn't his client just "come clean" and share with the court and the public what really happened?
Would this mean the loss of say we say, certain considerations, that have been promised for silence. Even drug dealers or hitmen get reduced sentences, or none if they roll over and give up the bigger fish.

Is everyone in the courtroom really on the same team and just playing roles in some Kabuki play for the entertainment and diversion of the people of British Columbia so that the on going crime spree can continue?

I certainly learned stuff watching last night's mini-debate. I learned that the NDP caused the pine beetle infestation and that recently, Gordon Campbell personally arrested all those Bacon Bros. and UN gang members in his spare time from the job that little girl Carole James can't handle.

My final note this morning is about the oh so phoney "instant" poll by Ipsos-Reid, somehow conducted simultaneously while the debate was happening - concludes that only Gordon Campbell LOOKS like a premier. Jeez, that's all I needed to know. I can't wait to drive to a town 40 miles away so I can vote in an early poll for the guy that LOOKS the part!
 

Excellent comments in the above this posting, direct, and to the point. Honestly I have no idea what a premier is supposed to “look “like. Moreover who decides this point, the media? Do I need the media to make my decisions for me?

This morning on 1130am radio they were stating that the criminal drunk driving premier we have to tolerate at the moment was the only one who “sounded “like a premier.

Now please tell me because I am soooo stupid, what exactly does a premier sound like?Further, who decides what a premier is supposed to sound like?

www.silverwoodpianos.com
 

Interesting column from the National Post indeed Mary....What can be the motivation for it, in your opinion?
 

I think in the stock market, this would be hedging yourself. You have bet the farm on an outcome, but you suddenly decide to purchase a little insurance in case there is a default, and the bet that Gordon Campbell might be worthless stock on May 13th is now 50/50...
 

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Well, G

that was my first question too.

Then I thought about that big Convention being held in Vancouver, a gathering of Real Liberals to which many Eastern journalists had travelled.

It may not have taken them long to get a snootful of British Columbia's troubles. And they may not be as hung up on servitude to the Campbell network. So they did what they're good at ... and what they're paid to do ... and what we hope to receive when we plunk down our loony for one of their newspapers.

Could it be journalists simply doing their jobs?

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The Post timeline is interesting for its narrative thoroughness, although of course there's no room for all the gory details, such as the lies made to get the search warrant, or further details about Gary Collins. But it was interesting also how it focussed on certain names - Berardino's for instance - and completely avoided others, such as:

"raided....the home office of the brother of the deputy premier.Namely, if I'm not mistaken, one Mark Marissen, Grit campaign chair in BC (no doubt well-acquainted with Pat Kinsella, who was his provincial equivalent...). Interesting how his name was kept out of the coverage no? And no mention at all of Bornmann....or Kierans....

I think GWest might be right on-point about asking the motivation question; and I think Mary's right in pointing to the federal convention and the presence of the eastern media. They've been kept behind a firewall every bit as much as the BC public have been, and they have no interest in local politics at a partisan level and a good newshound knows a good story when she/he sees one. It could be the national media is waking up; the Post is also vitriolically anti-Grit in the "the only good Grit is a dead-in-the-water Grit" and it could be that the editors have decided that this scandal has the potential to smear the federal party. Which of course it does if all the pointers are followed far enough...

But here's a thought; in the same way those eastern journalists weren't (until now) apprised of the situation on this side of the mountains, or not fully aware of it anyway, the same may apply to the higher echelons of the national Liberals who see the risks entailed in further cover-up. That doesn't explain the Post's coverage, but it's avery likely outcome of this last weekend's proceedings. What comments I haveseen or heard from out here on the Atlantic newscast coverage of the convention made side-mention of the distance between the federal and provincial parties, mostly in the light of the federal convention being eclipsed within BC by the local election. It wasn't a smart thing to hold a Liberal convention in the middle of what was known to be a provincial campaign, if they knew anything about BC's political culture and the higher profile of provincial politics here. I can't believe they thought hoping to ride on victorious BC Liberal coat-tails was a sure thing, also. Now, while upper-echelon national Grits might long ago decided to put up with Gordo and his escapades, there are gonna be all kinds of regular delegates and non-BC MPs who will have heard all the talk by now, about everything (Kinsella, Accenture, Dauphinee and more) and must be rolling their eyes at the political damage Campbell may cost them not just in BC, but nationally, if he clings to power as scandal mounts.

I'll bet there's more than a few backroom discussions about who to replace him with; backrooms east of the mountains, as well as down in the Vancouver Club and the Shaughnessy links....too late to save this election, but they might save some seats if he steps aside before next Tuesday in favour of ..... who?

No, that last bit's wishful thinking, granted; but I do think there are a lot of alarmed Liberals outside of BC who are freaked out by what they've discovered the neo-cons who stole their party's name in BC are up to. And that MUST by causing a few phone calls towards a palace revolt.

Odd to think a Premier might yet win an election despite the scandal (thanks to CanWest, and the public's whiny self-interest and other special agendas of various kinds, i.e. the public's own lack of political morality) - but then have to resign within a month or two of the election.

Because as much as some of us fear it, this can't be buried now, any more than the Sponsorship Scandal or the Gomery Inquiry or Airbus can be buried; it's broken on to the beachhead of national media stature, and it ain't small potatoes as we all know.

Maybe, just maybe, central Canada is waking up to exactly how far out of control, and outside of constitutional propriety, the Colony of British Columbia has spun. And maybe, just maybe, someone out that way has decided something has to be done about it.

We'll see......
 

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Skookum1,

Lots to think about here, and thanks for that.

Here's a correction to the names, where you said "raided....the home office of the brother of the deputy premier.Namely, if I'm not mistaken, one Mark Marissen, Grit campaign chair in BC (no doubt well-acquainted with Pat Kinsella, who was his provincial equivalent...). Interesting how his name was kept out of the coverage no? And no mention at all of Bornmann....or Kierans...."


it was Bruce Clark, brother of Christy Clark. Not Mark Marissen who is Christy Clark's husband. But I think the RCMP dropped in there too, just asking around, they said.

I sure hope you're correct in saying that central Canada is waking up to exactly how far out of control BC has spun.

We surely need the understanding and the help of the rest of the country. But there's real hope ...

Gotta share this little secret: after I had sent a "Well done!" e.mail yesterday to the author of one of the National Post stories about BC Rail, Shannon Kuri replied "Of course, I had to read your blog as background research for the story."

Nice, eh? And nice of her to say so.

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