Tag Archives: Politics
Into The Sunset
Yesterday’s post was a milestone, and I didn’t realize it at the time. It was my 1,000th post in this space. I just thought it was worth mentioning, given that today’s post is about another milestone. Today is my last day on Parliament Hill. After 10 years of working at the heart of our democracy, […]
Cult of Personality
Canada’s diplomats have received their orders: no more selfies with the Prime Minister. It is not that foreign service officers have been flocking to have their photo taken with the man dubbed “Prime Minister Selfie;” it is that some of our diplomatic missions have purchased life-sized cardboard cutouts of the PM that are being used […]
Ethically Challenged
Cash for access. It was a major issue in the US presidential election this year, when it was revealed that more than half of the people who had meetings with Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State also made donations to the Clinton Foundation. There may have been nothing illegal about that, but it […]
Russian Influence
I laughed when the suggestion was first made that the Russian government was behind the computer hack that revealed Democratic Party emails showing that the party brass, instead of being neutral in the campaign, favoured the candidacy of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. I couldn’t take the allegation seriously that the Russians, acting on the […]
Conventions
The American Democratic Party is meeting in Philadelphia this week to nominate Hillary Clinton as their presidential candidate. Last week the Republicans met in Cleveland and nominated Donald Trump. The real election campaign can now begin. I didn’t watch any of the televised coverage of the Republican convention. I can’t think why I would watch […]
The Verdict – II
I was right. In a decision that took 4 ½ hours for the judge to summarize (it is 308 pages after all), Mike Duffy was found not guilty on all counts. No misuse of funds, no accepting a bribe, no breach of trust. Thirty-one charges, 31 charges dismissed. As I said yesterday, I fully expected […]
The Verdict
Today is the day Senator Mike Duffy learns his fate. I have avoided commenting on his criminal proceedings for the past year, but want to get my prediction on the record. The case has held Canadians’ attention since the trial started more than a year ago. Even before that, when the scandal broke surrounding Duffy’s […]
Moral Blindness
O tempora, o mores! (Oh what times! Oh what customs! – Cicero, 63 B.C. Once upon a time there were no rules when it came to politicians and fundraising. As the saying went, the definition of an honest politician was: “one who stays bought.” We have higher standards today. Or do we? There has been […]
Trumped!
Okay, I was wrong. Or maybe I was right and he changed his mind. Sometime in the past six months Donald Trump has become a serious political candidate. It is becoming increasingly likely he will win the Republican presidential nomination, making him a 50-50 choice to become the next president of the United States. How […]
He Wants My Money
I’m used to requests for money. And very good at ignoring them. My alma mater has been trying to ask me for cash for a couple of weeks now, but they haven’t managed it because I have call display on my phone and don’t answer. They don’t leave a message. I expect that soon they […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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