Can you not just visualize Stan Laurel, in the person of Brian Jean, saying to Oliver Hardy, in the person of Jason Kenney, “Well here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten us into.” The mess they are into is a new provincial party in Alberta that could earn the enmity of
Continue readingAuthor: Peter Lowry
Babel-on-the-Bay: Playing the racism card.
According to the Black Experiences Project, the Greater Toronto Area is rife with racism. And it all seems targeted at blacks. If you read writers such as Desmond Cole, Royson James, Shree Paradkar or follow the gyrations of Black Lives Matter (BLM), you will be told that all the white
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Missing Sean Spicer.
President Donald Trump has no sense of balance. He also has very little sense of humour. We counted on his press secretary to give us that bit of fun that made the White House scene safe for family entertainment. But Sean Spicer is gone. He has been replaced. It takes
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Brown’s battling beginnings.
It is getting so bad that even PostMedia writers are wondering when Ontario Conservative Leader Patrick Brown is going to show some maturity. They are starting to question Brown’s ability to run a political party. He is certainly not getting the nomination process right. Many want to write it off
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Running in the Green.
If the federal New Democratic Party is now Green, where does the Green Party get to go? Looking at NDP MP Niki Ashton’s pricy green plan, you really wonder about the grasp on reality of the entire party. Is this the party of Tommy Douglas that cared so much about
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Change the future; Not the past.
It seems to be the rage these days to want to tear down icons of the past. Why are we wasting so much time, rhetoric and effort in this pursuit? What can it gain us if we do not look to our future? There is a framed front page of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: What comes ‘AFTA’ NAFTA?
Back in the first round of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations, it was Prime Minister Brian Mulroney who caved in to the American negotiators. In this upcoming go-around, our Canadian negotiators have to show a great deal more backbone. We also have to have a game plan in
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Gambling with losers.
You find by being observant that the people in a hurry to get to the cashier at a casino are usually the ones wanting to get more money to gamble. Why a casino would extend credit to people is a question that is hard to answer. The question was partly
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Our Prime Minister grunts.
Despite teaching public speaking, I occasionally took someone else’s course on public speaking just to make sure I was not slipping into bad speaking habits. We are all guilty of that. And teachers can be the harshest critics. You can include a former school teacher in that: The Prime Minister
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The art of changing minds.
Author and columnist Susan Delacourt asked her readers last week in a Toronto Star column to help her understand how views can be shifted in politics. Having observed this phenomenon in politics for many years, I can only assume that Susan is contemplating another book. Back when I was teaching
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Who’s congratulating Trudeau?
Stephen Harper’s PMO had a revolving door for communications people, so it is not too surprising if we do not remember one of them. This is in reference to an op-ed in the Toronto Star last week by someone named ‘MacDougall.’ What was noticeable about the article was that he
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Is there any hope for Horwath?
Every once in a while, we are reminded that there are three parties at play for the right to hold the lease on the Pink Palace looking down University Avenue from Queen’s Park. We know lots about the Liberals that currently hold the lease. We know more than we want
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: It’s always controversy for PC leader Brown.
The leader of Ontario Conservatives has too many balls in the air. Here he is trying to run the strategy, organize the electoral districts, pick the candidates and run the nomination meetings. The only jobs he has forgotten is to show leadership and to help the party choose policies. Since
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The history of image politics.
It must be your age that determines when history began. Reading an op-ed in the paper last week, there was a public relations guy who thought that image politics only went back to the time of American President Ronald Regan. He must have missed the lecture on the image of
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: ‘Chuckles’ leads from the rear.
It is embarrassing. ‘Chuckles’ Scheer showed up on television last week from the Calgary Stampede to blast the federal government for its generosity to Omar Kadr. It was a classic illustration of a political brain fart. It was bigoted, it was inaccurate, it was mean-spirited and it was knee-jerk Conservatism
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Picking preferred politicians.
This is not really about Donald Trump. It was just when reading the complaints of an academic about the choice of Trump that it became obvious that all he was saying was that we need to have smarter voters. In many years of working on elections for political parties or
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: On being nice to Premier Wynne.
It could be hard to get used to doing this. The problem basically is that as a liberal all my life, it is very difficult to accept Kathleen Wynne as a liberal. She is not a liberal and I do not like the way she has been running Ontario. But…(life
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: Alberta’s Right, Hard Right and Extreme Right.
Former right-hand man for Stephen Harper, Jason Kenney has his “do or die” vote on July 22. It’s his chance to “unite the right” in Alberta. Conservative Party and Wildrose Party members will vote whether or not to come together as the United Conservative Party of Alberta. There are a
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: The Prince of the Past.
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales will be a pathetic pallbearer likely to be tasked to shut down the House of Windsor. As a family business, the House of Windsor inherited a somewhat convoluted history going back to Alfred the Great in 871. Charles will have more than a few royal
Continue readingBabel-on-the-Bay: A purchased presidency.
Is it possible to place a price on the American presidency? Can its worth even be determined? Whatever the price might be, it probably is nowhere near the damages being done to America’s honour and reputation by Donald Trump. And why nobody has thought to sue him remains a mystery.
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