Dumb, Dumb, Dumb and Dumber

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… Wheeling and dealing Ottawa style!

NEWS ITEM:

OTTAWA — The federal ethics commissioner has launched a formal investigation into the conduct of the two MPs at the centre of the taping scandal and will look at whether inducements were improperly offered for votes.

CELSIUS 007

A Compelling Cloak & Dagger Drama Set in the Halls of Parliament Hill!

Starring:

Gurmant Grewal as Agent 003¼ [Dumb]
Ujjal Dosanjh as Pew [Dumb]
Tim Murphy as Toad Finger [Dumb]

Guest Stars:

Jack Layton as Sir Charles Flipon
Bernard Shapiro as Chief Insp. Nofuss [Dumber]

-- The Office of Bernard Shapiro --

Who but Grewal himself knows, at this point, what he was up to …whatever it was and either way it cuts, it was dumb. If, in fact, he was merely responding to an ‘invitation to talk’ from the Liberal camp, he should have immediately time-stamped the event by contacting Harper and letting him know he was going to attend the meeting and tape it covertly. That way he would have been able to substantiate his story and motivations. But no, Agent 003¼ decided to turn cowboy and do a solo run …really dumb. On the other hand, if it was he who approached the Liberals with an offer; Why would he tape the meetings and create potential evidence against himself? Just as dumb!

Dumber still are Dosanjh and Murphy. With all that has been going on in Ottawa, ala Gomery, are these guys idiots to even TRY something with a legal and political downside? To even put themselves into a position where suspicion could fall? Tres dumb, boys!

Follow the motives. On one hand you have a minor-league MP who may or may not gain some advancement (shades of Jezzebel Stronach) by crossing the floor and/or by voting a certain way on the budget. On the other are two operatives representing a minority government on the brink of a defeat, representing a loss of all that coveted power and influence. Take into account also that those two operatives represent an organization that is oblivious to ethics in its pursuit of power.

So who had the most to gain (and/or lose) by entering into back-room ‘negotiations’? Clearly it’s the Liberal Party of Canada, currently occupying the position of government! Faced with the specter of a federal election, at the height of damaging disclosures out of the Gomery Inquiry, how confident would the Liberals have been about winning government again? Even THEIR arrogance was not enough to confidently face THAT prospect! So, I think its fair to say that given their desperation, and given their demonstrable track record for shady tactics, suspicions about wrong-doing rest more easily with the Liberals than they do on Grewal …however DUMB he may have been in his conduct!

Enter Jack Layton …naive as ever …with a call for Dosanjh to step down. While anyone would agree with the fact that Dosanjh SHOULD (as should Murphy, by the way), can anyone expect him to do so? NO. So while Layton’s direction was correct, let’s hope (for his sake) he doesn’t seriously expect it to happen …any more than he expects his brokered budget concessions to ever see the light of day outside of the desperate promises made to him by a desperate PM Martin!

Further to Layton’s naiveté is any expectation that Federal Ethics Commissioner, Bernard Shapiro (aka PMO Coverup Specialist), is likely to expose, resolve or change anything in any fashion that does not exonerate the Liberals …that’s his job because we all know who he answers to …the desperate PM, Paul Martin! He’s the ‘dumber’ one …”dumb” as in mute, silenced and quiet when told to be so.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Don’t expect anything ‘Gomeryish’ out of Shapiro …our hope lays with the rank & file members of the RCMP who will be investigating the situation. Let’s hope those RCMP members will investigate and recommend charges in a fashion that will make us proud of them, and which will overcome the tarnishing they have endured at the hands of politicians who under-fund them and use them as scapegoats for political failures.

Til next time
The Serf

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