Last night I was impressed with Craig Oliver and Jane Taber on MDL. They both seemed so reasonable - expressing concern that an investigation would be a waste of taxpayers' money and could open up a Pandora's Box of problems.
However, after reading some of the comments at Tony's and TTT, I wonder if we've been 'had'.
For example, Tony's reader Durward made this observation:
I think Oliver and Jane are just smarter than the Lib MPs and can see that the Libs will bleed more from any inquiry than the Cons will, inevitably Chretien's Liberal party will be under the scope and being the most corrupt gov in Canada's history there is an awful lot left to find, like why would an influence peddler contribute 10,000 dollars unless he was promised something, why would an ex Lib Mp put up his 100,000 dollar bail?
I don't think Oliver and Jane were being non-partisan, rather they were looking out for Da Boss and the Party.
Unfortunately this particular interview doesn't seem to be accessible on-line, so I went back to my archaic VCR (yes, VCR!) and reviewed the Oliver-Taber portion.
Craig Oliver said that an investigation would be a 'political abattoir'; 'let the Mounties deal with it'; 'the Government should have the courage to send him to Germany'; 'we don't need a public inquiry'; 'it would be an archaeological dig into the lives of Mulroney and Schreiber', and so on.
Jane Taber said she felt sorry for Rob Nicholson; that he was in a 'no-win' situation; that whatever he decides won't be 'good enough' for the other side. She mentioned that she had spoken to Justice Gomery about it and he doesn't want any part of it. According to Jane, Gomery feels it will be a political minefield.
Durward may be onto something. Jane & Craig do seem uncharacteristically pro-Tory on this file. Something is up.
So now I'm doing an about-face and say Schreiber should stay here; but not in Club-fed. He should be in a prison appropriate to his crimes until the investigation is completed.
Triple T's reader Stan says it nicely:
I watched Craig Oliver burn out a bearing ranting against an inquiry, Duffy and Giggle Taber also were against it.
That to me is a good enough reason to have one. Methinks some liberals are getting nervous.
24 comments:
The problem that I have with keeping Schreiber in Canada for another inquiry is that it will for one, just rehash already known facts and not shed any new light on the whole Schreiber/Mulroney affair.
I could see it easily degenerating into a he said/he said affair, with Schreiber giving his version of events and Malroney giving his as well. It would boil down to who do you believe? The people who presently dislike and have it in for Mulroney will most likely take Schreiber’s side and the people who dislike Schreiber and feel than Mulroney is being unfairly targeted will most likely take Mulroney’s side.
In other words, the inquiry will be nothing but a spectacle, with lots of mud flying out. Neither the Conservatives, nor the Liberals will come out of this one smelling like roses. And I feel that after all is said and done, we will not be any closer to the truth that we presently are today.
The way I look at it, is that we are damned if we do allow Schreiber to testify and we are also damned if we don’t. Neither situation will be good enough for the opposition.
If Schreiber does testify, chances are that based on his testimony, whether true or nor, there will be the demand for even more reviews and inquiries.
The other thing is that Schreiber is clearly mocking our judicial system. We already had an inquiry in which he had amply time to reveal all that he knew. Instead he chose to omit and misrepresent the facts and change his story since testifying. It is obvious that he is trying to save his skin and nothing else. And who is to say that Schreiber will not omit and misrepresents the facts once more in this new inquiry?
I am in full support of the extradition order being taken as soon as possible, so that Mr. Schreiber can face the justice he deserves in Germany.
Everybody is trying to decide if it suits their spin machine more if he stays or if he goes
The other problem is, he'll stay here for a couple more years waiting for an inquiry to start, and a) still not say "one f*cking word", or b) recant his assertions.
As much as I dislike BM, this guy is not to be trusted or taken seriously. Probably why so many politicians from all parties are buddies with him.
Send him home, and let the Deutschlanders deal with him.
..or the Chretien strategy!
We could send him to Denmark!
Or perhaps Craig and Jane are more worried about Mulroney's statement of "Getting everyone on the stand, including the journalists and reporters.....
Platty, good point! That's what L. Ian Macdonald keeps mentioning both on MDL and in his columns. Something about CBC.
Some in the media are now realizing that, in their haste to not get fooled again, they did get fooled again -- just by different people.
Joan, that is a somewhat cryptic comment, but fascinating nonetheless.
Definitely worth pondering. Thanks.
Sorry, what I mean is that a lot of journalists are probably admonishing themselves for not being all over this in 2003, when the $300,000 deal first became known, and are trying to make up for that now.
Now they are all over it, but it seems that it is to the benefit of Schreiber and the detriment of Harper, neither of whom seem to deserve it.
Thanks, Joan. Very astute observation.
It's a perspective I hadn't thought of before.
There are advantages to having this inquiry for conservatives:
1. Way to put distance between the new CPC and the old PC party.
2. Way for Harper to show that he has no 'hidden agenda.'
3. Way for conservatives to link this to LPC, easy to do.
4. Way for CPC to show that LPC is not interested in current events.
5. Way for Harper to show that his natural leadership instinct is alive and well.
(real conservative)
Good points, Real Conservative (and thanks for adding the handle).
I might add:
#6. Way for the government to continue to get legislation through Parliament that was promised to Canadians long ago eg. getting tough on crime bills, etc.
The opposition parties have said they don't want an election until the inquiry is complete.
Perfect.
"There are advantages to having this inquiry for conservatives:
1. Way to put distance between the new CPC and the old PC party.
2. Way for Harper to show that he has no 'hidden agenda.'
3. Way for conservatives to link this to LPC, easy to do.
4. Way for CPC to show that LPC is not interested in current events.
5. Way for Harper to show that his natural leadership instinct is alive and well.
(real conservative)"
Excellent points Real Conservative, I agree with you.
"#6. Way for the government to continue to get legislation through Parliament that was promised to Canadians long ago eg. getting tough on crime bills, etc."
Excellent point Joanne. Both you and Real Conservative have convinced me that it is better for Schreiber to stay in Canada after all. I really do want to see Harper get his legislation and his Senate reform bills through parliament.
I saw the show and did a couple of double-takes. Oliver is seasoned enough to pull it off but Taber is so transparent most of the time that hearing something reasonable from her caught my attention big-time.
Maybe the word is out to chill the obvious CPC bashing and try to appear unbiased but it would have taken major reprogramming to get that type of commentary out of Taber.
I'm with you guys, something is up.
Let's do the inquiry, throw Schreiber into a real jail while he waits to testify, then ship him to Germany to face the music over there.
Yup. Taber 'feeling sorry' for a Conservative Cabinet Minister just doesn't ring true.
the Inquiry will be incredible political theatre. Watching Mulroney's lawyers cross examining Shreiber will be delicious.
I just watched Question Period and I do believe that something IS up with the Liberal CTV. All of a sudden they can't get away from the inquiry fast enough....and there's got to be a reason for the reversal.
Just what is it about a wide-scope inquiry in to the last three prime ministers that is moving the usually lemmingesque CTV gang into reverse gear?
ust what is it about a wide-scope inquiry in to the last three prime ministers that is moving the usually lemmingesque CTV gang into reverse gear?
Exactly. My theory is that they either know something the LPC doesn't know, or it may have something to do with what L. Ian Macdonald alluded to in the previous post:
"Journalists have no claim of privilege before a royal commission. They cannot hide behind their anonymous sources."
The plot sickens...
1. Way to put distance between the new CPC and the old PC party.
True, though it may not prove to be a benefit.
The CPC is the chimera of combining Reform and PC parties. The old PC party side moderated the CPC and made it palatable. Now the Reform side is conducting a purge.
2. Way for Harper to show that he has no 'hidden agenda.'
Not sure how that would be. The two flip flops certainly show Harper is human, and makes mistakes when confronted with the unexpected, but that does not dispel the unease about him.
3. Way for conservatives to link this to LPC, easy to do.
We're hoping they do, since they "partisanize" everything else. One day we may actually hear CPC members and ministers make utterances without using the phrase "unlike the previous government", and if that was a habit, we'd have a problem.
4. Way for CPC to show that LPC is not interested in current events.
How so? Will Parliament come to a standstill while they sit in front of a big screen TV watching the inquiry?
Baloney. It will certainly be top of news for a while, but that is news director decisions, not "LPC is not interested". Please, work that one, try and make it stick.
I think our MPs are capable of multitasking, don't you?
5. Way for Harper to show that his natural leadership instinct is alive and well.
Harper's conniving and low cunning is certainly alive and well. He was taken aback though, and seemed flustered. Dion, of course is unflappable. You have to go back to before he was leader, during the leadership convention in fact, to see him even close to that. It's the sound bite you are forced to use over and over for attack ads, since it is the only one you have, or will likely ever have.
#6. Way for the government to continue to get legislation through Parliament that was promised to Canadians long ago eg. getting tough on crime bills, etc.
That was happening anyway. We're moving into a new era of minority government. We're demonstrating the new way, which is allowing the minority to govern, so they can show Canadians their full programme.
The main difference from a majority situation should be that being a minority provides the safeguard against radicalism.
We're trying to move forward in this environment from "all campaigning all the time" to simply providing good government.
One day we may actually hear CPC members and ministers make utterances without using the phrase "unlike the previous government"
What? Like McGuinty not referring to the Mike Harris government? He's still doing it!
Hahahahahohehohaha!
Dion, of course is unflappable.
Also, unintelligable, and unsupported, and un-"cluefull."
He has really done nothing right, since he became leader.
Dion sends letter to David Johnston
Isn't this political interference by the Liberals? If Dion can demand the PMO (who are not connected and did not have anything to do with the PC govt in 1993) to be investigated as part of the inquiry, shouldn’t the last 2 Liberal PM’s (Martin and Chretien) also be included?
Some members of Martin's and Chretien's government had dealings with Schreiber and some members of Dion's caucus(eg. Robert Thibault) are communicating with him also. Should they also be investigated?
The Liberals better be careful what they wish for because the fallout from such an investigation could smear them even more than the Tories.
Why are the Libs trying to influence the terms of reference? The Dioncrites must be worried about something.Don't they trust Johnson?
.Don't they trust Johnson?
Ah, yes. Here is Professor Dion telling U of W President Johnston how to do his job. I'm sure that's appreciated.
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