Just like Trusty Tory, I don't usually like going after Dippers, but my motives are different - The NDP is the CPC's best friend for splitting the vote on the left. However, some things just transcend partisanship, and this is one of them.
The Star's Ottawa Bureau-chief, Bruce Campion-Smith had an article in yesterday's paper that contains a wakeup call of sorts for Jack Layton (Apology of sorts for 'porn slur').
In my opinion, Irene Mathyssen is just not MP material. Perhaps she could function as an Independent, but she has demonstrated that her mouth and her own selfish interests take priority over her sense of working with the team, and even over human decency.
After her (forced) formal apology to James Moore in the House on Friday morning, Mathyssen didn't have the good sense to keep her big yap shut:
Yesterday, she publicly apologized in the Commons for not raising her concern with Moore privately.
"I recognize that would have been the appropriate step," Mathyssen said in an interview.
But she maintains such photos have no place in the Commons.
"I think that is a mistake and I'm sure that he has learned that, the importance of prudence," Mathyssen said. "What I saw was not appropriate."
When I first read that, I assumed she had said it before the formal apology, but the subtitle in the article says, "Sorry for raising laptop photos publicly, MP tells House, but later calls images inappropriate". So this was actually said afterwards!!!
Jack Layton has been notably absent from all this embarrassment; instead sending Libby Davies to be the cleanup attendant. I think he's afraid that some of this dirt might stick to him. He probably wants to distance himself as much as possible from the ongoing train wreck.
So here's my advice for Jack - Make use of the handyman's best friend, and place it firmly over Irene's mouth.
Or bite the bullet and dump her altogether. She's not a team-player.
Her constituents should do the same come the next election.
* * * *
41 comments:
The sad part Joanne is it's not just Mathyssen who spews stupidity. Look into Peggy Nash and some of her comments regarding Israel, particularly the most recent conflict. I've been a CAW member for 30 years, and Nash is a long-time employee of the CAW. Most members have little respect for her and consider her a joke as an MP.
paulsstuff
unfortunately what Mrs. Kravitz did taints all women in politics. Stunts like this make those really good female politicians cringe.
I agree with Joanne. Layton should turf her, sooner rather than later.
What she essentially did was lie about Moore's character for no other purpose than to spin the lie.
Gentleman or not I think Moore, or better yet, Moore's girlfriend should take legal action.
If it had been a man suggesting something sinister about a female in the house, there would be no end to the hoopla.
put Kinsella's book down Joanne. We need you to help us prepare for the revenge of Brian Mulroney that will come on Thursday.
Let's all pay attention on Thursday to the dynamics of the ethics committee....that should speak volumes as to how much of a smear this exercise really was.
re: Schreibergate - what I can't understand is why the German gov't has been so quiet about getting this guy back to their country?
You'd think that if they wanted him so badly after all this time they'd been pushing the Canadian gov't to get him back asap?
Odd that.
Gentleman or not I think Moore, or better yet, Moore's girlfriend should take legal action.
Or Moore's dog... ;)
Paul, yeah, there are a lot of crazy Dippers, but ones that focus so much on unwarranted personal attacks are the worst, in my opinion.
Re: Schreibergate - I wonder how much Committee Chairman Paul Szabo will be bending over backwards to accommodate Mulroney?
"Is that alright, Mr. Mulroney?"
"May I kiss your feet, Mr. Mulroney?"
Somehow, I don't think so.
Watch how many questions Szabo will try and say are out of the line of questioning. And I'm sure he will rty and waste as much time as he can to keep the number of questions as low as possible.
paulsstuff
What is with all the demands for litigation coming from the right these days? I thought the conservative screed was to do away with frivolous lawsuits that only line the pockets of scurrilous lawyers. Hypocrisy raises its ugly (beautiful?) head once again?
Do you really want to go there Lord Omar?
paulsstuff
Sorry, that should read:
Do you really want to go there AGAIN Lord Omar?
paulsstuff
Well, I think an explanation is in order. And please...call me Omar. The 'Lord' thing only came about when I was unceremoniously elevated by one Andy Looney, Conservative shite-disturber.
Let me add my two cents worth.
The following is from the Action Plan for Women posted on the NDP web site:
"The NDP plan to protect sex workers includes legal reforms with the aim of protecting the rights and dignity of women working in the sex trade and to reduce the exploitation and violence against sex workers."
They're talking about legalizing, or at least decriminalizing, prostitution.
How does this policy fit in with the indignation of the NDP member who is offended by the sight of a girl in a bikini?? Maybe she's a member of the wrong party.
Undoubtedly nothing would have been said if James' girlfriend had been wearing a burka.
NeilD
She is in my constituency, I did not vote for her, but she ran numerous times and lost before finally getting elected.
She was also my grade 11 English teacher (AWFUL!)
The riding is full of a lot of blue collar unionized lower-class homes/incomes. The east end of Ottawa is known as EOA (East of Adelaide street) as a mostly sketchy end of town with no 'upper class' area like the other two ridings in London.
just like scary hidden agenda Harper last election
we now hear "Gentleman or not I think Moore"
His reputation is gone he must act immediatly to get his good reputation back
he has no other choice
Florence
it's entiriely inapppropriate to keep private photos of one's girlfriend in her best bikini on one's laptop if one plans to use it in the house of commons.
is this guy a MP or a frat boy?
"HALIFAX, December 22--A law firm representing the Liberal Party of Canada threatened to file suit against the creators of Paul Martin Time.ca for copyright infringement. The previous day, a journalist had attempted to confirm that the Prime Minister had knowledge of the site, which features parody and critical analysis of Paul Martin's policies."
"Three of the Liberals whose names were mentioned in testimony at the Gomery inquiry this week have threatened to sue the former party official who said they received illicit payments.
Benoît Corbeil, a former director general of the federal Liberal party in Quebec, told the public inquiry looking into the sponsorship scandal that $50,000 from Quebec ad executive Jean Brault went to party workers."
"The federal Liberals' national director is accusing the party of besmirching his reputation following his controversial comments last week about the hiring of francophone Quebecers, CBC News has learned.The federal Liberals' national director is accusing the party of besmirching his reputation following his controversial comments last week about the hiring of francophone Quebecers, CBC News has learned.
Then, in a veiled threat, Carroll writes that he has consulted lawyers who have told him he would be eligible for "considerable" damages should he pursue the matter in court, and mentions about 12 to 18 months pay as compensation."
"Former Martin chief of staff Terrie O'Leary and the Earnscliffe Strategy Group, also associated with the Martin camp, each gave notice to Warren Kinsella that they intend to sue him for libel for comments he made about polling contracts they were involved in a decade ago..."
"Canada's Public Works Minister is threatening legal action against the Montreal daily newspaper La Presse.
Alfonso Gagliano says he has been the target of malicious allegations he helped a suspected Sicilian Mafia kingpin get into the country. Gagliano suggests he is being slandered because of his Italian heritage."
"Sam Bulte, the Canadian Liberal Party MP who has been outed for taking money from the same copyright industry whom she has rewarded with favorable lawmaking action, has threatened to sue Michael Geist, the law professor and blogger who outed her for her ethical missteps."
"There was Liberal MP and leadership hopeful Joe Volpe threatening to sue anyone who suggested there could possibly be anything improper about donations to his campaign, 70% of which came from present and former executives of one major drug company, with many of those coming from the execs' children, kids as young as 11 years old."
"Failed Liberal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy have joined with some Liberal MPs to sue the National Post and one of its columnists Jonathan Kay for libel."
I would list all the lawsuits one W.K. has filed or threatened to file, particularly ones against those with views other than the Liberal party, but I'm afraid Al Gore's internet design probably couldn't take the load..
Now we have Liberal's demanding an inquiry that will cost millions and make some lucky lawyers even richer. Oh yeah, now they don't want an inquiry because it turns out there is probably more junk in their closet than Mulroney's.
Gomery cost millions, and now we have one J. Chretien suing because he doesn't like the findings.
Google Liberal threatens lawsuit. I could be on here for years postings clips.
I'm sorry, who's hypocrisy were we talking about again Lord Omar???
paulsstuff
"it's entiriely inapppropriate to keep private photos of one's girlfriend in her best bikini on one's laptop if one plans to use it in the house of commons."
So I guess they shouldn't log onto MSN.ca, CTV.ca, or CBC.ca either than, right Jeff. On any given day you might see a "scantily dressed" Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Shakira, on the home page.
Just because you keep all those "pictures" under the mattress so your mommy can't find them doesn't mean that MP's such as James Moore can't decide what is porn and what is family photos. I guess we have now, as Canadians, learned that all those Sears, Eatons, The Bay, etc., catalogues contained soft porn which degraded women. Shame, shame, shame.
paulsstuff
A reader named 'Sara-Anne' left an interesting comment, but also signed with her complete name, location and phone number, which I am reluctant to publish.
Therefore I'm reproducing the comment here:
Have we taken some kind of giant step backwards here. I know that truck stops still display pics of half clad women but I bet truckers don't email photos of their half clad wives and girlfriends around to their male buddies.
What do we say about a man who mails pictures of his wife or girlfriend around to his buddies. At best it's chauvinism, at worst some kind of immature adolescent desire to claim bragging rights – ooo look, I got a girlfriend, ooo look, she wears a bikini.
If I worked in an office my fellow workers wouldn't be allowed to display photos of half clad women and they certainly wouldn't be allowed to email them around to their buddies on work time.
Lack of respect for parliament, for parliamentarians, for me- Mrs. Canadian citizen who has a grandddaughter who I hope will grow up in a better world and I also hope would dump a man who would mail her picture around to his buddies, for all other Canadian citizens, and for his girlfriend.
Do I trust such an individual to make real, adult, mature decisions on my behalf. I don't think so.
Just for the record, Sara-Anne, we're talking about James Moore showing a picture of his dog to a colleague, where his girlfriend happens to be in the background.
Jeffy you spin everything, did you not read Neils comment above? Mathyssen works for a party that wants to legalize prostitution and she's offended by a picture of Moores dog, oh ya his girlfriend was in the picture too. Again Jeff this wasn't porn, like the dippers promote at every opportunity, or strippers like the Libs actually sponsor. Hipocracy really is your strength isn't it Jeffy.
Well, I think an explanation is in order. And please...call me Omar
Oh, that's a relief! I thought you had been knighted or something. ;)
Just one of us common folks after all. That's good.
Regarding lawsuits, I'm already on record saying that I don't think James Moore should sue Irene Mathyssen. It would lower him to her level.
On the other hand, if he does actually contemplate it, I would recommend that he go after the whole NDP caucus, because this matter was apparently discussed beforehand. The problem is that Irene Mathyssen just doesn't know when to cut her losses.
where does this dog stuff come from? i've read nothing about the dog anywhere other than on conservative blogs defending moore's actions.
as for paulsstuff...
as a happily married man of 2, i can assure you that our kids were conceived in the conventional manner. the only things under my mattress are half-eaten peanut butter sandwiches from my 3 yr old.
as for grant, i didn't call it porn, i called it tacky. big diff.
further, your argument operates fomt he premise that moore is telling the truth about the dog pics.
as far as i know, the dog is an invention of the blogosphere.
And BTW, just what was Irene Mathyssen doing gawking around instead of doing Parliament's work anyway?
Why wasn't she paying attention????
Jeff, even one of your fellow lefties knows it was a dog. In fact it was a Liberal who vouched for Moore. I'll try to find the link.
Also just for the record, 'allowed' is a very distasteful word at the best of times when directed at adults, but is especially offensive when applied by an uptight busybody to the harmless activities of others.
I realize that in some prudish circles, this passes for feminism but it is anything but.
Keep your nose in your own book or stick to your knitting and you won't see all those scary pictures of people in brief clothing, with or without their loyal dogs in tow.
How did our society become so repressive, punitive and regressive over the past couple of decades? Oh, nanny types, of course...they ran the government for awhile, brought all the meddlers out of hiding.
Now, how about that election?
Jeff, here is a comment from one of your own:
At Thu Dec 06, 06:34:00 PM EST, Anonymous said…
Redman DIDN'T accuse Moore - oh and she did apologize and Moore thanked her and the other opposition members that supported him.
Mike Duffy said that it was a "Liberal MP, frontbencher" that came over to Duffy to say that Moore was showing him a picture of his dog
So, please, let's play nice for a change and stop the constant negativity, bash and trash.
It hurst people - Moore knows that now.
When will Bains get his apology?
You people are so biased you don't even want to see the truth - which is the Liberals supported Moore and he said so.
"where does this dog stuff come from? i've read nothing about the dog anywhere other than on conservative blogs defending moore's actions."
So what, Mike Duffy, Don Newman, CTV, CBC, the Toronto Star, G&M, are Conservative blogs. Are you really that out of touch with what's happening in the news? It was a Liberal MP who came forward and explained Moore was showing him a picture of his dog. Do some research before posting such a ridiculous comment. You can probably find links on this blog Joanne has provided. Sheesh.
Sar-Ann, i agree with what you are saying, but like Jeff, you do not have the facts. There was no e-mailed pictures. Moore showed the Liberal MP sitting beside him in the house a photo of his dog. His girlfriend was in the background of the picture.
Now as far as Omar's dismissal of this as being frivolous, Jeff and Sara-Ann are a perfect example of why Mathyssen was so completely wrong. They have listened to a few sound bites in the news and determined Moore was wrong. For this blame Mathyssen.
paulsstuff
Joanne the frustrating part is that her constituency is so frothing at the mouth leftist that everyone was no doubt applauding her slanders.
Jeff, here's a LFP link:
The images on Moore's computer were actually of his dog and his girlfriend on vacation.
This is interesting:
Winnipeg MP Pat Martin, usually one of the party's most aggressive partisans, said earlier this week he was embarrassed by the fiasco and never believed the allegation against Moore "for a minute."
"I'm not proud of yesterday, believe me," Martin said, adding had he known what Mathyssen was going to do, "I would have intervened and stopped it."
So Pat Martin was obviously not at that caucus meeting before Irene launched the initial attack. Just who was there and why did they allow her to continue?
Joanne the frustrating part is that her constituency is so frothing at the mouth leftist that everyone was no doubt applauding her slanders.
Spitfire's comments would seem to back that up. (Poor Spitfire. Imagine having Irene Mathyssen as a teacher. Yikes!)
A couple of things strike me about this issue.
First, it seems the SOFT PORN issue was discussed in caucus, therefore either they are all comlicit, or Ms. Mathyssen is a renegade.
Second , and even more sinister is the issue of the Liberal member from B.C. who was erroneously accused by the NDP of bribery and turfed by Paul Martin. The NDP knew early on that the accusation was wrong, but they chose to not release that information until after the election.
This business of smearing reputations is repulsive. Its going on right now in the form of the (it is to laugh) Ethics Committee.
I hope the voters will realize how dishonest both the Liberals and NDP are, and how they care not a whit how much they hurt individuals in their quest for power
As long as MP and MPPs can write their Christmas cards, play with their Blackberries, chew gum, and have very poor fashion sense, any member can put whatever they want on their personal laptop.
The bigger problem, as some have suggested here is obviously there's so little of substance happening in the provincial or federal legislatures these days to keep our elected official occupied by actually pretending to govern.
And we wonder why more and more people don't vote.....it's not hard to figure out why.
Can I be offended when a male MP wears a tie that has cartoon characters on it or Santa Clause(what if I don't celebrate Christmas?).
The picture of Moore's beautiful dog was in the Globe and Mail yesterday for all to see.
Thanks, Ruth.
Isn't it funny that Jeff is suddenly nowhere to be seen?
Why is James Moore looking at half-naked photos of his girlfriend in the HoC anyways?
Oy vay. *Smacks forehead*
well, this little incident has certainly shown me that no one listens to the news. They only hear a bit and never get informed or want the truth. The scary part is these people all go to vote and know nothing about it.
Ruth - Yes indeed. James Moore is going to have to explain this over and over again.
I think Mathyssen should have to get out to his riding and go door-to-door telling every single constituent the truth.
"Anonymous said...
Why is James Moore looking at half-naked photos of his girlfriend in the HoC anyways?
Sun Dec 09, 03:25:00 PM EST"
I'm too tired. Just call yourself an idiot anon.
paulsstuff
"high school english teacher"
That explains everything. Good thing she's not affecting students with her
bias any more.
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