922...WFDS: Wrong Again

Post 918 I asked Whither Elizabeth May?

She whither be on the front page of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald.

Mea culpa.

Steven Maher writes that the Green leader "...is predicting that Prime Minister Stephen Harper will find a way to engineer an election this fall, even as he attacks Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff for trying to send Canadians to the polls."

The Tory reply from Dimitri Soudas was "Liz May who?"

And please allow me to point out that Ms. May is running in Saanich-Gulf Islands and is on the front page of a newspaper serving one of her old ridings, Central Nova, as far away from her new riding as one can be and still be in Canada.

WFDS

896...I Am On The Wireless Tomorrow Morning

www.ckcufm.com

93.1 in Ottawa/Gatineau.

With Concillia Muonde to talk about Take Back The Night which goes down on Thursday. It is a march where women TBTN. No dudes, just womyn marching in many cities in our country [and their country too] to TBTN.

Although I am not a fan of anything that is exclusionary, I think that selecting out is counter productive, I am a big fan of Concillia Muonde and am glad to get the word out.

Later in the hour that starts at six I will have Neil deMause from www.fieldofschemes.com to get his view on the Lansdowne sitch in Ottawa.

For those of you not current on Lansdowne, it is one of the most important pieces of public land on the continent. A public park since 1868 Lansdowne is up for a well need refitting. The question is who is going to do it and who is going to pay for it.

Look, federal money is going to be involved so if you are in Moose Jaw, Halifax or Saanich-Gulf Islands this impacts you.

WFDS

889...Elizabeth May: This Time I Mean It

The leader of the Green Party has been strangely absent from the on going crisis on the Hill in Ottawa.

At least that is what I thought.

Wrong again, World Famous, wrong again.

Ms. May was absent because she was relocating to her new home, in Saanich-Gulf Islands, the riding that she had to fight the whiny Stuart Hertzog in a nomination process that culminated in her victory yesterday on Vancouver Island.

She told Brian Hutchinson of the National Post that ‘‘'I'm getting kind of a bad rap. Oooh, she moves here, she moves there.'" But this time, she says, she has found a riding that she will stick to. To that end on Monday, the furniture arrives and the Green leader will move into her new home. The house is rented, but the move, she insists, is quite permanent.

Although I am the farthest thing from a fan of either the Green Party or Ms. May and I think Ms. May is a kamikaze pilot and her campaign is going to crash going against the Minister of Sport, Gary Lunn, if she sticks around, puts down roots, becomes a local community activist, well, y'never know, do you? I mean, it ain't going to happen this time for her, I will bet you any money honey, any, but if she sticks around for the election after the next election it may happen for her.

WFDS

853...Great Minds Think A Like [Or Read My Blog]

I have taken a bit of a licking for not subscribing to group think and for saying that Elizabeth May is a kamikaze pilot but I am vindicated a bit by Kalvin Reid's editorial in today's Ottawa Sun where he says pretty much the same thing about her ill fated decision to run against Gary Dunn, the Minister of Sport, in Saanich-Gulf Islands.

I agree with Mr. Reid that the Green's would be better served with at least one elected MP.

Where I don't agree with Mr. Reid is when he says that he thinks Ms. May is a leader without "political acumen". Oh, no, she has a lot of political acumen it is just the self aggrandizing kind and I sincerely believe by tilting at windmills like Peter McKay in Central Nova and Mr. Dunn in Saanich-Gulf Islands, in combination with getting her face on the national debates, she is martyring herself into the cash for life confines of the Senate.

WFDS

827...Elizabeth May Deathwatch V. 3

And it is not just me who thinks her plan to run in Saanich-Gulf Islands is not well thought.

Here is a cut and paste from this morning's Halifax Chronicle-Herald:

May-first plan dubious in quest for Greener pastures


Fri. Sep 11 - 4:46 AM

A POLL last month suggested that more than 40 per cent of
 Canadians would like to see Elizabeth May win a seat in the
 House of Commons. Unfortunately for her, there is no
single riding in Canada in which she might automatically
 command 40 per cent of the vote.

The Green Party leader, who has tried her luck in two places
already, is faring progressively better as she
goes along in her quest to get elected.
In a 2006 byelection in London North Centre,
she finished second with 25 per cent of the vote,
 and in 2008 she was a respectable runner-up in
 Central Nova with 32 per cent support.

But Ms. May has since concluded that felling regional
 rainmaker Peter MacKay is too tall an order.
The absence of a Liberal candidate was designed
to help Ms. May, but the Tory defence minister
also succeeded in increasing his score six
percentage points over the previous election's results.
 And so Ms. May has split for the other coast and
announced her intention this week to challenge another
 Conservative cabinet minister in B.C.

The new No.1 priority of the decision-makers
 in the Green Party is to get Ms. May elected,
 no matter where. Hence the quixotic,
 cross-country quest for greener pastures.
 Unfortunately, her vagabond candidacy and
 tendency to publicly muse about suitable
 ridings only succeeds in exposing her to ridicule.
 It makes her look flighty, and for what?

Does the Green Party really need a seat
 in Parliament while it has Elizabeth May?
 As the leader of the fifth party,
 which garnered 6.8 per cent of the popular vote last year,
 Ms. May already punches far above her weight on the national scene.
 She attracts plenty of media coverage even
 in between elections and last fall she got
 a seat at an important table - the televised leaders' debates.
 Many Canadians were surprised to discover Elizabeth May as the feisty debater,
 the solid performer and the well-briefed and witty policy wonk.

It's hard to see what further advantages a Commons
 seat would confer on Ms. May, apart from a decent
 salary and some parliamentary perks.
 She would not get any more time of day, or power,
 in the House than Independent MPs do, which is to say very little.
 Nor would this pulpit boost her national profile much more than she already has,
 although it would give her bragging rights as the first Green elected to national
 office in North America.

So the Green Party's new tack - pouring all
 its efforts into getting Ms. May elected as a parachuted candidate
 in one of Canada's most green-friendly ridings - seems like more
 trouble than it's worth. It's trouble all
 right. Greenpeace activist Stuart Hertzog
 is challenging her for the nomination in Saanich-Gulf Islands
 next week, decrying the top-down decision-making within the
 party as being contrary to grassroots Green values.

Unquestionably, Ms. May is an asset to
the Greens, but concentrating on building
 up the party's assets - getting more votes
 nationwide and thus more federal
 electoral funding - would better
 serve the party's cause in the
 long run and better prepare
 it for a future
 without her at the helm.

See, I am not the only one who does not subscribe to group think.

WFDS

815...Elizabeth May Deathwatch V.2

In response to Post 812 Elizabeth May Deathwatch I recieved this thoughful reply:

janfromthebruce said...

Well than, the libs need to stand down (like they did in Nova Scotia) and give May a free ride.
Or is running as a liberal the only alternative you had in mind?

September 9, 2009 9:11 AM

Thanks for the comment but let's face it, the Liberals stood down in Central Nova and Elizabeth May got her head handed to her.

Ditto in Saanich-Gulf Islands. One on one Gary Lunn would destroy her.

It is fairly obvious to me that if after, as the Globe and Mail's Bill Curry reported earlier this week that the riding was selected "...after extensive party polling and research..." as the best chance for the Green Party leader it means that she has no chance anywhere in Canada.

Personally I think she is trying to position herself for the cash for life sinecure of the Senate of Canada.

WFDS

812...Elizabeth May Deathwatch

In the Toronto Star this morning Joanna Smith writes that environmentalist Briony Penn says that Elizabeth May is going to crash and burn in her chosen riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands in B.C.

Ms. Penn knows Saanich-Gulf Islands, the former Green Party card holder ran for the Liberal Party in the last election and was defeated by Tory minister the Honourable Gary Lunn. She says that as much as she would like to see the Green Party leader, Ms. May, in the House of Commons, "...it would take an extraordinary miracle for Elizabeth to win."

What the former Liberal candidate fears most is what is going to happen; Ms. May will split the non Conservative vote giving Mr. Lunn a clear path to reelection.

WFDS

810...Kamikaze Mission Starts Today For May

Elizabeth May's failed run for parliament in the next election starts today when she announces that she is seeking the nomination for the British Columbia riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands, suburban Victoria and environs.

The Globe and Mail reports what we already know: the riding is held by Gary Lunn, the Minister of Sport, heading into an Olympic year when the Olympics are in Vancouver, a city that most Victorians are very familiar with through friends, family and visits. Mr. Minister, the Honourable Gary Lunn is the man in charge of the games and if you don't think he is going to play the "I am Mr. Olympics" card hard, you are crazier than the leader of the Green Party.

She has been saying for eons that she wants an riding where she can be elected; this ain't it.

The Globe and Mail's Bill Curry writes that the riding was selected "...after extensive party polling and research..." This is a big steaming pile of bullsh't.

Ms. May, who earlier said that she would only only only ever run in Central Nova, way on t'other side of the country but equally remote from the vast majority of voters, is being challenged by Stuart Herzog for the nomination. I suppose her "...extensive...polling and research..." missed Mr. Herzog.

WFDS

762...Here Is An Issue For Elizabeth May

An issue that the potential candidate for MP in Saanich-Gulf Islands could build her campaign around.

CHEK TV, which has been on air in Victoria since before I was born [and that is a long, long, longgggggg time ago] is signing off the air Monday. Matthew Pearson writes on Page 3 of today's Victoria Times Colonist that Canwest Global Communications has decided to not sell the station to the staff and are instead surrending the license on Monday.

First off the price is a paltry five million dollars.

Secondly, how the f'k can you not make money with an over the air TV station in a market of over 350,000 people?

Spokane, Washington, a market a bit bigger than Victoria, about half a million, has five commercial stations and none of them are crying the blues.

Now that I have asked the question I will answer it.

There are multiple reasons why CHEK and the other Canwest Global Communications station closing, the one in Red Deer, Alberta, are going down in flames. Big reason is that they are greedy. Becasue there are no other local stations, unlike, say, Spokane, and no local competition the A Channels get lazy, hire crappy, ugly, boring and dumb reporters to do their news, which is the profit centre on American afflilates and just generally suck.

Competition is the key, not government grants, comp-e-f'ing-tition.

Again, it is virtually impossible to lose money running a TV station unless you try.

Obviously no one has tried harder than Canwest Global Communications.

Elizabeth May, whatcha gotta say, Elizabeth May?

760...Elizabeth May Has A Back Up Plan

In an unbylined and stale story from today's Moncton Times and Transcript, Elizabeth May, who is soon to be the former leader of the Green Party reveals her back up plan: she is going to be an Anglican minister.

She is quoted as saying "When I finish being prime minister, I'm going to be ordained." Deluded much?

Lord Jesus, Mary and Joesph help us.

WFDS

755...Elizabeth May Doesn't Read My Blog

Which makes me sad.

Well, no, actually it doesn't make me sad because, apparently, the leader of the Green Party, the woman who will be the next Prime Minister of Canada if enough Canadians go insane and vote for her and the Green Party, not only doesn't read The World Famous Dan Shields, she also doesn't read the Victoria Times-Colonist, the paper of record in the riding she is going to conquer, Saanich-Gulf Islands, the Globe and Mail, Le Devoir, the Ottawa Citizen, the various Suns, the Washington Post, watch CBC Newsworld, listen to 680 News or have someone to do it for her.

She is not in the loop. Nor are her people. Loopy but loop free is she.

How do I know this?

Because she was interviewed live last hour on 580CFRA in Ottawa by Rob Snow and found out for the first time, hours after little old insignificant me found out even, that the Premier of one of our esteemed provinces, Manitoba, Gary Doer, had resigned yesterday and was the new ambassador to the U. S. of A., a country whose border she is perched on today, what with her being in Niagara-On-The-Lake doing whatever it is when she is not fixing the planet.

In all seriousness darling [see, I didn't call her baby] you would think that you would try to be as current as me; being current is merely a hobby/obsession for me, for you, Madame Leader who has deluded herself into thinking she will be a Member of Parliament, it is a job requirement.

Seriously, pay attention, darling [see, I didn't call her baby this time either], pay attention.

WFDS

740...Cut And Paste From Victoria Re Liz May

Here is what the paper of record in her potential new hometown has to say about Miss May's chances. Here is what I have to say about Miss May's chances: none, zero, nada. And she knows it. She is a headline seeking train wreck of a a politician who is going to get beaten like a rented f'ing mule.

May faces challenge in Island riding
Times Colonist (Victoria)
Wed Aug 26 2009
Page: A6
Section: Capital & Van. Isl.
Byline: Katie DeRosa
Source: Times Colonist

If federal Green party leader Elizabeth May chooses to run in
Saanich-Gulf Islands,
she'll have a challenger for the nomination.

Stuart Hertzog, a 63-year-old environmental writer and
publisher who
describes himself as a "deep green" activist,
announced on his website
last week that he intends to contest the nomination in that
riding.

Hertzog said the Green party has become too centralized
around the leader and has alienated its membership base in
the
quest for power. "The grassroots of the party has basically
been ignored," he said.

May, 55, who has served as federal Green leader since 2006,
welcomed another Green
candidate in the riding.

"As a party that is really quite proud of the
fact that we are grassroots,
there's probably no better proof of it
[than the fact Hertzog is running],"
May said in an interview from Vancouver.
"It may prove the opposite of what he is alleging."

Hertzog has yet to be approved by the
party as a candidate for the nomination.

The successful Green party candidate
will run against incumbent
MP Gary Lunn, who serves as minister
of state for sport and
has had a firm hold on the seat, winning
five victories since 1997.

Hertzog has been involved with the Green party since
1984 and has run unsuccessfully as a provincial
candidate three times.

In 1996, he ran for the B.C. Green party in
the northern B.C. riding
of Bulkley Valley-Stikine. It was that unsuccessful
bid that convinced
Hertzog that so-called parachute candidates --
who run in ridings they don't live in
-- don't work.

Hertzog said the fact May is considering
parachuting
herself into a West Coast riding despite her East
Coast roots shows
the party cares about the leader more than
the voters. If May does run
in Saanich-Gulf Islands, she plans to relocate
from her hometown on Cape Breton, N.S.

"It's presumptuous to dump oneself in a place
and say, 'OK I've got it,' "
said Hertzog, who lived in Sidney and on
Saltspring Island before moving
to Victoria.

The federal Green party is fighting to
have at least one MP elected.
In the 2008 election, May ran in her
home riding of Central Nova,
where she was defeated by cabinet
minister Peter MacKay,
whose family has deep roots in the area.

May said the public has come to
expect national
party leaders to have a seat in the
House of
Commons to best represent voters.

She said if she does run in
Saanich-Gulf Islands --
she expects to make a decision in
early September --she will buy a
house in Sidney and familiarize
herself with the local issues.

May has speculated previously
that a non-confidence
motion in the federal government could come as
early as September, forcing a
fall election.

kderosa@tc.canwest.com

Here is what I have to say about Miss May's chances: none, zero, nada. And she knows it.

She is a headline seeking train wreck of a a politician who is going to get beaten like a rented f'ing mule.

WFDS

735...Elizabeth May Decides On A Riding

Influenced by the weather no doubt, Green Party leader Elizabeth May has decided to focus on Saanich-Gulf Islands, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, as the place to plant her flag in the next election.

Andrew Potter in today's Ottawa Citizen senses a disconnect in the Green Party and his evidence of that is the actions of Stuart Hertzog, a man who has been in the party for over a quarter century, who is challenging Miss May for the nomination. He says that the party is becoming more undemocratic as the days progress. Mr. Potter makes the point that the Green Party is more effective in its present configuration as a super lobby group of sorts as opposed to being just another budgetary party.

The Green Party leader has the choice of picking any riding in the country and yet chooses this one. One of the things that I find odd about her choice of Saanich-Gulf Islands is the fact that the Green Party finished third with only 10.5 per cent of the vote last time out. After getting creamed at the polls by Peter McKay in Central Nova last time out one would think that she would want to have the most favourable conditions extant this time.

Or perhaps she really doesn't want to win? Which I find difficult to believe considering, among other things, she lives in Ottawa so being an MP would be a short bus ride, the 7, one bus all the way, to the office.

Still, a curious choice on many levels. One would think that her people would try to find her a seat where she could win the nomination without a struggle and then have a good shot at winning. Yet another thing that makes Saanich-Gulf Islands odd is the fact that it is not a media center and the fact that it is about as far west as one can be will only add to the travel burden for the leader of a national party.

It just doesn't make sense.

WFDS