A short digression from the Canadian election

Well while the Americans were having their election and a Canadian election just happened to break out. So I'll digress from the Canadian election which is kinda boring at the moment and look South ... look way South to the US.

Sarah Palin has been the target of much criticism from democrats, republicans, whites, blacks, well pretty much everybody over things not related to politics such as her family life. While the way you live your life can be a reflection of how you'll be as a leader it's not really that important. Though some have suggested that since McCain is pretty old she might have a pretty good shot at being leader if he doesn't make it through the term. The interesting thing though is how much attention she has managed to take away from Obama. I don't even know the name of his running mate and I can't remember hearing any major news stories about him. So whether she's good for McCain or not she's at least kept the republican campaign in the news. In the end I think that secretly alot of Americans actually recognize themselves in Sarah Palin, many of them have had teenage daughters who get pregnant and family troubles that have been embarrassing. So she might just help McCain make it to the white house, because Americans have quite a bit of the "hey they're just like me" feelings and that might just be enough.

The Green Party doesn't get to go to the party ... Oh wait now they do

Well I was going to write about how Elisabeth May, leader of the Green party is pretty upset about being cut out of the debate. But now I guess i'll write about the fact that shes now in the debate
It's kinda like their that kid in class that crys when everyone else gets invited to the birthday party but then the kid having the party feels sorry for them and invites them anyways.

The whole issue seemed to revolve around May's assertion that it was undemocratic to keep her from the debate. Of course it might be unfair but as elections Canada and the courts have ruled before the debate is not a part of the political process, at least not legally. There is no requirement to have a debate or for any of the leaders to attend. The Debate is put on at the desire of the media to have something to write about for a few days, and also over the hope that someone will make a profound speech or a fool of themselves.

Still it's probably better than the Conservatives and the NDP both decided to relent on their desires the keep the Greens from the debate. They can always hope that May blinded by the studio lights will suddenly state her secret desire to drive a humvee through a rain forest and hunt down something endangered.

The Secret is out: Oh wait what secret

Yup it's out all right the election is called and everyone is getting ready to beg for people to support them. The election call had the side effect of canceling 2 by-elections one of which was scheduled for the 8th of September. Based on the polling numbers the Conservatives have a good shot at a majority government but that may change in the next few weeks.

The ancipation in the media couldn't be cut with a Chainsaw.

Well if there's one group that's excited about another election it's the Media. The joy of covering everything from debates to whistle stop tours is a joy that resounds across all the channels. Though I'll have to admit that it will be kinda nice to hear something political other than the coronation of Obama.

Of course on the bad side we'll have to sit through endless ads about what they'll claim they never really promised if actually elected. While I'm not a big fan of the US style attack ads it is kinda funny to see an ad that just says "My opponent is a terrible person who kills puppies" and never mentions anything about what the guy paying for the ad is doing or plans to do.

Of course the Greens and NDP can promise anything they like in their commercials because the chance of them forming a majority government is about the same as of John McCain being a cover model for a swimsuit issue. An energy efficient society by 2012 sure it's not like we'll ever have to weasel our way out of doing it.

As for the Liberals well it's pretty much a toss up. If they had a more dynamic leader (read anyone other than Stephan Dion) They'd probably have a good shot. But since they don't Harper would have to do something reallllllly crazy to not get back in with at least a minority government.

Let the speculation continue.....

The Media frenzy about yet another federal election is still going strong even though it has yet to be called. Apparently the Prime Minister will take the short walk to Rideau Hall on Sunday and ask the Governor General to dissolve parliament and call an election. It does seem all but a certainty, The Conservatives are running election ads including one with a girl claiming she'll be voting for Stephen Harper... unless she lives in Calgary Southwest that seems pretty unlikely she may be voting Conservative but not for the Leader himself. All the speculation and the commercials do make it pretty clear that the call is near. The other parties are also going out and announcing their plans for Canada including the Liberals announcing plans for taxes on fuel and tax cuts for energy efficiency. The Green party is planning on going to court to be included in the debate and The Conservatives have said they won't come if the Greens are there. All this over an election that so far isn't official.

Election fever: Just like dance fever but much less fun to watch or participate in

Well the campaigning has started for the non existent election. All sources point to it being held on October 14th when the Conservatives figure we'll be to drunk on Turkey, Turducken or some other equally fattening substance to vote straight. Not that i'm saying the Conservatives have done a bad job . Actually far from it, they've run the most sucessful minority governement, probably ever. Though they did say they'd wait for 4 years it seems they've grown impatient and decided that giving up the right to call elections when they want was a bad idea after all and well they'll just call them when it works for them.

We'll see if any major issues emerge or anything happens to distinguish the different parties.. but so far ... nothing.

Who will I be voting for? who knows.. We're not even having an election yet.

Olympic medal count

Well just a note on that Olympic medal count. All the wailing and crying in the first week was for nothing and Canada came out with a medal showing tying our record for the second most medals in a non boycotted Olympics. I guess what the COC really needs to do is have more athletes in events that are in the first week just so that people don't whine so much. I'm also glad to hear that our athletes are getting a few extra bucks for getting a medal 20000$ for gold is nothing to sneeze at though I'd like to see it expanded to be 5000$ for a 4th and 1000$ for a top 8 finish just to recognize those athletes that really did very well despite not coming home with hardware.

The coverage of the games was good but a little odd. I thought it strange to see regular shows being shown during the day when they could have been rerunning events but I'm glad that they did do alot of live coverage even if it was at 3 in the morning. I hope CTV will not follow NBC's lead and decide that they'll only show the games in prime time.

Overall 5 out of 5 stars for the athletes and 4 out of 5 for the Olympic coverage hey at least here you can watch events live.