TWENTY-FOUR

(a.k.a. The Jack Bauer Power Hour)

Edgar's death a Mistake?

Maybe.... but Tony's? Definitely.

I know that this show is admired for its daring and willingness to dispatch major characters without remorse.... Jack Bauer may be the sweatsoaked fist of vengeance, but the fact remains, Agent SOULPATCH, a CTU fixture since Season One, was the heart of the show.

If he really is dead --and I still have my doubts, mostly because of the absent silent counter at the end of the episode with which the deceased Ryan Chapelle, George Mason, and Edgar Styles were previously honoured--

If he really is dead, expect switch Retribution from Agent GRAVITAS

There's a man going around taking names
And he decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won't be treated all the same
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down
When the Man comes around

The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup
Will you partake of that last offered cup?
Or disappear into the potter's ground
When the Man comes around

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling, voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

Till Armageddon no shalam, no shalom
Then the father hen will call his chickens home
The wise man will bow down before the thrown
And at His feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the Man comes around

Whoever is unjust let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteous let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down
When the Man comes around

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling and voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks

In measured hundred weight and penny pound
When the Man comes around.

Johnny Cash
The Man Comes Around

Memories of Italy - May 2004: Rufus, guardian of the Pensione Bellavista. The dreaded mastiff's slobbery kisses strikes fear into the hearts of the ruffians and ne'er-do-wells of Florence  

From an Ottawa Sun Column:
Oddly, when we were on our fuzzier peacekeeping missions no one cared when we died. There was rarely any publicity, and little sympathy. I don't quite understand that. In the end, I guess some people just don't get it. Some friends and family don't understand why I want to go, and why I don't make an effort to get out of serving in Afghanistan. I don't hear anyone asking a cop why he answers 911 calls, or why a firefighter runs into a burning building. In fact, I was just accepted for an occupational transfer to Search and Rescue Technician that brings a significant pay raise, but I've turned it down to go to the new Special Operations Regiment.
Why? How can I back away when all my friends are going? I believe in the mission, and in my heart I'm a soldier. This is what I do.

This gentleman displays the mindset of the warrior. John Keegan wrote in his introduction to A History of Warfare:Warriors are not as other men. I really believe that most Canadians cannot fathom this mentality, and perhaps the idea that idealistic dupes like this poor fellow actually want to go put what they have spent years training for to good use is almost repellent to some -- so disconnected have we become from our own past. They believe that we are a nation of peacekeepers, and that our benevolent blue helmets are basically a Canadian peacecorps trained in negotiation and multilateral relations --Canadian Forces members should not talk like gung-ho "american style" warriors. And yet, there are still warriors among us; honourable warriors who believe that the military profession is not one where the primary role of its practicants must be obfuscated or cloaked in the jargon of the pacifist.

No, Canada is not a militaristic society, but it is nevertheless a society in which the military has always played a role, a society where warriors still dwell --something that the myths, pieties and social engineering of the last thirty years can never truly erase. If you don't believe me, walk into any old militia armoury in any city in Canada --there are dozens across the land --and ask to speak to the resident historian or curator of the military museum.

Warriors have been a part of Canadian society since the first outposts were founded by Champlain in the seventeenth century. The history of some of Canada's present-day militia units can be traced back to the Niagara and Lower Canada campaigns in the War of 1812. Throughout the imperial years of the nineteenth century, both before and after Confederation, Canadian men --often more British in outlook than Canadian, went around the globe to fight in Queen Victoria's Wars and many gained reknown. This is that particular breed I refer to as a warrior --a breed of man quite unlike the citizen-soldier, who enlists in time of war, as millions did during the twentieth century.

These warriors are now the ones who now eagerly volunteer for dangerous operations like the one in Afghanistan, where, in the "three block war", humanitarian relief, peacekeeping and warfighting all go hand-in-hand. They fight for those who cannot fight for themselves in the most wretched corners of the world, risking life and limb to ply their trade and bring help to the oppressed. Most strongly believe in what they are doing, and some are even eager to go. George Orwell was speaking of these men when he wrote: "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf". The warriors are part of a warrior tribe, quite apart from the rest of us, that hews to those old-fashioned values of duty, honour, and loyalty, and their function is to protect the rest of us.

We should not prevent them from doing what any society expects of its warriors.

Jack Bauer vs. James Ellard - interesting parallels:

When he's on duty, Jack Bauer is known for his brooding intensity.
After he eats garlic, James Ellard is know for his brutally intense breath.

When dealing with terrorists, Jack often has no remorse.
When watching TV, James often cannot find his remote.

Jack shot a lady in the knee because he wanted to make a man talk.
James is a man, but he walks like a lady because his knees are shot.

Jack and his co-workers use intelligence from the Government to track down threats.
Because of his lack of intelligence, James is no threat to his Government co-workers.

Jack once faced a biological disaster and took out mexican baddies in the same day.
James once created a biological disaster in his apartment after some bad mexican take out.

Jack sometimes wears a kevlar vest and sunglasses.
James sometimes wears a sweater vest and reading glasses.

Jack barely eats and can function on no sleep for 24 hours at a time.
One time James ate 24 donuts in his sleep.

Jack doesn't play around --he has real gravitas.
James usually gets slapped around when he tries to play grab-ass.

Jack's heart once stopped during torture. He was revived and proceeded to kill everyone in the room.
James' heart once stopped halfway into a bag of pork rinds. He was revived and proceeded to kill a six-pack of Keiths.

Jack Bauer took 24 hours to save the U.S. President.
James Ellard took 24 minutes to shave a nursing home resident.

Michelle, Joe, Nesrine, and Ziad at the Courthouse in Toronto 

I'm not sure you HEARD ME!... There's some SNAKES on this Mothaf*ckin' PLANE!

Somebody in the Rotten Tomatoes Forum smells a hit. It stars Sam Jackson, and it's called-- I shit you not-- Snakes On A Plane:

Snakes on a Plane is going to be the Top-Grossssssssing film of 2006 because finally Jackson has found a worthy co-star since John Travolta that will finally up his game and make the back and forth interplay between the two entertaining. Kind of like when global superstar Jackie Chan hooked up with Chris Tucker and finally delivered a legitimate blockbuster hit that people in the States could enjoy. Same deal here. In 2006... snakes will be to Samuel L. Jackson what Chris Tucker was to Jackie Chan in the Rush Hour movies.

Do not for a second underestimate the underlying interest people have always had for snakes and the untapped potential they have to seriously kickstart the currently lukewarm movie industry. Everybody loves snakes, even the people who hate them, so this film is hopefully going to finally break down the walls and barriers and alleviate some of the long-standing stereotypes people have had with regards to this underrepresented species. Depending on how they are depicted in this already much-debated film, the potential Snakes has to significantly impact the visibility and overall acceptance of snakes in modern cinema is palpable. Snakes on a Plane is going to do for snakes what Brokeback Mountain has already done for gay people.... remember this.

Jackson may say this is just another throwaway movie for him. Lucky for him, 2006 may very well prove to be the Year of the Snake

Holy Blood, Holy Bunk

I'm quite gratified to hear that the "soon-to-be a major motion picture" The Da Vinci Code-- that formulaic, problematic, and highly over-rated novel, is getting its comeuppance. Anyone who has bothered to probe the roots of this pseudo-historical work of fiction will already be aware that it borrows heavily from Baigent and Leigh's Holy Blood, Holy Grail. Indeed, Dan Brown makes little secret of this, going so far as making the name of one of the characters in his novel an anagram of Baigent and Leigh's names.

It turns out the feckless Brown may have borrowed a bit too heavily from the 1982 conspirazoid opus authored by two so-called "religious scholars" Michael Baigent (BA Canterbury U.) and Dr Leigh (PhD Stony Brook New York State University -Stony Brook U? Is that an online university?) who are now suing Brown's ass for plagiarism. A legion of real religious scholars have already dismiss the oddball theories found in HBHB as a load of nonsense time and time again, but a high-profile court case will likely drag Baigent and Leigh's pungent ideas out into the light of day yet again, exposing the Priory of Sion Hoax and other ludicrous theories to a much wider audience than ever before.

Let the bloodletting begin, I say!

Olympic roundup:

Men's hockey team just got the beatdown from the Swiss. A nation hangs its head in shame.

A cautionary tale for showboats: American hotdogger blows it big time

Oops! Take down the gold wallpaper... do we have it it silver?

Somebody get a screenshot of this!
Canada ahead of US in medal count

Jihad roundup:

I've been thinking about one of self-described smut-peddlar Larry Flint's most famous quotes lately. He was, and largely remains, a reprehensible and amoral man -- but he was also a crusader for free speech, and he once said:

If the First Amendment will protect a scumbag like me, it will protect all of you.

So in that spirit, let us celebrate the right of scumbags to continue to draw scumbaggy drawings, say scumbaggish things, and basically scumbag it up in general. Because freedom is what makes us who we are. And we'll never give it up.

Topical Satire
More blasphemy from The Onion

Disrespectfully and blatantly ripped from the innards of NRO's The Corner:
The Multicultural Crackup (courtesy of John Derbyshire)
From Ron Liddle in the 2/4/06 London Spectator: "One of Britain's top Muslims, the ever-entertaining Sir Iqbal Sacranie, is in trouble for having expressed the wholly orthodox -- and even, by his religion's standards, moderate -- view that homosexuals are 'not acceptable' and 'immoral' and that 'same-sex relationships damage the very foundations of society.' For having come up with this stuff on the BBC's 'PM' programme, he has been investigated by the police for the thought-crime, or, as the police put it these days, hate-crime, of homophobia. "...If Sir Iqbal -- and adherents of the Muslim faith in general -- believe homosexuality to be repugnant, then that is their view, and it is not the business of the government, or the police... to divest them of it. But the Old Bill are scurrying around to Sir Iqbal's house with a view top rosecuting him for merely articulating one of the fundamental tenets of a religion whose strictures will soon be protected by law. [ i.e. the proposed UK law to criminalize the defamation of Islam] This is, quite literally, madness. The two laws -- one proposed and one already on the statute books -- are in
direct, unequivocal opposition. One day we will surely see the prosecution of a gay person for suggesting that Islam is ludicrous and, by dint of its opposition to homosexuality, illegal. And where will we be then?" [Derb] In short: If it a proper goal of the law to prosecute people who give outrageous offense to groups of their fellow-citizens; and if homosexuals, by their private practices, give outrageous offense to Muslims; and if Muslims, by their abhorrence of homosexuality, give outrageous offense to homosexuals; whom does the state prosecute?
Answers on a postcard, please, to Tony Blair, 10 Downing Street, London W.C.1.

Bizarre AND Blasphemous!

More offensive than the Hampster Dance!

Til next time...Stay Classy!

Fighting hate with humour

This is Brilliant
Something that will baffle and puzzle the extremists in Iran who hoped to provoke some kind of response by publishing vile holocaust cartoons. They truly do not understand Western society.

Here is a comment on LGF that explains --as well as I could-- why it is so brilliant:

The Jews who are behind this are saying to the Islamofascists, "We will take your antisemitism and throw it right back in your face. We will do it with more talent, more humor, more style and pizzazz, and yes, more artistry than you can imagine. And we'll be laughing at you the whole time." This is not self-hating behavior. There is plenty of that among Jews who identify with the (supposedly) oppressed Muslims, lefty students who join pro-Palestinian groups, etc. But that's not the case here. Jewish humor has completely penetrated American culture over the last 50 years or so and has become thoroughly mainstream, largely through television. Since childhood I've been exposed to comics like the Marx Brothers, Henny Youngman, Mel Brooks, and Jerry Seinfeld, just to name a few. They, and many others, have become part of the American pantheon. So even though I'm not Jewish, a Jewish style of humor is an inseparable part of me, and I couldn't imagine life without it(...) Humor is one area in which we are clearly superior to the Islamofascists, and we shouldn't hesitate to use it as a weapon.

NDP Clerics declare Fatwa

Vancouver NDPers launched a holy war against apostate Emerson... meanwhile, the silence of Montreal secular socialists over Senator "coz-I-didn't-feel-like-running!" Fortier is deafening. Different political cultures? Gallic pragmatism vs left coast idealism? All I know is that the big story of Harper's audacious Cabinet is being pumped full of steroids and fed intravenously by frantic, outraged political journalists (like one of my faves, A-to-the-C). The scribes are half repulsed by Harper's crass political opportunism, Fortier's annoying honesty about his distaste for trying his luck in an election, and Emerson's lack of scruples... and half pissed that Harper blindsided them with this blockbuster story without leaking it à la Paul Martin. They also must see the end is near, in the form of the Gretzky Tsunami... a story involving the ponitfex maximus of our national religion that will swamp the frontpages and headlines for days to come, drowning the Harper/Emerson/Fortier stories and washing them out to sea.... and that's a pity. Because what Harper did was clever AND wrong, I think, and deserves the opprobrium being visited on him. If the shrewd strategic thinkers in the PMO calculated the cost-benefit of this move months ago, and figured that the olympics or some olympic related story --please step forward, Mr. and Mrs. Betsky -- was bound to sprout new controversies across the front of our front pages, they may be about to be proved correct in their cynical calculus. Now watch for the martyrdom of Saint Wayne.

[IF]

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!


--Rudyard Kipling

Not to sound like some kind of doom-monger, but what the hell is going on?

Double D hints at a stalling global economy...

Meanwhile, Loonytoongate continues:

Daniel Pipes:

The key issue at stake in the battle over the twelve Danish cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad is this: Will the West stand up for its customs and mores, including freedom of speech, or will Muslims impose their way of life on the West? Ultimately, there is no compromise: Westerners will either retain their civilization, including the right to insult and blaspheme, or not.

More hilarity, and a little perspective, from Iowahawk

Angry in the Great White North Gets it:

So I ask again, if you believe in free speech, if you believe that Church and State have distinct roles to play, and that they need to respect each other's authority, if you have spared any thought about the sort of world you want your kids to grow up in, and if you have ever wanted to poke an Islamic terrorist in the eye but figured you would never get the chance, then post a cartoon if you are a blogger.

State that the cartoon is offensive and in poor taste, if you find it so. Call it puerile and juvenile if you like. Misleading even. But if you have a blog, post a copy. Whatever your point of view, stand up and be counted against those who have not only have no interest in your point of view but would have your point of view silenced, violently if need be.

Another spot to see Cartoons

And because I am a believer in equal-opportunity offending, here are some offensive cartoons of a different stripe....sauce for the goose, I say... and yet for some reason, I don't recall any embassy burnings, boycotts or riots over these bad boys...

Though we continue to feed the crocodile, Captain Hook is finally getting what is coming to him. Now people are pissed that he wasn't investigated earlier.

Here is a scorecard of the spectrum of responses from the West.

NEVER FORGET

YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO THINK AND SAY AND BELIEVE WHAT YOU WANT

NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU

EVER


Cartoons here

One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.
Sir Winston Churchill

SITZKRIEG

A hundred years hence, some historians prone to periodization and the identification of historical parallels, as problematic as both these approaches may be, will no doubt look upon the first decade of the twenty-first century and debate the moment at which the West ended its policy of accomodation with Radical Islam and entered "the next stage".

Historians looking for the ominous signposts along the road to the conflict may well point to this development and the current showdown with Iran, to argue that we had already entered the phony war by 2006.

The early tremors often portend calamities to come, as the vagaries of history illustrate:

In an act of terror, an obscure young nationalist fires a pistol into the motorcar of an imperial heir, killing him and his pregnant wife. Six weeks later, millions of people are engulfed by conflict on an unimagined scale.

A public building is razed, and a dissafected former Corporal rises to absolute power amidst the turmoil of a worldwide depression, paving the way for the most horrific war ever visited upon civilization.

The seeds may well be sown.... if so, what will civilization harvest?

Free Flow

Presidential Candidate? Well...ya know... I could... see it

Why the Europeans are not waked up?
I did a Babelfish translation of a Mark Steyn interview with Guilio Meotti of Il Foglio. It was bizarre.
My favourite thing was the literal Italian translation of Alito as "Breath". Supreme Court Justice Sam Breath --a breath of fresh judicial air. I think it works!

Speaking of Steyn (as I often do... I can almost hear the sound of eyeballs rolling), I thought one of his comments on the Hughes story was hilarious:

Mr Hughes's current claim of "bisexuality" has the whiff of artful centrist positioning about it: bi- is the proportional representation of sexuality in a world where most of us - straight or gay - operate a first-past-the-post system.

After watching last night's horrifying Dateline NBC/Perverted-Justice.com Child Predator Sting, I was certain of one thing. If parents are letting their kids put up Web pages on
MySpace.com, they better make damn sure they are vigilant. We live in scary times.

Joe Knippenberg lays the smackdown on Shadia Drury and her ilk. The hysterics of leftist Canadian academics and their paranoia over the Calgary Cabal of Conservatives (I'm copyrighting that one) are also laughable to our neighbours to the South:

Much of the noise about the Calgary School's alleged Straussianism has been traced to one source, the University of Regina's Shadia Drury, who has made her career by writing increasingly shrill and implausible screeds purporting to expose the anti-democratic elitism (and ultimate nihilism) of Leo Strauss and his students. Her work has often impressed those who haven't actually read Strauss, especially if they're fond of conspiracy theories and have a visceral hatred for conservatives. Her commentary on the Canadian scene, warning of "radical populists hiding behind the cloak of rhetorical moderation," is hard to square with her picture of Strauss and his students as anti-democratic elitists. What are those Straussians-elitists who manipulate the credulous people by lying, or radical populists? Apparently, Drury can't decide.

Variety is the spice of life

Colby's latest column on the Pigeonhole Principle (From January 14th's National Post) raises the alarm on the reproductive revolution in the developing world and the resulting "engineered" sex ratios -- another by-product of the colision of traditional social values and modernity. Basically, many people prefer to have male children, and are taking the necessary measures to ensure they have them. As a result, for the first time since humankind first appeared, the species is consistently producing more male offspring than female. What are the implications? The mind reels...

Meanwhile, Nero plays his Lyre (not his fiddle, as widely reported) as Rome burns



In a not entirely unrelated vein, Zombie goes for a walk.

So now they have a catchy name: The Condinistas begin to gear up for a White House Run in 2008.

Shocking news: Nice Guy Eddie just passed away.

Let me say this out loud, 'cause I wanna get it straight in my head. You're saying that Mr. Blonde was gonna kill you, then when we got back, he was going kill us, take the satchel of diamonds, and scram. I'm right about that, right? That's correct? That's your story? Mr. Orange: I swear on my mother's eternal soul that's what happened. Nice Guy Eddie: The man you just killed was just released from prison. He got caught at a company warehouse full of hot items. He could've fuckin' walked. All he had to do was say my dad's name, but he didn't; he kept his fucking mouth shut. And did his fuckin' time, and he did it like a man. He did four years for us. So, Mr. Orange, you're tellin' me this very good friend of mine, who did four years for my father, who in four years never made a deal, no matter what they dangled in front of him, you're telling me that now, that now this man is free, and we're making good on our commitment to him, he's just gonna decide, out of the fucking blue, to rip us off?
Why don't you tell me what really happened? "

Someone was bound to write something on Jack Bauer's propensity for wounding people with bullets in order to extract information and the US policy on torture. Jack Bauer and the Ethics of Urgency is a thought-provoking take on this timely topic.

Speaking of which....

In the spirit of Norris, here is Bauer:

1. If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.

2.Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.

3.If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.

4.Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a real fact.

5.Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.

6.Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.

7.Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.

8. 1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.

9.If Jack says "I just want to talk to him/her" and that him/her is you... well amigo, you're fucked.

10.Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.

11.Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.

12.If you get 7 stars on your wanted level on Grand Theft Auto, Jack Bauer comes after you. You don't want to get 7 stars.

13.When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.

14.Jack Bauer does not sleep. The only rest he needs is what he gets when he's knocked out or temporarily killed.

15.If you are still conscious, it is because Jack Bauer doesn't want to carry you.

16.Jack Bauer has no problem following orders, unless you tell him to do something he doesn't want to.

17.Jack Bauer's gun is actually a water pistol, but the water shoots out in the form of bullets. Why? Because the gun is being held by Jack fucking Bauer.

18.Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.

19.As a child, Jack Bauer's first words were "There's no time!"

20.While being 'put under' in the hospital, Jack Bauer can count backwards from 100 every time. This annoys the doctors.

21.Jack Bauer can watch all 4 seasons of 24 in 24 hours.

22.Jack Bauer literally died for his country, and lived to tell about it.

23.Jack Bauer's family threw him a surprise birthday party when he was a child. Once.

24.Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.

25.Everytime Jack Bauer yells "NOW!" at the end of a sentence, a terrorist dies.

26.If Jack's starring at someone and his eye twitches, assume that person has less than 15 minutes to live.

27.When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer fucking hates lemonade.

28.Guns dont kill people, Jack Bauer kills people.

29.David Spade always says 'yes' to Jack Bauer when he wants to redeem his credit card miles.

30.Don't ask what Jack Bauer would do for a Klondike bar...

BONUS: Say it ain't so! Jack's Pops is a pinko!!!

Expect more on this....

Coyne highlights new conventional wisdom out there in blogland --Central thesis: The urban-rural split is a fallacy, a media myth Tories outpolled the Liberals in Quebec City, Ottawa, Regina, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and St. John's. Outside the three metropolises, the Tories won 33 seats to the Liberals 7.

There is actually an idea floating now of an MTV/rest-of-Canada divide, caused largely by overwhelming immigrant support of the Liberals. (picking up on the stat that three quarters of immigrants settle in MTV).

Coyne says: "He may or may not be right to attribute the difference to the immigrant vote. I'd say that was a subset of a larger phenomenon of cosmopolitanism. Big-city diversity has many faces: ethnicity, language, class, sexual orientation, etc. Tories have got to show they get this. (In particular, the sooner they put the gay marriage issue behind them the better.)"

How will this affect Conservative policies toward regionalizing immigration? I'm willing to bet that "spreading 'em around" is going to become a bigger priority.

Something to think about...

Will the Board fall on their swords?

I predicted:

LIBS 96 / CONS 120 / NDP 30 / BLOC 62

Actual:

LIBS 103 / CONS 124 / NDP 29 / BLOC 51 / IND 1

(difference +7 / -4 / -1/ -11)

Two things I did not anticipate:

The refusal of much of Ontario to swing over to Harper (meant less Tory seats in Ontario, same trend seen in BC)
The unexpected Conservative breakthrough in Quebec (meant a few more Tories in Quebec, alot less Bloc)

My verdict: A good night for the Federation. The West got in. We now have two
national parties, and a discredited Bloc that has lost all momentum now that the Gomery thing has been put to bed.


1 Samuel 31, King James Bible
Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.

And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchishua, Saul's sons.

And the battle went sore against Saul,and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.

Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.

So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.

From today's Globe


Most fingers were pointed at the so-called board, the close group of strategists around Mr. Martin, such as David Herle, Scott Reid, Tim Murphy, Terrie O'Leary and Michele Cadario.

One long-time Liberal was harshly critical of this group. "They are mean people," said the Liberal organizer. "They have destroyed the reputation and integrity of a brilliant world businessman . . . because of their own egos." He said that the board members are "finished."

"No leadership contender, if there is a leadership, will be seen in the same room as them," he said.


Postscripts:

I have been convinced for some time now that there are two new solitudes in Canada. THIS confirms it.

Toronto is entitled to its entitlements!

Tonight, Canada gave itself a high-colonic

I was pretty close with my predictions. Not sure exactly how close, since I left my seat projection at work. In spite of the best efforts of some in the MSM to try to paint tonight as a "disappointment" for the Conservatives, the fact remains that Stephen Harper will be moving from Stornoway to 24 Sussex. He broke through in Quebec--beyond anyone's expectations, and made some marginal improvements in Ontario. That's what he needed to do, and he did it.

Particularly skewed coverage was provided, as usual, by the Mothercorp: at one point the following factoid crawled across the bottom of the screen--Liberals and NDP have more seats than the Conservatives... so-f*cking-what? The Conservatives won a plurality of seats -- any way you slice it, they get to govern, notwithstanding any "spin" that attempts to portray a half-victory, or a "technical" win. Today is a good day for Federalism, for our political process, and --with voter turnouts up from 2004--for our democracy.

Like Harper said in his speech "The West is in"... now how long can they stay in?