this blog has moved to a new address: daveberta.ca

Please update your RSS, bookmarks, and links to http://daveberta.ca.

Friday, November 20, 2009

which way to the high road?

This was bad judgement, but this is untrue:

“That said, [Premier Ed Stelmach] never resorts to the personal and is never pleased when others do.”
There are numerous examples of Premier Stelmach and members of his cabinet taking personal shots at Opposition MLAs and groups (and deceased Prime Ministers) outside of the Legislature.

In most circumstances, actually taking the high road is the best way to claim it.

23 comments:

ab_baby said...

it never ceases to amaze me. Stelmach is constantly comparing the opposition to Stalinists, communists, etc. Yet he took offence and demanded an apology (as usual) when he thought they were implicating him as a Stalinist (don't have the link, but it was in spring session).

And let's not forget his demeaning comment about Brian Mason's previous work as a bus driver (for which he never apologized).

He has the nerve to say he never makes personal attacks?

I'm sorry, we deserve better from someone who is supposed to be leading this province.

Anonymous said...

Which way to the high road? How about six inches down the page and to the right, stopping at the Missing Premier Ed Stelmach "parody" poster.

Glass houses, and all that.

daveberta said...

The poster is satire. Sorry if you didn't understand that.

Also, I'm not the Premier of Alberta.

Unknown said...

That's the thing though Dave. Satire is supposed to be funny. You are not.

Anonymous said...

Stelmach is no different than most politicians. He attacks his opposition and then lets his high paid press assistants do his apologizing and aggrandizing in the media.

Anonymous said...

Shows what a poor choice Steve Carter is for anything.

Justin said...

Since we're getting all righteous and indignant, how about this, from Don Braid Nov 5 column, quoting Lloyd Snelgrove (a gentleman if ever there was one):


"Our job is to stay in the legislature and be needled by pricks, not go out and be pricked by needles."

Is calling members of the Opposition "pricks" appropriate behaviour for a GOA Minister?

Seems like these guys dish it out better than they take it.

Brian Dell said...

The premier's office latched on to this because every time there is an opportunity to call attention to identity questions, like the premier's ethnicity, rural roots, or Edmonton area origins, it's political gold. This is why one can't really make an issue out of the fact the premier is a farmer who would never be considered for management of a multi-million dollar corporation never mind a multi-billion dollar economy. To do so would be to imply that the humble farmer is somehow unworthy. It's absurd when I spell it out like that but they wouldn't spell it out; just let unspoken identification work its wonders.

They locked up a lot of Ukrainian votes with this one. Thw Wildrose will learn that Ed might not know much about governing but he knows a lot of about politics.

Brian Dell said...

The ironic thing is that whenever I have emailed Stephen, he preferred to call back because people were less likely to say something they might regret or have a misunderstanding when verbally listening and interacting.

In any case I find it odd that remarks without real malice like here or in Elniski's case create headline-making outrage but the sort of malicious, angry rhetoric we see in Ottawa's Question Period is considered par for the course.

Anonymous said...

Daveberta, what do you think about the misuse of twitter by Wildroser Steven Carter, making fun of Stelmach's ukrainian background?

Anonymous said...

I think Carter knew exactly what he was doing with that remark and the wink-wink apology. That it would in fact be well received in Calgary and other circles.

Anonymous said...

Stephen Carter shouldn't have apologized. Period. He did absolutely nothing wrong.

art said...

Snelgrove's comment's were kind of witty, so I can live with them.

Stelmach's frequent outbursts, and his constant misrepresentation of what Mason and the opposition stand for (claiming they want to shut the tarsands down) make me pine for Ralph Klein.

Anonymous said...

Brian Mason was a bus driver. It's a fact. Why should Stelmach apologize?

Anonymous said...

And Ed Stelmach sounds like an idiot when he talks. It's a fact. Why should Carter apologize?

Anonymous said...

What passes for TV comedy shows in this country including the politically correct CBC have no problem mimicking politicians' accents. To do so in writing is no different.

Crybabies. Whiners. All.

Anonymous said...

I found it funny that politicians that I known and have met, would secretly agree with the “No Plannn” commercials that aired just before the last provincial election, but when the election went status quo the same politicians who were excited about the momentum created by the commercials would jump on the band wagon decrying it as an attack. I guess as Canadians we feel for others and when politicians can manufacture victimhood, we the citizenry, for a brief moment seem to feel sorry for them.

Lloyd Snelgrove's Creepy Goatee said...

This Carter idiot has achieved the impossible - he's made people feel sorry for Stelmach. His comments were a political gift that even a brain-dead swamp rat like Tom Olsen could capitalize on them.

Scratch the surface of the Wildrose Alliance, and you'll find a legion of proud bigots who think the Holocaust was a hoax and the Chinese Head Tax was a great piece of policy. Their type will be erupting with ever greater frequency, and Ezra Levant and Jason Kenney can't do a thing to stop them.

Anonymous said...

Lloyd Snelgrove's Creepy Goatee said...

"Scratch the surface of the Wildrose Alliance, and you'll find a legion of proud bigots who think the Holocaust was a hoax and the Chinese Head Tax was a great piece of policy. Their type will be erupting with ever greater frequency, and Ezra Levant and Jason Kenney can't do a thing to stop them."

Creepy ignorance reigns. Is it really necessary to paint some very decent people with such vile accusations? Is that the best argument you have? To call names and make ugly insinuations? Grow up.

Lloyd Snelgrove's Creepy Goatee said...

Dude, your members include Dave Chatters and Myron Thompson. And they're on the left wing of the party. Danielle Smith is as much the Grand Dragon as she is the Leader.

Peter's Pan said...

Snelgrove's Goatee accuses the Wild Rose Alliance of racism and bigoted opinions?

Which party was it that gave us Bill 44 again?

Glass houses my friend, glass houses.

Red Dwarf said...

When Stelmach apologizes to Mason for the bus driver remark, I'll take his reaction to these things a little more seriously.

Until then, he can kiss my ass.

Anonymous said...

What I find funny is how inconsistent this blog was. 6 months ago, this blog took an obscure backbencher to task for supposedly "misusing twitter" for not being positive enough. Fine, but then why not apply the same standard to Steven Carter?

Oh wait, it wouldn't fulful this blog's anti-tory agenda.