Angry in the Great White North
Mike Duffy stands up for the media
Wednesday, January 11, 2006 at 03:04 PM

Read other posts by Steve Janke published by the National Post
Leader

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Angry Mike

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Smacked John

[Update: For the benefit of Charles Adler fans, I've bumped this post to the top to make it easier to find. I haven't added any new material.]

[Update: Stephen Harper's lead has evapourated overnight as Mike Duffy has become the hands-down favourite choice to win on January 23.]

The Liberal Party top strategists continue to makes us wonder what qualifications are required for the job. Clearly a lack of common sense is not an obstacle to becoming a "top strategist".

Watch this remarkable and memorable exchange, first captured by ProudToBeCanadian.ca.

John Duffy is a top Liberal strategist. Apparently he thought a good strategy would be to try to intimidate Mike Duffy of CTV, threatening him in some unrevealed way to not bring up the horrible Liberal ad equating Canadian soldiers to some sort of cadre of Conservative brownshirts.

Mike probably told John to stow it, and that he would ask whatever he damn well pleased. Now angry, John makes the startling decision to scold Mike, on camera, for asking the question.

Why? Who knows? He's supposed to be a top strategist. I wonder what a crappy strategist would do. Could it be any worse?

The Liberals, via their War Room brain trust, have alienated CTV, and their top political reporter. If Paul Martin has any sense left at all, he'll fire John Duffy tonight. Immediately. And hope against hope that Mike Duffy accepts that as apology enough.

Mike Duffy wasn't angry because someone tried to intimidate him, I'd reckon. He was angry because an arrogant political operator, fresh from smearing Canada's military for political gain, was trying to undermine the function of the free press.

Bloggers, I've always thought, have been too quick to taunt the main stream media. Maybe the MSM has become sloppy and lazy in large part of late. I've been critical plenty of times. But I think there is a strong streak of professionalism and pride, and over the course of this election, in parallel with the Liberal slide, we've seen the media, in large part, shaking off the funk they've been in.

John Duffy besmirched Mike Duffy's professional pride, not just once, but twice. And on camera. So on behalf of himself, his network, his colleagues, and maybe on behalf of amateurs like us, Mike Duffy breaks a cardinal rule and becomes part of the story, in order to cut John Duffy down to size, and left John Duffy and his party and his leader looking like fools on national TV.

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