Stephane Dion's toleration of the intolerable...sometimes
Stephane Dion shows his leadership qualities with regards to Jamie Carroll, the National Director of the Liberal Party and a major Dion backer who is in trouble for suggesting that other senior Liberals can't be trusted, by telling him that the mistake cannot be tolerated before giving Carroll a second chance. And if you're confused, Stephane Dion helpfully announces he is being a leader.
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Is it just me, or does this come off as confused and more than a little pathetic?
I mean, first is the intolerable mistake that is quickly forgiven, which is confusing. I mean, is this being tolerated or not tolerated?
Stephane Dion tore a strip Tuesday off the Liberal party's national director for casting doubt on the loyalty of former leadership rivals.
But the new leader drew the line at firing Jamie Carroll, his hand-picked choice for the party's top administrative post.
"It was an inaccurate and an immature comment and I will not tolerate that,'' Dion told reporters.
"He made a mistake and he will not repeat it.''
Dion said he directly expressed his displeasure "very, very clearly'' to Carroll, who played a key role in his leadership campaign and even lent him $30,000 for the effort.
I guess $30,000 makes the intolerable tolerable.
But really, this is leadership. Really:
Dion also attempted to turn the controversy into a matter of showing decisive leadership.
"It's another way I want to be leader. Many mistakes may happen. I want mistakes to be corrected and I want to work as a team. It's what I have shown as a leader.''
Decisive leadership? What exactly has been decided? Carroll is still in his job. Ignatieff is still mad. And Stephane Dion still comes off as confused and befuddled.
And inconsistent:
[Stephane Dion] cast himself as someone who won't tolerate anything that sows discord in the party but also someone who won't throw a loyalist overboard for a first offence, no matter how riled his former rivals may be.
Pity poor Farhan Chak. For some reason his first time mistake, lying on his application form, was intolerably intolerable, as opposed to Jamie Carroll's tolerably intolerable mistake of slandering the most senior level of the Liberal Party leadership.
Maybe Chak didn't earn enough tolerance with what he did to help the Stephane Dion leadership campaign.
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Comments
I wonder if Garth Turner is selling his house & his business in order to buy into Dion's good books??? LOL
But all kidding aside, RepoCreepo's blog has an interesting tidbit...it does seem rather odd that Garth is in so much of a hurry to sell his house that he's dropped the price by over 40 grand within 2 weeks of putting it on the market.
Link: http://www.georgeandtoni.com/ActiveListings.php/Details/80
And he's also selling his investment property - The Belfountain Village Store - why the need for cash all of a sudden? Is it to finance his tell-all book? What else is cooking over in Halton?
Posted by: Anon at May 15, 2007 09:20 PM
To be fair, Garth Turner has the right to buy and sell property as he sees fit. Unless you have some reason to believe that it is to finance something politically relevant, I wouldn't comment on it.
Posted by: Steve Janke at May 15, 2007 09:35 PM
Geez, after reading that nonsense, Chretien's "a proof is a proof" actual starts to sound coherent...
Posted by: Tom at May 15, 2007 10:28 PM
"Dion said he directly expressed his displeasure "very, very clearly'' to Carroll"
"Very, very clearly"?
He must be taking his talking points from Marrisen again.
Hey Steve, did you hear there's a certain liberal blogger out there thats foolishly drawing attention to how Dion's wife got shut down by DND when she wanted to come to a base for a campaign style speech.
Disregarding the appropriateness of this for a moment, I wonder why the liberal defence critic isn't out doing this campaigning?
Surely the liberal dreaming team is one big happy family right? They wouldn't dare withold support from dear leader would they?
Posted by: gimbol at May 16, 2007 06:24 AM
When Libranos chant "clearly", "it is clear" or "very clearly", by now we know it's anything but.
Let's just say the Liberals are having a hard time identifying themselves. Not surprisingly for a Party well known as the all things to all people Party it can't find common ground. It's a disunited group of people with the various camps vying for power. It started with Chretien and proliferated with Martin's ten year lust for power.
There's a guy named Kennedy who may prove a problem and is responsible for Dion's win. The also-rans are putting up the facade of the decade but not fooling anyone.
Posted by: Libby at May 16, 2007 08:54 AM
Well, according to the standard Dion seems to be establishing, members of the party are allowed second chances when it comes to making inflammatory remarks about other party members. I wonder if Iggy's people will take full advantage of this standard.
Dion is setting himself up for a whole mess of trouble. He is already in a weakened position and suffering from internal strife. This will only make things worse.
I think this is part of a pattern with Dion. From the very start, he has acted as though the position of leader confers upon him an automatic authority over others in the party. But it doesn't work that way. You have to establish your authority over others. I don't think Dion is doing that.
Posted by: Dennis (Second Thoughts) at May 16, 2007 09:30 AM
Good point Dennis, now we should be waiting for the next challenge to Dion's leadership. Ignatieff was reported to have indirectly criticized the Dion-May alliance in a recent speech delivered in NB, by suggesting that the Liberal party should not have it's environmental policy written by others, and neither should they be identified as a one-issue party.
The cracks are starting to show within the Liberal party, and Ignatieff certainly cannot be happy sitting in the HOCs while Dion makes an ass of himself, further demoralizing the party itself. The drop in financial support must be a prime indicator that many do not want Dion as their leader.
If Ignatieff is a 'decisive' leader, he should be putting aside his 'loyalty' to Dion and making the welfare of the Liberal party his 'priority'.
Posted by: Observer at May 16, 2007 09:50 AM
Just out of interest, does anyone know what Jamie Carroll's background is ? Other than he is now the national Director of the Liberal Party and was Dion's registered Financial Agent in the leadership race ? And how does a 27 year old have $30,000 to donate to a political campaign ?
Just curious.
Posted by: jenna at May 16, 2007 11:45 AM
This is getting so bad I am *almost* embarrased for the libs. I am not usually one to judge by appearances but Dion is even wimpier than his pictures make him out to be. The first time I saw the latest Lib tv spots where they call him a leader and he bangs his little gavel and makes some girly-man fists, I thought it was a parody by the CPC. Beyond pathetic..
Some advice for the Lib's - dump the prissy little girly-man-sprite and get a REAL leader!
Posted by: Mjolnir at May 16, 2007 02:03 PM
Jenna - how old are you and how much money do you make and how much have you saved in the bank?
That's right - mind your own business.
Posted by: CampbellQueen at May 17, 2007 01:25 PM
CampbellQueen,
Old enough to know that if I have $30,000 (after tax) to spend, there are lots of more rewarding investments than loaning it to the guy who is running in 4th place in a leadership race for the Official Opposition. Unless, that is, I am his registereed financial agent and have some hopes of future advancement.
I completely agree that anyone has the right to spend their money however they like, but the point is that very very few 27 year-olds have disposable income of this amount for all the reasons that others have mentioned. Why would anyone not be curious ?
Posted by: jenna at May 17, 2007 05:08 PM
 
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