Angry in the Great White North

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion was always described by his supporters and critics alike as a man of integrity.  Indeed, some say he was too honest a man for politics.

Sure, we also heard about his stubbornness, but even that character flaw was spun into a sense of conviction.

That conviction was rooted in his idealism.  Indeed Stephane Dion was certain he could win an election because Canadians would just get his carbon tax plan:

"I am convinced that far too many political elites underestimate Canadians," he said. "When you speak to the minds and big hearts of our great people, good policies translate into good politics. In fact, time and time again Canadians have been ahead of their politicians of knowing what is needed."

Far too many politicians underestimate Canadians, but Stephane Dion doesn't.  He's better than all those other politicians.  Keep that in mind when you consider Stephane Dion's reaction to being shown that he is not just not the best politician in Canada today, but quite possibly the very worst politician in Canada today.

Of course, the election last week made than truth quite clear.  The Liberals were reduced to 73 seats.  Since then, Stephane Dion has acted out of touch, petulant, and frankly, a bit unstable.

Consider all we've learned since the election.

First there was the revelation that Stephane Dion really had no clue going into the final hours of the campaign that he had lost:

This is a headstrong individual who refused to listen to seasoned advice in preparing for the election, and ignored internal pleas to change the channel from the environment to the faltering economy during the campaign.

And even though he was finally pulled to the back of his campaign bus Tuesday to be informed the election was lost, he reacted with defiant disbelief to the news.

When the scale of loss became apparent, Stephane Dion acted like he had won something, and seemed to really believe it:

[Former Liberal Party president Stephen LeDrew] said that Mr. Dion's speech on election night, saying that he had been elected Leader of the Opposition, was "goofy." "No one is elected to be the leader of the opposition," Mr. LeDrew said. "It's a default position."

Having succeeded at winning the position of leader of the opposition, Stephane Dion then barricaded himself in his residence at Stornoway -- for a week!

For most people, this triggers a visit from a hostage negotiator.

So what has Stephane Dion been doing?  Preparing for his new job, apparently:

Over the weekend, Mr. Dion told one defeated candidate to “stay strong and trim and be ready,” surmising that the budget that the Harper Conservatives deliver in February “is going to be a mess.” The Harper Tories were held to a minority government last Tuesday and a budget vote is a confidence matter that could bring down the government.

“He didn't sound like someone who is leaving,” a senior Liberal source said.

No, he doesn't sound like he's leaving.  And yet it seems like reality has broken through, though the effect has been to send Stephane Dion into a depression:

Although there is not a protocol for how a leader reacts to a defeat, some Liberals say it is unusual that he has taken so long to talk to his supporters.

“I don't know if he is lacking in grace or in political aptitude,” said a former Dion strategist, who has witnessed his funks and emotional highs and lows. “He often takes a day or two to get out of them.”

A funk lasting a day or two?  Otherwise living in a dream world?

This unstable character had a chance to become prime minister?

Stephane Dion is always being described as an idealist.  Seeing himself as an environmentalist, he named his dog Kyoto for goodness sake.  Absurd, right?  It's almost like he needed to prove he was the best environmentalist in the room. 

What if his idealism is actually pathological?  It's called hyperesthetic personality disorder:

The Hyperesthetic Personality results from desiring, needing, and delighting in superiority; and from fearing, and being distressed by, inferiority.

Hyperesthetic

1. Tender sensibility
2. Sensitivity to nature and art
3. Tact and taste in personal style
4. Sentimental affection for certain individuals
5. Hypersensitivity and vulnerability with regard to the daily irritations of life
6. Passion working in combination with 'complexes'

Any of this sound familiar?  Hey, who isn't distressed at being shown to be inferior.  But locking himself in Stornoway for a week, not talking to anyone, pretending like things are breaking his way...that's just loopy.

Armchair psychoanalysis.  It's fun, makes for an intriguing blog post, and in the end is utterly useless. 

Great minds: I'm not the only one who wonders about the sudden change in the way Stephane Dion was perceived before and after the election.  Kelly McParland at the National Post makes similar observations:

Weirdest of all, he thought he was doing fine. Not for a moment had he ever led any of the dozens of polls carried out during the  campaign, yet as Don Martin tells us, when someone finally broke the news to him on election night that the party had gone down in flames, he refused to believe it. He also apparently had no idea that the loss automatically meant his job was forfeit, even though the papers were already full of debate about his replacement; he thought he could battle on as leader of the opposition, maybe even carry on to the leadership review and win it. The sound of knives being sharped had been audible for weeks, yet Mr. Dion evidently didn't hear it. It has taken him almost another week to get his head around the fact that it's over. He's been in seclusion the whole time.

The whole column is a great read.