Angry in the Great White North

The Globe and Mail explains what happened with the speech in which Stephane Dion was supposed to deliver to defend the proposed coalition takeover:

Adding to the discomfort with his leadership was the fact that last night Mr. Dion and his team couldn't even get his televised national address – a speech intended to counter Mr. Harper's appeal – to TV networks on time. The production values of the tape were also poor, with Mr. Dion out of focus at times. It appeared his head was emerging from the shelf behind him.

Apparently it was a comedy of errors.  Here is an excerpt of the sequence of events:

• 7:07 - Harper's statement finishes and network anchors are forced to kill time as they wait for Dion's address.
• 7:10 to 7:15 - Liberal staffers arrive back at the press gallery on Wellington Street with a DVD-minicam player that they had taken from their own offices, along with the associated cables. There is still only one tape, not two. A press gallery official tells the Liberals that the gallery is not the feed point and an argument ensues. The Liberals ask why they weren't told that earlier. The feed point is next door at the CBC building, which is the long-established feed play point for all network pools. The Liberals are informed that they need to be walked into the building by authorized staff.
• 7:20 - English network anchors are still live on television, wondering where the tape is. CTV has still had no communications from the Liberals about Dion's address.

But Stephane Dion's boss, Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe, was not amused:

Dion's coalition partners were both angry and embarrassed by the Liberal address.The NDP said Wednesday's fiasco undermined the credibility of the coalition, CTV's Robert Fife reported.

"I'm told that (Bloc Quebecois Leader) Gilles Duceppe ran into Mr. Dion in the elevator and asked 'What the hell happened?' and Mr. Dion said, 'We're not used to being in opposition," Fife said.

Arrogant and incompetent -- what a winning combination.

Stephane Dion has to take care.  Gilles Duceppe won't put up with this sort of nonsense.  If Stephane Dion can't handle being the front man for the separatists, Gilles Duceppe will take Dion down and assign another desperate Liberal to the job.

But not Michael Ignatieff.  Apparently he's not interested in being Gilles Duceppe's bitch:

Michael Ignatieff, the front-runner in the Liberal leadership battle, remained silent during yesterday's caucus meeting. His supporters and strategists are advising him to stay away from a Dion-led coalition cabinet for fear that to do otherwise will damage his political prospects.

Michael Ignatieff is smart, but he's not being aggressive enough.  Staying silent as Stephane Dion stumbles and bumbles his way around with Gilles Duceppe barking orders is hurting the Liberal Party as a whole.  Michael Ignatieff needs to take action and pull the Liberals out of this mess, and soon, before it's too late.

If Ignatieff waits too long, the next crappy video from the Liberal Party will be announcing that Bob Rae has been appointed to take over from Stephane Dion.  Bob Rae is wholeheartedly supporting the separatist coalition, probably because he sees it as a way of leapfrogging Michael Ignatieff's lead in the leadership campaign.  I wonder if Gilles Duceppe has promised Bob Rae the leadership of the Liberal Party once Stephane Dion is disposed of.