"Exonerated"

Has the much anticipated Gomery report delivered the Martin Lieberals another election victory? As much as it pains me, I believe it just may have...with a single word - "exonerated". Yes, apparently Mr. Justice Gomery saw fit to "exonerate" Martin from responsibility for the sponsorship scandal. What this really says is that while he can't neccessarily be labelled as corrupt, he certainly could be called incompetent - for, as a senior cabinet member (from Quebec, no less) and as Finance Minister (and lets not forget his taking control over virtually all the Liberal riding associations during his Long March to the throne), his claims that he knew nothing, nothing! about the misapropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars, and the chicanary that went on with the Liberal party in Quebec ring quite false.

So - the Liberals can now blanket the country with advertising (kind of ironic, isn't it?) over the next several months (or whenever the next election rolls around) - extolling the virtuous Paul Martin who was "exonerated" by the very Gomery commission he bravely called to investigate government corruption...well, you get the picture. Never mind the fact that the Liberal party that Martin leads is no different than the Liberal party that committed these gross abuses of the Canadian taxpayer - the Libs will spill gallons (litres?) of ink telling people that, well, the Liberal party under that bad man Mr. Chretien was totally different from the "new" team - which voters in Ontario (read: Toronto) will lap up - despite the fact that, well, a whole lot of faces on "Team Martin" look quite similar to those from "Team Crook", er, Chretien...

I mean, just look at how Martin has ended the Democratic deficit, and put a stop to the politics of cronyism by stacking the senate with members of his former leadership team..

Anyway - as outlined below, the Harper gang has not done itself any favours by being a one-trick pony - all Liberal corruption all the time. Yes, Harper is perfectly justified to be angry about the rampant corruption outlined by the Gomery commission, and more broadly, by the Liberal culture of "entitlement" that has lead them to treat taxpayer dollars as their own slush fund - but they need to offer something positive as well. Its not enough to thunder about how corrupt the Liberals are, you need to give the voters a reason to vote FOR you...not just against the other guy. Otherwise, the next time out, we are bound to either see another Lib minority (which will lead to more unholy alliances with the Jack!'s Big Spenders) or *shudder* a Liberal Majority government - which will only cement the idea in Liberal Land that they are the Natural Governing party, and that no matter how bad they fuck things up, the sheeple will continue to vote them in...