The Politician's Dilemma

Babble on.

It seems pretty obvious to me that many MP's in the federal Liberal caucus have fallen into a politician's version of the 'liar's dilemma.' You know:

"The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else."
- George Bernard Shaw

For withered souls like Minna and Karygiannis, Harper's motives in inviting Wajid Khan to contribute to Canada's foreign policy in a direct way must be solely political, since their own motives in public life are solely political. How pathetic.

Now I'd have to be a complete naïf to believe Harper and his staff didn't factor political considerations into this move, and I'm equally sure Khan considered the politics of his decision before he made it. Both looked at the potential positives and drawbacks, and decided that cooperation was in the best interests of the country, politics be damned.

Not good enough, the shrill cynics cry:

"Wajid's appointment is a slick, sick, calculated move on Harper's part," MP Maria Minna said in a letter to Liberal caucus colleagues yesterday. "Liberals shouldn't touch this thing with a 10-foot pole."
...
"Membership in caucus has its privileges and a Liberal is a Liberal is a Liberal," [Karygiannis] said. The only advice he would be comfortable giving Mr. Harper was, "Resign."

Putting party before country is wrong. I cannot say it more plainly than that.

Liberals could have approached this as an opportunity to show Canadians that they have put their selfish tendencies behind them, that they will do whatever it takes to see Canada on the best course possible, that they want to influence government policy rather than simply obstruct it.

Instead, they, rather than Wajid Khan, have fallen into "Harper's trap," in reality a trap of their own making: if anything, he dared them to show their vicious partisanship, and they couldn't resist the challenge. Minna and Karygiannis have just reinforced why the Liberals remain unfit to govern.

Babble off.

Afterthought:



I'm waiting for the Liberal press release: "The pretence of pet fostering is a transparent ruse, propagated by the PMO to mislead voters. The kitten shown in this blatant piece of propaganda is actually Harper's lunch. It was consumed shortly after the photographer snapped the picture, with some fava beans and a nice chianti."