After doing his best to piss on the Parliamentary Press Gallery since his election, despite what seemed like a Conservative love-in during the election campaign, Stephen Harper, shocked that the media don’t like being smacked around, reportedly plans to register his displeasure at what he hath sown by refusing to attend the next Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner, Nov. 25 at the Museum of Civilization in Hull, aka Gatineau.
According to CTV it’s “a move he's considering in order to register his displeasure with an ongoing disagreement his office has with Parliament Hill journalists over the way his press conferences ought to be conducted.”
CTV adds “He will not insist that other caucus members boycott the Press Gallery dinner but many Conservative MPs and nearly all cabinet ministers are expected not to attend the dinner to show solidarity with their boss.”
My god he’s a whiny little sissy, isn’t he? Say what you will about Dubaya, and I’ve said plenty (although not more while I’m still in Florida, God bless President Bush, and his brother Jeb, the next El Presidente) but at least he had the gonads to go to the Washington press dinner and take his lumps from Stephen Colbert (speaking of someone with gonads.)
I mean, how petulant is this? You go out of your way to pick a fight with the media, you then express shock when they get annoyed, and then skip you the dinner in protest? Forget taking a punch, he can’t take a word of constructive criticism.
As CTV noted, Pierre Trudeau was the last PM to skip the dinner. Is this his role model? Most Conservatives I’ve talked too think Pierre was a dick. (Me, I think Pierre kicked ass.)
And besides, what does he hope to gain here? I’ve always thought Stephen has come off well at these dinners. They’ve served to humanize him, to show that he has a human side and has a sense of humour. I’m not sure how much mileage one can get out of an impression of John McCallum (maybe if John had run for the Liberal leadership Stephen would have gone) but still, it was a darned fine impression.
Anyway, since Stephen seems to be following Pierre’s lead, I wonder how long it will be before he gets off a train in North Bay and gives Ontarioins the finger? Oh, fuddle duddle!
Updated Thu. May. 18 2006 11:33 PM ET
David Akin, CTV News
Ottawa -- The prime minister may snub the annual Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner this fall, a move he's considering in order to register his displeasure with an ongoing disagreement his office has with Parliament Hill journalists over the way his press conferences ought to be conducted.
2 comments:
At the risk of employing a sweeping generalization, it seems that the conservatives are a rather thin-skinned lot. Harper is a perfect example. Sometimes he reminds of Cartman desperately yelling "Respect My Authori-tah!"
Sometimes he reminds of Cartman desperately yelling "Respect My Authori-tah!"
Nice, you're totally right. I hope Mercer or the folks at This Hour are taking notes...
Post a Comment