Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Hypocrisy
I've been trying to think of something new to write - something happy and positive - but lately my mind has been too preoccupied by this news story.
Canadian readers will already be familiar with it. A brief summary for American readers: a recently uncovered tape from 1991 that shows a night of partying at a campaign headquarters also catches a future politician using that derogatory "f" word about gays and lesbians. This politician's opponents are, of course, calling for blood.
First, I have to declare a bias. The politician in question is a friend of mine and a former colleague, so I know him as a whole person and not just as a two-dimensional character on some grainy old tape.
I know that he's a guy who's is steadfastly loyal to his friends, moderate and compassionate in his policy views and an active community volunteer who has raised tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of dollars for worthy causes over his life. I know that he is a diligent politician who makes probably ten times as much effort as most of his peers to keep in touch with his constituents. In fact, when people in other nearby constituencies can't get action from their own MP, they often turn to Tom, who always tries to help no matter what the situation.
He is, in short, one of the best politicians I know. That he is being subjected to this ongoing humiliation is a complete travesty.
What chokes me most about this situation is how blithely the media, opposition parties and interest groups ignore some of the most elementary basics of civil society, things like "there but for the grace of god go I", or "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" or "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".
I've been at long, late, drunken parties with members of the media and NDP and Liberal politicians. There is a rather chummy, all-party, old boys club type piss-up held every year at the provincial legislature at the end of the legislative sitting. I can tell you for a fact that every single one of those bastards have said and done things as bad if not worse when liquored up. The only difference is that no one (yet) has found a tape of them. The hypocrisy of this group, descending on Tom like a pack of hyenas, really is too much to bear.
Watching the tape, knowing Tom, it's clear to me that he was just making a very lame attempt at shock-jock style humour. He was trying to get a laugh out of listeners by saying something he knew was wildly inappropriate. I don't think he meant it then and I know for sure he wouldn't say or even think such a thing now.
None of this of course justifies his long-ago comment, and Tom hasn't sought to justify or make excuses. But, finally, there must come a point where we have to allow our politicians to be humans, who can make mistakes, recognize them and apologize for them without being drawn and quartered in the public forum.
Ultimately, this matter damages all political parties. How much harder will it be now to recruit good candidates in Canada, for any party? Any potential candidate now has to sit back and think "Have I ever said anything inappropriate? Was anyone taping it? Did anyone overhear it who might have an axe to grind with me?" What sort of ridiculous standard of perfection are we setting?
OK, there, I've vented. Enough now. I promise to have something more cheerful to talk about next week.
posted by Mentok @ 10:00 a.m.,
14 Comments:
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At 4:11 p.m.,
Library Mama said...
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Well written, as always.
You've managed to articulate perfectly everything I've been feeling about the situation over the past few days. -
At 9:15 a.m.,
Grumps said...
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Why is Brad Wall being considered a victim in this matter? An aspring politician and then employee of the government makes fun of an ethnic group and does it on camera should be a concern in this day and age. Even more concerning is the homophobia displayed by the future MP.
Here's the real hypocrisy. When a cartoon was released in the 2003 comparing the same party of Brad Wall to Nazis, the party's indignation was so great it caused the artist of the cartoon to be fired.
Then, when a Caucus employee called George Bush a shrub (which today would be a compliment), he was forced, again with the insistence of the Sask Party, to resign.
What's the difference between those situations and the current tape? Absolutely nothing. They are all incidents of people in public positions receiving public money and saying things in public that they should know better not to say. As civil servants they should have known better. -
At 11:56 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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Oh, puh-leeze! Doing a comedy schtick in a Ukrainian accent constitutes "making fun of an ethnic group"? What's next - are we going to ban Nestor Pistor records? While we're at it, how about a class action lawsuit against Thrifty Scot motels?
Hell, coming from a Mennonite background, Wall is practically part Ukrainian himself (at least, my mom's Mennonite borscht tastes a lot like Ukrainian borscht to me.)
Don't even try to equate any of this to the Nazi cartoon. You're saying that locker-room talk is equivalent to the greatest atrocity in human history? Comparing people to Nazis is way, way beyond the pale, an insult to the Jewish community as much as it is to the person targeted, yet it is always the first place lefties go to when they're cornered.
I will grant you that the George "shrub" scandal was ridiculous and fundamentally unfair. In fairness, both parties have been on a dumpster-diving race to the bottom for some time. That doesn't make either situation right. And, in the "shrub" case, I felt the biggest injustice was the way that person's own party left him high and dry over nothing. I think you can sympathize with that.
Finally, at the time of the infamous comments, neither Tom nor Brad were "civil servants". Tom was a party employee and, since the writ had been dropped, Wall was a campaign employee. So the "receiving public money" bit doesn't apply. -
At 3:39 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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Some other aspects that distinguish the "president shrub" incident from this one: the person involved sent the documents to the media himself. If that was a mistake, it was a pretty big mistake for someone in that line of work.
Further, the joke had the potential to directly affect an immediate bread-and-butter issue the gov't was trying to address i.e. negotiating with the US re mad cow. It wasn't just some nebulous example of long-ago bad attitudes.
Nonetheless, the person's treatment, I agree was excessive. A month's suspension w/o pay would have done the trick, esp. since the opposition was not howling for blood quite as loudly as in the current case.
All of this reminds me of the ancient Greek tyrant Draco from whom we get the word draconian. When asked why he set the death penalty for so many offenses, he said he thought the minor ones deserved it and couldn't think of anything worse for the major ones. We've definitely drifted into that sort of unjust zone in politics. -
At 4:03 p.m.,
Grumps said...
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I think the point of the matter is, in this day and age, if you aspire to be a public figure don't do anything stupid on tape that will later come back to haunt you.
"Doing a comedy schtick in a Ukrainian accent constitutes "making fun of an ethnic group"?" Uh, yeah. That's exactly what is. What if it had been a native Indian accent Wall was using? Imagine the furor that would have caused. Why should Ukrainian be any different?
It still shows a attitude of intolerance.
Put it this, way, too. If Calvert had been caught on tape talking in a southern accent and making fun of the SaskParty and the tape had got into SaskParty hands, would they have taken the moral high ground, said 'oh, he's just joking' and ignored it. N F W! They would have jumped on it the same way.
Why? Because that's sad unfortunate nature of our political system now. Bash the other guy and score your points. All political parties are children, gutter dwellers, opportunists when given the chance. -
At 5:44 p.m.,
Library Mama said...
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I find it interesting, Grumps, that in both of your comments you use the phrase "in this day and age". I don't believe that phrase fits the situation of which Mentok writes.
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At 9:12 p.m.,
Grumps said...
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This day and age meaning the era of electronic media. It's one thing to think stupid things, another to say them out loud, worse to record them on a tape. Then to keep that tape around for 17 years -- that's absolutely idiotic.
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At 8:47 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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A native accent would have been racist and a whole different story, but funny ethnic accents, up until now, were one of the last areas of relatively safe comedy. Who's the next target for political correctness - Pepe LaPew? Good heavens, he's mocking French people!
"This day and age" in 1991 did not include the internet and was a time when even video cameras were relatively new.
"Idiotic" - sure it was, but everyone has agreed to that point. It was a drunken party!
As for keeping the tape around for so long: it's not like either Wall or Lukiwski intended for it to be kept around. And this story about it being "found" in the opposition caucus office is a total lie, because it wasn't caucus equipment, it was party equipment... property of the PC Party of Saskatchewan. I trust that's enough of a map for the real back story. -
At 2:02 p.m.,
Grumps said...
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It depends on your perception of funny. There are some people who think talking with a native accent is funny. Do I not have a right, as a person of Ukrainian descent, to be insulted when an Anglo-Saxon politician is recorded talking with a Ukrainian accent?
Go to Quebec and walk around talking with a phony French accent. See how it plays there.
Can you in all of your heart, honestly say that if the Sask Party had found a similar tape in their office, they would have walked down the hall to the NDP, knocked on the door and said, "excuse us, but we think this belongs to you. We didn't watch it." If you believe that, then I hope you don't get too many nose bleeds from riding your moral high horse.
Video cameras were relatively new? By then, moving picture cameras were a hundred years old. If someone didn't know by 1991, that, if they stood in front of a camera, their image and voice could be recorded, stored, then watched and listened to later, stupid is the word I would use. For starters.
So, are you finally remembering what it feels like to be government? -
At 2:59 p.m.,
FiL said...
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I'll get the sumo suits out and fill up the swimming pool with jell-o. I think a wrestling match is the only fair way for you two gents to sort this out.
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At 3:27 p.m.,
Grumps said...
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You've never seen us, obviously, fil. The sumo suits might not be required.
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At 11:49 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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fil - grumps and I are old friends and this is what passes for foreplay between us.
grumps - well, you're other background is Italian, so I'm surprised you haven't taken every pasta and pizza manufacturer to a human rights tribunal.
Of course I wouldn't use a funny French accent in front of a French person on purpose. Wall didn't purposely do his schtick in front of Ukrainians either (unless you count Lukiwski, who does seem especially upset in the video).
Are you seriously suggesting that no one should ever talk in a funny accent in case someone films or overhears them? Remember, neither of these guys had any notion of running for public office at that time.
Moral high horse? Yeah, kinda, because I do remember a day when collegiality wasn't a complete joke. I remember a very senior gov't hack coming to us to tell us (in opposition) that a local businessman was gossiping about us; "I don't trade in that kinda of shit" the NDP hack said. I remember other times when people fed us sexual innuendo about guys on the other side and our guys would gravely debate whether to use it, along the lines of "Geez, if we start using this kinda thing now, how long before it boomerangs on us?"
Of course, I'm not suggesting that things were ever all sweetness and light. We are talking about politics, after all. But, at the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, there was a time when there was a certain sense of brotherhood, but it's long gone now. Everyone's in a race to the bottom, and a quick glance south of the border shows where that philosophy goes.
So there...
And speaking of high horses, this has nothing to do with being in government or not. This has to do with feeling regret seeing a good person get burned unfairly by this business... the same way I felt about the "president shrub" incident and the same way, frankly, I feel about the Jim Fodey matter.
Anyway, so how was your trip to California? ;-) -
At 11:54 p.m.,
FiL said...
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Yes, I realize you two are old friends. But I still think sumo suit jell-o wrestling is the best way to determine who wins... ;-)
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At 9:01 a.m.,
Grumps said...
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Yeah, fil, this won't be the last time Mentok and I clash over politics. It was actually worse when I gave a rat's ***. These days I'm more of a devil's advocate than anything.
"Everyone's in a race to the bottom, and a quick glance south of the border shows where that philosophy goes." Exactly. I knew my time in politics was not going to last long when I was berated for showing a new staff person for our third party leader around the Leg (he was also related) as an act of courtesy. The hate I experienced that my own people had for other parties still leaves a sour taste in my mouth, 13 years afterwards. It's a vast difference, Mentok, when you consider you and I have been butting heads for over a quarter of a century and here we are today. That's the way it should be.
As for California -- it was the trip of a lifetime. I was asked to do a Phantom of the Opera press junket, which involved seeing the show in Costa Mesa, about a hour south of Los Angeles.
Highlights were wondering around the downtown of the gorgeous, clean little city on April 2 with no jacket and gazing at the lush lawns and palm trees.
I also arranged a media tour (which my colleagues from radio and TV were able to take in as well). It was a eco-tour that took us to some rarer nature reserves, tide pools and other spots along the coast. We stopped at several points in Laguna Beach, an artist's town of about 25,000. It was simply beautiful. The streets and shops reminded me of Banff while the beaches reminded me of nowhere else like it on earth! It was not an official part of the tour but was likely the most memorable.
That night I interviewed performers and crew from Phantom and watched the show from the stage manager's perspective. I'm not a huge fan of Phantom but, after seeing what it takes to produce this spectacle, I'm definitely impressed.
The third day was spent flying back home. Ug! I would have wished for more time there - would have tried to see Mark, would also have loved to see Hollywood and oh, yeah, a hoceky game, being that I was just 20 minutes away from Anaheim.
Next time maybe.
Here's the kicker. While my time there was approved by my employer, the pieces I write are free-lance so, on top of the great trip, I'll get paid for my articles. I don't get enough ops like this.
My eternal gratitude goes to J at the SP, who suggested it was me that go, and to B, who tried not to whine too much about it.
Next time, you're in Grumpsland, I'll show you the pics. I'd post them somewhere but I don't think low-res thumbnails do them justice.
