Before you pile on Lawrence Martin’s latest column, consider the following:
1. The has to be a really good reason why the new Liberal leader has laid low - read been completely invisible - for the past couple of weeks. Writing a book is an excuse not a reason.
2. “By comparison to his predecessor, he is a man of magnitude.” Only in some small minds. That sort of comment belittles Stephane Dion in a fashion the man does not deserve on any account. it also inflates Iggy in a way he certainly doesn’t deserve.
3. Excuses, excuses…
At a volatile political juncture when the moment needs be seized, Iggy's off to a quiet and rather unremarkable beginning.
It's not so much his own doing.
If the guy’s dropped the ball, as Martin suggests, then there’s no reason to give him an excuse. Iggy wanted the job – has been drooling over the job – ever since the convention. If he wanted it so badly, his team should have been ready for the coronation they helped engineer. If the Ig-man’s off to a slow and quiet start, then it must be because his people want it that way. Ask why that would be rather than offer excuses.
4. And then it appears, sort of…:
The public discussion centres not so much on the new lord of the Liberals but on the continuing aversion to the idea of a Liberal-led coalition. Archduke Ignatieff, perhaps for good reason, has not wanted to disown the coalition concept.
The aversion to the coalition is within the Ig-man himself, not within the public at large. Well, at least the public could have been persuaded if someone wanted to push the idea. Staying quiet allowed the anti-coalition line to cement. That’s something you’d let occur only if you wanted it to happen.
Iggy hasn’t wanted to disown the coalition because there are lots of people within the Liberal Party – starting with Iggy-backer Warren the K – who want to bring down the Harperites NOW! They might take a decidedly different view of the new saviour of the party if his true feelings were clear up front. His actions, though, speak far louder than his words.
5. D’uh!
His low profile speaks too much of a party inclined to stay the course, as opposed to being in a rush to change it.
Larry finally gets it.
It just took him weeks and weeks and finally a ton of words to get to the point.
-srbp-