Definitely cabinet material

A man arrested for allegedly assaulting police officers with an electric drill says he plans to seek the Provincial Conservative nomination in Port de Grave district during this fall’s provincial election.

Here’s a chunk of the story from Voice Of the Cabinet Minister before it is disappeared:

The man accused of assaulting a police officer with a drill over the weekend will be juggling a number of events over the coming weeks. Garry Drover, 49, intends to seek the PC nomination in the district of Port de Grave for the October election.

Drover appeared in provincial court this morning and was released on several conditions, including keeping the peace and abstaining from the consumption of alcohol or drugs. Initially, he was ordered not to enter any establishment that sells alcohol, but he requested that that condition be revoked, as he has a number of campaign rallies already scheduled to take place in bars and pubs.

Drover says at the time of the weekend incident that got him arrested, he was preparing a camper for his campaign. He says he and a friend were testing the sound system when they were pulled over by the police. Drover told reporters after he was released that he does not believe the charges he's facing will affect his campaign, since he is innocent until proven guilty. He insists he did not intend to break the law.

Campaign rallies scheduled in bars and pubs?

There’s never a dull moment in local politics.

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Kids say the darndest things

Before Christmas Memorial University political science prof – and former Williams administration spin-meister -  Alex Marland had some choice observations about his former boss and said boss’ apparent popularity with voters.

Umm, that bit of context didn’t appear in the Telegram story, by the by, even though it is more than a wee bit relevant to the story.

But anyway, Marland had this to say:

"It's something in political science we call economic regionalism," he said, explaining Williams is seen as somebody who's not trying to favour any particular group. "It's almost like he's trying to help out the Newfoundland society as a whole," Marland said.

Williams has also learned to target his anger and desire for reform against outsiders, he said, like Hydro-Quebec, New Brunswick or Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as opposed to people in the province.

Target his anger outside the province?

That’s what political scientists used to call bullshit.

Just ask all the traitors and quislings just exactly how far outside the province political anger gets targeted.

And economic regionalism?

Let’s just say that Marland was about as far off base on that one as he was on the anger ball thing.

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So much for that…

Dean didn’t show in Gander.

Maybe his tights didn’t come back from the cleaners in time.

Or maybe he couldn’t find a telephone booth to change in.

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Early cabinet shuffle...by CBC NL Online

A provincial cabinet shuffle has been in the works for a while.

Ministers like Kevin O'Brien have made themselves practically a public nuisance on any call-in show imaginable in the past few weeks to pay homage to the backside of their boss, all in hopes of getting a plum at the next cabinet table.

O'Brien, you may recall, was handed a demotion not so long ago, going from the business department to being the fellow who oversees the people who hand out permits and licenses. It's all good stuff but hardly the kind of position for a minister with ambition.

Merv Wiseman, recently a federal Conservative candidate shafted by the provincial agriculture federation in a tasteless display of partisan politics, managed to best O'Brien, at least as far as CBC Newfoundland and Labrador's website was concerned.

An eagle-eyed reader noticed a blurb on the right hand side, took a screen capture and even circled the thing to make sure no one would miss it.

In the ongoing nurses dispute, CBC has video of cabinet ministers "Tom Marshall and Merv Wiseman" giving the government response to the nurses' contract demands.

That should have read Ross Wiseman.

Meanwhile, keep trying Kevin. The Premier says there's two weeks left before he gets around to sorting out the cabinet seating plan. He's had other things on his mind of late.

A tip of the soft cap to EM. At this rate, we'll have to start offering prizes. Stay tuned, on that front.

Update: The CBC webmaster corrected the blurb at some point on Tuesday morning.

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Some political creativity

An Obama mash-up [tip of the straw sun hat to John Gushue]:

 

And then there's a Tony Blair one done before Blair resigned:

The Confederation referendum and humour

Every now and again you hear someone repeating the line that in 1948, Newfoundland (the "and Labrador" part came later) should have regained independence and only after that looked at the possibility of Confederation.

There were even a bunch of people who tried to stop Confederation through legal manoeuvres.

It's not a new argument, by any means.

In fact, it was such a common argument at the time that The Confederate even took to lampooning it in an editorial cartoon.

Nothing quite hurts in politics like having a joke made at your expense or having your position lampooned.

Just ask Tom Rideout.

Anyway, as a summer treat, here's a vintage cartoon panel from the 1948 referenda on the future of Newfoundland (and Labrador).

It plays on the idea that the real proponents of the independence first argument were Water Street merchants and their associates who had dominated politics in the country. Oddly enough this was the same crowd who surrendered independence in the country by nothing more than a resolution of the legislature in February 1934.

There are proponents of the same anti-Confederate agenda around these days.

Wonder who they might be fronting for?

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