We saw a clear example of why governments fail to do the right things this week in the United States.
The position of the Obama Administration was clear: The Bush tax cuts should not be allowed to continue on for wealthy Americans earning more than USD 250,000 a year. This would be irresponsible as it would nearly a trillion dolllars to the national debt over the next decade at a time when the federal government is bleeding red at unprecedented levels. However in a time of economic stagnation, unemployment benefits should be extended such that workers could be guaranteed up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits.
The position of the Republicans was also clear: The unemployment benefits should not be extended at a time when the federal government is bleeding red at unprecedented levels. However in a time of economic stagnation, taxes needed to stay lower for all Americans including the wealthiest.
These two seemingly irreconcilable views led to an agreement that has now passed both Houses of Congress. The package will extend the tax cuts for everyone (including the wealthy) and extend unemployment benefits to 99 weeks. Neither side seems to worry too much about the impact on the levels of red ink that the government is showing.
This was a game of chicken in which both sides blinked and it led to an irresponsible deal. The Bush tax cuts should have been allowed to expire.......on everyone. The unemployment benefits should not have been extended. Especially irresponsible was a cut to Social Security payroll taxes. The SS system is headed for bankruptcy which will require higher taxes and a delayed retirement age.....why cut the contribution rate now?
It is true that recessions are not the best time to raise taxes but is there ever a really good time to raise taxes? If these hard choices are not made now, then there is a heightened risk that a much more draconian budget would have to come in when the bond markets flee US Treasuries as they have done to various eurozone countries.
Remember that the accumulated national debt is simply a way of passing on our credit card bills to our children. It's wrong. It's immoral. Elected officials should know better.
Ask the Irish and the Greeks whether they wish they had made these hard choices a few years ago.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Resurgent Republicans
So now that the mid term elections are done and President Obama faces a decidedly less friendly Congress, it has been shown again that political prognostication is a very tricky game.
Two years ago a surge of new voters propelled Barack Obama into the White House and his party had large majorities in both houses of Congress. The GOP's epitaph was being written and the talk was of a permanent Democratic majority. A scant 18 months later, a Republican Speaker will be third in line for the Presidency.
Much attention has been directed towards the Tea Party and some of their more dubious candidates and views. Yet for all the rallies and anger they expressed, their most effective action has been the simple democratic exercise of voting at the primary and election levels.
Their voices would have amounted to nought if the Obama surge voters of 2008 showed up at the polls in 2010. The reason why the Democrats lost by such a big margin is quite simply that their own voters either did not show up to vote or switched sides when they got to the ballot box.
The question of how the Obama administration managed to simultaneously energize the opposition and dispirit their own supporters is one that many pundits are chewing over. A recurring theme is Obama's seeming aloofness and professorial demeanor. He doesn't come across like someone rolling up his sleeves to do the work. Both Presidents Bush caught a lot of flak for fishing or golfing too much. CNN reports that Obama has golfed more in his two years in office that George W Bush did in 8 years.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/golf/04/20/golf.obama.bush/index.html
The pundits appear unanimous in saying that this mid term election result means nothing for his re-election prospects in two years. Two years is a long time in politics and they should be careful about drawing too many comparisons to Clinton's mid term losses of 94 coupled with his re-election 2 years later.
This is a very different situation for a number of reasons:
Two years ago a surge of new voters propelled Barack Obama into the White House and his party had large majorities in both houses of Congress. The GOP's epitaph was being written and the talk was of a permanent Democratic majority. A scant 18 months later, a Republican Speaker will be third in line for the Presidency.
Much attention has been directed towards the Tea Party and some of their more dubious candidates and views. Yet for all the rallies and anger they expressed, their most effective action has been the simple democratic exercise of voting at the primary and election levels.
Their voices would have amounted to nought if the Obama surge voters of 2008 showed up at the polls in 2010. The reason why the Democrats lost by such a big margin is quite simply that their own voters either did not show up to vote or switched sides when they got to the ballot box.
The question of how the Obama administration managed to simultaneously energize the opposition and dispirit their own supporters is one that many pundits are chewing over. A recurring theme is Obama's seeming aloofness and professorial demeanor. He doesn't come across like someone rolling up his sleeves to do the work. Both Presidents Bush caught a lot of flak for fishing or golfing too much. CNN reports that Obama has golfed more in his two years in office that George W Bush did in 8 years.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/golf/04/20/golf.obama.bush/index.html
The pundits appear unanimous in saying that this mid term election result means nothing for his re-election prospects in two years. Two years is a long time in politics and they should be careful about drawing too many comparisons to Clinton's mid term losses of 94 coupled with his re-election 2 years later.
This is a very different situation for a number of reasons:
- Speaker elect John Boehner is not Newt Gingrich. Gingrich came up as a grenade thrower with sharp rhetoric that offended many. John Boehner comes across like a grown up.
- The Republicans do not have a majority in the Senate. As a result, many of the more extreme elements of the party face some checks and balances within the Legislative branch. A government shutdown is not likely.
- This is a very different Republican party than the one that ascended in 94. Amongst their new class of Congressman are two African Americans representing majority white districts. They are the first black Republicans in Congress since JC Watts retired in 2002. Additionally two of their State Governors (Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Nikki Haley of South Carolina) are Indian. One of their most prominent figures is Sara Palin.
- These Republicans are different in their outlook and approach as well. On election night Speaker elect Boehner stated that there would be no celebrations while so many Americans are unemployed. This was very smart politics. I also heard one Republican speaking to CNN who said that the Republicans deserved to be voted out of office before as they did not stick to their principles. He referred to this election result as a second chance. There is a far more mature outlook and a responsible attitude to the power they now wield.
President Obama does indeed need to follow Clinton's lead by working with the Republicans. He had such large majorities that he did not need to do so. The people decided that they didn't much like the results. By contrast Clinton's administration had some of their signature achievements while working with Republicans. It was Republican votes that ensured passage of Welfare Reform and NAFTA. The people liked that so much they re-elected Clinton and kept the Republicans in control in Congress.
So far, Obama has shown little evidence that he gets it. The Economist wrote an editorial in the aftermath called "Obama's Tin Ear."
His aloofness will soon start to come across as arrogance. At that point, he assures himself a legacy as a single term President.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
US Mid Term Election Prediction - II
A lot has changed in the 3 weeks since i made my predictions about Tuesday's US mid term elections.
If you listen to the pundits, the Republican wave has been building. Some (such as Dick Morris) speak of 100 Democrat congressional seats being in play. Recent polls have shown a marginal improvement for
Democrats as some races that were toss ups have moved to leaning Democrat.
Democrats as some races that were toss ups have moved to leaning Democrat.
Strangely, the recent election of Rob Ford as Mayor of Toronto leads me to think that I may have been wrong to predict a narrow Republican victory. Rob Ford's candidacy was similar to many of the so called "Tea party" candidates that have shocked the two party establishment by knocking off incumbent Republicans in primaries (such as Senator Bennett of Utah and Murkowski of Alaska. Tea party candidates were often unconventional and politically incorrect. They are not polished and come across as more than a little amateurish......yet they have won some races that they really shouldn't have.
The phenomenon that put Rob Ford in the Mayor's office and Scott Brown into Ted Kennedy's Senate seat is an expression of widespread voter anger. Many of the establishment politicians seem to have been a little slow in recognizing (and harnessing) this anger. The voters are angry and the anger will generate high turnout amongst the most aggrieved.
The people should be angry. They have seen their tax dollars go to bailing out auto workers who earn much more than the average American or Canadian. They have seen their taxes bailing out Wall Street bankers....nuff said on that one.
If current trends hold then the Republicans should sweep into power in the House and perhaps even the Senate. The GOP leadership should be careful in what they wish for. If they are thinking ahead to 2012, then it might be better for them if they don't take the Senate. When the GOP took over both houses in 1994, the subsequent conflicts raised the standing of Bill Clinton and helped him get re-elected a short 2 years later.
If Obama loses the ability to push his projects through Congress, then he will be left to make speeches. Obama's is a great speaker and the more speeches he gives (combined with fewer policy initiatives, the more likely his re-election.
Obama was not particularly good at managing the public perception of his policies:
- The right hated Health Care reform and the left was furious that he took the public option off the table so early.
- The left doesn't like the fact that he is 'surging' another 30,000 troops into Afghanistan while the right complained that he took 8 months to make that decision.
Bill Clinton was actually liberated by the loss of Congress in 1994. When the Liberal base was in the minority, he made deals with Gingrich and his gang to pass welfare reform and NAFTA. These became his signature accomplishments.
The GOP should count their blessings if they don't get the Senate and the House had best get to work on pushing substantive legislation rather than another shutdown of the Federal government. If they are smart, they will coopt many Democratic agenda items such as Climate Change and Health Care reform.
Conservatives don't favour pollution and they don't like the idea of people dying for lack of Health Care. There is a lot of fertile ground for them to make real proposals. They should do so with haste.
Final Prediction
GOP wins north of 50 seats in the House and the Senate is a 50-50 saw off.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Mayor Rob Ford
So now it appears that Toronto has elected Councillor Rob Ford as Mayor in a landslide.
I wrote about the Mayoral election on Aug 23rd when it appeared that Ford was the clear frontrunner in a field of poor candidates. Since that time former Deputy Premier George Smitherman has been endorsed by the Toronto Star (predictable) and the Globe and Mail (sadly also predictable). The editorial boards and columnists have been agog at the possibility that the people might elect Councillor Ford.
Heather Mallick of the Toronto Star wrote on Sept 20 that Rob Ford was an "angry, pink faced man with an oversized head." She also described his supporters as a "monstrous regiment of angry, old, white, male voters." She compared voting for Ford to "sleeping with someone to get revenge on your spouse."
Really does Heather Mallick call herself a journalist? Those comments are not reporting and they are not fit for the editorial page either. She is just plain offensive....much like Rob Ford!
The self appointed intellects all hated the idea of Rob Ford as Mayor. I can't stand Rob Ford. I do think he is a buffoon....a worthy successor to the legacy of Mel Lastman and frankly a worthy successor to the polished intellectual buffoon David Miller.
I can't speak for anyone else but I found the media attacks against Rob Ford offensive and patronizing to the voters. It might have pushed some more voters into the Ford column....the media onslaught certainly didn't seem to have helped the former front runner George Smitherman.
Democracy is flawed. Whether you voted for Bob Rae or Mike Harris, you have reason to agree after those two gentlemen were elected Premier of Ontario.
I wrote about the Mayoral election on Aug 23rd when it appeared that Ford was the clear frontrunner in a field of poor candidates. Since that time former Deputy Premier George Smitherman has been endorsed by the Toronto Star (predictable) and the Globe and Mail (sadly also predictable). The editorial boards and columnists have been agog at the possibility that the people might elect Councillor Ford.
Heather Mallick of the Toronto Star wrote on Sept 20 that Rob Ford was an "angry, pink faced man with an oversized head." She also described his supporters as a "monstrous regiment of angry, old, white, male voters." She compared voting for Ford to "sleeping with someone to get revenge on your spouse."
Really does Heather Mallick call herself a journalist? Those comments are not reporting and they are not fit for the editorial page either. She is just plain offensive....much like Rob Ford!
The self appointed intellects all hated the idea of Rob Ford as Mayor. I can't stand Rob Ford. I do think he is a buffoon....a worthy successor to the legacy of Mel Lastman and frankly a worthy successor to the polished intellectual buffoon David Miller.
I can't speak for anyone else but I found the media attacks against Rob Ford offensive and patronizing to the voters. It might have pushed some more voters into the Ford column....the media onslaught certainly didn't seem to have helped the former front runner George Smitherman.
Democracy is flawed. Whether you voted for Bob Rae or Mike Harris, you have reason to agree after those two gentlemen were elected Premier of Ontario.
Monday, October 11, 2010
US November Election Predictions
Now that there are mere weeks to go before American voters get to pass a midterm judgment on the Obama Presidency, I will make some predictions.
First some observations.
I am still amazed that the nation that calls itself the Leader of the Free World still has so many shortcomings in the practice of Democracy. In the last midterms of 2006, 34 members of Congress ran unopposed by a major party candidate. People like to say that it is a two party system......well in that case i would expect at least two candidates in each district. 34 members ran unopposed, far more ran with only token opposition.
Gerrymandering (both racial and simply partisan) have created a wealth of safe districts where the incumbent only ever faces a threat in the party primary. George Will called this the ultimate perversion of Democracy....a system where politicians choose their voters rather than the voters choosing their politician.
A Republican tide has been predicted by most commentators. Most predictions call for gains that exceed those of the 1994 election that ended 44 years of Democratic majority rule in the House. In 1994 not a single incumbent Republican Congressman, Senator or Governor was defeated.
However some key differences are worth noting. While many pundits are saying that Obama and Clinton both overreached in the first two years of their mandate, Clinton was elected with 43% of the popular vote. Obama won 52%. This is a key difference since the Perot voters did not have a candidate in the race in 94. Obama voters do.
In 1994, the Republican landslide was a shock to everyone. Virtually nobody saw it coming. In 1994 the Speaker of the House lost his own district. The Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee also got voted out along with several incumbents who did not even commission polls because they thought that they were so safe. This time, Democrats are putting resources into races where defeat was previously unthinkable....such as Representative Barney Franks of Massachusetts.
This year everyone sees the wave coming and so the Democrats have time to batten down the hatches.
I am surprised and perplexed at the Democrats for their lack of message. The signature achievement of the first two years of Obama's term is Health Care Reform. A complex measure like this has many good and bad points. Everybody knows that the Democrats passed it with only token Republican support. Why are they running away from it rather than emphasizing the good points? By ceding the fight, they have allowed the Republicans to paint Health Care reform as 'unpopular'.....and by doing so it becomes a huge negative. A plethora of news stories point out that Dems are not even mentioning health care in their campaigns. People...you passed it now take the credit for the good points!!! If they were going to act like they needed to hang their heads in shame upon passing it then they shouldn't have voted for it.
The President's party loses seats in the midterms generally speaking. George W Bush bucked this trend in 2002 in the wake of 9-11 but it generally holds true.
My prediction:
1) The Republicans will gain control of the House by a slim margin.....they will not win the 100 seats that some are predicting.
2) The Republicans will gain 9 Senate seats to create an evenly balanced Senate. VP Joe Biden breaks ties so this means that Dems effectively maintain control.
Most of the Democrats who are voted out will be Conservative Democrats and as such the agenda for Congress will not change much. The more interesting thing to watch for is whether this new crop of Republicans will actually produce someone who is a viable Presidential candidate. Nobody had heard of Barack Obama until he won election to the Senate in 2004.
The Republicans had best hope so because none of Sara Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee or Newt Gingrich are electable.
Of course i could be very very wrong. Considering that there was not a single African American Congressman who represented a majority white district......I didn't think that America was capable of electing a black man to be President.
First some observations.
I am still amazed that the nation that calls itself the Leader of the Free World still has so many shortcomings in the practice of Democracy. In the last midterms of 2006, 34 members of Congress ran unopposed by a major party candidate. People like to say that it is a two party system......well in that case i would expect at least two candidates in each district. 34 members ran unopposed, far more ran with only token opposition.
Gerrymandering (both racial and simply partisan) have created a wealth of safe districts where the incumbent only ever faces a threat in the party primary. George Will called this the ultimate perversion of Democracy....a system where politicians choose their voters rather than the voters choosing their politician.
A Republican tide has been predicted by most commentators. Most predictions call for gains that exceed those of the 1994 election that ended 44 years of Democratic majority rule in the House. In 1994 not a single incumbent Republican Congressman, Senator or Governor was defeated.
However some key differences are worth noting. While many pundits are saying that Obama and Clinton both overreached in the first two years of their mandate, Clinton was elected with 43% of the popular vote. Obama won 52%. This is a key difference since the Perot voters did not have a candidate in the race in 94. Obama voters do.
In 1994, the Republican landslide was a shock to everyone. Virtually nobody saw it coming. In 1994 the Speaker of the House lost his own district. The Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee also got voted out along with several incumbents who did not even commission polls because they thought that they were so safe. This time, Democrats are putting resources into races where defeat was previously unthinkable....such as Representative Barney Franks of Massachusetts.
This year everyone sees the wave coming and so the Democrats have time to batten down the hatches.
I am surprised and perplexed at the Democrats for their lack of message. The signature achievement of the first two years of Obama's term is Health Care Reform. A complex measure like this has many good and bad points. Everybody knows that the Democrats passed it with only token Republican support. Why are they running away from it rather than emphasizing the good points? By ceding the fight, they have allowed the Republicans to paint Health Care reform as 'unpopular'.....and by doing so it becomes a huge negative. A plethora of news stories point out that Dems are not even mentioning health care in their campaigns. People...you passed it now take the credit for the good points!!! If they were going to act like they needed to hang their heads in shame upon passing it then they shouldn't have voted for it.
The President's party loses seats in the midterms generally speaking. George W Bush bucked this trend in 2002 in the wake of 9-11 but it generally holds true.
My prediction:
1) The Republicans will gain control of the House by a slim margin.....they will not win the 100 seats that some are predicting.
2) The Republicans will gain 9 Senate seats to create an evenly balanced Senate. VP Joe Biden breaks ties so this means that Dems effectively maintain control.
Most of the Democrats who are voted out will be Conservative Democrats and as such the agenda for Congress will not change much. The more interesting thing to watch for is whether this new crop of Republicans will actually produce someone who is a viable Presidential candidate. Nobody had heard of Barack Obama until he won election to the Senate in 2004.
The Republicans had best hope so because none of Sara Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee or Newt Gingrich are electable.
Of course i could be very very wrong. Considering that there was not a single African American Congressman who represented a majority white district......I didn't think that America was capable of electing a black man to be President.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Nobel Peace Prize Part II
The Chinese government has reacted to the Nobel Peace prize award by placing Liu Xiaobo's wife under house arrest. Her 'crime' was informing her husband that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize.
While the newspapers have reported these facts, the international outrage has been muted. Once this news cycle ends, this story is likely to be forgotten.
Some of us are old enough to remember the cultural, economic and diplomatic boycotts imposed against a nation that repressed 80% of their citizens due to the colour of their skin. The boycotts worked and South Africa emerged as a democratic nation that has the highest living standard in sub-saharan Africa.
Why is a nation that represses nearly 100% of its citizens less deserving of outrage and condemnation? Is it that important to keep getting cheap stuff at Walmart?
Twenty five years ago Artists United Against Apartheid released the following video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjWENNe29qc
Today, Hollywood's silence is matched by the diplomatic corps to say nothing of the corporate world and the IOC.
While the newspapers have reported these facts, the international outrage has been muted. Once this news cycle ends, this story is likely to be forgotten.
Some of us are old enough to remember the cultural, economic and diplomatic boycotts imposed against a nation that repressed 80% of their citizens due to the colour of their skin. The boycotts worked and South Africa emerged as a democratic nation that has the highest living standard in sub-saharan Africa.
Why is a nation that represses nearly 100% of its citizens less deserving of outrage and condemnation? Is it that important to keep getting cheap stuff at Walmart?
Twenty five years ago Artists United Against Apartheid released the following video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjWENNe29qc
Today, Hollywood's silence is matched by the diplomatic corps to say nothing of the corporate world and the IOC.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Nobel Peace Prize Regains its Noble Purpose
Today the Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to a jailed Chinese dissident who had the audacity to call for multi-party democracy in China. As a younger man, he was a leader of the Tiananmen Square uprising. He shepharded many students out of Tiananmen Square just prior to the tanks rolling in.
Liu Xiaobo is in jail and is unaware of the honour that he has received. In fact most of China is unaware as State censors scrambled broadcasts of the ceremony as it was carried live by CNN and the BBC.
With this award, the Nobel Peace Prize regains much of the lustre that it had lost in recent years as unworthy recipients such as Barack Obama and Al Gore were honoured.
Mr Liu is a worthy addition to the pantheon that includes people such as Bishop Desmond Tutu and Mother Theresa who worked tirelessly to lift people out of oppression and poverty. The Nobel Committee displayed great wisdom in honouring FW De Clerk alongside Nelson Mandela for jointly leading South Africa beyond Apartheid. Many others were inspiring leaders for peace and justice who richly deserved their place.
The wisdom of this choice can be seen in the reaction of the Chinese government. First they tried to preempt the award by threatening the government of Norway by calling it a hostile action. After it was announced, they decried the awarding of such an honour upon a 'criminal.' Humanity would be well served if only more such 'criminals' existed in our midst.
The world has moved on since Tiananmen Square and that is a stain upon humanity. The Chinese nation suffers from less material poverty but threatens more of their neighbours militarily and more of the world economically. Even the United States treads carefully lest they offend such a valuable trading partner.
The images of tanks rolling over students were horrifying to the world. How soon they forget.
The most indelible image for me is of a lone student standing before the tanks. His courage and defiance should be remembered today.
Liu Xiaobo is in jail and is unaware of the honour that he has received. In fact most of China is unaware as State censors scrambled broadcasts of the ceremony as it was carried live by CNN and the BBC.
With this award, the Nobel Peace Prize regains much of the lustre that it had lost in recent years as unworthy recipients such as Barack Obama and Al Gore were honoured.
Mr Liu is a worthy addition to the pantheon that includes people such as Bishop Desmond Tutu and Mother Theresa who worked tirelessly to lift people out of oppression and poverty. The Nobel Committee displayed great wisdom in honouring FW De Clerk alongside Nelson Mandela for jointly leading South Africa beyond Apartheid. Many others were inspiring leaders for peace and justice who richly deserved their place.
The wisdom of this choice can be seen in the reaction of the Chinese government. First they tried to preempt the award by threatening the government of Norway by calling it a hostile action. After it was announced, they decried the awarding of such an honour upon a 'criminal.' Humanity would be well served if only more such 'criminals' existed in our midst.
The world has moved on since Tiananmen Square and that is a stain upon humanity. The Chinese nation suffers from less material poverty but threatens more of their neighbours militarily and more of the world economically. Even the United States treads carefully lest they offend such a valuable trading partner.
The images of tanks rolling over students were horrifying to the world. How soon they forget.
The most indelible image for me is of a lone student standing before the tanks. His courage and defiance should be remembered today.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Captain Robert Semrau - Update
Captain Semrau was found guilty of Disgraceful Conduct and today his sentence was handed down. He was reduced in rank to 2nd Lieutenant and dismissed from the Armed Forces.
This was the right and just result. From the evidence presented at trial he did not have murder on the mind. The prosecution's own evidence indicated that it was a mercy killing.
It was still wrong but it was not murder.
Now Robert Semrau can go about rebuilding his life as a civilian. His case should serve as a lesson to serving members of the military. Doing the right thing is difficult. As an officer he needed to follow orders which did not include killing a wounded combatant....even as an act of mercy.
It is especially important that the difficult issues that this case presented did not cause the system to take a pass on rendering judgment.
Good luck to Robert Semrau as he gets on with life. His actions may yet serve to make the Canadian military a better place.
This was the right and just result. From the evidence presented at trial he did not have murder on the mind. The prosecution's own evidence indicated that it was a mercy killing.
It was still wrong but it was not murder.
Now Robert Semrau can go about rebuilding his life as a civilian. His case should serve as a lesson to serving members of the military. Doing the right thing is difficult. As an officer he needed to follow orders which did not include killing a wounded combatant....even as an act of mercy.
It is especially important that the difficult issues that this case presented did not cause the system to take a pass on rendering judgment.
Good luck to Robert Semrau as he gets on with life. His actions may yet serve to make the Canadian military a better place.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
A Change of Pace
Today I decided to take a break from my usual ranting about the latest annoyance and talk about something that isn't talked about enough....friendships.
The past couple of years have seen enormous changes in my life. I went from living in Britain with an expectant wife to living in Canada and then going through a difficult divorce.
Most of my friends have heard the gory details and I won't go into them in detail here. Besides, that would miss the point really.
While I went through this most difficult phase of my life, I experienced many emotions. I experienced fear, anger, despair, righteous indignation and a bunch of other not so nice feelings. However through it all I was also experiencing feelings of gratitude. This was due to the love and support that I received from my many friends.
During the time leading up to the court battle, I was feeling especially vulnerable. Being falsely accused of plotting your wife's murder can have that effect. Those of you who haven't stood before a judge to answer such allegations will just have to take my word for it. It sucks!!! LOL
Even after it became clear that those allegations were not going to carry any weight, I was still faced with the prospect of picking up my son 6 times a week. What else would I be accused of when there were no witnesses around?
Into this unpleasant situation, 35 different friends of mine stepped forward to accompany me during transitions to ensure that I was not alone. This went on for over a year and I had somebody accompany me for all but 2 transitions. Looking back, this was truly remarkable. Some of these friends drove from long distances to help me for a 5 minute transition. I find it amazing that not a single friend started finding themselves 'busy' on repeated occasions until I no longer asked. It would have been completely understandable if they had because it was onerous. Yet they didn't.
In addition, there were numerous occasions where my friends spent time with Krishna and myself. I found myself turning invitations down because there simply aren't enough hours in enough days. I am truly blessed!
It is too soon to say whether this story ultimately has a great ending or not. I have joint custody of my son and we spend a lot of time together. In fact, I get more time with him than many dads who live near their children. Krishna is an amazingly happy and well adjusted little boy.....and extraordinarily handsome too!
I have the means to fly over to see him regularly. Not every guy in my situation could do that. I am blessed!
When I visit in Britain, one of my good friends and her husband welcome us into their home every time. Even when I visit for weekends in Britain, Krishna has a consistent bed to sleep in and a place to leave his toys and clothes. I am blessed!
When he visits Canada, again the invitations are more numerous than we can accept.
Divorce is not something that I recommend. It is extremely destructive and some people never get their balance back after going through it. It would be foolish for me to pretend that I haven't been damaged by the experience, but it would be truly ignorant to fail to see the good side that it brought out in so many of my friends. Their loyalty and support were more than I could ever hope to repay. But I suppose that is the whole point of such true friends....they don't expect anything for what they give. Still I owe them a debt and I will be working to repay that debt.
I am not an easy person to get along with. I am opinionated, mouthy and often ill mannered. I am headstrong and, often, don't listen well. I don't deserve the great friends that I have and so I treasure them.
Before Krishna moved away, a friend from church gave Krishna a gift and wrote inside that he should take good care of his mommy. This was truly heartwarming.
I hope that Krishna grows up to take good care of his mommy. He is a great kid and I don't deserve such a great son. I am blessed.
Nobody is naive enough to believe that I don't have some residual negative feelings. But I am human. Time is working its magic in healing those wounds.
All I can say at this point is that I couldn't have made it through this nasty process without my friends. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have a lot of money....but I can't imagine them being richer than me..thanks to the wealth of friends that I have.
For that I am truly blessed!
The past couple of years have seen enormous changes in my life. I went from living in Britain with an expectant wife to living in Canada and then going through a difficult divorce.
Most of my friends have heard the gory details and I won't go into them in detail here. Besides, that would miss the point really.
While I went through this most difficult phase of my life, I experienced many emotions. I experienced fear, anger, despair, righteous indignation and a bunch of other not so nice feelings. However through it all I was also experiencing feelings of gratitude. This was due to the love and support that I received from my many friends.
During the time leading up to the court battle, I was feeling especially vulnerable. Being falsely accused of plotting your wife's murder can have that effect. Those of you who haven't stood before a judge to answer such allegations will just have to take my word for it. It sucks!!! LOL
Even after it became clear that those allegations were not going to carry any weight, I was still faced with the prospect of picking up my son 6 times a week. What else would I be accused of when there were no witnesses around?
Into this unpleasant situation, 35 different friends of mine stepped forward to accompany me during transitions to ensure that I was not alone. This went on for over a year and I had somebody accompany me for all but 2 transitions. Looking back, this was truly remarkable. Some of these friends drove from long distances to help me for a 5 minute transition. I find it amazing that not a single friend started finding themselves 'busy' on repeated occasions until I no longer asked. It would have been completely understandable if they had because it was onerous. Yet they didn't.
In addition, there were numerous occasions where my friends spent time with Krishna and myself. I found myself turning invitations down because there simply aren't enough hours in enough days. I am truly blessed!
It is too soon to say whether this story ultimately has a great ending or not. I have joint custody of my son and we spend a lot of time together. In fact, I get more time with him than many dads who live near their children. Krishna is an amazingly happy and well adjusted little boy.....and extraordinarily handsome too!
I have the means to fly over to see him regularly. Not every guy in my situation could do that. I am blessed!
When I visit in Britain, one of my good friends and her husband welcome us into their home every time. Even when I visit for weekends in Britain, Krishna has a consistent bed to sleep in and a place to leave his toys and clothes. I am blessed!
When he visits Canada, again the invitations are more numerous than we can accept.
Divorce is not something that I recommend. It is extremely destructive and some people never get their balance back after going through it. It would be foolish for me to pretend that I haven't been damaged by the experience, but it would be truly ignorant to fail to see the good side that it brought out in so many of my friends. Their loyalty and support were more than I could ever hope to repay. But I suppose that is the whole point of such true friends....they don't expect anything for what they give. Still I owe them a debt and I will be working to repay that debt.
I am not an easy person to get along with. I am opinionated, mouthy and often ill mannered. I am headstrong and, often, don't listen well. I don't deserve the great friends that I have and so I treasure them.
Before Krishna moved away, a friend from church gave Krishna a gift and wrote inside that he should take good care of his mommy. This was truly heartwarming.
I hope that Krishna grows up to take good care of his mommy. He is a great kid and I don't deserve such a great son. I am blessed.
Nobody is naive enough to believe that I don't have some residual negative feelings. But I am human. Time is working its magic in healing those wounds.
All I can say at this point is that I couldn't have made it through this nasty process without my friends. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have a lot of money....but I can't imagine them being richer than me..thanks to the wealth of friends that I have.
For that I am truly blessed!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Toronto's Next Mayor
I find politics fascinating. I remember watching the 1976 Presidential debates between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Since I was merely 6 years old my memories are scant. From the 1980 election onwards, my interest level grew and my memories remain vivid.
Canadian politics has produced fewer larger than life figures than our neighbours to the south. In part that may simply be a result of the fact that we don't tend to mythologize our leaders as Americans do. We don't have a Mount Rushmore. A Canadian Prime Minister rarely uses Teddy Roosevelt's "Bully Pulpit" to the extent American Presidents do. Ronald Reagan often went on the airwaves to ask the citizens to call their Congressman if he wasn't getting his priorities through. A Prime Minister has no need to engage in such banal pursuits. The Right Honourable one can simply order his caucus to vote as he pleases.....no need to involve the citizens.
It is a little known fact that the person in Canada who has the largest direct voter mandate is in fact the Mayor of Toronto. The Prime Minister is merely a Member of Parliament representing one riding while the Mayor of Toronto is directly voted in by citizens of 22 Federal ridings. It is also not very well known that from a Constitutional standpoint, there is no such thing as a municipal level of Government. The City of Toronto is incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario.
Leaving small technicalities like the Constitution aside, it is a fact that more people vote directly for the Mayor of Toronto than any other office in the land. It is the current Mayor's race that has me more baffled and amused than any other recent election.
Councillor Rob Ford is the clear front runner. He is 11 points ahead of former Deputy Premier of Ontario George Smitherman....according to a poll released today. The mind boggles.
Now it must be said that the amalgamated mega city of Toronto has not been around very long. Toronto has had but two mayors. The first was Mel Lastman who made Toronto a laughing stock by calling in the army after a bad snowstorm and telling a reporter that he didn't want to go to Africa because he hates snakes and might end up in a boiling pot of water with natives dancing around. (If Lastman had spent any time in some of Toronto's parks, he might have seen snakes nearer to home).
After two terms of Mel Lastman's buffoonery (the fine citizens of Toronto re-elected him with 80% of the vote for a second term), the people turned to an American born, British raised Harvard graduate named David Miller. Mayor Miller was a very smart man whose standing as mayor was torpedoed after engaging the unions in a long garbage strike only to give in at the end. People understandably asked what the point of forcing the strike was when he just ended up backtracking anyway.
So now along comes Rob Ford with a record as a right winger in a left wing city. He had a DUI conviction which he was apparently not very forthcoming about. He allegedly had to stop coaching high school football after roughing up a player. He has stated that Toronto should not welcome any more immigrants. He has said that AIDS is preventable as long you don't do drugs and aren't gay.
Despite all of his bluster and revelations about his past, he continues to lead the field. I can't explain it.
Perhaps the people are tired of charming politicians who hide behind a facade. Perhaps they like the fact that a buffoonish Rob Ford is more of an average citizen than some other candidates. Perhaps they feel that he is so bad that he can't possibly be hiding something worse (nowhere to go but up?).
I don't really know how Rob Ford can be the frontrunner in this race. I am no longer a Toronto resident and as such I can't vote. If I could, I really don't know who amongst this sad lot I would vote for. Perhaps therein lies the answer? Perhaps a paucity of good candidates means that the people are choosing between various degrees of bad. How sad that the race for the largest direct voter mandate in Canada might be won by default.
Canadian politics has produced fewer larger than life figures than our neighbours to the south. In part that may simply be a result of the fact that we don't tend to mythologize our leaders as Americans do. We don't have a Mount Rushmore. A Canadian Prime Minister rarely uses Teddy Roosevelt's "Bully Pulpit" to the extent American Presidents do. Ronald Reagan often went on the airwaves to ask the citizens to call their Congressman if he wasn't getting his priorities through. A Prime Minister has no need to engage in such banal pursuits. The Right Honourable one can simply order his caucus to vote as he pleases.....no need to involve the citizens.
It is a little known fact that the person in Canada who has the largest direct voter mandate is in fact the Mayor of Toronto. The Prime Minister is merely a Member of Parliament representing one riding while the Mayor of Toronto is directly voted in by citizens of 22 Federal ridings. It is also not very well known that from a Constitutional standpoint, there is no such thing as a municipal level of Government. The City of Toronto is incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario.
Leaving small technicalities like the Constitution aside, it is a fact that more people vote directly for the Mayor of Toronto than any other office in the land. It is the current Mayor's race that has me more baffled and amused than any other recent election.
Councillor Rob Ford is the clear front runner. He is 11 points ahead of former Deputy Premier of Ontario George Smitherman....according to a poll released today. The mind boggles.
Now it must be said that the amalgamated mega city of Toronto has not been around very long. Toronto has had but two mayors. The first was Mel Lastman who made Toronto a laughing stock by calling in the army after a bad snowstorm and telling a reporter that he didn't want to go to Africa because he hates snakes and might end up in a boiling pot of water with natives dancing around. (If Lastman had spent any time in some of Toronto's parks, he might have seen snakes nearer to home).
After two terms of Mel Lastman's buffoonery (the fine citizens of Toronto re-elected him with 80% of the vote for a second term), the people turned to an American born, British raised Harvard graduate named David Miller. Mayor Miller was a very smart man whose standing as mayor was torpedoed after engaging the unions in a long garbage strike only to give in at the end. People understandably asked what the point of forcing the strike was when he just ended up backtracking anyway.
So now along comes Rob Ford with a record as a right winger in a left wing city. He had a DUI conviction which he was apparently not very forthcoming about. He allegedly had to stop coaching high school football after roughing up a player. He has stated that Toronto should not welcome any more immigrants. He has said that AIDS is preventable as long you don't do drugs and aren't gay.
Despite all of his bluster and revelations about his past, he continues to lead the field. I can't explain it.
Perhaps the people are tired of charming politicians who hide behind a facade. Perhaps they like the fact that a buffoonish Rob Ford is more of an average citizen than some other candidates. Perhaps they feel that he is so bad that he can't possibly be hiding something worse (nowhere to go but up?).
I don't really know how Rob Ford can be the frontrunner in this race. I am no longer a Toronto resident and as such I can't vote. If I could, I really don't know who amongst this sad lot I would vote for. Perhaps therein lies the answer? Perhaps a paucity of good candidates means that the people are choosing between various degrees of bad. How sad that the race for the largest direct voter mandate in Canada might be won by default.
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