"Bono expresses disappointment in PM"
Well, I know how he feels...
and so, I imagine, do many Canadians. I remember a time listening to the then Prime Minister butcher both official languages and watching two right wing parties quarrel with all the sophistication of eight-year-olds in the playground. And I remember wistfully looking at our well-respected, world-renowned Finance Minister who achieved the feat of balancing the federal budget for the first time in decades. I even remember thinking that Paul Martin might actually inspire me to vote Liberal for the first time in my life! And then he became Prime Minister and soon thereafter, like Bono, I was 'crushed'...
Now I must confess to an aversion to celebrity endorsements in politics to begin with. It's not that I want to exclude anyone, let alone celebrities from participating in the political process. If a celebrity wants to work on a campaign or donate or *gasp* vote, then by all means he or she should do with my grateful thanks. But it does stick in my craw to see someone, who can instantly command media attention because of their success in another field, stand in front of a microphone and tell their fellow Canadians what the should/shouldn't support or do. I'm sorry, but if you feel that strongly about it, run for office yourself! Of course, in Bono's case, he'd have to take the intermediary step of becoming a citizen first...
But my repugnance of seeing Bono lecturing my fellow Canadians from a press conference on Parliament Hill is tempered by the remembrance that Paul Martin has brought this on himself (and us) when he sought out and gained Bono's endorsement in the first place. And my political funny-bone is once again tickled by the thought of many Liberals wandering around muttering 'I told you so' under their breaths.
I strongly suspect that the Liberals will now rush to release a plan to double foreign aid spending with most of the heavy lifting to be accomplished 8-10 years down the road. I only wonder if Bono will fall for it, again?
Well, I know how he feels...
and so, I imagine, do many Canadians. I remember a time listening to the then Prime Minister butcher both official languages and watching two right wing parties quarrel with all the sophistication of eight-year-olds in the playground. And I remember wistfully looking at our well-respected, world-renowned Finance Minister who achieved the feat of balancing the federal budget for the first time in decades. I even remember thinking that Paul Martin might actually inspire me to vote Liberal for the first time in my life! And then he became Prime Minister and soon thereafter, like Bono, I was 'crushed'...
Now I must confess to an aversion to celebrity endorsements in politics to begin with. It's not that I want to exclude anyone, let alone celebrities from participating in the political process. If a celebrity wants to work on a campaign or donate or *gasp* vote, then by all means he or she should do with my grateful thanks. But it does stick in my craw to see someone, who can instantly command media attention because of their success in another field, stand in front of a microphone and tell their fellow Canadians what the should/shouldn't support or do. I'm sorry, but if you feel that strongly about it, run for office yourself! Of course, in Bono's case, he'd have to take the intermediary step of becoming a citizen first...
But my repugnance of seeing Bono lecturing my fellow Canadians from a press conference on Parliament Hill is tempered by the remembrance that Paul Martin has brought this on himself (and us) when he sought out and gained Bono's endorsement in the first place. And my political funny-bone is once again tickled by the thought of many Liberals wandering around muttering 'I told you so' under their breaths.
I strongly suspect that the Liberals will now rush to release a plan to double foreign aid spending with most of the heavy lifting to be accomplished 8-10 years down the road. I only wonder if Bono will fall for it, again?
posted by Quynn at 4:04 p.m.
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