Is it curtains for the "Old Duff"?

There’s a temptation to suspect the worst when the police lay charges against someone.  Our mentality in Canada, as much as we deny it, is that the person is guilty until proven innocent.  Otherwise, why would newspapers and television stations plaster the names and often addresses of ACCUSED sex offenders across the media?

So, we come to the case of 68-year old Michael Dennis Duffy, the suspended Canadian Senator from Prince Edward Island who today was charged with 31 separate criminal charges by Canada’s national police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, after a 16-month investigation.

It is fair to assume that 90-95% of Canadians who heard about the charges automatically decided that Senator Duffy is guilty.  Ottawa reporter John Ivison said this in his National Post column, “Depending on what emerges from the [Mike Duffy] trial, it may well be the tipping point for many Canadians, already uncomfortable with the Conservatives’ modus operandi but who have, to this point, held their noses and supported Stephen Harper.”

The national media, without any love for Duffy, put the pedal to the metal when it came to prosecuting him in the court of public opinion.  One can only assume it was because they did not want anyone to be able to accuse them of favoritism in terms of their reporting of the Duffy or Wallin stories. Or, perhaps, they wanted him to be found guilty since more than a few are jealous of the Senate appointments he and Ms. Wallin managed to get from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

I have no particular affection for Duffy.  I only met him once and considered him to be pompous and as superficial as a Mexican river - a mile wide and an inch deep.  I would have thought that Stephen Harper with all of his reported analytical skills and political savvy would have been smarter than to appoint Duffy to the Senate but perhaps it was part of Harper’s agenda all along to hasten the demise of the Senate … or am I giving him too much credit for logistics and strategy that he may not possess?

Bottom line is that unless someone gets to Duffy and guarantees he and his wife a comfortable life after all of this is over and convinces him to take a dive, he’s too much of a show boater to let the opportunity pass to try to take down Harper and his PMO minions.  It could still turn into the best political theatre this country has seen in a century since Dalton Camp and crew did their thing to Dief.

Needless to say, stay tuned.

Hope you enjoy your weekend.