Sunday, April 3, 2011

One party, two party, three party, four ...

Interesting to hear that grit leader Michael Ignatieff has accepted Rick Mercer's offer to moderate a debate between Iggy and tory leader Stephen Harper. Mercer has offered to rent Massey Hall in Toronto, set up arrangements with as many TV networks as he can get to come on board and proceed full speed ahead.

Of course it raises a couple of pesky questions. First is who is Mercer to determine this is a two-party race? Granted, there is no need to involve Gilles Duceppe in a national debate since he wants to break up the country anyway and as for the green party ... Elizabeth who? However, Jack Layton deserves to share the stage, if no other reason than to keep the other two honest. After all, the picture you see further down this page is of Stephen Harper meeting with Layton and Duceppe to arrange a coalition government. Guess it's not as dirty a concept as the tory attack ads and Harper's stump speech would seem to suggest.

The other question for me is how has our Canadian democracy evolved when we have a comedian being considered as a moderator for a national political debate? Mercer's a talented guy, but his ego does not need any more stroking.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

DEMOCRACY FOR SALE , a how-to guide from the king of comedy .

Unknown said...

What is Rick Mercer's "CURRICULUM VITAE" ?

Is it his popular political rants ?

Or , his ability to draw a crowd , such as when he suggested that Stockwell Day change his name to Doris ?

Is Mercer looking to change his image from clown to intellectual and is he willing to use the democratic process to suit his needs ?

Or, are there "big bucks" to be made?

Charlie said...

I would find it a waste of time if perhaps the only election debate were held in a forum where we might expect the moderator to inject humor at opportune times. Of course, humor itself is great medicine, but I'd rather someone who has a concentrated expertise in political matters to fire off hard-hitting questions about serious issues affecting all Canadians.

Wisewebwoman said...

Rick has read the handbook of Jon Stewart no doubt. Wherein comedians/satirists are the only pundits on the pulse of the nation.

As to Elizabeth May, she is the only one talking sense in this whole political free for all. Where are the environmental concerns of the other hacks?

XO
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Government Funded Blogger said...

Whats the matter with one clown moderating two others?

ViewPoint2010 said...

Charlie, we're on the same page there. I've seen Mercer hog the camera too often on what could be "good" TV moments to have any confidence that he would be able to be an effective moderator. I think it would become the 21st century version of the Gong Show.

ViewPoint2010 said...

www, I *might* agree with you except for one thing. A couple of years ago when the Sea Shepherd Society was big news, it was noted that May was a member of said society. When asked why, she said that she supported Patrick Watson's goals, but when pushed, she said the only reason she joined was to have a chance to meet Bob Geldof (of Boomtown Rats fame) who was also a director of the SSS. That pretty much squared my understanding of her commitment to a cause. I think he Greens have a legitimate agenda but I'm not sure May is the one to be leading the party. They have a reputation of being modified tories.

ViewPoint2010 said...

GFB, errr, ummmm, well ... yup , you make a good point. I just don't want to see our national political landscape reduced to the absurd any further than it already is.