Friday September 05, 2008
Gifted, but not qualified
Appealing as she may be to small-town America - a pit bull with lipstick, to paraphrase - Sarah Palin is still the wrong choice as the Republican vice-presidential nominee. And the blizzard of personal coverage, much of it negative, has allowed Ms. Palin and the Republican Party to duck the real issue: her lack of qualifications for the job. Her speech at the Republican convention on Wednesday night merely underlined the victory of opportunism over the needs of the country.
No need to hide distinction
The Conservatives' effort to present Stephen Harper as an everyman is not true to who he is, and it is a good thing for the country that he is not just an ordinary guy.
Capable of incapability
A new report on Canada's capacity to respond to large-scale emergencies appears to have set a new standard for telling it like it is. Titled Emergency Preparedness in Canada: How the Fine Arts of Procrastination and Bafflegab Hobble the People Who Will Be Trying to Save You When Things Get Really Bad, this report of the Senate standing committee on national security and defence, chaired by Colin Kenny, rips apart bureaucratic phrasing to reveal a continuing lack of progress.
