or muddy ones for that matter?
my campaign six weeks of pretending to be a candidate has come to a close. so long and thanks for all the rocks, newfoundland? i have however, come to like the green party’s policies, but perhaps less so their politics. elizabeth may has been quoted several, countless times in the last week and a half as being an advocate for strategic voting, and that canadians should try to unseat the conservative government. she has said, in the past, that she believes that the green party ought to be an advocate for other parties, rather than acting as a real party. we are all allowed to have our own opinions, which are not those expressly of our poltical parties. in fact, i think that’s what blogs are for. but to tell this to reporters, and then try to backpeddle through the mud. no. you cannot do that.
what bothers me more, is the reaction of slapping together statements taken on by the green party staff in ottawa. not only have we been basically saying the same thing for the last five days, not changing a beat, nor telling may to put up or shut up. what’s more is, we have somehow deemed it appropriate for any emails that we get asking why we support a strategic vote to be forwarded to her blackberry. because that is going to help, so much. honestly, i am so frustrated not only with her response, but also with our childess revolt. what will it get us?
oh, right mr. mackay back in parliament. fuck blurg.
the election is now in full swing, and so between working 35 hours or so a week, and going to class and doing readings, i am feeling more than overwhelmed and underpaid, and underblogged.
i received possibly the most fascinating wall post on facebook last week about my participation with the election. a significant other of a friend had posted a note which read along the lines of…
i am so tired of the current political situation and am jealous the united states’ leadership.
therefore i will be voting for the communist party.
what does this say about politics in canada?
well, my snide, smart-ass remark was “perhaps, that you need to participate more”, which i thought was fairly valid…you don’t like it, get involved. in my mind, if do not participate in the election and then spoil your ballot, you have no reason to complain.
his response was something along the lines of, “you are so self-righteous, and your response to my note just proves this. you think you’re so much smarter than everyone and i know you’re running in the election but you should get off your high horse because the (green) party is a joke”
baahahahahahahahaha. i responded with the political jibberish that follows:
firstly, leaders don’t make good government.
secondly, the subprime mortgage crisis is displaying major flaws in the american political system
thirdly, voting for a party that has a goal that does not coincide with those that you believe should be supported with a democracy, does not preclude the party’s exsistence (see: your comment on voting) salvador aillende in chile, for example, was a democraticly elected communist, who did not seize power, but rather was ousted from power by the democratic regime in the united states.
as for self-righteousness, call me what you will, but saying that you will spoil your ballot because you do not agree with the current political parties and their leaders is the definition of self-righteousness.
i never questioned your integrity, but rather the merits of your position, and your ability to take action with regards to your position.
perhaps, if you cannot take criticism, you should refrain from posting blogs which call for rebuttal.
his response follows:
i can take critiscm, but not from people who believe the world revolves around them. speaking down to me and acting like i don’t understand what you are talking about just further proves my point. you think you are smarter, and better, and more informed than everyone. grow up.
nice. so, essentially he didn’t have an argument. further laughing ensued.
just some political personal fun matters.
i am now officially a candidate in the 2008 federal election.
(insert copious amounts of laughter here)
i’ve been getting calls asking if i want to sign up for polling services and advertising space. oh, and my inbox has been full with emails from other green candidates about policy and the like. oh, and i’m running in the riding of Random-Burin-St. George’s
yes, i’m running in random. how wonderful is that?
ayes the bye that builds the boat and ayes the bye that sails ‘er, ayes the bye that catches the fish and takes ‘er home to liza
so, i am a real candidate now. watch the ticker on the 14th and you’ll see.
yawn ugh. i’ve barely started my statement of interest intent why i want the government to give me money (because they have more than enough to go around, of course), and i’m already tired of thinking about graduate studies.
i’m also not sure whether i should do one year or two. the public history program would help me decide that, because it’s two years and has an internship involved. the regular history program has options, and an internship isn’t one of them. having said that, i could also apply for funding for history, and just not tell them what kind of history i want to do (then again, i also don’t know what kind of history i necessarily want to do, so it’s not like i’m lying).
right now, i’m telling them i’m interested in comic books as a site of moral panic in the 1940s and 1950s. and it’s true. i am. but am i interested enough to spend a year of my life working on it? yes no, i am clearly not that stupid (my apologies to the guy who wrote the ten cent plague ).
i could also be interested in the repatriation of stuff to the natives from the glorious museum of civilization (claire, we will be visiting, and i will be making comments about its atrocities. it’s pretty, and pretty political). i could also be interested in the heritage minutes from my childhood as a site of historical representation written by a bunch of old guys at the government who wanted children to have a childhood. i could also be interested in the history of the grand trunk railway and how every important person on the railway had a town named after them along through which the railway went. probably not.
either way, i’m not sure at this point. but i’m sure i need that funding.
high-ho, silver!
Filed under: 2008
the moment i got this blog, i resolved to use it.
but perhaps i’m not ready to write about what’s been going on in the last 24 hours.
some great news. and some awful news that i wasn’t expecting, nor hoping to hear.
“and i know there’s no grand plan here; this is just the way it goes.”
this weekend was very, wonderfully productive.
a new job. a wedding venue. a caterer. a new hair colour. a new blog.
it might as well be january 1.
the leaves arent changing colour yet, but it’s definitely getting cooler. i need more sweaters, and a jacket. it’s not quite fall, but it’s certianly no longer summer. the days get shorter, the nights colder, the mornings darker.
my final year (insert what i’m doing and where here) has started. who knows, i might decide to do another bachelors, for shits and giggles. i may end up back at carleton. so really, i haven’t quite figured out the qualifier just yet.
but it seems like a good time to start a new blog. a lot of stuff will happen in the next year, and beyond, and it’s likely a good plan to keep track of it. eventually, we all forget.
