Hats off to A BCer in Toronto (the BigCity loves ya, kid), for uncovering this little gem.
Remember how Iggy took a powder for three weeks while the MidEast went up in flames, without issuing any kind of response to the situation? Remember how the official line from the Ignatieff campaign (and Iggy's cheering section in the blogosphere) was "It's a sick relative! How dare you ask the putative PM of the whole flipping nation to issue a statement while his mother-in-law is ill!"
Well, it turns out Mommy dearest wasn't sick at all! Iggy was on holiday in Europe! Of course, Iggy's got an explanation for everything:
"There is no health crisis," he said. "There never was. Anybody who said there was, was not authorized to say that. I never purported to say that."
And what was the real reason Iggy wouldn't deign to comment on the Israeli/Lebanese conflict, even after a Canadian peacekeeper died under Israeli bombardment? Answer: "I'm entitled to a holiday." Good Lord! Our PM in-waiting doesn't want a war in the MidEast to interfere with his horse-back riding in the Pyrennees (if that's what he was doing)!
Finally, the whole "I didn't say that, it was my staff's fault." defense is lame. Iggy could have corrected this particular misimpression any time during the past three weeks. He could have told the world that the front-runner in the Liberal Leadership race was too busy hiking through the mountains of Hungary painting watercolors (or whatever) to offer an opinion on what might conceivably have been the start of WWIII. But that would have made him look like crass twit, wouldn't it? So he hid behind a staffer's mis-statement until he got caught (if he wasn't straight-out lying).
And to all of Iggy's supporters in the blogosphere, you must really be feeling like sad sacks of shit about now. You've been feigning outrage for three weeks at the whole notion that King Iggy should actually need to answer questions as to what he might actually do in matters of war were he to lead the Canadian Nation ! "Oh my Lord! How dare you ask! His mommy's sick!"
And now you find out that your man was really off hunting pheasants with the fucking Marquis of Teverstock.
Never too late to switch! There are still real Liberals in the Liberal Paty.
Did Iggy lie, or did his staffer is the actual question?
ReplyDeleteConsidering that Iggy was apparently unreachable by anybody during the time, it's a little hard to accuse him of being the one lying, eh?
Meaghan,
ReplyDeleteUnreachable but yet he was following Mid-East events minutely, as he claims? I don't think so.
Thanks for the love bigcitylib.
ReplyDeleteMeaghan, it's all very confused and about as clear as mud. From what I can gather, at the very least the campaign exagerated or allowed to be exagerated, the health condition of his mother in law.
She wasn't on her death bed, which is why he told the Star there was no health crisis. She is old and not doing well though, so he wanted to use his vacation to spend some time with her.
While there, he followed the Mid East situation closely, but he felt it wasn't right for him to comment yet because the situtation was still too fluid.
Other than his staff allowing the story to spin out of control (a statement would have solved it, silence breeds speculation and rumour), I think the real issue is why he didn't think it was appropriate to comment sooner.
Thank you BCer. And also I have a problem with the campaign not clearing up the health issue as soon as they knew better. But, as I say, "he's on vacation" when the world goes to hell doesn't sound very good either.
ReplyDeleteSo he lied.
ReplyDeletePoliticians lie all the time.
It looks like he basically got away with it, so "no harm, no foul."
In fact, this just shows how adept he is at getting out of sticky situations.
Jeff, the campaign did issue a statement on his website.
ReplyDelete"Straight from the campaign:
Michael Ignatieff is most certainly not withdrawing from the leadership race. He is currently in Hungary with his wife, dealing with an illness in the family. He has specifically declined to comment on the current situation in the Middle East while he is away."
"http://michaelignatieff.ca/MiCommunity/forums/permalink/2959/2982/ShowThread.aspx#2982" Right Here
I was going to vote for this Ignatieff guy - but this whole sad situation, combined with the "not losing any sleep" comment about those children's deaths, and even the "I'm entitled to a vacation" comment have swayed me away slightly.
He's now been bumped to my second choice.
I just sent Stephane Dion $100. I think he's probably better equipped to be our leader and PM right now.
Tell your campaign to count one more vote in Aurora.
Let's cut some slack here. To non-close friends, how many would say tell that they were going to spend time with a dying mother-in-law? The assistant didn't lie -- whether her health is chipper or what, at 80+ she is dying, maybe not tomorrow but sooner than later. I just think this part of it has gotten blown apart when Harpor's spins are going unchallenged.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm no Iggy apologist, I'm on Bob's team...
North Americans don't take enough holidays anyway. I don't like making someone feel guilty for getting their time off, if it's a reasonable length like a few weeks.
ReplyDelete