After a year and a half of watching his beloved Conservatives piss away their principles for zero electoral gain, National Post columnist Andrew Coyne has officially been bitten by the Black Dog of Despondency:
Is there any politics on Earth that is shallower, more boorish, less worthy of the attention of serious people than Canadian politics? Answer: There is none.
Andy, Andy, Andy...it isn't the nation's politics, its YOU. You've gone to Hell in a hand-basket. Recently, your columns have become nothing beyond a manifestation of your own melancholy, and your blog...my gawd your Blog is a disgrace, a weed-choked patch of obsolescent opinion that hasn't been updated in over a month!
Its time for you to straighten up and fly right! Get a hair-cut, and find some kind of honest job beyond journalism to ground yourself... maybe something where you work with your hands. And for gawd's sakes QUIT...WHINING!!!
Yeesh...He's going Peggy Noonan on us. Pull yourself together, man!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine what kind of politics Coyne expects from the CPC...does he really not pay attention to the way Conservatives talk and what they do?
I think its just a funk from being away from Peter and Chantel for so long... he's gotta unrequited thing going for ol' Hiebert, and now that she's sliding closer to Harperisms and anti-dionics, i think he's wishing he and her share some poutine-time and despair on the current shape of Thatcherite and Reaganomics conservativism.
ReplyDeletehttp://canadianrosebud.blogspot.com/
It is always very sad to see self-annointed "pundits" run out of ideas...I mean...poor them...expected, on, a regular basis, to come up with five inches of column-width snappy commentary....and then...one day...nope, I got nothing...
ReplyDeleteAs an author, I can sympathise..."blocks" happen...as a consumer of news...naaahhh...no sympathy...you wanna wear the uniform...you have to play the game...
I'm going to defend Andrew Coyne. He was kind enough to listen to PR supporters in Toronto one evening at a bar/restaurant. He did offer his conservative perspective on PR for Canada and Ontario which was worthwhile as PR supporters do come from different ideological backgrounds. He is someone who does his homework when he expresses his opinion about different things. I did hear him one time mentioning that with columnists blogging all the time, they are not spending as much time doing investigating-journalism. He would rather spend time writing quality columns for the newspaper than blog every day. For a journalist to blog, not only is it important to present ideas, it is as important to receive relevant information from the public. I can only guess that for every 30 emails a blogger receives, only one may contain new information for the journalist-blogger.
ReplyDeleteAndrew is listed at Facebook as a supporter of MMP electoral reform. He doesnt think its the perfect system, but his view is it's better then what we have.
ReplyDeleteSo, on that basis alone, I'm willing to give Andrew some slack :)
Firstly,
ReplyDeleteCoyne is NOT a Conservative, he has said so loud and clear...
secondly,
Coyne is/was a HUGE supporter of Dion.
If I remember correctly Coyne had an elect Dion blog.
Wilson,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, he IS a Conservative; he's been pushing CPoC Reform party issues for about two decades. He's less nutty than most, but still...
Secondly, I recall no such pro-Dion website. He origonally expressed some admiration for Iggy, but went off him after the whole Israeli warcrimes thing. Are you sure you're thinking of the same guy?
As bright and as sensible as Coyne is, like all the rest of the sensible Conservatives, I fault them for not marginalising the wackos forcefully enough.
ReplyDeleteLike Wilson, for example. Why do these people persist in making shit up? What is it about the modern Conservative apparat that prefers to indulge their marginals, rather than correct them and guide them?
If there is a God, Coyne will abandon journalism...
ReplyDelete