The Quotable Rex Murphy

Happy am I that the opposition leaders are meeting, and count me among those who favour the December Blackjack date. If the House has lost confidence in the government, it is infinitely ridiculous to continue the charade for sycophantic reasons.

The inimitable Rex has a similar message in his Saturday column this week, notable for its eminent quotability. Amazing how the random tossing together of various words can prove so adeptly hilarious. To wit [emphasis added]:

Evidently it is so important that the mere idea of an election during Christmas, whatever its justification, is anathema. Like bingo at a funeral...

Hence the delirious dance going on in Parliament. The opposition parties are in a fever to trigger an earlier election than the one already pledged by Paul Martin, but are exercising every fatuous ingenuity not to wear the blame for a Christmas check with the voters. Santa coming down the chimney and Jack Layton at the front door at the same time is conceived as just too awesome for the Canadian elector...

So the opposition parties have a string of opportunities to act on their combined appreciation that the Liberals have no moral authority to govern. They have parliamentary opportunities to move no-confidence themselves, or vote down those crucial estimates.

And what do they do? They hedge. They bluster. Mostly, they talk about the horror of a Christmas election. No one wants to be "blamed" -- that is the word of choice -- for a "Christmas" election. Maybe they fear the hymns. After Gomery, any appeal to the angels is apt to be awkward...

They feel that there is the hope of a fractional advantage for each of them in the earlier vote. But they also know that most Canadians know this as well -- and that they are just as political in wanting to force the election a little earlier, as Mr. Martin is political in wanting to stick to his timetable.

So they cry principle even as they dream tactics. If their call for the government to resign were indeed a principle, then whether folks are running off to Canadian Tire to stock up on lights and toys for the kids would have no part in their judgments.

But because it really is all tactics, they are afraid to annoy Canadians. That is
the difference between tactics and principle. Principle insists that they go ahead anyway. Tactics includes measuring annoyance...

The decision facing the opposition leaders (I speak of Harper and Layton here) requires less concern over the optics of a seasonal vote. The question of confidence remains a simple one: has it been lost? When the answer is yes, the path forward is clear. Bring 'er down. And let the chips fall where they might. Especially as waiting only plays to Martin's advantage.