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Blog of Adam Daifallah -- author, journalist, law student. Lover of politics, writing, golf, curling, fitness, fashion, bacon and maple products -- not necessarily (but probably) in that order. Partisan of the Anglosphere. Contact me via email at adam@daifallah.com. This summer I am joined by Keir Wilmut and Omar Soliman.
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
A conservative icon steps down
I have a signed piece in today's National Post on the retirement of William F. Buckley Jr. from National Review:
Some 50 years ago, a man named William F. Buckley Jr. started a magazine. The son of a wealthy oilman, the Yale-educated Buckley represented the vanguard of the fledgling political movement we now recognize as modern conservatism. Buckley had first made a mark in 1951 with his controversial book God and Man at Yale. But the founding of National Review in 1955 earned him his standing as one of the most important public intellectuals of the 20th century.
read on... (sorry, subscribers only)
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 8:06 AM
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Sober second thoughts
Actually, not much to add from last night. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa. Ontarians chickened out -- again. Total aversion to risk seems to have become embedded in the Canadian (especially central Canadian) psyche. Why? Why go with the devil you know? When that devil is scandal-tainted and corrupt? I don't get it.
Oh, and pollsters suck.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:49 AM
Un-sober first thoughts
Well, I was wrong, but then again, so were most of the people I know and trust and respect, and all of this country's major polling firms, so I don't feel too bad. So here are some likely irrational, incoherent, emotion-based first thoughts on what happened tonight:
-We are headed for major national unity problems. The West is going to be FURIOUS about this. Preston Manning said as much on Global TV tonight.
-Obviously, the fact that the Conservatives had absolutely no momentum for the past 10 days had a major impact. On Saturday I wrote: "I've had the sense in the last few days that undecideds are increasingly breaking Liberal." Ever since Harper publicly mused about a majority, which was followed by the child porn gaffe, which was followed by various other problems, culminating with Randy White's anti-Charter comments on the weekend, a lot of available votes were driven away.
-I think we will see that the women vote killed the Tories. They were scared by the Grits' fearmongering.
-The Conservatives failed to take off the gloves when they needed to. Where was the ad with the spinning Paul Martin morphing into Dalton McGuinty? The cookie jar didn't cut it. Too much Mr. Nice Guy.
I'm dead. More tomorrow.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:53 AM
Monday, June 28, 2004
Election day
Colby Cosh has a very good running commentary for election day, including a compendium of various pundits' seat projections. Read it, then GET OUT AND VOTE!
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:09 AM
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Election prediction
Here is my prediction for seat totals, as posted at Across the Board a couple of days ago:
"I think the undecideds will break Conservative (if they were going to go with the status quo -- the Liberals -- they wouldn't still be undecided at this point) and conservative parties generally do better on election day than in polls leading-up to it.
My prediction is that the Conservatives win the popular vote, 35-29. Seat count:
Conservatives 129
Liberals 99
Bloc 55
NDP 23
Ind. 2 (Jim Pankiw in SK, Chuck Cadman in BC)
In this circumstance, even a Liberal/NDP alliance would not be able to form a government, leaving the Conservatives in power and forcing them to forge ad hoc coalitions with the Bloc. It will be an interesting next few months."
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 11:28 PM
Joe Clark endorses Anne McLellan
Saturday, June 26, 2004
The Connection
Foot-in-Mouth Watch #5: The final installment?
Yesterday Paul Martin trotted out footage from an obscure and yet-to-be-released documentary showing Conservative MP Randy White disparaging the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. White says the Conservatives wouldn't hesitate to use the notwithstanding clause more frequently, not just to protect traditional marriage.
Honestly, I don't undestand what the fuss is about. I don't find these remarks too incriminating. And I highly doubt White would be in any decision-making authority in a Harper government. But the comments (or at least, the timing of their release) is bad news for the Conservatives. I've had the sense in the last few days that undecideds are increasingly breaking Liberal. The Tories have been devoid of any momentum for at least a week now. This may continue that trend.
Of course, Liberals MPs have said much the same thing as Mr. White. One, as Paul Wells helpfully points out, is wingnut MP Roger Gallaway. But the Canadian media ignores this, just as they always do.
As I said at the beginning of the campaign, there was sure to be numerous verbal blowups by Conservative candidates that would get reported in the national media. Controversial comments by other parties would be given a bye. That's what's happened. The only exception to this, so far as I can tell, has been inconsequential Edmonton NDP candidate Malcolm Azania. Quelle surprise.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 11:26 AM
Friday, June 25, 2004
Buckets o' fun
The Toronto production of Hairspray, which I witnessed last night, is two-and-a-half hours of pure fun. That's the best way to describe it. As a long-time fan of the 1980s movie, I had high hopes for this production and they were met. Is it a bit hokey? Yes. Is it campy? Of course. But I wasn't expecting anything else. Great casting, too.
Sorry blogging has been light. Very busy week. And still recovering.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 8:03 AM
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Crapshoot
Over at Across the Board, the blog of the National Post editorial board, board members (myself included) are weighing in with their election predictions.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 4:03 PM
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
National papers endorse today
Lord Black on the election
Conrad Black has an oped in today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required) concerning the Canadian federal election. Not much novel information is presented, but it is a useful synopsis of what's going on for the otherwise unegaged American public.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 7:48 AM
Major PR coup for Harper
I haven't seen the Star, but both the Post and the Globe are fronting a big picture of Harper throwing out the first pitch at yesterday's Toronto Blue Jays game. Luckily for him, he didn't botch the pitch. If he had, it could have been a media disaster. Kudos to him for taking the risk.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 7:40 AM
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Back to your regularly scheduled programming
Time to get back to work. So, the election is proceeding apace. The Grits are up, the Tories are down. I wouldn't read much into it. Polls, shmolls. It's still basically a statistical dead heat as we head into the home stretch.
Harper has to refocus. I was not here to witness it, but it was definitely not a good weekend for the Tories. They have to get back in control of the dialogue. They have to start attacking Martin with increased vigor. Martin is brilliant right now: he's been a different man since the English debate. And the new Liberal attack ads, likening Harper to Mike Harris and Brian Mulroney, are going to be effective, I think.
Stephen Harper must come out swinging, and hard. Openly musing about a Conservative majority was a mistake. It turned off the voters who are only voting Tory to punish the Liberals. Harper must get back on his game and remind people why the Liberals deserve the boot. Goodness knows there are plenty of worthy reasons. If he is able to do that, and remind Candians why a change of government is necessary to clean up the swamp in Ottawa, he will succeed.
PS -- Tragic about Phil MIckelson Sunday at the Open. It would have been great to see him take the first two majors of the season.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 3:37 PM
Monday, June 21, 2004
Vegas!
We're back....and in one piece! Barely, though. Awesome weekend.
 Me, Greg, Jay, and John at our hotel.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:16 AM
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Forget the election for another moment
Today is Round One of golf's U.S. Open, which is being played at the storied Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in the Hamptons. My picks and their odds:
Ernie Els 3-1
Sergio Garcia 5-1
Phil Mickelson 10-1
Tiger Woods 20-1
Mike Weir 25-1
I'll try to watch a bit from my hotel room. Yup, a little long-anticipated weekend retreat with my buddies is about to begin. (I know the timing is unfortunate, but it's been scheduled for a long time.)
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:55 AM
Forget the election for a moment
Soulpepper, Canada's finest theatre company, has done a magnificent job with their rendition of Beckett's Waiting for Godot, which I saw this evening. I'll admit that absurdist theatre is an acquired taste, and I'm not really a big fan of the genre, but this was really good. Especially William Hutt. If you're in Toronto at all this summer, I suggest taking in one of Soulpepper's shows. Andrew isn't the only talented Coyne around.
UPDATE: Indefatigable National Post arts reporter and friend J. Kelly Nestruck, a much better judge of things theatre than I, is similarly impressed with the production.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:32 AM
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
If you care what I thought of the English debate....
...my views have changed on it quite since its conclusion at 10:00 PM ET and now. At its conclusion, I thought Layton had done the best, struck the most blows and attacked Martin and Harper both quite effectively.
But after some sober second thought, I now think Jack Layton was just being Jack Layton, and people don't really like it. He comes across as orchidaceous, turgid and over-the-top. He may get some support from the Libs, but it will be minimal. Even his own supporters seem conflicted. My immediate post-debate thoughts were that Martin and Layton were best, followed by Harper and Duceppe. I thought Harper was too meek.
I still think Martin did well. Certainly better than I had expected. He was punchy and agressive, but maybe too much so. Harper was calm and collected. That seems to be what people want. All of the post-debate network polls, as Andrew Coyne notes, show that the normal people assembled for these focus group things think Harper did best.
There was no clear "winner." But I now think that because Harper didn't lose, he may have won. The chances of the Liberals salvaging this election at this point are looking pretty bleak.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:15 AM
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
If you care what I thought of the French debate....
...here are some thoughts. (Disclaimer: I watched the whole thing in French on CBC's French station without the live translation. I wanted to see if I could still remember the language. I seem to have been able to follow OK, but I'm sure some stuff slipped passed me.)
-- I don't believe there was a clear "winner." But Martin was clearly on his game. He looked better and more confident. He is a strong French speaker and had the boilerplate down pat.
--Duceppe, unsurprisingly, performed well and had the best command of the language. He was punching on two fronts, against Harper and Martin, and executed both well. Effective (albeit intellectually dishonest) fear-mongering on abortion against Harper.
--Jack Layton was Jack Layton.
--Harper held his own, but was the least skilled French speaker. I also think he could have responded to Duceppe with points other than "Quebec needs people at the Cabinet table."
That's all. It wasn't too exciting.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 12:16 AM
Monday, June 14, 2004
Broadbent campaign broke the law?
The Conservative Party is accusing the Ed Broadbent campaign of breaking campaign finance laws with the Ed’s Back rap video.
According to the Conservative Party statement, the complaint is that the video “may have been paid for through indirect campaign contributions, in direct violation of federal election spending laws.” My understanding is that the video was created by the CBC program “This Hour Has 22 Minutes” but was deemed too partisan or unfair to Broadbent’s opponents, and thus never broadcast.
If the Conservatives are right, though, and the cost of producing the video is over the (in my view much too low) $1,000 campaign donation limit, this could be a serious blow to his campaign. It would also reflect poorly on Broadbent’s campaign advisors and workers.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 4:34 PM
A U.S. perspective on the election
A friend was visiting on the weekend from Washington, D.C. This person works for a member of the Bush administration cabinet, so it was a particularly good time for him to visit because of the ongoing election campaign. He had some interesting perspectives on it all. Two comments that I remember off the top of my head:
1. He could not believe the low quality of the campaign ads, especially the new Liberal hit job attempting to scare voters about Stephen Harper. The ad is far too busy, attempting to spew out too much information in too short a time, he said. It is rushed and overwhelming, leaving the listener with no memorable sound-bite. (My friend also thought the ad was outdated and unoriginal in its style, calling it something he'd have seen in U.S. elections "circa 1985.")
2. He noted that the bar has been set far too high for Stephen Harper in the debates. The media has built Harper up in such a way that anything short of a stellar performance will be seen as a failure. Similarly, expectations for Martin have been so dumbed down that anything better than a flop will be seen as a good or even stellar effort.
This is someone with an outsiders's take who's been through a lot of campaigns, so his opinions are particularly valuable.
(As an aside, he could not believe how polite people here are. We attended a Blue Jays game yesterday, and when Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson was yanked from the game the crowd gave him a standing ovation. He said that would never happen in the U.S.)
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:58 AM
Saturday, June 12, 2004
The Bloc's demands
Despite the fact that Conservative leader Stephen Harper has stated unequivocally several times that he would not enter a coalition arrangement with the Bloc Quebecois, the new campaign strategy of Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe seems to be to go around telling reporters what he would and would not accept in such a coalition.
The other day, Duceppe was saying he would bolt if anything were done to derail the corporate welfare gravy train for Quebec's aeronautics industry (read: Bombardier.) Today, he's warning Harper not to tamper with "a woman's right to choose." (Despite the fact that Harper has no intention of changing abortion law.)
I'm not sure what's behind the strategy here for the Bloc. Perhaps its that they think unreasonable demands will bolster their standing with voters because the electorate will see that they are going to feather Quebec's nest. Maybe they want to hurt the Conservatives, although I wouldn't understand why.
One thing's for sure: If Stephen Harper wins a minority on June 28, he may have some difficulty maintaining power. Federal politics in this country is made up of one conservative and three ideologically left-of-centre parties. There's no natural coalition partner for the Conservatives on the scene.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 8:47 PM
Friday, June 11, 2004
What a proud day for Canada
Mulroney's eulogy was absolutely magnificent. (So was Thatcher's.) How I yearn for leaders like these again.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 6:46 PM
Thursday, June 10, 2004
The healing power of time
Reagan told Mr. Gorbachev to tear down that wall. And he did. What a picture today in Washington. Truly amazing.
(Reuters)
"I have seen it all, I have seen too much."
-- A League of Their Own
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:24 PM
Hot off the CP wire....
Monday, June 07, 2004
Foot-in-Mouth Watch #4: The return of Gallant
Good ol' Cheryl Gallant. Now there's a woman who knows how to massage a message! First, she puclicly muses about how the new hate crime bill would protect pedophiles. Now, she's out talking about how abortion is the same as the beheading of Nick Berg!
I know, I know: the Berg quote is a month old. And I know, I know, the media is going on a witch hunt for embarassing Conservative quotes. But Gallant is radioactive. If the Conservatives were smart they'd put her in a dark room for the rest of the campaign.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 10:14 PM
The Left's Reagan hatred takes no rest
Shortly after Pierre Elliott Trudeau died, Link Byfield, the then-publisher of Alberta Report, penned a particularly venomous article in the Globe & Mail about the deceased prime minister. I thought it was out of line. I vehemently dislike Trudeau too, and will never forgive him for the lasting damage he did to this country. But at the time I thought Byfield's piece was uncalled for: we ought not be slamming a former prime minister in such a mean-spirited way so soon after his death. It shows a lack of respect and tact.
Link Byfield's indiscretion was a rare one among pundits on the right. I wish I could say the same for the other side.
Today I am disgusted with the outrageous behaviour of certain leftists in the wake of Reagan's passing. Aside from so-called "blog terrorist," whose asinine lunatic ravings on this web site are more predictable than snow in winter, several leading pundits have weighed in with over-the-top invective against the Gipper.
The worst offender is Greg Palast, who I was unfamiliar with until he recently appeared as a guest on the now-defunct (thankfully) CBC program Counterspin. Palast calls Reagan a killer, coward, and conman, amongst other things.
Almost as bad is Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens is a brilliant polemicist, but it's tough to muster any outrage over this because it was so predictable. His "bash the dead" shtick is getting a little hackneyed. He did the same thing with Bob Hope and Mother Teresa. Give it up.
There are no doubt other examples of such inane claptrap on chat groups and websites like this, but they're not worth commenting on.
We are taught from a young age to not speak ill of the dead, or so I thought. Some people, I suppose, have no shame.
(Thanks to Drudge for the links)
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 6:38 PM
Sunday, June 06, 2004
Foot-in-Mouth Watch, #3
Next up the plate we have Cheryl Gallant, the Conservative MP for Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, most recently of "how's your boyfriend?" fame. (She hurled the comment at foreign affairs minister Bill Graham in the House of Commons a couple of years ago.)
Now Cheryl wants Bill C-250 repealed because it could, in her expert opinion, be used to protect pedophiles:
"The danger in having sexual orientation just listed, that encompasses, for example, pedophiles," Gallant said. "I believe that the caucus as a whole would like to see it repealed," she said.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with opposing C-250. I'm against it. But why draw the link to child molesters? Why say something so absolutely stupid? In the middle of an election campaign? Gallant needs to be muzzled for the rest of the campaign. If the Conservatives were smart they'd bar her from doing any interviews. She's a ticking time bomb and could explode again at any moment.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:57 PM
Saturday, June 05, 2004
RIP
Champion of freedom. Fighter of evil. Conservative hero.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 5:00 PM
Dust off the black armbands
Terrible news. I'll be mourning for at least a week.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 11:33 AM
Friday, June 04, 2004
Global Sunday
This Sunday I will be a guest on the TV program Global Sunday to discuss the state of Canada's military and the election. The show airs at 6:30 PM ET, but the panel I am on probably won't begin until around 6:45 pm. Tune in!
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 8:58 AM
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Foot-in-Mouth Watch, #2 (literally)
So the Harper campaign hit a little snag. Watch for this to be front page above the fold in the major dailies tomorrow:
Some idiot decided to punch a gay activist in the face at a Harper rally. This, combined with Harper's supposedly "controversial" remarks that he'd allow a free vote in parliament on abortion, made for a bad day for the Conservatives.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 11:56 PM
Say goodbye to the DCI
The resignation of George Tenet, the U.S. director of central intelligence, came not a moment too soon. Indeed, I am amazed he was allowed to resign and not fired. If anyone should have paid a price for the continual intelligence goof-ups over the past number of years -- especially 9/11 -- it should have been Tenet. No one has faced any consequences for 9/11, the Iraq WMD intel exaggeration or anything else. (Nor has anyone at the FBI, for that matter. Even after their botched handling of the investiation into the post-9/11 anthrax letters, Robert Mueller remains in place, and, as far as I know, they are still trying to devise a way to charge ex-Army bioweapons expert Stephen Hatfill.)
Whoever Bush decides to name to the post will have a tremendous burden to carry, and much confidence-building to do after the dismal performance of recent years. George Tenet will not be missed.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 7:35 PM
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Tory defence plan a step in right direction
Check out the text of what I said on Global National's The Last Word. Nothing exciting, but the point should be made. These proposals aren't anything drastic, just common sense.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:59 PM
Martin veers hard left
When Paul Martin was still finance minister, a political friend told me Martin would someday become one of the most leftwing prime ministers in history. The reason? Martin is remembered as a fiscal hawk as finance minister, and would want to shed that image as PM.
I didn't believe my friend. I thought he was crazy.
He wasn't.
Tomorrow Martin is going to unveil the most ultra-left, big government Liberal party platform since Trudeau the era.
Some highlights from leaks to the CP wire:
--8,000 new soldiers for "peace initiatives." Note the language: "peace initiatives." This is likely code for "we'll hire the bodies, but they won't be getting any new equipment."
--A quadrupling of funding for wind energy. I guess they want to suck in the Green Party vote? (said to be at around 5%)
--A national daycare program, which has been prmised by the Liberal in every election since 1993.
In total, $27-billion in new spending over the next five years. $27-billion!
There is an upside to this: there is going to be some real daylight between the parties on important issues. It is common to hear complaints about how all the parties are the same. Not so in this election.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 9:30 PM
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Defending Judith Miller
In response to the mea culpa Sunday by New York Times public editor Daniel Okrent relating to the Gray Lady's reportage leading up to the Iraq war,The New York Sun, a rival paper, has taken the unusual step of defending Times reporter Judith Miller in an editorial. As usual, the Sun asks questions others won't.
The Times management and other critics of the reporting by Ms. Miller and her colleagues seem to give Saddam the benefit of the doubt. Certain things just don’t add up. If Salman Pak was really a counterterrorism training camp, what were Egyptians doing there? Couldn’t Egypt get counterterrorism training from America? And with Saddam claiming that U.N. sanctions were starving his people, did he really need to spend money on mobile weather balloon trucks? Was Zarqawi’s block of cyanide salt for electroplating jewelry? Was the sarin shell accidentally waylaid? Did the biological weapons scientist just decide to take some work home with him at night?
The kind of information Ms. Miller and her colleagues were bringing in strikes us as highly newsworthy. It’s hard to imagine that after September 11 many Americans would be willing to stake their safety on the notion that Saddam’s forces and foreign fighters running around a passenger plane fuselage were engaged in “counter-terrorism” training. Or on the idea that Saddam’s trucks with chemical tanks were used to inflate “weather balloons.”Imagine how a newspaper would look if it buried that information — the sarin, the cyanide salt, the mobile labs, the plane fuselage, the botulinum — and an attack took place. It would be a journalistic and a national security error far worse than anything of which Ms. Miller or the Times have been accused.
It is unfortunate that the Times chose to specifically single out Judith Miller for her pre-war news stories. She is an excellent reporter of the highest quality and integrity and was only doing her job.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 8:57 AM
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