Sunday, October 31, 2004

Okay, the cynic was wrong

The headline news blare out the word that Ralph Klein's mother has passed on. Fair enough - the cynic in me wondered if just maybe Ralph's handlers had gotten ahold of him and convinced him it was time to vanish from the election before his tongue does any more damage to the Conservative campaign. I was apparently mistaken.

We'll have to see if Ralph returns to the campaign trail or not before Nov. 22. (I don't think he'll return much before the end of this week)

Of course, sad as it is, the passing of Ralph's mother doesn't change anything about the PC's under Ralph. Even if Ralph is absent from the campaign trail, we need to take a long, hard look at his government's record, and decide whether they have done what we need them to.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Timing is everything.

Ok. Ralph's mother died. Like taxes, it is something that happens to us all. We all have parents, and like them we are only here for a brief period of time.

Of course, it is sad when anyone loses a parent - but I get rather cynical when the 'rich and famous' lose a parent, have a child, get married or are sick - the media hounds jump on the story as if it were the second coming of Christ.

With Klein's mother's death so close to the election, it makes me wonder cynically if he KNEW that it was coming - perhaps the doctors had given her a few short weeks? Was this perhaps behind the timing of the election? Of course, none of us know when our time will come, but there are signs. Perhaps it was all orchastrated in a grand scheme looking for the public pity vote?

I guess my question arises out of our history with Ralph. For so long I have seen him wheel and deal; scheme and plot; and use everything to his own advantage - is nothing sacred? He slaughtered the sacred cow of our utilities prior to the LAST election - not because it was GOOD for albertans, but because it gave him a surplus to "refund" back to Albertans; a legal way of purchasing the vote.

This election, with his carefully crafted "questionaire" - you remember the one, it lead anyone filling it out around by the nose with carefully worded questions that could only be answered ONE way. Yes, yes, I understand - the Conservatives in this province really CARE about me. And my aging parents. And my nieces and nephews in the school system. And my health and wellbeing. I could go on and on, but to what point? It is not about me - the average Albertan; it is about the King and his cronies.

Ah, this reply is beginning to ramble, and reiterate all that is wrong in Alberta today. But, one last cynical point that I feel that I must make - how many "sympathy" votes will Ralph get because of his mother passing away?

MgS said...

Per se, it isn't illegal to purchase votes, merely immoral. Outside of certain limited spheres where being "moral" gets the politicians more votes, they aren't usually bothered by minor details such as bribery.

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