"Where else would you go when you have an ax to grind?"

Saturday, April 30, 2011

SUN gives Jack a happy ending

Much is being made by the usual suspects of this clumsy smear job on Layton by the Toronto Sun.
Give that story a very careful, very close reading and realize it is built entirely on a single unnamed source, contains no evidence of anything and is built largely on innuendo.
Layton was never charged or even arrested and there is not even any direct accusation in the story that he did anything he should not have done. He openly admits that he went to get a massage at the apparently fully-licenced massage establishment. Something lots of people do every day. There is nothing sleazy about getting a massage. The only suggestion of anything untoward in the story is the unidentified, retired Toronto cop claiming that the establishment in question was thought to be a bawdy house by the Toronto police (who, of course, have never been wrong about anything or abused their powers for political ends, ever, especially back then).
And with the incident having occurred 16 years ago, it seems awfully convenient that the SUN would, wholly by coincidence, choose to run with the story two days before the election. Given what we know about the overlap in CPC strategists and SUN employees, what are the odds the Conservative Party of Canada will somehow be found to have been involved in the release of this information if someone wants to pursue it hard enough?
How's that for innuendo?
You know what the difference is?
What the SUN would like you to believe happened - that Proletarian Jack had his means of production seized -  is a bit skeevy, but if his wife doesn't care, then why should we? It is ancient history and has no bearing on how he would govern.
What I have speculated about is recent, sinister, unethical, unprincipled, corrupt, possibly even criminal and certainly indicative of the kind of sleazy politics of character assassination the CPC has been engaging in for years. And it is more likely to be true.
I don't say any of this as any particular fan of Jack Layton. I'm fairly agnostic about the NDP in the general scheme of things. I like them better than the Conservatives, but I don't think they are going to singlehandedly usher in some kind of golden age where we all gather round singing The Internationale, nor do I think they will start nationalizing the banks and sending anyone who isn't a union member to re-education camps or anything like that.
But this kind of malicious smear campaign based on smirking innuendo should piss off anyone who values the truth, and I think that includes most Canadians. I apologize for the puns, but this kind of thing rubs Canadians the wrong way and the backlash might just be enough to turn a few close seats and give the NDP the hand it needs to give the country a happy ending.


http://www.wikio.com

3 comments:

The Mound of Sound said...

Sorry Rev but it's based on a good deal more than "one source." Jack's wife, Olivia Chow, has confirmed it. She has told some news outlet that Jack told her about being contacted by police concerning the subject massage parlour.

Coming out now, however, certainly has the appearance of a deliberate smear job.

Rev.Paperboy said...

She confirmed to the sun, as did her husband via his lawyer, the single fact in the story - that he was there getting a massage when the cops came in. Everything else is innuendo and speculation.

Anonymous said...

Good grief!!! I have old sports and car accident injuries. I have been sent to a massage clinic many times, to get rid of painful muscle spasms. Now that i am retired, i will still have to go, for the rest of my life.

Anything the media propaganda machine out of BC says, take it with an entire salt shaker. They are a disgrace to their professions. They were sickening, backing up a monster like Campbell.

No doubt the media in the east, are pro Harper.

Dictators rule by threats. No government ads and such, for TV media and newspapers. It depends what the media are willing to sell their souls for. sometimes, it isn't much.