Press Queries About The BC Rail 'Problem' Catch Up To Christy Clark In Cowboy Country
Or.....
To be more specific, Merritt.
This time it's Dean Morrison, in the Merritt Herald, that turns away from the rest of the proMedia
herd*:
Christy Clark has come out of the gate running, with polling putting her clearly in front of other B.C. Liberal contenders for the coveted position of Premier of our province.
Unfortunately for Clark the B.C. Rail problem is not going away.....
{snippety doodle-dandy}
...For a party heralding itself on making B.C. safe for investment once again, I have to wonder how any potential investors in government projects truly feel about putting in costly and time consuming bids if it is perceived to be all for show — the investor with the heaviest suitcase full of money or closest ties having already secured the contracts.
For Clark it is in her best interests to state repeatedly that justice has been served and the only people still concerned are crack-pots and political rivals but maybe this just goes to show how politically out of touch she really is as she reaches for that brass ring.....
Now.
A few days ago I wondered aloud if Ms. Clark's strate(r)gy to run for the hills and court a more compliant regional press would buy her the time needed for all this unpleasantness to blow over.
Clearly, it looks like that most progressive of pundit-avoidance ploys may be back-firing.
Which, in my opinion at least, is a good thing.
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*By my count that brings the number of renegade proMedia runners to three....Mr. Willcocks in the V-TC....Mr. Smyth in The Province..... and now Mr. Morrison in the MHerald....I guess it just goes to show that when the Dean's away the herd really may stray....
Meanwhile, over at Mr. Tsakumis' place, where the proprietor has now taken to comparing himself to Woodstein and his source(s) to Mark Felt, there is a new set of 'Memos' up. ..... As I noted previously, Mr. T. has presented a reasonable body of evidence to suggest that the memos may have been written by Mr. David Basi himself....I also noted, however, that, regardless, one must be very careful to consider Mr. Basi's ability, or, more to the point, lack thereof, to act as a reliable narrator of his own story....There is also the issue of how little was actually really new in the initial batch of memos despite the voluminous, not to mention vociferous, commentary that the good Mr. Tsakumis provided alongside them .....However, in the Memo #7 (or the third of the latest 'release') there is something interesting and potentially new, which is the issue of how important the 'tax pools' appear to have been to everyone involved back in the Fall of 2003....Why is this, if true, interesting and new?....Well, it would move the timeline on what we previously dubbed the 'Tax Credit Default Swap' crisis up by about six months.....Ultimately, this became the insurance policy that CN Rail took out when it 'bought' the old BC Rail's (in our opinion mostly bogus) 'debt' as a tax dodge. The insurance, which we the people of BC provided at inflated interest rates, was apparently critical for getting the deal nailed down when it was jeopardized at the last minute when then [and still!] Premier Gordon Campbell suddenly started insisting, for political reasons in the public prints, that the deal was a lease and not a sale ( the point of the insurance being that the Feds might not grant CN a tax write-off on the debt if CN did not actually 'own' it)....Given all that, it is important to realize that CN Rail still holds that insurance policy, and that it has grown in size, at compounded interest, ever since the deal was sealed in the summer of 2004. As a result, we the people of British Columbia (ie. not Mr. Campbell or his cronies), are currently potentially on the hook for all of it, to the tune of more than $600 million dollars.....All of which has us wondering.....Why the heckfire is no one talking about that bit of fiscal (ir)responsibility?...And of course, some of us are also wondering who brokered that insurance deal and strapped those egregious usurious interest rates on our (ie. not their) backs?
Oh, and given the header to this post, we would be remiss if we didn't point you back towards.....this.
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20 comments:
At the risk of making someone angry and say this reply is very nearly actionable (which is like very nearly pregnant, one surmises) as someone did at Ian Reid's blog...
My immediate reaction when I read the first blog post is that he kind of oversold the thing. Like way, way oversold the thing. Like, there's no there, there.
Then my suspicious mind started to ask if this was someone's nefarious plot to spike the scandal altogether; play up the documents so that once people read them, CClark can turn around and say "even after all this effort, they still can't hang the smoking gun on me."
Or am I just missing my tinfoil hat?
Tony--
I think it may be advisable to keep stacks of tinfoil blankets close at hand at all times now that this has become an issue where there could be big political hay to be made by all kinds of interested parties who may, or may not, be working at cross purposes and/or interests.
And while I don't believe it is actionable, it is, in my opinion, worth remembering that sometimes even tinfoil makers themselves need a little 'strategic advice'.....
Ha!
Ross, first thanks for Martha and the Vandellas, I remember so well because I was trying to find such a place back then, to hide I mean.
That picture of Christy is precious, look at those eyes, they have a certain Bornman resemblance don't you think? not someone to leave the kid's with whilst you and the wife get away for a little exploring!
Poor Christy is stuck, she knows the public wants her to say,I am innocent so lets have an inquiry to prove it but she can't poor thing.
Good to see another journalist looking toward the light. I expect more will follow suit, I expect anyday to hear Bill Good screaming they lied to him just like everybody!!
Take Care
Don
Ross that anonymous should have read Don F.
Don--
Interesting issue you raise.
I wonder what the tipping point will be that gets the entire herd running downhill in one direction.
And even more interesting, if it does happen, will be to watch and see who doesn't head down into the valley will all the others.
For what it's worth, at this point, my money, even at relatively short odds, would be on the good Mr. Baldrey.
As for the even gooder Mr. Good?
Well, I don't think it really matters because, to paraphrase what the great James Wolcott once said about American Newsreader Judy Woodruff, "Every time the wind musses his hair, he loses his train of thought."*
_________
*Railroad pun entirely, of course, intended
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Michael Smyth, this morning, is also calling for a SNAP election. Don't these people, those that think that with a snap of the fingers Elections BC can roll out a full blown election for the whole of the Province, is impossible. Yes, Elections BC is going through the hiring process, as we speak, but its for the HST initiative which is slated for September 2011.
http://www.theprovince.com/opinion/Chong+recall+will+fizzle+year/4018227/story.html
I sure hope Iron Mikey doesn't pull a groin doing the splits while he tries to simultaneously run both with and against the herd.....
Sheesh.
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I will never forget that Christy Clark was once Minister of Children and Families. She supported Campbell decimating and eroding the one ministerial source of support vulnerable children in BC had. Thanks to her - and others - neglect, children suffered and died. She is evil, as far as I'm concerned, and must never be in charge of anything. Stick to being a radio talk show blatherer, Christy. You've got the soul for it.
Anon-Above--
I, too, remember Ms. Clark's time as the Minster of that particular portfolio.
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Soooo.......Let's just say the progressively Fedlib connected Christy Clark pulled off a win, would the HarperCons pull a stunt like.....ohhh maybe disallowing the tax claim and activating the indemnity to punish the great unwashed even further, especially if we veto(however-recall or vote in legislature) their precious HST?? They(BC libs) are already setting up offices to help us totally understand what we know isn't good for us really is. Even though latest stats say that inflation in BC is 2.2%, which is higher than the rest of Canada at 2%. I guess some of us just don't understand when we have to spend more to get less.
cfvua--
Your question is certainly worth pondering, and perhaps even worrying about, especially if, say, it turns out that a certain batch of memos were passed on to a certain blogger by someone with FedCon connections....
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Question for Chairman Secretary Associate Assistant of State for HST John Les....Is an office to promote and advise folks about the alleged benefits of the wonderfully sensational beneficial revenue neutral HST appropriate use of land subject to the ALR and if not would it be reasonable to think that land could be removed from said ALR for that purpose? Or should we get an assistant to see if they can get it done? I know, I know, off topic, but just curious. Is promoting..err informationing HST subject to HST?? Is it expensive and who will pay???
cfvua--
I know it was a serious set of superb slightly off topic questions, but....
I, for one, am still laughin'.....
Seriously.
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"Meanwhile, over at Mr. Tsakumis' place, where the proprietor has now taken to comparing himself to Woodstein and his source(s) to Mark Felt, there is a new set of 'Memos' up."
That would be the modern day iteration of Woodstein, the one whose tongue is so far up the ass of whoever is in power that he can't speak, but only type!
Also the uncouth one would earn more respect from all quarters if he wasn't so concerned with denigrating everyone else and self-promoting his own "luck" at having these suspect and self serving documents at his disposal.
I see it all as an anti-Christy campaign, which I am fine with. However, as a dedicated Con(delete the Progressive part and think HarperCon) the man in question seems to have a pro-Falconater agenda that he conveniently neglects to mention. And even though the Falconater may not have been as intimately involved in the skullduggery surrounding the BC Rail theft, he did after all replace the terminally tainted Judith Reid in Transportation and participate willingly, if not with passion in the following (and continuing) cover-up!
The non-gentleman lost my respect when he referred to Mary and Laila as "douches!" As you yourself pointed out Ross, Mary has done yeoman's duty for years now at compiling and archiving everything BC Rail and actually not that many revelations from the so-called Basi Memos are really new thanks to Mary's efforts over the years - though they may be being presented as new by the previously head in the sand media.
I would be sorry to the heart if, Alex Tsakumis would say such things of Laila and BC Mary. Both of them, I am sure spent hours upon hours, of the hard work of research, on their blogs. Laila's sea to sky highway scam blog, had to be weeks of work. BC Mary covering, the corrupt sale of the BCR trial, ill or not, she did it for the BC people. Bill Tielman, works his butt off too, on many projects, fight HST and recall strategies. So does Koot, Rafe Mair, all of you do. A.G.T, must also spend a whole lot of his time, on research. We everyday politically challenged people, rely heavily on, all of the bloggers, for truth and honesty. I couldn't even begin to, know where and how to do, all the difficult research. Leave all of the infighting, to the NDP and the BC Liberals. We need all of you bloggers, to run the BC Liberal government, totally out of our province.
Fine comments Anon-Above.
However, one of the things I do find most compelling about the blogosphere is that it can be self-correcting. But for that to happen people do need to be held accountable for their words and deeds.
Regardless, we should all aspire to that which you suggest.
Thanks.
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RossK,
The thing I find interesting about AKG's work is that he's the only one doing some digging and coming up with stuff that raises more questions about one of the dodgiest politicians in BC. Sure he has motives. Who doesn't?
Take today's post. The material, available in the court records, paints a picture of a highly involved BCRail player. That's the exact opposite of what Clark's been saying for years. And we should acknowledge that Tsakumis is doing the work to expose that.
"Oct. 30, 1938: The Martians Have Landed in New Jersey!"
You're too young to remember hearing this, on air, RossK, but when I heard it, I thought Orson Wells had all the proof he needed to convince me that the Martians had landed.
AKG's spin on his blog is so much like Orson Wells. There's no proof, other than AKG's that the documents are real.
.... he must be getting something for his memos.
Ian--
I have no problem with motives or bias - as long as one is up front about it.
There is also the matter of the abject bullying, which is what I was talking about above.
Point taken about the digging however.
_____
Ahhhh Anon--
A fine, fine point.
Thanks.
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Ian, I would hardly say AKG (sic) is the only one doing any digging about issues in BC. There are BC Mary, North Van Grumps, Laila, even our fine host here who regularly discover interesting things and share them with their readers. Then there are those like Robin Mathews and the Citizen from Room 54 who attended the BC Rail Trial more faithfully than much of the so-called media and in Robin's case, in spite of the refusal to allow accreditation, more than either judge and likely more often than Wild "not so often there" Bill Berardino.
As far as I know the new hero of the bloggosphere didn't attend a single hearing or court date of the BC Rail so-called Trial. Also my reading of the story of the "Basi Files" is that they were delivered to the tatooed Jimmy Olsen, and he didn't have to use a shovel to find them at the bottom of a hole.
Of course the folks mentioned above don't shamelessly bloviate about their greatness, tend to not feel the need to denigrate everyone else from Julian Assange to BC Mary nor seem as dedicated to the ultimate survival and success of the BC Liberals under the right/reich bird brained leader. Anyone who doesn't toe the A** line is nothing more than a left wing, hippie, NDP loving, pacifist, vegetarian, poverty pimping, hollyhocking (whatever that is) pinko idiot! And BTW, an NDP government would be a fate equivalent to death........
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