If You Can't Say Anything Nice...

In the middle of all this mess about Helena Guergis and Rahim Jaffer, which frustrates me and at the same time reminds me that politicians can be stupid and about as quick to react as a teen asked to clean his room (he said from experience), Liberal and official opposition leader Michael Ignatieff had this to say (in the same article, at the bottom):

"This isn't fun because it casts aspersions on the political class and I'm a member of the political class."

He said more, of course, but I single this out because it offends me and reminds me of why so many people have trouble thinking of themselves as Liberal voters right now, even if that's the way they normally lean. No, Michael, you're not a member of the "political class." Just the fact that you think there is such a class tells me that you are, as your opponents suggest, sitting somewhere with your head in the clouds and paying no attention to the goings-on in the world around you. But please pay attention now: although we don't pride ourselves on it quite as much as the US, we live in what is ostensibly a classless society. Although money and power can get you things you may otherwise never be able to reach, being a politician is not, or should not be, the be-all and end-all. Being a politician should not be a final goal for anyone, which unfortunately is what is suggested by this statement. Instead, it should be about serving the greater good. Sadly, the moment a politician starts to think about him or herself as being part of a certain class, that's the moment he or she decides they're owed their living, and should be allowed to stay there as long as they want.

If I had to define his statement, the word I'd use today would be "classless."

Labels: Canada, politics