Great slam on the MSM. They continue to plod toward the great abyss of extinction. March on baby, march on.

If it wasn't so pathetic, it would be funny. I mean, when it comes to CBC we pay for this. All hail SDA and ward for inspiring Mr. Goldstein to run his colleagues up the flag pole for a salute.

Notice the significantly and demonstrably higher moral plane upon which Lorrie Goldstein operates. 99.9% of Canadian journalists would've just borrowed the idea without crediting commenter ward.

Reputations are earned, and LG just earned himself a little more credibility with readers who pay attention to these things.

Looks like the MSM haven't learned a thing since "Dewey Defeats Truman". Either that or the lieberal writers are on work to rule (pun intended).

Only 6,500 or so to go...

The MSM spin that the low voter turnout helped the Tories is utter hogwash. I argue that the voters that stayed at home were likely too content to bother getting out to vote for the "puppy". We should assume they like things the way they are at present. If we look at the results from that standpoint the Liberals and NDs got almost exactly the number of seats that the eligible voters gave them votes on a percentage basis (Libs - 11%, NDs - 3%). There is no argument in these results for proportional representation.

Lorrie, the most objective, accurate Journalist in Canada !!

The media is stupid and the Tories are sooo smart.

aa,

there is hope for you yet. You're learning. I didn't think a leftard was capable.

What? Your comment was a sarcastic, condescending illustration of your ignorance? Oh, well. Carry on being a leftard then.

Thanks to Ward and Goldstein - a super column. Oh, and thanks to kate as well; this shows the power of blogs.

aa...
First intelligent comment out of you yet. Keep up the good work!

Alberta has got change. 32 former MLAs are gone, and it will cost us about 8 million dollars. 32 new MLAs, with new ideas and expectations.
New, elected Premier.
Fewer liberals and ndp, that is also a change.
The change we wanted was to get rid of liberals and ndp. Mission accomplihed.
Still think Dion's smear of PMSH, had a lot to do with the Calgary vote going conservative.
Maybe we in AB can bash our government or PM but don't let anyone else try it.
Sort of like the brother that picks on his siblings, but heaven help anyone else that does it.

Nice shout out, Ward.

More proof that this blog is not only noticed, but inspiring.

It also exposes irrationally toxic leftists like aa, volic, et al. Perhaps the best online recruitment tools the Conservatives have at their disposal.

Once again Lorrie rakes over his 'peers' on their sloppy methods. Have to wonder if he gets shunned at the 'gatherings' for going against the flow.

There was one Alberta columnist who had the election result bang-on.

Neil Waugh of the Edmonton Sun recognized early on much of the whining against Stelmach was coming from the head offices of the Oiligarchy in Calgary.

He also stated months ago that Alberta voters appreciated Stelmach actually doing the job a government is supposed to do, and that's look after the interests of all Albertans.

Ralphie was good for Alberta, but willingly promoted the interests of the Oiligarchy.

The Edmonton Journal, or Ladies Home Journal, continued to promote the Liberal brand during February even when polls showed the sentiment was shifting to Stelmach's quiet dignity.

But then, the Journal has a history of not reflecting the will of the people.

Back when Peter Lougheed took 74 of 79 seats in 1979 (?), the Journal declared itself the official opposition.

Oh, well. It's their credibility now, not the voters' credibility. Of course, that can be justified by the smarmy elites, who will now attempt to portray Alberta voters as stupid.

For anybody with that ‘I'm smart and the majority is stupd' attitude, stupid is easy to find. Just look in the mirror.

One truth and one truth only.....the Lib/left in Alberta got its ass kicked good and proper. Nothing more needs to be said.

Acxtually Goldstein is a little off the cuff on this one too...he would have us think that Stelmach's seat victory is a vote of confidence in his leadership...I disagree...it is a reaffirmation that Albertans will take the PCs ( in any decrepit watered down form) than try Liberal/Dip economic/social policy...that's all...Eddie should not get a swelled head over this...many many Blue Alberta Tories forced themselves to the polls and voted reluctantly for PCs while holding their nose....Stelmach is not widely liked or accepted by either Blue or populist comservatives

WLM:

Yep, and the election results demonstrate just how much Albertans dislike him.

I like him because he's an average guy, like most Albertans. And, it was the middle class, average Albertan that voted him in.

Smarminess and pretentiousness took an ass-kicking this election.

CBC and other leftist MSM in Canada are slowly losing their influence and gravitas as the internet blogs and bloggers mature.

Now if Lorrie Goldstein could persuade Kate to do some conservative comments for the Sun Quebecor group to replace Greg Weston's leftist views, Canada would get s dose of Maggie Thatcher type views unheard of in this Dominion since Ma Murray in Lillooet British Columbia years ago.

Kudos to Kate. Now both the Post and the Sun are recognizing your talents.
I do, however, find it a little ironic that the CBC was the first to notice (CBC Roundtable).
All in all, well done.

I think there is a desire for change in Alberta. It's just that the Liberals did a terrible job of offering a palatable option. Indeed they offered the exact opposite of the types of changes that many long-time Conservative supporters were looking for.

Last time I checked the oil industry operates all across Alberta, not just in Calgary. This talk about an "oiligarchy" is a pile of crap. Calgarians voted pretty much the same way as the rest of the Province. Calgary is still very much a conservative, entrepreneurial city. People who move there generally have that mind-set as well.

Albertans didn't return the PCs to power because they are fond of Stelmach. They did so because the alternatives were far, far worse.

Balisarius:

What's your point?

Stelmach, obviously, was the best alternative and the Calgary head office Oiligarchy's viewpoint was rejected.

The voters have spoken and the people who didn't bother to vote don't matter anyway.

What's there not to like about a man who made an honest living as a farmer and whose style is a dignified humility?

Fondness? Albertans elected a premier based on his abilities to articulate a vision, not because he's make a good boyfriend, for Gawd's sake!

I can hardly wait for the next federal election...

SYF,

I still don't know what you mean by the "Calgary head office Oligarchy". The oil and gas industry operates across the province. Royalty tax hikes that cripple the gas industry effect them just as much as any suit at Encana. Of course the head office types will be the ones explaining their concerns, but that doesn't make it just a Calgary thing. If anything, just the opposite.

Stelmach's a nice guy. I like a lot of his policies. I voted for his party. But I still think they've moved too far to the left. What happened to the "Alberta Advantage" and the idea that money is better kept in the hands of citizens than given to government?

The msm and the stupid professors like Keith Brownsey and his ilk can't seem to understand Albertans don't think day to day we think long term, like setting up a legacy for our childrens children, something the idiots that put pen to paper will never understand. Like Ann Coulter said "for liberals history begins every morning". The reporters we have nowdays are so far left they continually try to start a story that will defame Harper? Bush or any other right of center thinking polititian because of their schooling and their brain disorder called liberalism. These are the same people that run to a man like Fred Ketchum from Scotia Macleod for his analogy of what the markets are doing without remembering his advice to back up the truck for a load of Nortel when it had fallen from 100 to 18.50 and went further . They have no memory these fools.

Belisarius:

Oil is one of the facets of the Alberta economy, not the most important.

The illusion of the Oiligarchy's self-importance came from the willing compliance of Ralph Klein to look the other way when it came to defending the interests of all Albertans.

Just accept the fact that the majority of voters have no beef with the direction Stelmach is taking in doing what Ralphie was not doing what he was not doing for the last two years of his regime.

It's one person, one vote in Alberta and the premise floated by Calgary's head office towers that Stelmach had moved too far to the left was soundly rejected by the voter.

I suppose if somebody comes out with a plan after two years of do-nothing and it actuallly costs money to do these things, that can be wrongly interpreted as a move to the left.

During that same time frame, I heard nothing from Calgary's head offices volunteering to help the average Albertan.

That's because businesses's role is to make a the most money possible for their shareholders. Like it or not, the government's role is to regulate and figure out how to meed the infrastructure needs of the general populace.

Stelmach's royalty regime was more symbolic than anything and the squawkiing by the OIlgarchy which was dutifully recorded by the Calgary MSM created a delusion that the general populace was in agreement with them.

Turns out that was false and the Oilgarchy will have to accept its place as part of the Alberta landscape, rather then it's delusional self-importance.

I appreciate the contribution of Big Oil to making Alberta the best place in the world to live, but what gain would Albertans have if the state continued to be in cahoots with the oil industry, much like it is under the direction of Putin in Russia?

SYF - Stelmach's royalty regime was more symbolic than anything

Not true. I have a relative who works as an accountant for a small gas exploration company. She ran the numbers and quickly calculated that the new royalty regime was going to make the business uneconomical in Alberta. Since the industry typically plans 2 years in advance, the announced changes started having an immediate impact. A great deal of Alberta industry has moved east and west. Another friend of mine is a truck driver, and today he is hauling most of his loads in Saskatchewan.

The oil industry was impacted less due to the high price of crude and the fact that the basin is pretty much tapped out. The oil sands are what remain and they continue to be profitable.

he premise floated by Calgary's head office towers that Stelmach had moved too far to the left was soundly rejected by the voter.

No, the policies of the even more left-leaning Liberals and NDP are what was rejected. Most people voted for the party they disliked the least. The media wasn't completely out to lunch when they reported a great deal of dissatisfaction with the PCs. They just didn't understand that it wouldn't translate into votes for the other parties.

Bel:

The fact remains that Stelmach was the only viable option.

As such, it once again proved that predicting future events is a mug's game.

Of course, oil company bosses could panic their employees about how they would lose their jobs with a royalty regime that was less severe than the LIberals and the NDP.

The MSM, as suggested by this thred, believed that the change Albetans wanted was an even more severe royalty regime.

Turned out to be more wishful thinking than fact and is a great credibility blow to many.

The best course for these fortune-telling wannabies, of course, is to do some self-examination as to how they could have been so wrong. But, their arrogance will not allow that since they cannot bring themselves to admit they were wrong ... so they have to thrash about placing blame on somebody else.

It's as old as human nature itself.

All I can say is I'm glad Albertans demonstrated they are not extremists, neither of state enterprise nor of unfettered capitalism.

The fact remains that Stelmach was the only viable option.

No question about that. And I have to say, Stelmach exhibited a certain genius in making sure not to piss off any group in Alberta so much that it cost him votes!

Not the first time he's been underestimated...

Hey, check out this rant by socialist nutcase Werner Patels of Calgary. According to him, and in his mind he's one of Canada's finest pundits (LOL), the Tories won the election because Albertans are uneducated, illiterate, only interested in beer and hockey and therefore communicate in grunts. You really have to read this to believe it.

http://www.wernerpatels.com/2008/03/alberta-elect-1.html

Ward has made a lot of worthy comments at sda.

Kudos to Kate also. Many laughted when she launched sda, but I think her intent all along was to give Canadians, and others, a way of taking the media to task.

Proof also, that truth and integrity will always prevail in the end over corrupt back room political party hacks whose power is dependent on a compliant media. No more.

My vote this week( boy oh boy is it tough to choose just one) for the coveted Canadian Moron Hall of Fame is:

Werner Patels

and I quote:

"Columnist and writer Roy MacGregor has also identified another problem with Albertans: They lack education big time. They seem more interested, according to MacGregor, in hockey, beer and drugs than politics or elections. MacGregor has hit the nail on the head: One only has to observe the average Calgarian, for example, to see that what they really care about is their next supply of beer (usually in cases of 24) and drugs as well as hockey, for which they will even call in sick if that is the only way for them to hang out in a bar and watch a silly hockey game on a big-screen TV in the daytime on a weekday.

When the rate of illiteracy in Alberta is hovering near 50 per cent, it is not surprising that so many Albertans think that a brutal and brainless non-sport like hockey is more important than democracy. But since those same people have already reduced most of their communicative skills to caveman-like grunts, rather than actual words, it is not entirely clear that there is still hope.

Ed Stelmach may consider his victory on Monday a landslide and take it as Albertans' expression of confidence in his party and leadership skills, but he should not deceive himself: the vote was one born of ignorance, lack of education and illiteracy, which makes the Tories the party of choice for any Albertan who suffers from any of these three conditions. That, and nothing else, is the verdict flowing from Monday's vote."

TimR:

Kinda predictable, don't you think?

If the results do not agree with a person's expectations, the reason is that those people must be stupider, not as evolved, whatever.

sour grapes, the well meaning liberals just want to get their hands on all that cash, and do some real tax and spend

Excellent work (play?) Kate.

Ohoh.....I just hope Lorrie doesn't get a late night call from WK threatening him with the HRC for mentioning that b*&*^es name in his column and even giving out her WEBSITE!!!...hehehehe. Otherwise....serious kudos Kate and Ward.

you want to aspire to work for the

national broadcaster (cbc)

or settle for the teachers union broadcaster (ctv)

how else are you going to be the gg?