Thanks for posting this. Good wake up call.

This was on MDL,but it is not to be found on the ctv website. It is definetly not on cbc. Regan from Nova Scotia is saying that the media is unfair by highlighting Dion's physical impairment. Hopefully this won't be buried. I am so glad to see it up here.

Steve Murphy is still a world class PITB but I gotta give it to him and the local Halifax CTV folks. Most stations would not have aired that.

Post a link to it on every blog, newspaper forum, comment page and anywhere else.

Hilarious.
Frightening.
Bizarre.

I wonder if Conservative candidates get "do-overs" like Dion.

Its the fault of Stephen Harper who cuts funding for kids with Special Needs.

Dee evil Misteer Hapurr

In a battle of wits with Jack Layton, apparently Mr. Dion is unarmed.

I suggest he take a page from Mike Tyson's book and bite the interviewer's ear off for some instant street cred with Toronto's "youth" community.

To give the devil its due wallyj, MDL can be up to a day before the website updates.

Actually, thinking twice about this, I wonder if it will end up making people feel sorry for Dion. I still remember the Cretin fiasco.

Argh. I hate politics right about now.

Iggy just ordered a case of Henckel steak knives with extra sharpening stones.

I initially thought this was some sort of fabricated video spoof from "This Hour has 22 Minutes"

I don't despise Dion like I despise that smirking weasel Layton nor do I want to make light of someone's disability.

But this is the last straw. Dion abilities, whatever they may be, are a million miles from those required to be prime minister of Canada.

"I wonder if it will end up making people feel sorry for Dion"

I feel sorry for him too, but that just means he has no place being in the position he's in. And the Liberal Party is even more asinine for keeping him in there for as long as they did.

How's Alfonso Cashbagliano's wine loan?

I don't think Dion's disabilities have anything to do with it. He was absolutely gobsmacked by the question. Obviously, he had given no thought to what he would do differently than what Harper has already done.

The Tory war room should make sure this gets plastered all over the place.

Holy lack of teleprompter batman

Yes, well Cretin had no business being PM either. He was an embarrassment every time he opened his mouth. But there we were.... having a corrupt demented bully running the country for more than a decade.

But, for what it's worth, the Globe endorses Harper.

Harper is growing into the job
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081009.weelection2008/BNStory/Front/home

I cant find it anywhere but I heard that the lieberal platform is now for allowing farmers to sell their wheat without the canadian wheat board. (candhadian whit bort in dioness)

can anyone confirm.??

mmm I wonder who the Toronto Star will endorse ?

Wow. If this doesn't disqualify the man nothing will. I am so posting this on my blog.

And this is a demonstration of the leader to help us through a crisis??? It's scary to think that twit could get his hands on the pursestrings of the country.

Wow, it's a surprisingly strong Globe endorsement for Harper, and quite negative on Dion.

Worth a read. Good talking points. I'm rather surprised. Maybe the upwards of 1000 comments I have left on the Globe site over the past month have actually been read by these people.

What would have really helped is if we had actually got an answer out of him. That would have been really damaging.

And now we know why Dion suddenly announced he had a "hearing problem" at the start of the campaign.

Oh my God!
Do we REALLY want this guy to be Prime Minister of OUR country?

This lack of comprehension happened numerous times during his one on one with Peter Mansbridge last night. Peter coached Dion on many answers yet CBC chopped out that part before airing on CBC National News. The MSM have been promoting an empty shirt.

Guess there was to much of the English nuance in that simple question, that Dion can't hear.

This has nothing to do with a hearing problem. It is purely a comprehension problem!

Wowsers, simply cut and paste this into the next run of ads.......it hurts to watch even!

I thought well, second language and all, asked my Russian wife to come over and watch the interview, and she understood the question easy....he just didn't have a clue....

Also,he is talking about the 30/50 plan. He is losing it. Yestersay with Mnasbridge ,he was barely coherent and all over the place.CTV newsnet has not broadcast this story.

Wallpaper this baby wall to wall and tree top tall from coast to coast!!!

What a hoot!!

At least he didn't cry!!

Do you think it is easy answering the question the first time...I mean the second time...excuse me, I mean the third time.

Either somebody forgot to give this man his pills or forgot to load the teleprompter.

And this guy thinks he is qualified to be P.M.??

I would rather have a small town mayor for PM than this embarassment. Enough already. Wasn't ten years of Chretien enough punishment?

He completely understood the question. Dion knows that Harper did just what the Liberals would do. How do I know? Because the Conservatives are liberals at heart. Anyways this should be seen by all Canadians and then Harper would get his majority.

I went to your blog and it said the video was no longer available. Was this a mistake, or are the Liberal censors at work as described in this post?

http://www.thepolitic.com/archives/2007/03/30/liberal-party-activists-censoring-youtube-videos-critical-of-stephane-dion/

You all gotta see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnYjIw4nAYs

It IS out in mainstream.

I have a hearing problem so I got some hearing aids, his problem is not hearing, it's comprehension of the English language.

Remember Duffy laying a smackdown one of the Liberal talking heads last election? They tried to quiet him down on something, forget the details, but he let them have it, both barrels.
I'd give my left one to see this on Duffy's show.

This has nothing to do with any disability.

He couldn't answer because he has NO economic plan, and there NOTHING that he would have done over the last 30 days to help.

Want proof? Ask him again. And again. Make him answer the question.

Its not comprehension either.
The problem was that he didnt have an answer.

Guess he lost the Power Corp script telling him what to say. Perhaps he could back Belinda Stronach's "bigger economic pie".

Bourque has it up as well.

G&M was very objective in its endorsement of Harper and condemnation of Dion.

Best line of the editorial...

"If you want to meet the most inflexible head of a major political party, Mr. Dion takes it in a cakewalk."

Hehe.

I think I agree it is a comprehension problem, but I don't even care if it is a hearing problem. How will he "consult" with all these experts (some are anglo's, I assume) about what to do about the economy. How will he manage at a first minister's conference? This is pretty serious. Adler (on Duffy) went so far as to call it an integrity problem (suggesting a hearing problem to cover up a lack of language skills).

Chris Bryden,

Duffy looked a bit peeved with Geoff Regan. And like most of the posters here, suggested Dion has a comphrension issue rather than a hearing issue.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnYjIw4nAYs

My 2 cents of useless advice to the CPC war room would be to be careful how this is used, as per Lori's caution above.

Ok it is on Duffy's show....sweet

It's up at the Globe and Mail!

We'll see how much traction this gets in the MSM, apart from CTV and Duffy.

If Dion didn't understand the question, as he claimed in the second take, then why did he answer it initially? It was worded exactly the same the second time. With that fact, how dare ANYBODY in the MSM suggest that this is a language issue. (note: just heard Mansbridge on The National chalk it up to a language issue ... so there you go! I'll have to see how the "At Issues" panel in minutes analyzes this... if Mansbridge brings it up with them)

Yep! Not only has the slide ended, but this, I predict, will give the Tories a huge bump in the polls, and at a perfect time, just 5 days before voting day. The ads raising doubts about Dion as a leader were good, but the ones that will follow with this as ammo will be the mother of all ads.

And good on Mr. Harper for making a comment and taking no questions. You know the throng of these Liberal-sympathizing reporters were furious with him and this latest development. The cheerleading was going so well for them up until now.

Also, I wonder if the Liberals will attempt to turn the channel on this by borrowing a page from the '97 campaign, saying that Harper is attacking Dion for being a Quebec politician.

Its like Gilligan's Island suffered a nerve gas attack and one of the tree lemurs was left in charge of the SS Minnow.

Oh, along with his "little buddy", the coconut du jour, Jason Cherniak.

Yep! Not only has the slide ended, but this, I predict, will give the Tories a huge bump in the polls, and at a perfect time, just 5 days before voting day. The ads raising doubts about Dion as a leader were good, but the ones that will follow with this as ammo will be the mother of all ads.

And good on Mr. Harper for making a comment and taking no questions. You know the throng of these Liberal-sympathizing reporters were furious with him and this latest development. The cheerleading was going so well for them up until now.

The Liberal supporters are going nuts on the comment column over at the Globe and Mail. It's funny how they are making up excuse after excuse. Go over and take a look....have a laugh.

I have a new skit for Rick Mercer. Just imagine a barber shop quartet, where Stephanie can answer each question with a song that goes something like da proof is da proof, meanwhile Paul Martin, and Jean Crouton can back him up humming in harmony. THEN maybe everyone will be happy and sing along, and all will be well!!!!

Did anyone here see what his actual answer was after all the confusion? All I got was the comedy section.

Time for Paul Wells to show up in this thread and say something idiotic.

Now we know why he was such a big proponent of the Clarity Act... gotta make them questions realllly easy for him.

On Saturday Night Live, Eddie Murphy will play Alfalfa playing Stephane Dion.

As much as I truly hate to say it, the question was very poorly worded, and it wasn't entirely clear whether the interviewer was asking if he was Prime Minister NOW (as in this moment), or if he had been the Prime Minister for the last two and a half years. Dion asked for clarification, and didn't get a clear answer imho.

With all of the trick questions "gotcha" journalists ask, I can't blame Dion for wanting to be sure he understood what the interviewer meant.

It's the interviewer who doesn't get it. I wish he had asked the question in a straightforward way, because it's a good one, and I'd like to hear Dion's answer. Instead we got a clumsy ambush which could serve to extend some sympathy to Dion while allowing him to wriggle out of having to answer (especially given the admission the journalist said they would not air it, then did).

Poor jounalism!

Just imagine if that discombooblated nincompoop were to be representing us as PM on the world stage, talking to other world leaders. He can't understand a simple question, repeated three times. I say three strikes and he's out.

Let's be sure this gets well publicized. As well we need his plagiarized speech to be made an issue since the media saw fit to skewer Harper for a couple of sentences a speech writer put in one of his speeches. Dion plagiarized a whole bloody speech.

Absolutely no mercy please, we're dealing with Liberals here and they're in no shape to govern.

And tomorrow on the Diddler on line show he will once again two times a day trot out Nick Nanos to tell us all that Haarrrper as diddler says, is losing and this PATHETIC excuse for a beta male is closing the gap. If there was any doubt that this guy is a fool then this clip must be the proof of the proof. The media in this country has become our enemy and has been for some time, if these weasels in the press and radio succeed in getting this clown elected then just sit back and welcome the drepression, because the downturn we are seeing now has all been brought on by this money stealing scam global warming and when the green shaft is inserted there will be no room to kiss you own ass and livlyhood goodbye. Remember the NEP people!

Archaeologists had an easier time translating frickin' Linear B on cuneiform tablets.

Pharoah! Let our people go!

So the inability to communicate in English is a physical impairment now..... ?

" Right Now " sounds nothing like ... two years ago or after the election in any language.

maintenant tout les classe......

Stephane est un dufus.

Andrew Potter over at Macleans' blogs is pissed...

...at Mike Duffy.

This surprises me, and Andrew seems to think that, rather than hurt Dion, the Duffster may have just handed Dion a Liberal win.

I guess we'll see.  Sympathetic posters at Macleans are torquing this as a language issue, whereas others are claiming that Dion understood just fine, thankyouverymuch, but was actually incapable of answering the question because he's never thought through the hypothetical (and instead simply criticizes Harper for not doing something different than what he's actually done).

???

"Andrew Potter"

What happens when you play fart catcher to Wells for too long. I tell ya: Gilligan's Island, nerve gas attack, Cherniak.

It all fits.

What was just as unbelievable on the Mike Duffy show was Regan's stunned silence when he was asked to comment on Dion's faux pas.

Regan looked like he just got hit by a truck. Then there was this embarrassingly long silence.

As for the excuse that Dion is tired, I'm sorry, but that is no excuse. It goes with the job! If he can't handle the physical stress of fighting an election, how will he handle the stress of being PM?

Jane Taber: "Mr. Dion, who has a slight hearing problem, did not immediately understand the question and had to be asked three times."

The spin and mitigating damage to Dion has begun.

Jane, if Dion didn't understand the question, as he claimed in the second take, then why did he "answer it" the first time? It was worded exactly the same the second time. With that fact, how dare ANYBODY in the MSM, including Taber, suggest that this is an issue of langauge.

You know that the Liberals and MSM will attempt to turn the channel on this by borrowing a page from the '97 campaign, saying that Harper is attacking Dion for being a Quebec politician.

Now I know who Dion reminds me of. Lou Costello!

"Mr. Dion, can we talk about the Blue Jays? Who's on first."

Many on the left vote based on emotion. Now would be a good time for Harper and the CPC to be empathetic, maybe suggest that Dion has been under a lot of pressure. Maybe then even women will start to like Harper.

If this man becomes PM, with him being touted as an Intellectual, all I got to say is contained in this poem:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of "Spiritus Mundi"
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

-- William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"

Vote Liberal.

Or Else.

I don't think that the MSM will be able to spin this faux pas around. Prior to the days of the internet, that would have been possible. Not any more.

To add to my previous comment, it wasn't like Dion was being asked to explain quantum physics in 60 seconds or less. The question was simple and straightforward. He stumbled because he literally had no idea what he would have done differently from Stephen Harper if he were PM right now!

and this is the man that better than twenty percent of Canadians will still vote for on the fourteenth. I wonder at the intelligence level of this twenty percent, what more proof do you need to realize that you have been sold a bill of goods by voting liberal all these years? When the going gets tough conservatives hold the line, liberals melt.

Da proof is da proof

I dunno.  This may stiffen the resolve of all of those people out there who are sympathetic to the Libs but weren't necessarily going to vote Lib, but may now decide otherwise.  Politics ain't rational.

Garth

I agree with those who are saying that this is neither a hearing nor a comprehension problem; he simply didn't have the answer. At last somebody put a question to the poor man that he could no longer stonewall with backroom or Power Corporation talking points. He tried to think of an answer; probably lost his train of thought, got nervous as hell, and froze. It's something that's happened to most of us at one time or another, but we're not trying to be Prime Minister of the country.

The solution for Mr. Dion was either to know the issues inside out months ago, or to realize that he didn't have the material to lead and get out of the way. If that video gets any mass distribution, a lot of votes are going to move away from the Liberals. Hopefully not too many of them will go to that slime weasel Layton.

From Jason "The One Coconut You Can Count On" Cherniak's blog:

"Yes, I am predicting a bare Liberal minority, as I did at the beginning of the election. However, I also know that this is not yet written. We all need to work as hard as we can and we may still just barely miss the prize. Barely win or barely lose, though, there is one thing of which I am certain. This is Stephen Harper's last election"

You're right about the media, bartinsky, it's the worst in memory. They're firmly in the Liberal camp, any Banana Republic Dictator would be happy to have their services.

If we've come to a point where the media can choose governs us we're lost as a democracy.

"Tomorrow, there will be a huge rally for Stéphane Dion in Brampton. He will be introduced by Jean Chrétien. Clearly, all Liberals are now singing from the same book.

Who else could be introduced by Paul Martin one day, then Jean Chrétien the next? Real leaders bring people together. That is what defines Stéphane Dion."

This should go viral. The Conservative "war room" should see to it.

This guy is an ineffectual, intellectual, effette Parisian idiot.

And I support his courageous greenshift.

I don't think Dion was in the rhuuum.

Well Dion did answer the question same as he did with Mansbridge two nights ago on the National. He has no plan. He needs 30 days of meetings to make the plan. That is it.

geoff regan comprehends as much as Borat Dion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnYjIw4nAYs

but the CTV borat interview seems to be gone.

Cbc Halifax has apparently decided this is not news.Nothing up there. Ctv newsnet is ignoring the story even though it was the main part of MDL.Perhaps Duffy should resign rather than be part of a network that is so biased .

Billions of blue blustering barnacles....comprehension problemskis much??!!

Jimmy - you can't be serious - if someone asks - if you were prime minister what would you have done that Stephen Harper has not - that is not a vague question. And Jimmy - THAT was not the problem in my mind. The problem came when he then answered that he would implement his 30 day plan to have meetings with economists to find out what he should do.

That Jimbo - is the problem.

Who would you want answering the hotline at 3am.
Stephane Dion?
His wife Aline says he's not a morning person, indeed a bit grumpy until he's done with his yoga session.
Memo to Canada's enemies. Attack between 6am and 9am Monday through Friday except holidays.

Those who say the question was poorly worded are full of it. I clearly understood it and so did Dion. He just didn't have an answer. Period.
It was a fair question.

Sweet, I have Duffy on the PVR, watched the whole thing, sad....just sad. And his answer was a run-around- he just didn't have a wiff.
I remember thanking god, that Dion won the leadership race....paying dividends now.

So, the guy carrying the mustard for Dijon fends off a question about poor hearing, or poor comprehension, by feigning poor hearing.

Hmmm....

I think the fart catcher was just plainly stumped and embarassed.

Elect me and in 30 days (or is it 50 days), I'll tell you if I have a plan and let me tell you it will not be passive....whenever I come up with it.

I thought having a hearing problem was a requirement to become a Liberal MP.

CBCpravda , All Lieberal All the Time

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/10/09/dion-laval.html

You can put lipstick on Dijon, but he will still be Dijon :-)

cal2 ... or Erza's nic:

To be fair to Regan, the Duffster did say James (as in Moore) before his question. At least that's what I heard.

But, apparently the cameraman thought the question was posed to Regan and the Duffster left the responder open.

After watching Reagan sit there mute when Duffy asked him for an explaination I could only think....

beer and popcorn redux

And Don Martin writes, "But spare some empathy for Mr. Dion. It’s the end of a grueling campaign, the man has admitted to a hearing impairment and the question was open to interpretation while being phrased in Mr. Dion’s second language."

This is absolutely unbelievable Need these people be reminded that the Conservatives are also involved in the grueling campaign and running the country during a world financial crisis.

I'd be interested what his 30/50 plan is about.
He also said something that sounded like he would consult with other world leaders about what action to take with the economy,EH, WHAT? Given we're the in the best shape of any of the industrialized nations,that doesn't make sense either.

I think the loony bin awaits.

Bart F, I have more respect for the deluded and egocentric Layton than I do for the idiotboy wotziznaym?

Adler on Duffy Live said it best (paraphrasing): "What do you mean he didn't understand the question? It was asked in English, not Swahili, Mandarin or Greek!"

Adler also noted that the MSM demand that our leaders speak French.

Imagine if this was a decade ago and it was a French question to Manning. The MSM would've absolutely PUMMELED him! And Manning is (was at the time) not bilingual. Dion is! And he was asked a straightforward question, each word in single or double syllables... this guy's an academic! He didn't understand? Pfft!

30/50 Plan:

"The 30/50 plan was crafted by special Liberal party advisor to the next PM of Canada, Jason Cherniak. It consists of 30% recycled dinosaur dung from the Alberta Tar Sands, combined with 50% recycled grapes from Alfonso Gagliano's Business Development Bank financed vineyard. As Liberal Party spokeswoman Geoff Regan said today earlier on Mike Duffy Jive:

[5 minutes of dead air, followed by:]

"Its full of shit, and leaves you with a helluva hangover. No one likes it, but you dance with who brought you, or some crap like that."

For the life of me, I don't know what the question is, either. Is the guy asking what Dion would have done differently so far, or is he asking what Dion would do now? The tenses are all over the place. I thing any reasonalbe person, remembering English is very much Dion's second language, would understand how the screwy question mixed up Dion, who was probably trying to translate it in his head.
It's also pretty sleazy to make a promise to Dion and then break it.

the video seems to have been pulled.

CTV(tass) All Lieberal All the Time.

to think that anyone would even consider for one second electing these Adscam crooks.

"For the life of me, I don't know what the question is, either."

Pretty frickin' simple. Celine Dion said that the PM had no vision, no idea what to do. If you were Prime Minister today what would you do Celine?

Hello, Hello, What is the Frequency, Kenneth?

There is still someone with to much time on their hands if they waste the money first and the time second to read Don Martin, that ass... looks like he just consumed a lemon and bleach sandwich. Lieberal lovers all of them, they obviously have no children or hate the ones they have since the msm hate themselves it stand to reason they care not a bit about the destruction they are bringing on this country if they succeed in electing this idiot Dion.

Mansbridge just washed it over. CBC only showed the most "coherent" parts of the interview. Rather perfunctory reporting. Move along nothing to see here.

You may want to dance with who brought you, but you can bet your bottom dollar on what happens if you hop into bed with 'em.

Sorry Lloyd, if you didn't get the meaning of the question then you must have a hearing problem too. The question was asked three times. In fact he began to answer it the FIRST time. He blew it twice and wanted another kick at the cat.
There is also an old saying among media people. Nothing is off the recorsd, like it or not. There were other reportes in that studio, and the story would have gotten out.

"Mansbridge just washed it over"

Just like he washed over Wendy Mesley for Cynthia Dale.

Hoo-hah.

He is not fit to be PM.Imagine the 3 a.m. call from the POTUS warning Dion that Canada is in danger of an imminent attack. He may say "No,that is not good",and hang up. Then turn to his wife and say ,"that was the POTUS warning me of the danger of an immigration tax". Dion does not inspire confidence.

Everyone should go to the Comments section at the G&M and make a positive comment. So far the comments over there are 98% bashing the endorsement and the G&M.

When its One Froggy Night, everyone does the Michigan Rag.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/22/AR2005072201999.html

Stephane Dion's interview made the Washington Post!

SDA gets results!

Barb, apparently they are not allowing any more comments at G&M in spite of positive comments by the 50 Liberal supporters that are left in the country

I think the problem is that Dion thinks fast on his feet, but he was sitting down.

mid island mike

I'm sure Putin will be very understanding of Dion's problem with hearing when he negotiates the acquisition of Canada's entire Arctic and takes the submarines from the West Edmonton Mall over poutine and hot dogs at Rideau Hall.

Love to see him negotiate with the Taliban. God Save the Mufti will be played in schools from coast to coast.

Everyone should go to the Comments section at the G&M and make a positive comment. So far the comments over there are 98% bashing the endorsement and the G&M.
Posted by: Barb at October 9, 2008 10:20 PM

I just finished reading through the G&M comments section. Certainly good for a chuckle, except for some of the comments that betray some pretty messed up people out three.

its here again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xbs7wXvh2Q

This is unfair.

"This is unfair."

No Kato, you need the element of surprise.

CBC National played the tape. Mansbridge did not have much to say.

It is on Mike Duffy Live and on CTV Mike Duffy website.

I give credit for them on playing it at all. It does make me question how many takes the Liberals and the NDP are given on asking questions. Surely Harper is not offered such opportunities.

Cal2 said.... "CBCpravda , All Lieberal All the Time" and added the link http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/10/09/dion-laval.html

Adding to that, from the link he sent what's most notable is the timestamp of the CBC's story...

DION LATCHES ONTO HARPER'S 'ENDORSEMENT'
Last Updated: Thursday, October 9, 2008 | 9:44 PM ET

Compare that to the G&M's story and its timestamp...

PARTIES TRADE SHOTS OVER DION INTERVIEW
Jane Taber
Globe and Mail Update
October 9, 2008 at 9:18 PM EDT

So instead of posting something on this new story, the CBC chose to use that time to update the old.

Still nothing on cbcnews.ca

CBCpravda , All Lieberal All the Time Agreed.

Dion clearly froze because he could did not have the answer to a question that had never been put to him previously by any reporter.
His weakness as a leader laid bare for all to see!

Cal2 said.... "CBCpravda , All Lieberal All the Time" and added the link http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/10/09/dion-laval.html

Adding to that, from the link he sent what's most notable is the timestamp of the CBC's story...

DION LATCHES ONTO HARPER'S 'ENDORSEMENT'
Last Updated: Thursday, October 9, 2008 | 9:44 PM ET

WOW. I've been a baseball fan since I was a kid but I've never seen anyone take three strikes at the same pitch!

I do believe because of his rapid blush when first asked the question that Dion fully understood what he was asked he just didn't have a partisan answer that would make Harper look bad without making himself look equally bad.

"Mansbridge did not have much to say."

His response is:

"Bearskin Airways now boarding at the Churchill Airport, Terminal 1"

Compare that to the G&M's story and its timestamp...

PARTIES TRADE SHOTS OVER DION INTERVIEW
Jane Taber
Globe and Mail Update
October 9, 2008 at 9:18 PM EDT

So instead of posting something on this new story, the CBC chose to use that time to update the old.

Still nothing on cbcnews.ca

CBCpravda , All Lieberal All the Time Agreed.

You cannot let the MSM sit on this one too funny Dion doing Dion doin Buttwheat doing Bill Murry doing GROUND HOG DAY this goof wants to be "dear leader"
cheers Bubba

Dion was fine until he imagined himself as PM, as directed by the interviewer.

I have 60 per cent hearing loss . I heard and understood the question Dion was asked . Dion did not have an answer to the question . Dion does not know what he would do if he was the prime minister right now . Plain and simple .

Good point Shaken! If he were PM would he fall apart?

several greens have folded and endorsed the lieberals.

so , as they predicted , The lieberals had two seats at the debate table.

CBCpravda must be puffinpooping their drawers.

their candidate has been exposed without the benefit of the Borat Dion to English translation that they always use.

First of all, definite kudos to ATV for airing it in the first place - we all know that almost all msm outlets would have burned the film as the Liberals requested.

Regan trying to pass that off as a "hearing impairment" is such total bs and it was pretty obvious to me he didn't even believe it himself. I was a bit disappointed (but not really surprised) that CTV/Duffy ran the piece with "Campaign exhaustion?" in large bold type on the screen like they are making an excuse for Dion's total lack of basic comprehension.

OK - too lazy to even watch the video! I like Dion - I think his heart is in the right place, so I don't ever want to vilify someone like him. Jacko, well, I can never say one good thing about him.

But, let's face it, Harper is the best PM we've had for a while - I did like Mulroney a lot - hate what he's been through - not fair - and he actually did a lot of good for Canadians

So, hate to see someone embarrassed - sorry Stephane - but I could never vote anything but conservative

This was so unnecessary. As a good liberal, he could have come up with all kinds of answers:

1. Suspend short selling.
2. Suspend all selling.
3. Mandate stock buying.
4. Tax more naughty stuff, but make the tax revenue neutral, like the gun registry.
5. Redeploy Afghanistan troops in Canadian cities to force citizens to buy stuff at gunpoint.
6. Give $10 billion to GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Suzuki, Yugo.

And if none of that works,

7. Collective farms!

Clue to the MSM:

Dion has no freakin' clue what he would have done had he faced the same situation.

Campaign exhaustion? Why send a sprinter to run an Ironman Triathlon?

If he's not up for it now, he won't be up for it when he actually has to make some decisions.

Hear that, MSM?

Re: "
Jimmy - you can't be serious - if someone asks - if you were prime minister what would you have done that Stephen Harper has not - that is not a vague question. And Jimmy - THAT was not the problem in my mind. The problem came when he then answered that he would implement his 30 day plan to have meetings with economists to find out what he should do.

That Jimbo - is the problem."

Posted by: Alberta Girl at October 9, 2008 9:55 PM

Yes, I'm serious. Grammer are me. As Lloyd Fister points out above, the interviewer is using the present tense and the past tense asking the question. He's asking "if you were Prime Minister NOW, what would you do THEN". It would have been so easy to use the correct tense. Dion tries to get him to do that, and he doesn't. The problems I have are with airing Dion trying to understand a poorly worded question, and with saying they wouldn't air it, and then airing it. Lets call a spade a shovel - that's called lying. It's cheap.

However, I completely, wholeheartedly agree with your second statement, now that the second video with the "answer" I was really looking for has been posted, that Dion does understand, finally, sort of, what the interviewer is getting at, and completely discombobulates the answer. Not understanding the question is forgivable. Not understanding the problem isn't, when you've been hammering away at Harper on the issue for a week.

And, yes, when your idea of a plan is to plan meetings with someone who might know what they are doing to try and come up with a plan - yikes!!!

It's embarrassing. But far, far worse, is the Liberal MP's response in the follow-up. Duffy's question is clear as clear can be, and the guy couldn't have done worse. Those few seconds of silence were like an eternity, and silently spoke volumes as we all filled in the blanks.

Bob Stanfield "football"? I dunno. We'll see. We can only hope.

Campaign exhaustion? Would Harper be given that kind of an out? The campaign was no longer for Dion than anyone else. In addition, Dion had that other Liberal (May) at his side for the debates when everyone ganged up on the PM. With the greens bailing out they should be called yellow.
I only hope this is remembered in the next election when they demand a seat at the table.

Oh snap! check out the title of this one...
http://www.thestar.com/federalelection/article/515212

Frantic Conservatives, grasping at straws after Dear Fat Unempathetic Leader blows the election campaign in the last inning.

It's pretty clear that Dion has no idea what he would have done or what he plans to do when he gets into office over than turning the reins over to Power Corporation.

I will be tuning into the At Issues panel on CBC tonight, listening to their take on Dion-in-the-headlights.

Especially Chantal Hebert. Should be interesting.

Let me guess. Now it's not only Team Liberal, but tomorrow they'll be dragging out Chretien.

That could be a campaign-killer in Quebec.

Campaign exhaustion?

More like ED - Electile Dysfunction -- the inability to achieve an erect bearing when answering hypothetical questions.

"Honey, can we try that again. Perhaps a knife and fork would help."

This message brought to you by HardLuck a drug manufactured by Kyoto, a division of PowerCorp.

He should be glad Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson haven't got hold of him.

I blame allergies. He's allergic to fishwrap.

Dude running the macleans website is having a complete meltdown - calling Duffy a despicable human being...

Dion is bumbling, inefectual and a weak leader period.

He never had a chance hard as the MSM tried to paint him in a good light.

This is the final nail in the coffin for him.

Not only that Ghost, but I am sure that Stephen Harper is also trying to deal with this economic crisis at the same time as he is trying to win an election. But he gets no credit for that - he just gets called a big meanie because he commented on poor, defenseless, deaf Dion.

I am wondering what impact this will have on CPC and Lib fortunes in Quebec.

I am guessing it won't help the CPC.

This should be a conservative ad immediately. I think that the ability to work under stress,think on your feet,and the ability to understand the language of 80% of the country are necessary requirements for the job. Dion has proven repeatedly that he is not suitable for the office. Those who will gloss over this latest gaffe are not doing themselves or anyone a favour.

Ok ... If CTV is yanking the video of the program will they go after youtube as well?

This could be a defining moment in the end of days for the MSM.

"Dude running the macleans website is having a complete meltdown"

I suggest suppositories and a cup of hot fat followed by a rectal thermometer submerged in liquid air.

I am not a supporter of Dion but I feel terrible for him. The question wasn't difficult. He seemed tired and no doubt all of the leaders are, but even so he needs to be able to understand the English language as Prime Minister of Canada. As for Duffy airing this...of course it needs to be aired. If it were something Harper did, you can bet they wouldn't let it lie.

I truly believe that he is a genuine, honest man...who unfortunately has been put in a situation he really can't handle...not without "the big guns" standing at his side.

I'm a Conservative supporter all the way. I think the voters need to look past Mr. Dion and see that if by some unforeseen chance he should become PM...who will really run the country? Rae? Iggy? Martin?, Chretien? For god sakes, the other night he even had Trudeau standing at his side.

Thanks for sending out the troops, Kate. You won't be forgotten.

And this is “smart” man?
Educated?
His students are the same?
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Do not put on resume!!!!!!
Prime minister of Canada?
I will take away what I said about Duffy …………smart guy smells the roses

If you watch the video closely,you may notice that Dion was asked the questions 6 times in total.Pathetic.

"I think that the ability to work under stress,think on your feet,and the ability to understand the language of 80% of the country are necessary requirements for the job."

There goes Layton's chances right out the window again. Damn you conservative ideologues!

I just saw CTV's coverage of this issue, with Lloyd Robertson--who looks more like a Mme Tusseaud dummy by the minute. It was pathetic. The tiny excerpt of the interview with Stephane obscured the real issue, as did Robertson’s minuscule commentary.

Yes, PMSH was featured making an a propos comment re Dion’s ineptitude, but CTV made sure that the ineptitude was obscure to the audience.

FIRE. THEM. ALL.

"who will really run the country? Rae? Iggy? Martin?, Chretien? For god sakes, the other night he even had Trudeau standing at his side."

I think Leslie Hughes and Judi Rebick would make a great team to run Canada. They could file immediate court actions to get all the money back for those bad perms that Judi suffered through all these years, and Leslie could start a Royal Commission to investigate UFO's, Sasquatches, 9/11 conspiracies, and to find the uranium mine that Stephen Harper buried his secret agenda in for the next 5,000 years.

"who looks more like a Mme Tusseaud dummy by the minute"

Careful. You're vying for the title of most mummified corpse in a broadcast role against Craig Oliver, Canada's spotted owl of Hinterland's Who's Who.

Wow, some people here are actually saying the question wasn't clear? The only way the question could be more clear is if the right answer was part of the question. "if you were pm instead of Harper these past years, you would have done something?"

If you commented here that the question was not clear, don't show that post to people you want to respect you. I am sure Dion will thank you for taking one on the chin for him though.

"If you commented here that the question was not clear"

...then you qualify for Federal Disability Assistance.

Good night everybody! I've got to go pull the wings off two flys that wandered into my illegal sweatshop that I run in the back of my gunshop.

TTFN!

That's as appalling as Palin with Katie Couric.

But don't get down on the Quebec people, remember, they're not all Liberal.

Stephane Dion anagram:

Oh I need pants

I very much enjoyed reading Andrew Potter's idiotic take on Barack "Nailbombers are people too" Obama's neo-progressivism.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Barack's real ties to hard core radicals are finally coming to light, no thanks to useful idiots like Potter.

Good that Potter's whining that Mike Duffy is a "despicable human being" while he has, of course, no such comment about The Revlon Nailbomber from Chicago.

Well it is now official we, that is most of us really could not see Dion as P M.... apparently neither can HE, didn't this happen the last time the Lieberanos elected a leader, Paul Martin, he actually got the job and didn't know what to do? either? maybe it's genetic or something. Kinda weird? I mean my dog chases cars, I don't think he knows what he's gonna do with it if he actually catches one.My dog doesn't understand English either. I think he only hears.....yada yada yada bozo yada yada yada bozo.. Maybe that's Dion's problem? Maybe all he hears in English is yada yada Dion yada yada yada Dion. I like my dog he would never vote Liberano he just isn't that big of a bozo.
Cheers Bubba

That torstar article has this line:
"Dion struggles to understand the question's conditional subjunctive tense."
Do ya think Dion could figure out what that means either?

This question is not difficult. Quote:

"If you were prime minister now what you have done about the economy and this crisis that Mr. Harper has not done?

I think Dion began to answer the question and realized he may not have been answering the question, or at least not giving a very good answer. As we can't see the interviewer's face, it is possible that the interviewer's expression tipped him off to the fact that he was spouting nonsense. Thus the restart.

He's been so busy slagging Harper for inaction, that he's never actually thought about what he would have done differently - that is, other than to call a meeting of experts. Either that or he simply cannot understand the concept of putting oneself in the shoes of another.

Conservatives have a cripple in their party, S.Fletcher. That's 10x worse than a hearing disorder. Let's keep things pure and white, okay? No minorities, no women, no disabilities. Look how fat Fletcher is??

Sorry that should be:

"If you were prime minister now what would you have done about the economy and this crisis that Mr. Harper has not done?

Oh, the outrage at Macleans and G&M etc, so unfair and all that stuff, but none of them were outraged while Dion ran around this week calling Harper a liar. Hmmm.

And May( is she a lesbian?) ms? Duffy took her down …………….green beach?))))))))))))

Western Girl: RE Dion: "...who unfortunately has been put in a situation he really can't handle" -- Small correction. I believe he put himself into this situation, and further presumably refuses advice from others -- "does not listen" was what I read somewhere. It is one thing to "feel sorry for" the truly disadvantaged, but "feeling sorry" is not an appropriate response towards someone aspiring to be the national leader.

CTV News Follow Up Report

Hey Jay:

Look - I don't categorize myself as dense - but I have no idea whatsoever what the conditional subjunctive tense is - I've tried to learn other languages on my own - and when told things are "present imperative" - I have no idea of which they speak

so - tolerance

Dion - OK - Harper - much better - esp = based on issues

A couple of weeks back there was another tape of Dion at a high school event where again he did not understand the questions and his assistant had to explain what the question was. Does anyone else remember seeing this? I think it is clear that this is a significant problem -- both the language issue and his apparant shallowness in terms of understanding economic issues.

Does the fact that he had so many chances and the fact that the Liberals had asked that this not be broadcast ever make any of you wonder just how many other "chances" and "lost interviews" there have been during this campaign.

CBC only makes scant mention of Dion's gaffe and didn't even broadcast the CTV clip. Wonder why .. covering up for their boy again ???

If something like this had happened to Harper in Quebec, the CBC would be broadcasting it every 15 minutes on the hour ... just like they did with Randy White's comments on the Supreme court .. remember ..????

OMMAG's link;

Duffy; (paraphrase) " We at CTV will certainly restart an interview if it was just a case of someone coughing or sneezing or needing to blow their nose. But this was a much more important case than that, and so we had to show it."

Like, do you mean, an aspiring PM of Canada having a comprehension problem, maybe ?

The quality of reporting at CTV is even worse than Boag and Mcdonald. Tom Clark and that old bastard Oliver have absolutly no integrity. Omags tip left me speechless, these subversive treasonist reporters will do anything to get this pathetic little paisley dweeb elected. Making up reasons for a persons ineptitude and covering up this is nothing short of yellow journalism. Couple that with phoney greens backing this clown and all the other subversive teat suckers in this country like Sierra Club Pembina institute etc along with the mini dictator Danny Williams and you have a fairly big conspiracy to try to keep out the best PM we have ever had. Hard to believe we all had relatives die in wars so journalissts could become lower than a snakes penis in a wagon rut!

The Canadian electorate NEEDS to see this clip.

The actions of those who would aid in smothering this outing are little short of treasonous.

Great editorial from the Globe and Mail supporting Harper. As mentioned read the comments from the Liberals. Their anger and sense of betrayal is wonderful to read. Here is a couple of phrases I liked.

"So in the next election, we will have a liberal majority again as it should always be."

and this one from some absolute turd named Tom Paine would remove a vendor who dared to write his comment support the Globe. I think the imbecile working for his company is him. This guy needs a verbal kick in the nuts. Love to find out the company this idiot works for.

"Tom Paine from Don't let Harper kick you while you're down -- vote strategically -- www.voteforenvironment.ca, writes: Bob from Accountemps from Canada writes:

The Globe, like other Toronto 'newspapers,' has always been a Liberal mouthpiece - though not as blatant as the other one.

But this is the second editorial in a row in which they throw their support behind Harper. This summation was well written and I find very little to disagree with. All to say that for once, I see a piece of journalism that is reasonable and not so biased.

=================

I'll have to remember to call my VP of HR tomorrow and tell her to take Accountemps off our vendor list.

I don't want imbeciles working in my company."

I'd say Dion had a pretty legitimate excuse to be confused by this question, considering the interviewers questionable use of tenses.

"If you were prime minister now, what would you have done"

If he were just prime minister NOW, how could he have done something in the past as prime minister?

cal2 at October 9, 2008 10:14 PM :

CTV(tass) All Lieberal All the Time.
Nicely said, Reminds me of another zinger from the American Thinker just as good:

Barack Obama: Fraud we can believe in.

Just watched this again.

Dion is just clueless. A Valley girl.....with a bad accent.

Gawd, this is a simple question, one that could asked of anybody, hell, I could go kiosk to kiosk at work, and everybody would have an opinion. Maybe not all the sharpest nails in the box, but at least there would be some interesting banter.

Dion? Oh, let's let 30 days go by and see what happens? That's the best he can do? He has no opinion as to what he would have done differently in the past 2 years.

Oh, his puppet masters are going to be 'plus renverser'

I understood the question. Those commenting on the past or present or whatever need to understand that the question was in english. With all its subtle little curves it throws at you.

As PM you have to understand it.

OT, but this has to be a record for comments/per/hour on this site.

Well done Kate.

Dion asked him to clarify, "now, as in today" or "now, as in over the past two years"

Murphy just kept on repeating the same ambiguous sentence. This isn't a subtle use of the english language, its purely vague and needs clarification.

The Ottawa media is trying to make the dissolving Dion issue fade by slicing up one another.

Don Martin, in the meantime, sinks to new depths:

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/10/09/197948.aspx

Respect is a hard thing to get back.

Wowzer!
Can you imagine someone voting for this guy out of sympathy?
That was embarrassing to watch. The guy is a fool. He is as stupid as he is awkward to look at.
I dont even think even political satire like 22mins. would do to this guy what he does to himself.

Down is up, up is down. Dion was asked what he would do about the financial crisis if he were prime minister. It's a common, boilerplate question, one that he and anyone in his position would have been asked ten thousand times; any non-mentally-impaired adult who sincerely suggests that the question was hard for Dion to understand because it was awkwardly phrased is either partisanly dishonest to the point of utter shamelessness or simply genuinely dim.

No shortage of these types anymore, apparently. From Potter Gold's comments thread at Macleans:

"From what I saw it was as much a matter of the question being VERY poorly phrased as anything else. If you were PM today (present tense) what would you HAVE DONE (past tense) differently than Mr. Harper. Dion doesn't understand the question..."

Yeah, he didn't understand the question -- and Amelia Earhart is circling JFK as we speak, waiting for runway clearance.

The whole Lib-Canadian entitlement to mix fake outrage with straight-faced lying is pretty much a cultural plague at this point. Makes me think that a lot of Canadians have been studying Liberals -- like Mark Holland -- in the HOC for the last few years.

Best comment at Goldie Macleans:

"I reserve judgement until I see it but it sounds noxious."

You know, maybe we actually need a short-lived Dion minority government to bring the appropriate level of wrath down on the Liberal mindset in this country. Maybe it needs to ripen a bit more so that it finally falls the tree.

BTW, Macleans is the appropriate reading material for the Air-Canada/Bombardier holding-area in purgatory. It embodies the problem with this country: if you're trying to please everybody, if you go after the great pm and the goofy wannabe equally, you're Liberal, straight-up. You're the middle-man.

Sooo very glad I didn't subscribe in some misguided act of solidarity for their having published a few pieces by Mark Steyn.

Perhaps the reporter should have said : If you had been Prime Minister, Mr. Dion, instead of Mr. Harper, for as long as Mr Harper has been PM - in short, these last two years, and not benefiting from perfect hindsight, what would you have done differently from Mr Harper to avoid the economic catastrophe you claim Mr.Harper is ignoring?

And skipping over the whole ESL can of worms, I would give Mr. Dion a total do-over if he would just answer the question, to the best of his ability. I want to know just what superior judgment of his we will get if he ends up at 24 Sussex.

Dion was obviously caught clueless. Makes you wonder what it takes to become a university professor these days.

Good for Duffy! He's getting ripped to pieces at the new Lib blog at Macleans.

For all the times Dion has spouted criticism of PMSH, I can't beleive he has never been asked this question by the media.

Clean-up at 12:49,needed now.

"I'd say Dion had a pretty legitimate excuse to be confused by this question, considering the interviewers questionable use of tenses.

"If you were prime minister now, what would you have done"

If he were just prime minister NOW, how could he have done something in the past as prime minister?"

Absolutely right on. And the fact that he asked the question -what 4 times_ maeks it all the more confusing. Yea right!!

Horny Toad

If Dion could not understand what was asked today,tomorrow's talk with Chretien should be frigging hilarious.

Clean up, and if all goes according to law, a visit from the boys in red coats.

Heh, no need to bother with the Macleans subscription again this year.

He was asked again and again with a straight forward question and as someone running for PM of this country, you'd think he'd have been just a little more prepared, and the word 'now' was repeated and implicit.

Dion dropped the ball just like he has on this campaign (thank goodness) and just like he would should he ever get any sort of power.
Think Jimmy Carter, only in French...Canada would be so screwed.

- and agreed 12:49 is from the gutter.

Dion said he did not know the name of the (hearing) impairment. I think the correct medical term is bull$hit.

AND if he has a hearing impairment why does he not wear a hearing aid?

Wears glasses, as do I.

I don't like this kind of journalism. When it happens to the Conservatives, way too often, it pisses me off. I don't like it happening to the Liberals either.

What I want is serious questions asked and pinning people down when they weasel.

I do see the point that Dion has to learn English a million times better than he can do now.

What do the red coats do when the guy answering the door is an HRC dickhead?

Let's put a few talking points on the table:

1) At the beginning of this election or thereabouts,Dion personally said he had some sort of hearing problem.
My point: If you are aspiring to be the PM then why not get a hearing aid?
2) Dion's English is poor
My point: Hey Jean Chretien's English is poor...Dion"s is terrible!Dion has been in politics for what? 15years and leader of the LPC and aspiring to be PM for nearly two years...get a 24/7 live in tutor and speak only English at home...that's a good start on the road to bilingualism...a definite first priority for a modern day Cdn. politician.
Dion's reply..."Do you think its easy to do these things?"
My answer: They are prerequisites for the job.

Actually if one takes the time to view the clip,it becomes obvious that Dion understood the question.
What else is glaring is the man's arrogance and brush off when people tried to walk him through.
One can see him wanting to appear to understand but brushing aside the help,only to stymie himself again and have to start over once more and then again..

Also note the petulance surface as he digs himself in deeper.
I won't get into his answer to the question...it was basic non-connected party talking points and garbled at that!

I'll venture to go out on a limb and call Dion a phoney...others can make excuses for him...I won't.

This is from Wiki "during the campaign, a photo of Stanfield fumbling a football at a stopover became one of the defining images of his career. To this day, Canadian political commentators still point to this incident as one of Canada's foremost examples of "image politics", because the photo was chosen for the front pages of newspapers across Canada even though many other photos of Stanfield (in fact, a fairly athletic man for his age) catching the same football were also available."
Dropping that football cost Stanfield the election.

Not sure why people are talking about how part of the question was in present tense and the other part was in past tense. It doesn't change the question.

Basically he's asking Dion about what he would've done differently about the economic issue if he had been in Harper's shoes. Pretty simple if you ask me.

Dion is Leader of the Opposition, he has been a cabinet minister and politician for some time now. He has done 100's of interviews in English and in French.

He should be media savvy and media trained. This wanst language and it wasnt hearing...and even if it was he should have answered the question he wanted to answer.

Do you think Jean Chretien wouldnt have spanked that question out of the park in the way he wanted to. Normal practice, standard practice, smart practice would have been for him to answer with his normal talking points which would have forced the reporter to reask and clarify.

He was tired or something, it doesnt really matter. Dion blew a question on the top of mind topic that he has been campaigning about for the last week, and he blew the question big time. He's a big boy, or at least he shoudl be.

I am sure he will try to make this about language, which it ain't, and disability, which it isn't....he blew an answer. His best response, is to either reanswer the way he wants, joke about it or change the topic.

My suggestion is not to bring it up, and if it does, I would go try to find a way to make go back on the attack, a joke (even self deprecating) could backfire, not serious yada yada.

Question what should the tories do with it.

My suggestion, it has gone viral, leave it alone officially. I would even be magnaminous about it, well long campaign I these things happen.....knowing full well that even your equanimity about the issue fuels it.

Dont make an ad, and dont push it any more than it has.

Making fun of a hearing disability. Conservatives have a cripple running in Wpg you know. We don't have nukes or a big military; time on the multilingual worldstage for rephrasing.
I just saw the clip. Kim Campbell moment for Harper. Dion asked point blank "if I was elected PM 2.5 years ago?" (correct), and Duffy continued reasking the question, implicitly connoting Dion was incorrect.
I hope that fat fuck Duffy has a fucking stroke.

The point, as I see it, is that Dion has been mouthing off continuously with the usual Liberal arrogance about how much better he is than Harper.

And it is in that context that this video makes him look like a complete fool.

The question was in essence: you think you're so much better than Harper at economic policy, explain how?

And not only did Dion not explain how, he demonstrated that he is in fact an intellectual weakling.

I do not feel sorry for him. Liberals are arrogant, and they still behave as if they have a God given right to run the country. They get what they deserve, particularly in cases like this when their arrogance catches up with them.

Who would have thought Dion was our very own Chancie. This whole thread could be called "Dion" Revealed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtDLPsKrL9M&feature=related

Stephen is right,

Don't make an ad of it or say much more.

Or else comparisons to the Kim Campbell - Chretien facial thing will begin.

"Don't make an ad of it or say much more. "

yup, just let it speak for itself

Harper, being the sociopath that he is, is already trying to exploit this interview. This act of pettiness will be the final nail in the coffin for the Conservatives.

Has anyone been to liblogs to read the comments there?

"Harper's over the top reaction"? what? I thought our PM answered it to the point. He wasn't making things up..he said it like it was.

"Tories show video to show up Dion's language difficulties." The Conservatives showed it?

I was actually quite sympathetic to Dion, but now....guess it's easier to dish out than take...

"Harper, being the sociopath that he is, is already trying to exploit this interview. This act of pettiness will be the final nail in the coffin for the Conservatives."
Wow. Here is what the libs count on for votes. Pretty scary.

Jimbo,

I can't read all these comments but yours is the first, and only one as far as I read, that I agree with 100%. Dion screws up enough on his own, he doesn't need to be spoonfed ambiguous questions by a moron. Steve's aide was no help either - nice answer to Dion's question, lady.

There are SO many other points to push that I would really have a tough time playing this one up, especially given that there's so precious little to be gained from it.

Is Dion's English poor? Yes it is. Is he fit to be Canada's PM? No he's not. Is this quick snippet alone proof of either of these two facts? No, it's really not.

Well, you've got to remember, Dion is fighting both an election campaign and a leadership review at the same time. Plus Mo Strong on the phone every five minutes.

I don't even speak Canadish or whatever the hell that is and I understood the question perfectly. If a dumb American like me can figure it out....
Sorry, I shouldn't be sticking my nose into your private doings. I'm not familiar with your local customs and I hope I haven't caused offense. Should I make eye contact or is that rude? I can never figure that part out.

I can only imagine how silly Dion would look at an international event..he's sitting inbetween Putin and Sarkozy and the waitress comes around and asks him in english what he would like . He stammers and looks confused, asks what she means, and then points at Sarkozy who speaks with the waitress and then to Dion . Sarkozy chuckles and speaks back to the waitress ."he'll have the garlc toast , instead of the cheese toast "

Tories can exploit this big time, if they want to. The question is should they?

I say let the media run with this, while opining Dion has said Tories have no plan, but when pressed to provide one point of his, to say what Harper should have done, he comes up with a blank. He hasn't thought through even his most basic premises. Frankly this has nothing to do with his poor graps of english, or his "disability."

He hasn't moved conceptually out of the seminar room, where some technocratic formula yields a solution. His green shift is another example, he cannot explain how is leads to investment in renewable energies, we just have to accept it because the professor says so.

Yes, turnabout is fair play, and if Harper can wear the US finance fiasco, Dion can be criticized for his own actions. Just the let the media do it, for some reason, they have gone into feeding frenzy on this one.

The Lib bloggers are already trying to turn this into a Chretien style disfigure ad, so only make references to Dion's non-answer. Don't go into his language deficiencies, let the image do it for you.

The party was already in disarray with Dion's insistence on immediate green shift implementation, despite pronouncements by Ignatieff and Rae to the contrary.

It would have sensible to say that all programs would have to be considered in light of actual financial data or some othe BS, but Dion chose to shine a spotlight on the carbon tax. It cost him the possible G&M endorsement, and it will cost him more.

Oh right, lberia, it's Harper's fault. CTV has won the election for the Liberals, right?

Help.
Can someone with better research skills than me follow this up? I searched the G&M site and found no mention of Harper's new year's address. I have the distinct impression that:
1. Harper has been telling us for some time now to worry about the economy.
2. The Liberals (and the media) have been accusing Harper of alarmism whenever He brought it up.

Can someone find the facts to support this? Because the picture I see is clear: When the problem was complacency, the Liberals were complacent. when the problem is panic , the Liberals are panicked.

"I ham hoise on my own retard " Borat Dion

the english pipples half to non me , they do not half du unnerstand me or vice the versa. while many stop green shi ts and bob rae says stop , I say go in 30 day. mssr iggnaff he is stop talking hall togethder. hi would now bring hought my mental mr cretian from his golf course and show dat my beautiful english his nod bad.

one can only imagine Dion and Barry Hussein sharing the podium ,it would soon distance the memories of the verbal gymnastistics of Tony Blair sharing the podium with George W.

actually it would make quite a good SNL skit , and Canada would be more than the brunt of oot and aboot jokes.

Anyone watching this video could not fail to notice how Deyawn rambled to avoid answering the simple question. He did not give it any thought, he did not pause to even think for a moment, he just jumped in and babbled. Can you imagine this fellow going to international conferences? We would be the laughing stock of 'the global'!

Should PMSH run Deyawn over the coals for this? In my opinion, as Prime Minister of the country it is his duty to draw Dion's reaction to questions, under soft pressure (with 'three trys'to get it right), to the attention of all Canadian citizens because it is the job of the Prime Minister to protect the country. Rambling, babbling Deyawn would be a very dangerous man to put in charge of a game of ping pong, he cannot control his own mouth. The thought of Dion governing Canada terrifies me.

Sometimes Canadians forget that we do not live in a bubble, it is a dangerous world and many not-so-nice nations would love to capture Canada. This is a very rich nation. Deyawn would be a 'cakewalk over' for the predators. The Prime Minister has said that Dion is too risky to take a chance on electing as Prime Minister, Dion just confirmed the Prime Minister's statement.

I believe Duffy and Murphy did this for Canada - since Duffy was so sick he has become a true, blue reporter/patriot.

I was in Montreal last week and noticed sneaky winks - Harper majority.

The unspoken majority are going conservative.

Paul

Barry Hussein: I will renogotiate the treaty for softwood lumber.

Borat Dion: hi agree, we would softly negotiate freely and will not slumber.

Barry Hussein: This is the moment that the seas stop rising.

Borat Dion: hi agree , the captain should rise up and wear a C.

I've read the G&M comments and I've read the Mcleans website comments. And I've read comments like beria's, here.

Watch the video. If you make excuses for this fool to become leader of Canada during a time of uncertainty, indeed at any time, the accusation of ideological fool can legitimately be laid at your feet. VOTE CONSERVATIVE.

Dion has lived in a theory bubble until now.

As John says, "That's what professors do. They live their lives in theory."

If Dion was asked, What time is it?
His reply would be another question, Do you mean right now?

Dion's bubble was bammed; Dion is not even aware of it.
...-

John said:

"It's so illustrative of his basic tendency. He is a professor. As such he deals in nuances and constructions. His desire to understand what do you mean by now, today? 2.5 years ago? etc. was his attempt to understand the parameters of the theoretical conversations he thought he was being asked. He needed to know the exact time of when he was Prime Minister because then he would be able to construct a theoretical response. That's what professors do. They live their lives in theory. Everything is an abstraction, nothing is real, or what's worse, everything is real because we can imagine it. IF you can imagine it, it must be real

This illustrates that he doesn't actual have a center of belief. Jack Layton has a core belief - corporations are bad etc. Jack could easily have answered the question. He would go to his core and respond with what he would have done. It would be wrong mind you. But he could answer the question.

What a disaster for the country should he get in. Jack would be better cause he at least believes in something and there you can negotiate with him. You can't negotiate with those who live their lives in a theoretical construction."
...-

"Stephane Dion: The armchair quarterback melts under real pressure"
http://stevejanke.com/archives/275279.php

Sorry but I like the guy. I would never vote for him but I do feel sorry for him. He never should have been made leader. I think when the leadership was being held they picked the French guy because they didn't have a French guy the time before and that is how they do things in the Liberal Party. That and look at the other two they didn't choose.

Hearing and comprehension go together but the man is no leader. Affirmative action can only go so far and then it is counter productive.

Here is Dion's answer: "I assume ..."
Comprenez?
BTW, MSM say,
It's the "Tories" fault.
...-

"I assume I have been elected today prime minister. My first thing I would do is consult with the Privy Council Office, minister of finance, to know exactly in which situation we are, according to their data.

"I would speed up my ability to appoint rapidly a government . . . And once we are the government, we have 30 days of an action plan that we have announced."

" Tories spark storm over botched Dion interview
By Jim Brown, THE CANADIAN PRESS"
http://tinyurl.com/44vk37

OMG! Just watched the morning news on CBC Newsworld.

The news anchor Heather Hiscox asked Terry what to make of Dion in this video. Milewski: "Not much."

Terry then went on to say that it doesn't look good for Harper that he stopped his event schedule midstream to comment on this, and added his own sweater man comment. And the news anchor chimed in, almost in a panic-like state, saying, (paraphrasing) "And look at all the comments, the consensus is that this is a mean spirited attack and that it's unfair for someone to be attacked for their language skills."

It was a Live interview but they usually run snippets (hopefully the whole thing) at the top of the hour and someone can get this up on YouTube.

CBC is in full support of poor Stephi. Terry Milewski yakking on Liberal friendly Canada AM today certainly was. He opined playing up this Stephie goof-up may not play well in Quebec. I'd say too damned bad, it's obvious he's trying to scare the Conservatives into not using it. He also alluded to something about Harper and his investment in sweaters, THAT'S WHERE MILEWSKI LOST ALL DUE RESPECT! He outed himself as a Liberal hack. If this were Harper performing like he was lost at sea that same tribe of Liberal lackies would have it splashed all over every news outlet and TV network.

The time is now to get rid of the lot of them. If the Liberal Party wants to have it's own network, let 'em pay for it and all the partisan hacks along with it.