In the immortal words of John Travolta – “Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin alive, stayin alive.”
In an echo of this memorable moment, this morning Stephane Dion is hard at work ensuring his meltdown before CTV Halifax remains in the news cycle, where it will spark curiousity among those who may not have yet heard about the incident.
Then, there’s the other problem – the shattering of the “fourth wall” and the reaction of journalists in certain quarters. There is outrage among LIberal friendly media that one of their own has had the audacity – the audacity! – to actually broadcast the unvarnished truth.
This, you see, is inappropriate.
That outrage has less to do with what happened to Dion than it does the fact that Canadians just caught a glimpse of how this business operates, and they don’t like it. It’s a “gotcha” moment all right, but this time it’s the media with their pants down. The restarts, the admission that ATV had first agreed to bury it before succumbing to sober second thought – that’s too much information.
For as hundreds have already pointed out across the blogosphere over the night, the very suggestion that Stephen Harper would have been afforded equal protection under the circumstances is laughable. The tape would have led the national newscasts, political analysts at the ready to drive the point home, pollsters already tasked with gauging the reaction of the electorate.
If broadcasting the Liberal leader’s performance before a running camera is a breach of journalistic ethics, I wonder what they’ll say about Greg Weston’s teleprompter-bites-man story?
“Thank you to welcome me in the chamber of commerce of one of the most successful city of Canada and certainly the most resilient Halifax,” Dion began ad libbing as he waited for the teleprompter.
Thanking the person who introduced him and saying a word about local Liberal MP Scott Brison, who provided a warm-up act, should not have been too tricky for a prospective prime minister.
“Thank you very much, um … Thank you. Uh, and thank you also. Thank you, Valerie. I think exactly like … I will speak with my heart, okay?”
“Thank you Valerie. Thank you so much because what you have as an agenda is at the core of a plan that Scotch, um, Scott has shown, a plan that want development and for the next generations as well, build on the economy and environment together.”
The teleprompter finally operational, the Liberal leader reads the rehearsed script, decrying Stephen Harper and telling the crowd why Stephane Dion should be the next prime minister.
He reported verbatim! This is not fair!
Update; What would we do without CBC campaign aides?
Well that’s interesting because we hear about [Dion’s plan] every single day,” said the CBC’s Julie Van Dusen, who is covering the election.
“It’s … about meeting the premiers, it’s about creating infrastructure jobs to kick-start a slowdown in the economy. It’s about his $1 billion fund that he has for the manufacturing sector in case they want to tap into it.”
h/t the Rat
Update: The launch of the Dion Excuse Platform.
Welcome Hotair readers, where this comment captures the essence of the matter perfectly;
“Hilarious! The ultimate softball question – where one gets to use perfect hindsight to flog the predecessor – left this dolt speechless.”
I can just imagine the screams from the media if that had been Stephen Harper having problems “hearing” a French question.
I especially like the way that CBC and friends all are reporting outrage at the horrible and over-the-line things Harper said about Dion’s meltdown but then don’t even bother to quote his comments. They leave the details of the horrible mocking of Dion to our fevered imaginations.
Right you are molarmauler. This is nothing more than the Liberals trying to pull on the “poor little boy” heartstrings of empathetic fools. This is not the time for little whiners sucking their thumbs in the corner. Time to show some balls, Dion. At times like these, we need someone with a spine….not a jellyfish.
Mike Duffy deserves a high five for just doing his job.Maybe he finally took lessons from Fox…”We report..You decide”…a foriegn concept to the CBC especially.
You are so right Kate…the real story is the biased media.
And if the Canadian electorate votes for Dion, we are doomed and do not deserve to survive as a nation.
Spell check ‘foreign’
And I hope the CPC war room just sit this out and let Dion dig his own hole.Moore handled it well.
“…we are doomed and do not deserve to survive as a nation.”
Agreed. The only thing that will turn around this country is a massive, widespread depression. Or a decisive Conservative majority whereby TRUE conservatism is implemented by the government.
Well this old Boilermaker phoned CTV (416-332-5000) The nice lady there tried to pretend she did’t know what news clip I was referring to. Right! She got a strip ripped off her obfuscating hide I am mad a hell and not gonna take this crap anymore. Stephan Dion cannot speak English well enough to order a hot dog anywhere west of thunder bay. Phone em folks and tell them how you feel about the Lieberanos trying to foist this GOOF on us. Imagine if it was Harper unable to understand a French question. Suck it up you Twinkie! Like we say in my trade “if you can’t take the heat get the F**k out of the boiler”
Cheers Bubba
Maybe they are just rallying around their boy because they really are cruel sadistic buggers who really, really enjoy watching him suffer.
If they can get him elected as PM they will have a field day of lazy journalism for the duration of his pathetic interregnum.
Agincourt, we have a problem.
Roger that. Shall I inform Ivan?
No need. I can hear him clearly.
What frequency?
No frequency. Just lung power. Talk about a Liberal chorus.
Oh shit.
I have been complaining about the CBCpravda Dioness to English Translations from the beginning.
from the onset they have translated something that sounds like Borat into something that sounds like Churchill.
to the Canadian public – certainly – dat his not fair!!!
CBC is the coerced-taxpayer funded bilge of Canadian news disseminators with permanent hard left slant ingrained.
“Well that’s interesting because we hear about [Dion’s plan] every single day,” said the CBC’s Julie Van Dusen, who is covering the election.
“It’s … about meeting the premiers, it’s about creating infrastructure jobs to kick-start a slowdown in the economy. It’s about his $1 billion fund that he has for the manufacturing sector in case they want to tap into it.”
from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/10/10/dion-invu.html
Is Julie van Dusen the interviewer or interviewee? It seems she’s defending Dion’s plan as if she were a Liberal talking head. The line between reporter and shameless shill has never been closer than in this election.
I don’t see how phoning CTV and ripping a strip off of someone who answers the phone accomplishes ANYTHING, except predisposing her and anyone she tells against the CPC. Way to go buddy! We’re trying to get votes you know, not piss people off. Jeez! CTV AIRED THE CLIP, for gosh sakes!
CBC, on the other hand, had one of the most sycophantic, biased interviews I’ve ever seen with Stephane Dion this morning (Heather whatsername). After doing their level best to make Dion’s collossal blunder look like something Haper did wrong, she even had the gall to ask Dion who would be his finance minister. I can’t even watch that channel anymore.
Do you tink eets eazy to speak without a teleprompter?
Dion is going to prop up an auto industry that is going bust? He would pour our hard earned cash down a rathole? Does he think a Liberal has such magical powers that a few Liberal dew drops on the Big 3 in Canada will prevent the US parent firms from getting sucked down the sewer?
“I would plan to plan a plan, that’s what I would do different”…
Sounds a lot like The Messiah promising to “help the middle class”… interesting proposal… ah ha, I see how that works…
Socialist ninnies.
I predict this election will be the watershed moment where the MSM is no longer considered the first choice in where Canadians get their information.The unvarnished truth, not spun by a bias old school Liberal indentured media.
Check poll at Toronto Star.
My problem with this is Canada has to have a leader who can communicate with the world’s leaders. If he can’t communicate with Canadians, what kind of a disaster will he be when he has his first meeting with President Obama?
Dear God, I get sick thinking about it. And I thought Chretien was bad.
Hey Rat – is there video of that anywhere? Can someone isolate that segment for me?
What is the MSMs plan here? I’m not sure they have thought this through. Anything but a Liberal majority or a Conservative marjority is going to be a disaster for the Libs.
A Liberal majority is a near impossibility given how fractured the left is.
Con majority is looking very improbable, thanks to typically biased media coverage.
That leaves a minority for either the CPC or the LPC.
With a CPC majority the Liberals would have 4 years to rebuild, could actually show up in Parliament and vote against the CPC without having to fear it would trigger an election, and could go about the business of installing a new leader, rallying the grassroots and replenishing their war chest.
But with a minority for either Party, we will be looking at another election in the next 12 months.
The Liberals just don’t have the money in the bank to fight 2 elections in 12 months (plus have a leadership convention), and thier fundraising is anemic, to be generous.
By pimping Dion and trying to hamstring the Conservatives, the MSM is virtually guaranteeing that we will have another minority government, and a potentially decent showing by Dion, validating he leadership in his own mind, which will make it far tougher for the Libs to dump him.
While a minority might not be the best case scenario for th CPC, it looks to be potentially disastrous for the Libs.
MSM’s default mode may just lead to the bankrupting and burying of the LPC once and for all.
This is the hidden agenda of the MSM. Cover up Mr. Dion and help the Liberal Party. I want to thank CTV Atlantic for setting the example for all media in Canada. They decided to take a stand to present a fair and true clip of what Mr. Dion is really about. Atlantic Canada may have just saved us from the carbon tax and economic collapse. Atlantic Canada was standing up for what is right for all of Canada.Thankyou, now hopefully the rest of Canada will meet the bar that they have set.
Eet ees vury difficilt to speek wizzout ze teleprompting.
Is it just me or does Dion sound like Cretin? I’m sure I’ve heard Dion say “poopilar with the pooples” too.
gellen:
Like two old-fashioned acoustic modems that can’t quite sync up, Dion and Obama (The One) will simply nod, smile and continue to talk past one another. Then a communiqué will be released at a later time telling us plebes what they “really” said to one another.
‘Twas ever thus…
Garth
julie van dussen .
yes she is a liberal talking head.
peter mansbridge is a listed liberal supporter and donator.
http://www.thestar.com/article/290192
An article from January 2008. Harper warning about tough times ahead. Liberal finance critic saying that the OM is over stating the risks.
Who was it has the plan for the economy again? The guy who knew about things 10 months ago, or the guy who just realized he needed one?
Is CBC sticking out like a sore thumb as the ONLY ones in MSM trying to keep their jobs…or I mean prop Dion…er,make that cover up the fact that Dion is not a leader…blame Harper…
whatever…
How about a link to Mike Duffy to thank him for ‘reporting’?
Just wondering: How many times has Dion been asked the question before yesterday?It should have been asked immediately after he dissed PMSH.
C’mon everybody; you’re all just being really mean!
……
(snort)
You’ve got to admit, though, it’s going to be a shame to no longer hear comedy gold like: “Canadians will know exactly where we are and which way does the mismanagement by whom.”
Pay no attention to the snivellers. If Harper had made those gaffes, the Libs would’ve been on him in a heartbeat.
“I did not understand the question,” said Dion. “Maybe it’s because I have a hearing problem, maybe because [English is] my second language, but I did not understand the question.”
This is so pathetic. If you don’t understand the question, don’t try and pretend you do by answering the bloomin’ thing.
Jeez, the guy’s a walking pity party. It appears the CBC’s accepted their invitation and is now serving the refreshments.
I’m a sovereigntist and so no friend to the Liberals, but this reaction is despicable. Harper is at least as bad in French as Dion is in English, but we Quebecers tend to be a bit more tolerant of anglophones than Canadians are of francophones (surprisingly).
If Harper can run a bilingual country while butchering one of the languages, Dion can do the same.
Remember folks, the media have told us over an over that Mr. Harper lacks charisma. Assume they think Dion does have it, never mentioned it’s importance in his case however. Wonder if the brain fart he had in the CTV interview would affect his charisma factor?
Dion bloody well understood the question, notwithstanding the excuses trotted out for him by legions of leftist journalists.
He was clearly petrified that his answer might unintentionally give Harper credit for doing the right things during this financial crisis. Since he’s spent the much of the last two weeks claiming that Harper has literally done everything wrong, that would have made him look like a hypocrite.
As many posters here have correctly pointed out, had Harper made this gaffe, the MSM would have been all over him. What’s sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander. Suck it up, MSM.
Speaking as an old news junkie I have to admit that I’ve lost interest in almost all of the mainstream Canadian news outlets. This is mainly because they are spin machines and not news gatherers.
We report, you decide. Definitely not a Canadian news tradition.
Eric, this isn’t about “language”, it’s about UNDERSTANDING; Dion had the same softball question lobbed to him three separate times, and, even after he had it EXPLAINED to him (which he apparently understood, by nodding, and saying “yes, yes”), he STILL couldn’t come up with anything approaching an answer. In other words, he doesn’t even HAVE a plan, and he was just hoping that the interviewer would tire of butting his head into a brick wall and go on to something that Dion had memorized an answer for.
Eric,
You are full of crap.
Dion had a brain fart during the interview. Then he got a redo. Then another. Then he got busted.
I always get a laugh that Duceppes english is much better than Dions. What does that say?
Mr Dion has gone negative from the day he won the leadership of his party. They have commercials calling Mr Harper a Bush clone, that he doesn’t have a plan (no, just the one he’s been executing for the last 10 months; indeed, throughout his PM mandate). When he gets bit back, he calls Harper classless. IOW, la meme chose, encore.
If he didn’t understand a slightly nuanced question, that is one thing, which might even be forgivable; but, not having the answer as to what he would do, today, to forestall the financial crisis, is simply unacceptable.
Now Lisa Van Dusen is answering his questions for him. Does he plan to bring the CBC along with him to G8 conferences, so they can explain what his “positions” are. Why wouldn’t he just stay home.
Canadians are rightfully asking the same question now. We need leadership that can set priorities, make realistic (not seminar room technocratic) plans, and communicate with the people of Canada. Dion has demonstrated (because it’s already been proven IMO), that he does not possess these attributes, notwithstanding his “disability.”
Having said all that, this is likely a tempest in a teapot. The real wolf at Dion’s door is his stubborn, technocratic insistence on instituting a carbon tax at a time of economic uncertainty. He says that Sweden has done well. Mr Dion might want to take a closer look; in 2006 the Swedes kicked out their socialist government who brought these measure in. Thank God Dion will never get the chance.
Don Martin’s pathetic defence of Dion at the NP, calling Harper a Big Meanie, is taking a serious pounding in the comments there…
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/10/09/197948.aspx
It’s … about meeting the premiers, it’s about creating infrastructure jobs to kick-start a slowdown in the economy.
Does that say what I think it said? Why would anyone want to kick-start a “slowdown”?
And, to top it off, I’m listening to CBC right now – David Suzuki is guest hosting “The Current”. Hmmm, right before an election? Good thing he’s non-partisan, eh?
And Jay, no need for that type of response to Eric – that type of language is just too juvenile to read
Just had a truly wicked thought. Maybe Dion should implement Harper’s policy of tight control on the press? Seems to me, he just got a lesson in what everyone of us, and Harper, and all his MPs, has known for about 15 years.
Eric says Quebecers tend to be a bit more tolerant of Angolphones? Did I read that right? Having traveled extensively throughout Quebec I call BS on that comment. Without exception every Francophone I met gave me about 1 microsecond to demonstrate my fluency in French before dismissing me as just another “stupid Anglophone”.
As for Dion – didn’t Mike Duffy at CTV have a similar situation with a Liberal spokesperson. Mike asked a hard question and was practically begged by the Liberals to drop the issue – and Duffy stuck to his guns. Its hilarious to see a Liberal’s reaction when they suddenly realize the media aren’t in their pocket.
Toronto star poll
go look & vote
Dats not Fair
Get the gist of it
Harper when is commented on Dion’s gaffe didn’t actually knock him for his lack of understanding of the question or for his weak English ability. Harper said his concern was that Dion when he finally answered the question showed he clearly didn’t have a plan. Dion’s plan was to take 30 days to develop a plan. That’s not a plan! The media critizes Harper for commenting on the Dion gaffe, but Harper showed restraint focusing only on the Liberal leader policy rather than his lack of ability to be a leader. Dion in contrast says Harper “no class”. Dion comfortably insults Harper and no one comments, it is so sad the bias we see in the media and with the moral rules that apply to each leader. Dion’s insults shows his lack of class. Please Canada see through the Liberal spin.
Jay – I agree with you. My daughter and I watched the English debate and both of us agreed that Duceppe was infinitely easier to understand than Dion. If Duceppe (the leader of a separation party) can communicate effectively with the rest of Canada, why can’t Dion – the leader of the erstwhile “natural governing party”
What’s really strange is that I watched Dion with Mansbridge the other night, and Dion spent the entire interview regurgitating Liberal boilerplate platitudes as opposed to answering the questions put to him. Why didn’t he just do the same thing here? A job requirement in being a politician is to give the answer you want to give, irrespective of what the question is. So if he can’t do that, its just one more example of him not being up to the job of politician never mind PM.
[ ..didn’t Mike Duffy at CTV have a similar situation with a Liberal spokesperson.]
Yes, during the 2005 campaign. It was John Duffy (no relation, I believe), liberal operative.
Mike Duffy really took him down – may well have been a turning point in the campaign – Harper’s numbers went up.
The responses to my comment only confirm the disrespect Conservatives and English Canadians have for francophones in general.
Say goodbye to your seats in Quebec, La Presse (run by a conservative federalist) is predicting the Conservatives will lose at least 5 of their 11 seats.
Oh, and say goodbye to your majority dreams, if not a minority.
John Brown:
I have travelled extensively in Quebec, and I have never been treated poorly when I use either English or my français approximatif.
The people that I’ve met have been friendly, understanding, and cordial
I despise CBC spin as much the rest here, but was I imagining it when I watched Peter Pansbridge actually reporting the Dion freeze up moment on Pravda National? Sure he soft pedaled it, but the fact that it made Pravda at all was pretty surprising.
“I would plan to plan a plan, that’s what I would do different”…
shaken at 11:25 am: Is that a corollary of “da proof is da proof..”?
Dion interview
Palin interview
Compare and contrast the scumsucking weasel media’s coverage.
Eric…respectfully…take the language chip off your shoulder…this is not an English/French issue…this is about leadership of our country.
Unfortunately, my experiences in Quebec tend to mirror John Brown’s more closely than Erik Larsen’s.
This is unfortunate, because I have lots of family in France (in Paris and Normandy — there’s an entire town near Alençon that appears to be nothing but cousins of mine), and my travels there are more like what Mr. Larsen claims to have experienced in Quebec. I love the French. The Quebecois? I can take ’em or leave ’em.
When I want a dose of French culture, I head to France. I haven’t wanted abuse for a long time, so I’ve avoided Quebec.
That being said, if M. Duceppe was running candidates in Calgary Southwest, I’d have half a mind to vote for him — as would a surprising number of other Albertans. If the people I’ve talked to here are any indication, he’s well-liked in “redneck” country, probably because a lot of people here perceive him as a straight shooter, even though they’re not crazy about his politics.
Dion, on the other hand, is perceived as a weasel.
Garth