“The Liberal campaign was anxious that this exchange not be broadcast…”
Liberal response: Do you tink it’s izzy to hear de question?
Or, maybe he’d just come from a cocktail?
Mr. Dion said the issue was most problematic in large crowds, when numerous sources blend together and make it difficult to understand. “If I am at a cocktail and everybody is speaking at the same time, then I will have difficulty.”
Oh… and did he ever answer the question? You be the judge.
Update:
And thus begins a new chapter in media navel gazing. Aaron Wherry despairs that Canadian “Nobody brings you sweaters like we do!” journalism has hit a “low point”.
Man, it feels like I’ve lost my innocence or something.
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.