Stupid Canadians. Wherever would we get such an idea?
The reaction to Mr. Ignatieff’s defeat has focused largely on trying to explain how his reputation as one of Harvard’s most respected professors, a charismatic intellectual who could pack classrooms and once graced the cover of GQ magazine, could have worked against him with voters.
Mark Leccese, a journalism professor and media blogger at Boston.com, wrote that Mr. Ignatieff’s colleagues were dismayed that negative connotations about Harvard — long a code word in U.S. political rhetoric for “out-of-touch elitist” — seemed to have crossed the border into Canada.
“If Ignatieff had been a professor at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, would the ad have been as powerful?” he wrote.
h/t Lookout
Well just think, those going to U of T next year will be getting a Harvard Education from Ignatieff…scary thought.
If Harvard had a degree in common sense perhaps they would understand why Iggy was rejected as leadership material by the canadian voter.
A harvard education does nothing for basic common sense, and Iggy has very little of that. Case in point is as simple as the long gun registry. Any poll would have told him that the vast majority of canadians are against it yet he whipped his MPs to vote for it therefore alienating pretty well all of rural Canada.
Harvard thinking does very little for the majority that actually works for a living. They know a complete waste of money when they see it.
I believe it was William Buckley who quipped, “I’d rather be governed by the first 400 names in the Boston telephone directory than the faculty of Harvard University.”
The elites must hate songs like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCTZOSD8RrA&feature=related
Harvard, it rings a bell. It’s a plane isn’t it?
Ignatieff’s failure to connect with Canadians comes down to two reasons. One his fault and one he had no control over.
First, he blew any credibility he may have had by criticizing Harper on everything, everyday, even things he formerly supported. He changed himself into a politician, while Canadian’s could have benefited much more from a professor. Canadians sensed the desperation and phony-ness of the change.
Secondly, but more importantly, he ran directly into the brick wall of Stephen Harper, a leader on his game, after significant accomplishments of uniting the right and five successful years of battling the socialists, separatists, and the CBC.
Any politician who wants to defeat Harper is going to have to be a good student of Harper’s ways. Until Liberals can agree to praise Harper for some of his many accomplishments (or at least stop hating him) they will not be a credible governing alternative.
@Phantom: “First, everyone outside Toronto, Vancouver and Quebec has had it with tax-and-spend socialism. It isn’t working, we won’t vote for it.”
Not so. The Liberals lost a ton of seats in the 416 area code. Toronto has deserted the Liberals in droves, and some of us saw this coming after the election of Rob Ford.
Second, Quebec voted in droves for even bigger tax and spend socialism, namely the Dippers. It can hardly be said that they voted for their local candidates, as most of Quebec wouldn’t recognize their NDP Members in a police lineup.
@HRyan: it doesn’t matter who the next two Liberal leaders are. The party is irrelevant for about the next 10 years. It and the Greens are about to be hamstrung by the termination of the per-vote subsidy. It’s going to take the Liberals at least five to seven years just to try to rebuild their membership base which has completely eroded over the past 20 years. The next leader will in fact have to spend all his time simply trying to reassemble the party. And with no money that’s very difficult. The Liberals are in great danger of going the way of the British Liberals in 1920.
@Wafer: your point is irrelevant. Ignatief has already accepted a post at the University of Toronto.
@GYM: your comparison is stupid. Bin Laden had all kinds of leadership qualities. That’s precisely why he was such a threat and America’s number one most wanted.
“If Ignatieff had been a professor at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, would the ad have been as powerful?”
If it had been broadcast over WOOF, it would have.
It’s probably fair to say that Michael Ignatieff was unsuited to the political life, that his career path was not necessarily something he planned out with this goal in mind, and speaking frankly, he is nowhere near as bad a person, academic or political candidate as the SDA torture chamber would have us believe, but on the other hand, no second coming of Pierre Trudeau either (not that this would be a good thing but for someone looking for that, Iggy was not it).
So it seems only fair to suggest that now that Michael Ignatieff has said his farewell to the political realm and retreated to academia, that we leave him alone and at least stop exaggerating, the election is over, he lost and he won’t be running again. That doesn’t make him a terrible person and certainly not a bad hiring choice for a university. I don’t think I would necessarily want to pay tuition to be hectored by Bulldog Baird or to listen to the rationalizations of Tony Clement either. But they are in theory prime politicians Tory style.
This campaign may have created a strong nucleus for the CPC, but it has also created new reasons for Canadians to distrust the party, and I would place on the record this advice, retire the attack ad mode now while you’re ahead, it worked with Dion and it worked with Iggy, would you get lucky a third time? You never know, it could backfire and seem unsporting and basically nasty, as well as being a smokescreen for not having to discuss actual policy differences.
Michael Ignatieff was not a very “political” person. His friend Bob Rae has better political instincts and would probably take a different approach to this sort of campaign. Frankly, I think that not being a very “political” person is really a sign of character development rather than a flaw, but in the current political atmosphere, people who think a little before they speak are not really that welcome, the preferred approach is to lash out with a torrent of shouted slogans and the demeanour of a hockey goon, as though that “settled” the argument. But I notice all these brave and forthright people have nothing to say about the fraud of global warming and nothing to say about the impending restrictions to be placed on internet freedom of speech. So maybe it’s time to do some radical rethinking, now that the majority is secure, how secure is our freedom?
Well, said, Peter. The Tories have to give people a reason to vote for them, not just reasons to not vote for the others. Let’s face it, no one is ever as bad as portrayed in attack ads. All of these things are caricatures.
As to your last point, I agree, but political courage for very necessary reasons is a very scarce commodity. McGuinty is going to lose the next Ontario election because of HST, which is arguably the one good thing he’s done in eight years. He’s NOT going to lose it because of all the stupidities he’s committed. The Tories were annihilated in 1993 primarily over NAFTA and the GST, two good policies utterly necessary then and now. Mitch Hepburn was wiped out in the early 1940s over pasteurization. Any politician usually only has one act of political courage in them, because it will get them unelected.
For some reason that I can’t quite articulate, this is my favorite part of the article:
“I think they’re unhappy that his time spent in the U.S. at Harvard ended up hurting him not really helping him in the election,” said Paul Cellucci, former U.S. ambassador to Canada and a former governor of Massachusetts. “They’re not happy about that and I don’t blame them. You would think that spending time in Harvard would have a positive impact on your future career path.”
new – good lord, however did you make it through the filter? Six URLs must be a record. Look, we have a “free” health care system here in Canada, among other welfare entitlements. If you bring all your elderly relatives over from Iran Canadians will wind up paying through the nose. Can you see why people might have a problem with that? Now I’m off to go have a reasoned discussion with a chrysanthamum.
cgh, the HST is just one of so many reasons to turf McGuinty. The man is a despicable liar, coward and thief and these are his good qualities.
Dave, all true except your first point. HST is the one good thing he did. It was utterly essential to balance the tax burden and stimulate productivity.
I forget the person’s name but the saying was:
“When he had a good staff, he was a good general.”
Iggy probably the same.
.
Where I come from the first hint that the fella’s cheese might have slipped off his cracker is the fact that he hasn’t been in the country he deigns to rule for over 30 years. Every other sane individual would have politely shown his would be recruiters the door and then had a really really good belly laugh.
On a related note just who do those academics think they are that they believe they are somehow uniquely qualified to do anything. Yes to be successful in academe you must have a degree of genius. However that kind of genius does not necessarily translate into any other kind genius. My friend the mechanic is an absolute genius when it comes to fixing cars but I don’t want him running the country any more than I want some clown who did nothing but go to school for his entire life running the country.
Harvard gave us 0bama. Enough said.
I bet most Americans are regretting that choice.
Canadian prove that they are smarter.
“Yes to be successful in academe you must have a degree of genius.”
Joe, with respect, I do not think that word means what you think it means.
The liberals were essentially destroyed in this election because Canadians are familiar with the destructive policies of liberalism. Period.
Liberalism, socialism, communism, totalitarianism, marxism … we have seen enough progressive initiatives to recognize they they only breed poverty and despair.
Maybe we all didn’t go to Harvard, but we have seen enough of Iggy’s agenda in action to recognize that liberalism is destructive.
Canada has been fundamentally destroyed by liberals. Let those people find something else to do that does not involve my money.
“I was devastated, obviously, but the circumstances are really strange,’’ said Fotini Christia, an assistant professor of political science at MIT who was Ignatieff’s teaching assistant for four years at Harvard. “To me, it’s a puzzle why Michael, who is one of the most charismatic people I know, would be presented the way he was presented in Canada, as some sort of carpetbagger.’’
… because he was a carpetbagger !!!!
Assume that Iggy was a US citizen who spent the same amount of time in the UK and Canada , then moved to the US to be crowned as the Democratic presidential candidate without bothering about a primary … the US media would go absolutely berserk , and he would be run out of the US on a rail.
Genius: “a single strongly marked capacity or aptitude” Miriam Webster Dictionary.
Genius: “natural ability or capacity; strong inclination” On Line Dictionary
Genius: “The term is used in various ways: to refer to a particular aspect of an individual, or the individual in their entirety” Wikipedia
There are many reasons why Ignatieff lost and being an out of touch elitist who prefers America over Canada is just one of them.
So far, in some major politics, Harvard is three for three: David Miller, Michael Ignatief, Barack Obama. All three “leftists”, all three incompetent politicians, all three soon to be losers. All three the academic equivalent of bimbos.
Hi Kate,
Thanks for all the water you mellon heads sent Manitoba. I would like to say Riders suck but the sad fact is, Bombers win on suckage. ha ha
Posters, Go to the link provided by Kate…”get such an idea”
The article mentions the Boston Globe and the Harvard Crimson.
Here is an article I found from the Crimson.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/5/11/canadian-party-ignatieff-government/
I think you will find the poster comment interesting. Well worth reading.
I’m finally tired of beating up on Ignatieff.
Monument Committee…… A committee has been formed to raise $5,000,000 for a monument of defeated Canadian Liberal leader, Michael Ignatieff. They originally wanted to put it on Mt. Rushmore since he spent so much time in the USA but they discovered there was not enough room for two more faces.
They then decided to erect a statue of Mike in the Quebec Hall Of Fame since he loves that province more than all the others combined. They were certainly in a quandary as to where the statue should be placed.
It was not proper to place it beside the statue of Sir John A MacDonald (Canada’s 1st Prime Minister), who never told a lie, nor beside Pierre Trudeau who never told the truth, since he could never tell the difference.
They finally decided to place it beside Christopher Columbus, the greatest Liberal the world has ever known.
He left on a journey not knowing where he was going, and when he got there he didn’t know where he was.
He returned home not knowing where he had been, and he did it all on somebody else’s money.
A Sincere Thank You from the Ignatieff Monument Committee
P.S. The Committee has raised $1.35 so far.
One might blame the Ignatieff fiasco on Harvard, but considering that MacKenzie King earned an M.A. and a Ph.D.
from Harvard before embarking on the most successful Canadian political career of the 20th Century, it’s probably a bum rap.
@max at May 12, 2011 8:14 PM
“I’m finally tired of beating up on Ignatieff”.
Think about this,
Don’t blame Ignatieff. Blame the Liberal party. It was the Liberal Party establishment that approached Ignatieff, not the other way around.
Would I like to be the Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs? Sure I would and I would play if they gave me a chance. Don’t blame me if I suck, Blame those that gave me the opportunity.
That is probably a minor little nuance the Liberal establishment would like to avoid.
Hey Libs,
Mr Ignatieffs expertise is in academia, not leadership etc. There is a big difference and don’t blame him for where you are now. You simply annointed the wrong candidate and messed up the whole process.
Good Luck to you Mr. Ignatieff. Please don’t infect our future grads with elitist crap.
From Manitoba said, “Here is an article I found from the Crimson.
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/5/11/canadian-party-ignatieff-government/
I think you will find the poster comment interesting. Well worth reading.”
Thanks for that link! You’re right, I was pleasantly surprised by the comments.
“If Ignatieff had been a professor at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, would the ad have been as powerful?”
Interesting that the wise guy does not recognize precisely the sentiment that is expressing.
Could he be from Harward?
As someone mentioned above Ignatieff has now stepped down and deserves to be left alone. The man has quite possibly had the worst couple of years of politics imaginable.
Those in the media that are still lecturing voters about anti-intellectualism need to get over themselves. If they really think that Ignatieff’s education was his and the Liberals biggest problem they are not well suited for their chosen careers. Besides even if Harvard-phobia was the reason, it is not the voters responsibility to please politicians, journalists, academics or anyone else.
If Iggy was such a well known prof, why had I never heard of him? Didn’t realize Harvard was in Boston – the only university of any significance I know of in that city is MIT. In contrast to Harvard, MIT seems to actually produce useful knowledge.
Judging from the abysmal performance of graduates of “prestigious” universities who become politicians I think that it’s time to use Buckley’s technique of randomly searching phone books for people to appoint to public office. Fortunately I have an unlisted number and am safe should this more practical method of governance be implemented.
Nice piece in the Nat Post. However, what did Iggy in was a desire amongst Canadians to end the petty political sniping and eternal elections.
So they decided for a majority government; Iggy was basically irrelevent to this decision by the people of Canada.
I just had to look it up…
The writer’s more elitist than he knows. Unless you’re a regular NPR listener, you’re not going to get it. These people really are from a different planet. It’s galling that they don’t get it.
Peter O’Donnell at May 12, 2011 6:00 PM
I do not think Iggy a bad person, just a stupid person. Why did he ever think of becoming Canadian PM? This was stupid; the inevitable results he can now contemplate ….
So, academics appear to be stupid, if Iggy is a prime example.
I am a petty person. The reason I did not vote for Michael Ignatieff is because I am resentful of his obvious superiority.
Message to Harvard: It’s. Not. About. You.
Someone who went to the UofW {the u of whatever}thinks that he can tell us what we can think and do. These high minded people forget that we pay the bills and make this country run. So send all the usless high ed. leaches home and let people that know how DO. Thats how things realy work.
The attack ads on Harper were ten times more than the attack ads on Iggy.Iggy’s and the liberals problem was that they didnt like being treated like they treated Harper.The nail in the coffin was when Layton took him to the woodshed about his attendance record in parliament.
I’m not sure where all this good/bad person shit has come from. Iggy the asshole, signed the coalition papers, he was willing to get into another coalition. He just wanted wanted to be the f#cker, not the f#ckee.
He got neither. But what the hell, it looked good on paper.
It’s tough to decide who was the biggest dork … martin, dijon, or iggy.
It may be that Harvard has long been a code word for “out of touch elitist”. More recently though it is a code word for mal-educated dope. One can be sure that they don’t teach Socrates anymore at Harvard.
Iggy has a B of S that is realy important. It is a good thing to have a well education mind in an art of bull shit.
quote ….One might blame the Ignatieff fiasco on Harvard, but considering that MacKenzie King earned an M.A. and a Ph.D.
from Harvard before embarking on the most successful Canadian political career of the 20th Century, it’s probably a bum rap…..
One might do well to remember that the Harvard of King’s day bears little resemblance to the Harvard, or indeed almost any university, of today.
Once upon a time Universities were seats of discourse and debate, today they are indoctrination camps where the slightest deviation from or questioning of the political correctness gestapo’s directives is met with instant rebuke, derision and retaliation.
Students in modern universities are not allowed to learn, they’re required to parrot the dogma of the liebrals that can’t function in the real world…to the point that on many campuses there are people assigned to monitor conversations and report anything ‘incorrect’ and where white male students are taken in for ‘preemptive reeducation’ on day one because solely by virtue of their sex and race they are obviously sexist and racist…what have we allowed to happen ? and why do they not see what they’ve done to learning..or have they ?
I don’t blame the LPC’s poor election fortunes on Mr. Ignattief.
I think they are the LPC’s fortunes more than Michael’s.
I really don’t think the LPC will do better next time with a new leader.
I think they are done.
=oD
ding dong, the witch is dead
It’s time to focus on the New Left, Pied Piper Jack of the Velvet Touch and his post-puebescent pop-party.
“I think they’re unhappy that his time spent in the U.S. at Harvard ended up hurting him not really helping him in the election,” said Paul Celucci, former U.S. ambassador to Canada and a former governor of Massachusetts. “They’re not happy about that and I don’t blame them. You would think that spending time in Harvard would have a positive impact on your future career path.”
My former positive opinion of former Ambassador Celucci just dropped quite a few notches.
This country has already had a rich, Harvard educated intellectual as PM. Pierre Trudeau. Need I say more?
“I ain’t no physicist but I know what matters’ ”
Popeye The Sailor Man
If we did EVER buy the elite intellectual fascists that come out with their “We’re too smart for you” column every tuesday, we’d be NAZI, eugenic practicing, slave owning, communist, antisemite, Cap and Traders a long time ago and wouldn’t require an election, nor lecturing from puffed up eyebrow dork frauds that call themselves “Counts” and tuck their shirts into their underwear.
“F” You, Iggy and the horse you rode in on.
May I say, I’ve never listened to NPR but I’m an old fan of PDQ Bach. I’m not so sure that the reference was meant as an inside joke. Very possible that Mr. Harvard Guy actually thought there was such a school. (There certainly is such a town.)
After all, if we’ve learned anything about Harvard from Iggy and Obama, it’s that “Harvard smart” is a euphemism for “shit stupid”.