Jack Layton was having a bad day in the midst of what would turn out to be a very bad week for the NDP.
On the NDP front bench, Libby Davies is Layton’s seatmate to his left (appropriately enough), while Tom Mulcair sits just to his right in the far corner of opposition benches. And judging by their body language, the House was an exceedingly uncomfortable place for all three of them.
Davies was under continuous fire for her idiotic statements about Israel given in a video interview to a blogger at an anti-Israeli protest rally in Vancouver on June 5. But it was only this week that her remarks on the Israeli “occupation” of Palestine, dating from 1948 she said, went viral on YouTube.
She had quite a bit more to say about the imperative that “Israel has to remove itself from illegal settlements — they’re basically all illegal.” She went on to refer to the siege, rather than the blockade, of Gaza, and that “there has to be some kind of settlement, whether it’s negotiated or somehow imposed.”
Since Davies is deputy leader of the NDP, the question naturally arose as to whether she was announcing policy other than the boilerplate two-state solution. Mulcair, the party’s other deputy leader who has a large Jewish community in his Montreal riding of Outremont, called her comments “grossly unacceptable.”
Well, who’s in charge of this outfit? Stephen Harper wanted to know when he jumped into the fray in question period on Wednesday. For the second day running, Harper demanded Layton fire Davies for her “extremist” comments and “a fundamental denial of Israel’s right to exist.”
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It’s interesting how the MSM ( pre Sun News) still gets away with accusations of PMSH unable to control his Rednecks and then when he does exert control he gets accused of …well, control.
But until now we haven’t heard much about the progressives and their lack of control or too much control. The voters are gradually getting the idea that academics like Iggy and Obama belong in a classroom of fantasy not in the real world. They are used to controlling a classroom or a Community Organization, not dealing in the real world. But finally, we are getting a glimpse at how Layton’s lieutenants (potential cabinet ministers in a coalition of progressives) would rule over the land.
Both Davies and Mulcair can be real nasty pieces of work, not the loving, Kumbayah, peaceniks that the Dippers try to portray themselves as being. Dippers are harbouring some radical Pinknecks.
As to the kind of characters making up the Bloc, we know squat. Maybe when we get Sun News we will get some info on what 1/6th of our MPs in the Bloc say and think.
Thank goodness for the internet! We all know that CBC would never report Libby Davies comments unless forced to by YouTube.
It makes my hair stand on end to think what has happened before the internet that they hid from us.
I must admit that I am a little surprised, as I believe Jack Layton is, that the detainee stance the Dippers took didn’t get better press. Instead of being lauded for taking a noble stand the press almost treated the NDP’s stance with scorn. As for the ‘haters’ on the left I doubt there will be any resignations. The left rarely recognizes its own hatreds, biases and bigotries believing instead that theirs is the only way forward.
NDP problems will not make it to the msm to be broadcasted since the NDP joined forces(coalition) with the liberals therefore, have to be treated fairly and balanced as the liberals. which means- not a peep of Davies’ incident will be heard.
If the media does accuse Davies and the NDP on any thing; the NDP will take the media’s deliberate lack of reporting, manipulation, re-liberals’ corruption, to the public.
The media stand by their coalition in everyway possible against you.
The NDP is covetous of the immigrant vote whenever the writ is dropped, probably this fall. Whether or not approx. 30 percent of that voting block aspires to the terrorist agenda against the West. Taliban Jack’s true colours are showing here because as David Frum’s recent article ‘told ya so’ carried on this site within last two weeks, Israel’s right decision to board the flotilla for inspection of its cargo, allowed Israel a rare public relations victory against the identified terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria. Finally politically supported anti-semitism is being exposed for the destructive beast that it is. And Layton as NDP leader is supporting the terrorist factions living and dwelling amongst us, yet to be identified.
With the seventeen Afghans gone AWOL from the U.S. military base, the security threat to the G8/20 meetings in TOR must get reviewed. The call for Davies’ resignation is in order. It provides for a ‘go ahead’ signal to terrorist factions within our own shores. How stupid, irresponsible is that from a gov’t official?
Jen that’s an excellent point that you make about the MSM, in the tank with the progressives, not wanting to dim the chances of a coalition. Therefore they will not report on the mayhem in the Dipper ranks caused by potential cabinet ministers in waiting.
Also Cassie conjures up memories of Svend “HamAs” Robinson ( of kleptomania fame) visiting Yasser Arafat (of the Nobel Pride Parade and on the same float as Carter and Obama). Svend got a private audience in Yasser’s tent as I recall. They no doubt sat around the campfire singing “Yasser , that’s my Baby”. All of these images will make fine YouTube cartoons during the election; reminding undecided voters that they have a clear choice to make if they want to avoid a:
Coalition of the Chilling.
The NDP may not officially support Ms. Davies position – but previous actions and talk clearly indicate where their party members and MPs stand. Lovely bunch of coconuts. Cheers.
Have they found those police uniforms yet, that supposedly went missing from the cleaners. What cleaners did they disappear from.
Those 17 afghans have been MIA for about 2 yrs. Did the govt know this, and is that why security is so costly in Toronto.
I guess Layton was having a bad hair day. Oh, I guess that explains it since he doesnt have any hair. Apparently, he calls it a very wide part.