Big Day

It's a big day in politics both north and south of the border. Two nations' governments were kicked in the goodies like the guy in the padded suit at a women's "Don't Let the Bastard Touch You" self-defense class.

Canada

We'll start in reality - Canada. For all you self-interested Southerners, Canada has had a simmering scandal that almost brought an election last Spring. The current minority Liberal government under PM Paul Martin is the successor of a majority Liberal government led by Jean Chretien (Martin was Chretien's Finance Minister). There was some tomfoolery with a few million Canadian bucks (just good natured fun), and some high ranking politicos were made to look bad.

See, after the 1995 Quebec referendum on separation - where a dangerously slim majority voted to stay in Canada - old Jean thought it would be a swell idea to spend a few bucks on some federal PR to shore up support among Quebecers. As often happens in these cases, a goodly chunk of the money ended up in the hands of Liberal politicians and Liberal-affiliated PR businesses.

The program was run from the PM's own office, so the stink of the scandal lingered around both the former and current PM. Justice Gomery was charged with investigating, which he's done very publicly over the past year.

While the investigation was happening, suspiciously deranged-looking Conservative Leader Stephen Harper tried repeatedly and somewhat feverishly to force an election. Through various parliamentary tricks, Martin was able to thwart Harper's efforts. It also helped that Canadians overwhelmingly didn't want a new election. There were no results from the Gomery probe, and polls showed that the results would be pretty similar to the existing situation - so why bother?

The angle taken by Canadians is that they don't see this as a big deal. When word of the enquiry first broke, polls showed a strong level of outrage. But when Harper and his odious Conservatives looked like they were going to get ahead in an election, the polls did a 180. Voters said clearly: "we're not that mad." Given the choice of a Conservative government or a somewhat scandal-tainted Liberal government, there was no choice.

Martin, for his part, promised to call an election within 30 days if the final report, expected in February.

The initial report is out today: PM Martin is off the hook. Former PM Chretien is on the hook - even though there is no evidence of any kind showing that he knew anything about it.

Public reactions are pretty steady on this. Most think Martin was suspiciously lucky to come away unscathed. And most thing this whole thing should be over.

Harper, of course, is trying to make it into The Unbearable Crime that Has Never Happened Before! We Must Call An Election Before the Matrix Becomes Real and Others Take Money That... You get the point.

Harper said he can't understand why Prime Minister Paul Martin doesn't resign in the face of a damning report which spoke of a Liberal culture of entitlement and which said the party was involved in kickbacks.

Hmmm. Resign after being exonerated by an official enquiry. I'm sure he'll run right out and do that.

USA

Harry Reid shut down the Senate! In a surprise move, he used one of the Senate's many quirky rules to force the doors to be locked, observers and staffers to be expelled, and the cameras shut off. Why? Because the Junta has refused to look into the pre-war misuse of intel by the White House. Sen. Roberts was supposed to get into it a year ago, but it's been mysteriously slipping his mind. I'm sure he still has suits at the dry cleaners, too.

The last think the Bush Junta can afford is an investigation into their treasonous lies that sucked us into this bloody and bankrupting conflict. So far, Roberts has been their man; he's stonewalled all attempts to make him act like an American.

So Harry Reid pulled a fast one and hijacked the chamber for a couple of hours. With the indictment of Scooter Libby, it's time to make a power move (okay, well past time, but still).

The Libby/Plame affair is all about the purposeful lies told to the American people to turn them to war. War is the most serious action a nation can take. It defines a people. It kills their sons and daughters, and many sons and daughters of the enemy.

But the Junta made it a picnic. They went ion a lark, destroying our national credibility and our alliances on an ideological whim. And then to compound their blind stupidity, they botched the occupation, treating it as a free lunch for their corporate sponsors.

This much is known. How much more will we know when a real investigation is done? The Congress is supposed to police the executive, but the Junta has seen to it that the sacred duty of oversight has been dropped.

Senate Majority Leader Dr. StrangeFrist said: "This is an affront to me personally," an angry Mr. Frist said. He said would find it difficult to trust Mr. Reid any longer. "It's an affront to our leadership," Mr. Frist said. "It's an affront to the United States of America. And it is wrong."

But for all the huffing and puffing, three Democratic and three Republican Senators will report back on the progress of the hearings by November 14. And the Senate is on notice: they can't keep protecting this president. And they can't keep protecting themselves.

Give 'em Hell, Harry!