Another reason why no one reads George Straight..

Too bad because Jang was about the only prospective candidate with any chance of winning. I seriously the doubt the NDP is capable of recruiting another candidate of that calibre, or any calibre for that matter.

The Federal NDP needs to get its act together quickly if it hopes even to retain the seats it already has. And that ain't gonna happen when the leader talks about the need to recognize Hamas and the Taliban and the Convention talks about insane ideas like universal welfare and condemning Canadian soldiers as terrorists.

The fringe loonies seem bent on pushing out the few people who still vote Federal NDP, themselves as bunch of fringe loonies.

"And that ain't gonna happen when the leader talks about the need to recognize Hamas and the Taliban ... and the Convention talks about insane ideas like universal welfare and condemning Canadian soldiers as terrorists."

Posted by Play that Freacky Music White Boy on October 25, 2006

All of these assertions are either wholly or mostly false. But what else is new?

Now, now, now Play that Freacky etc., before you
implode with self-righteousness, remember that Jack Layton ain't the only politico willing to talk to the insurgents.

It now turns out that Yankie brass have been holed up in a negotiating session with the bad guys in Iraq in an effort at face to face stuff and I doubt it's about swapping spit or anything like that which just might get American interigators all excited.

It also turns out that an awful lot of the world is saying talk to the Taliban rather than trying to kill every last one of them because it's likely to completely depopulate Afghanistan if you do.

Gee, I've always thought that tossing a few words back and forth had a much lower casualty rate than tossing grenades, but I'm always ready to bend to superior wisdom.

BTW, Play etc., do the Taliban control the Afghan drug trade or do government ministers, who in earlier lives were simple warlords, still have the iron fist in that mess?

Please, I need enlightnment so I'll know who to blame when the body count runs into the triple digits.

I think this is quite the blow for the NDP. Kerry would have won Kingsway hands down for the NDP. Too bad. It would be nice to have someone of Kerry's character representing the people of Kingsway.

I realize this is a largely immigrant riding, but if Jang doesn't want to run again, and neither does Waddell, what about former Premier Glen Clark?

Clark to run again? You must be kidding - really the man was totaly incompetent. The last thing the NDP need is a bunch political losers, let them join the Liberals!

The NDP could do a whole lot worse33 than Glen Clark -- the Federal NDP should be so lucky!!! Glen Clark was one of the best leaders of the NDP ever -- he solely won the 1996 election after the directionless namby-pambyisms of the Harcourt years. What happened to the Glenster? Read "Daggers Unsheathed".

In all seriousness, I doubt Glen would run for the Federal NDP. It's too bad. I'd like to see the Federal NDP crack down on criminals anbd welfare cheats. Kicking the shit out of terrorists wouldn't hurt too. Bring back Glen. It's time to party like it's 1996!

Dagmar, your boisterous (boyish?) enthusiasm sometimes carries you a post too far. As I am sure you know, in the last election Jack Layton put forward a pragmatic approach to crime that did include higher and longer jail sentences where that's advisable. See this link:

http://www.ndp.ca/page/3098

However, the new Conservative bill that would limit the crimes for which a conditional sentence is permissible goes far beyond eliminating violent offences from the list of crimes for which a person could get "house arrest". Instead, it includes thirty or more small property crimes such as possession of stolen goods, falsely obtaining credit, and, wait for it, forgery. That's right, Harper wants to make paper hangers do serious time along with those who have left people maimed or dead.

The reason for this crass political foolishness couldn't be more obvious. The Govt has included silly-bugger stuff in its bill that the Opposition parties will have to take out by way of amendments. But when they do that, the Conservative spin-meisters and the legions of robot Tory bloggers will all start screaming that the Opposition is opposed to getting tough on crime, which as everyone knows is completely false. But the Tory oriented media, such as the National Post and much of the CanWest and Corus empires, will carry the propaganda without ever telling John and Jane Q. Public what the truth is, that all the Opposition wanted to do was make sure that only violent criminals were ruled out for consideration for conditional sentences and that guys passing bad checks can still be dealt with in the community.

I know all about this bill and support it. I'm sick of "house arrest" when these bastards live it up in their palatial homes. Punishment indeed. They shuld do hard time with everyone else. It pisses me off that white-collar criminals are coddled by the NDP.

Dagmar, are you seriously suggesting that credit card fraud or passing bad checks at Safeway makes one such a dangerous person that incarceration is the indicated penalty? Surely these non-violent criminals can be treated successfully in a non-custodial situation.

For truly large frauds, running into the tens or hundreds of millions, where the livlihoods of many people are affected, prison may be indicated, but someone who has $8,000 worth of stolen stereos in their garage is hardly a major gangster.

Simple solution as seen by the right of center group. Lock em all up, build more prisons( reducing the unemployement rate) then drop the sales tax to make some folks feel good. Oh almost forgot, dump the gun registry,e ven though the cops say keep it. Life is so simple for the right wingers. That nasty NDP government in saskatchewan is lowing their sales tax by two percent.