Gerry Caplan vs. John Baird - a real debate
February 6, 2012 - 12:10pm
... not like the NDP leadership ones...
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Can't believe I almost missed this.
Volley #1 (Gerry Caplan):
The dangerous consequences of Harper's position on Iran
Volley #2 (John Baird):
Iran's threat is real, not rhetoric
Volley #3 (Gerry Caplan):
Canadians need to voice their opposition to the Harper government
With all respect to the many readers who have urged me to dedicate this column to rebutting John Baird's rebuttal to last week's column, I must decline.
We have other urgent issues to confront with no further stalling.
I love Gerry Caplan!
Someone needs to make this debate happen. Selling tickets, etc would be no problem.
Wow, Howard, can you imagine this happening in person? I hadn't thought of that. Something about Gerry's original column hit home so hard that Baird actually felt he had to respond with an op-ed. Is there some way we could provoke Baird into accepting a live invitation? There are enough tacticians around here to brainstorm some ideas.
Wow, Howard, can you imagine this happening in person? I hadn't thought of that. Something about Gerry's original column hit home so hard that Baird actually felt he had to respond with an op-ed. Is there some way we could provoke Baird into accepting a live invitation? There are enough tacticians around here to brainstorm some ideas.
You don't need a tactician, just nominate the idea for a Munk Debate. The whole idea behind a Munk debate is to set off some sparks and expose people to new and interesting ideas. Not only would a Caplan-Baird duel make for a good intellectual exercise, it would have consequences for policy in this country. And yes, I did mean in person in my last post.
ETA: I'd be willing to wager Baird would chicken out. Caplan could have him for lunch and both likely know it.
Good stuff. The only part I disagree with is "I'm sure the NDP will put up a vigorous fight". Clearly, as has already been amply demonstrated - Libya being only one example - they won't.
NDPP, Gerry isn't predicting - he's urging. And I think that's a good thing, no matter how skeptical I am that it will make any difference. Because at the very worst, some people will wake up when it doesn't come true, and look for alternative ways to beat Harper and all the evil that he represents. That's why Gerry's non-responsive Volley #3 was so timely and inspiring. He says, Baird, I'm not engaging your debating points. I'm going after regime change.
OK, well it's good to see this U and I hope you're right. I have no doubt that Baird is right about 'how closely' he worked with the NDP 'in developing Canada's response to the Libyan uprising.' The problem with 'regime change' as we saw with Libya, is that the changers can end up being worse than the changed.