There will be lots of soul searching and head scratching going on this week about what happened with the NDP leadership race. The mechanics of the convention, the interesting lack of deal-making, how the balloting progressed are all fodder for those who enjoy going through the entrails of leadership conventions. Others will be analyzing the various campaigns of the front-runners looking for weaknesses to explain how they could, collectively, have let Thomas Mulcair, the right-wing Liberal, pro-Israel, political bully become head of their party.

Yes, of course, it is a big stretch to suggest that Preston Manning, for the former head of the Reform Party had anything to do with the rioting in Vancouver after the hockey game. But in trying to determine what is at the root of this mindless violence -- and the almost equally mindless spectator sport of watching the violence and doing nothing -- we need to examine just how it could be that so many young men's lives are so meaningless. I think it comes down to community -- or rather its dramatic decline -- a deliberate by-product of neo-liberalism and consumerism.

The ongoing fight to get this country to ban the export of the world's deadliest industrial material has finally reached the Comedy Network and Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. The sheer absurdity of pretending that chrysotile asbestos can be used safely caught the eye of the popular show and they recently did a five-minute segment, ridiculing the industry, the mining company, and the town of Asbestos. It is a must see and reveals a jaw-dropping level of ignorance and denial on the part of the people promoting asbestos.

Almost since he was elected NDP leader in 2003, Jack Layton has mused about replacing the Liberal Party as the official opposition. He was roundly ridiculed for this fantasy and can now, if he chooses, tell us all that he told us so. But for the NDP and the country it could turn out to be a pyrrhic victory. Just what does it mean for Canadian politics for the NDP to replace the Liberals?

Analysts and activists across the country are still trying to get a serious grip on the stunning rise in the polls of Jack Layton's NDP -- almost pinching themselves in the aftermath of fear and the loathing that characterized the first weeks of the election. How is it possible that Harper could stay in striking distance of a majority -- 39% -- when almost everyday some other outrage or scandal or dirty trick was exposed in the media? And then just as dumbfounding, how, in this atmosphere of seeming political unconsciousness, could hundreds of thousands of voters across the country -- in virtually every part of the country -- suddenly turn to the NDP?

Looking for a suitable theme for Easter weekend isn't difficult when you have a born-again Christian as prime minister who actually may think he is God. Renaming the Canadian government the Harper Government is just one sign. Surrounding himself with advisers who are truly loopy end-timers who believe government actually defies the will of God is more to the point.

What are you doing to prepare for the coming doom?

Politicians come and go but some go leaving a genuine legacy and that is the case with former Saskatchewan premier Allan Blakeney who died yesterday at 85. Unlike too many ex-NDP premiers, he didn't take on the job as ambassador to the U.S. or get suckered into moderating some right-wing prime minister's image by accepting some other appointment. He mostly withdrew from politics but occasionally engaged when he thought it was important enough.

Medicare is turning out to be the sleeper issues in this election as Canadians continue to say that public health care -- universal, comprehensive, publicly administered care, transferable across provincial lines -- is their most important election issue, even more important than the economy. And is the economy that Harper has based his whole campaign on -- after spending over $20 million in public funds framing the argument in his favour.

But if Medicare can become the issue in the last two weeks of the campaign, there is a good chance that Harper's Teflon will start to erode.

But for that to happen, people need to know just what Harper is likely to do with Medicare and what he has said about it in the past. People's memories are short.

The Bruce Carson story, involving a former, senior Harper advisor who managed to hook up with not one but two escort mistresses, is rich with irony. Conservatives in their previous incarnation as the Reform Party claimed they would clean up corruption on Indian reserves. When he was a Reform MP, John Duncan in particular made this his cause celebre. But as Minister for Indian Affairs in Harper's government, Duncan has been caught up in the Carson scandal.

This is one of those elections where you can imagine your children or grandchildren (if you have any) will ask you years later what you were doing when the country was lost. Did you try to stop this man, grandpa? Did you campaign against the Conservative, grandma?

Harper is where he is because we have not been serious about defending what we have. I have heard a lot of young people over the years make the accusation that my generation has betrayed them. They may well be right. As a generation we indulged in our privileges and ignored the coming storm.