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Pat Martin to Twitterverse: "Fuck You"

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Thu, 2011-11-17 17:15

#1

Catchfire

Catchfire's picture

Pat Martin to Twitterverse: "Fuck You"

MP Pat Martin unapologetic for F-bomb tweets

Quote:
Parliamentarians were all atwitter Thursday over Manitoba MP Pat Martin's use of off-colour language in a tweet after the Conservative government ended debate on a bill to implement last spring's federal budget.

Although Twitter demands a judicious use of language with 140 characters per tweet, a few select words appeared on Martin's Twitter feed Wednesday.

"This is a f---ing disgrace ... closure again. And on the Budget! There’s not a democracy in the world that would tolerate this jackboot sh--."

When another tweeter called Martin a "foul mouth socialist," the response was "f--- you."

Later, another critic was invited to "eat my shorts."

Martin was unapologetic Thursday.

"I don't think I owe anybody an apology. It was a genuine sincere expression of frustration and the public should take note: There's something very wrong going on here in Ottawa."

Thu, 2011-11-17 17:25

#2

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

I share Pat's passion - it's the Cons who are pissing people off with their majority arrogance.

Thu, 2011-11-17 17:33

#3

pookie

God love Pat Martin.

Thu, 2011-11-17 18:09

#4

Ken Burch

The thread title is misleading...Martin is cussing out the Harpercrites, not the Twitterverse.

Thu, 2011-11-17 20:36

#5

laine lowe laine lowe's picture

laine lowe's picture

I've often been the first to give Pat Martin a hard time (he was my MP for some 10 years), but I stand fully behind him. What I absolutely HATE about the media coverage is that not one report even dared delve into what in the budget pissed him off. Martin is far from a loose cannon so for him to be this pissed off, that budget must stink to high heaven. I wished that would get covered. (Seriously, it must be really bad for his to lose his cool.)

Thu, 2011-11-17 20:49

#6

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

On P&P the Cons tried to make the story about Martin cussing, but Martin stuck to his guns and spoke about why he is pissed off - the Cons bringing in closure on the budget talks.

Thu, 2011-11-17 20:55

#7

laine lowe laine lowe's picture

laine lowe's picture

Again, I say there must be some ugly suff if Martin is so upset about there being closure to the budget talks. What I want to know is what is in the budget that would push him so hard? I think the public deserves to know that over how many cuss words he used.

Thu, 2011-11-17 20:59

#8

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

I think Martin expressed his exac reasons on Twitter. Do you follow on Twitter?

Thu, 2011-11-17 22:30

#9

radiorahim radiorahim's picture

radiorahim's picture

Not normally a Pat Martin fan...he's usually on the right wing of the NDP. But in this case, he's right fucking on!

Thu, 2011-11-17 22:34

laine lowe laine lowe's picture

laine lowe's picture

Has he given budget details on twitter, Boom Boom? I don't subscribe to twitter so I don't know. I do think he is right to be honest in his anger. Like radiorahim, I have not been a fan but I like this.

Thu, 2011-11-17 23:57

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

I don't Twitter so I don't know if he did or not - but I'm sure he expressed on Twitter why he's so upset - the gov't is not allowiing the Opposition to do the jobs they were elected to do, and a full budget debate is one of them.

Fri, 2011-11-18 00:17

NDPP

Too bad he didn't say that instead of voting to bomb Libya.

Fri, 2011-11-18 00:23

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

NDPP wrote:

Too bad he didn't say that instead of voting to bomb Libya.

If I recall correctly, very few MPs did.

Fri, 2011-11-18 00:34

Michelle

Oh, Pat Martin, don't make me have to love you for five minutes! :D

Seriously - this is awesome. Credit where credit is due.

Fri, 2011-11-18 03:22

M. Spector M. Spector's picture

M. Spector's picture

This little incident (and it is after all, very inconsequential) has garnered the NDP more media publicity and airtime than anything else any of their MP's has said since Layton died.

There's a lesson in there, if the NDP is willing to see it.

Fri, 2011-11-18 05:11

DaveW

what lesson? swear frequently?

I think that would get old very quickly

Fri, 2011-11-18 07:29

Mr.Tea

What I love is that he's not backing down and apologizing and grovelling for forgiveness from the media. There's that old joke that a "gaffe" is defined as "a politician accidently telling the truth". I think that about sums up Martin's "gaffe" here.

Though, I'll add that while I loved his original tweet (a rare show of real emotion from a politician), telling some commentator on Twitter to "fuck off" may have been overdoing it. Save your vitriol for Harper, Pat!

Fri, 2011-11-18 08:33

Aristotleded24

Mr.Tea wrote:
What I love is that he's not backing down and apologizing and grovelling for forgiveness from the media. There's that old joke that a "gaffe" is defined as "a politician accidently telling the truth". I think that about sums up Martin's "gaffe" here.

Yeah, it's different than when MPs are caught saying inappropriate things, and apologizing when they really mean they were sorry they got caught.

Fri, 2011-11-18 09:21

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

A really good discussion on CBC's P&P and CTV's Power Play yesterday about how the Cons are abusing their majority status and how this diminishes democracy, and all tied in to Pat Martin using his "f-bomb". Good for Pat - he has gotten Canadians involved in the debate over closure.

(cross-posted to the "Closure" thread)

Fri, 2011-11-18 09:58

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

But why pick on Martin over the Libya issue? It's not as though he was the sole MP voting in favour of the Libya bombing. I think dragging Libya into this thread is drifting. Or maybe a red herring. Aren't there enough Libya threads already open?

Fri, 2011-11-18 10:19

Slumberjack

Yes, I can understand how bringing up Libya would be a sore point for the NDP, just as its quite understandable that when people come together in song to fete the hero of the moment, reality checks as to the character and track record of the newly minted hero become inconvenient red herrings.

There's either a collective amnesia at work here, or the political standards are so low as to render the ideology of the center left and the center right and onwards as practically interchangeable and indistinguishable.

Fri, 2011-11-18 11:11

knownothing knownothing's picture

knownothing's picture

Pat Martin's movember mustache is outta control

Fri, 2011-11-18 11:14

M. Spector M. Spector's picture

M. Spector's picture

M. Spector wrote:

There's a lesson in there, if the NDP is willing to see it.

DaveW wrote:

what lesson? swear frequently?

I think that would get old very quickly

Sorry. I guess that was too big of an "if" on my part.

Do carry on.

Fri, 2011-11-18 11:17

KenS

I wouldnt assume laine that it is about the content of the Budget.

I think the outrage is about how far they will go to simply dispense with the trappings of democracy. And when that is your day to day world, it hits harder.

Where that anger would touch on the budget's content would be the assumption Martin and others would have that this will now be a subject of debate. But no....

Fri, 2011-11-18 12:12

Slumberjack

As M. Spector said, this represents an inconsequential outburst at best. The fact that both the left and the right could very well employ a dictionary's worth of profanity to describe Pat Martin, speaks volumns about his effectiveness on anyone's account. As NDPP alluded to, his support of our engagement in the Libyan affair should have us paraphrasing his words, to this effect:

"This is a fucking disgrace"

There's no need for any round of applause here. Why couldn't this asshole spare a few choice words over the innocent bombing victims in Libya, or for his own support of those who created the victims in the first instance.

Fri, 2011-11-18 12:16

Slumberjack

DaveW wrote:
what lesson? swear frequently? I think that would get old very quickly

As opposed to any other day, where saying little of anything suffices?

Fri, 2011-11-18 12:22

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

On P&P Martin did say the Cons were doing damage to democracy, but I can't recall the exact words he used. Maybe something along the lines of trying to 'kidnap' democracy. At any rate, he was pissed off because he and others are not able to do the job they were elected to do - which is to hold the government to account.

Fri, 2011-11-18 12:32

Unionist

This is unbelievably puerile. Martin is a clown, at all times. He says anything that comes into his head. Besides Libya, he is one of the two staunchest supporters of the Afghan "mission" in caucus, and rivals Harper in his uncritical support for Israel.

What did he do in his tweet? Express his childish frustration, not on any issue of consequence, but on the Cons shutting down the phony debate on the budget - i.e., the opportunity (generally missed) for the opposition to get some media sound bites, because the conclusion is foregone anyway.

It is also a joke to think that the "closure" issue is one that anyone cares about. We should engage people in talking about the content of the destructive legislation this government is passing. We should find ways (as Brigette DePape keeps telling us) to STOP HARPER, not just or even primarily through parliamentary manoeuvres, but in every walks and aspect of our lives.

Those babblers who despise Martin, but are taking a five-minute break to applaud him for this gesture - I understand them. My reaction was the same, at first. It then occurred to me that the reason I liked the tweet was my own frustration: a) at the steamroller of the Harper government; but far more importantly: b) at the self-serving stupid incompetent leaders of the opposition parties, and their loyal soldiers, who can't even speak the people's minds, let alone do what the people need. This childishness of Martin seemed to puncture that cone of impotence and lies, if only for a moment. But really - it does nothing.

The fact that the MSM seized on it as they did should prove - as I think Spector was trying to say - that the NDP caucus has absolutely nothing earth-shaking or inspiring or innovative to say these days. When an asshole can grab the spotlight, we should look to ourselves and wonder why we can't.

Fri, 2011-11-18 12:40

Catchfire

Catchfire's picture

Fri, 2011-11-18 12:44

Catchfire

Catchfire's picture

Cross-posted the above with Unionist

I don't think that contempt for parliamentery procedure and practice is a non-issue. If anything, I think that forceful expression of righteous anger grabs the attention of Canadians and their media--what we need is more of this kind of response for everything that is happening in Ottawa these days--Libya, fighter jets, crime bill, prisons, Keystone, etc. Why wouldn't we applaud Martin when he does something right?

Fri, 2011-11-18 12:52

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

Exactly, Catchfire. BTW, I think Martin is the one MP that has worked tirelessly to get asbestos abolished.

ps: thread title is still misleading.

Fri, 2011-11-18 12:56

KenS

Pat Martin is a shrewd clown. Skating on the edge as he does, of course he doesnt always move the most effective way, even in his own terms.

But he is no fool. And no one's fool.

This was by no means a calculated move on Pat's part. But the reason shrewd people get the opportunity is the same as where other success comes: practice.

And this is why Pat is not reigned in by the party, when people who say less get slapped. [Besides his usefulness, he is shrewd about how to barely stay away from being whacked by his own team. And I'm comparing apples to apples: Peter Stoffer has suffered consequences for strictly speaking doing less than Pat Martin.]

Fri, 2011-11-18 12:58

Unionist

Catchfire wrote:

I don't think that contempt for parliamentery procedure and practice is a non-issue. If anything, I think that forceful expression of righteous anger grabs the attention of Canadians and their media--what we need is more of this kind of response for everything that is happening in Ottawa these days--Libya, fighter jets, crime bill, prisons, Keystone, etc. Why wouldn't we applaud Martin when he does something right?

Because it's a flash in the pan. I didn't say this was a "non-issue". I said this is the [i]wrong[/i] issue this time. Far huger issues of "parliamentary procedure" - the prorogations (two of them, how soon we forget) and the detainees - where potentially huge movements, demonstrations, indignation, etc. were already underway (in at least one case) - were simply abandoned. No effort by the political representatives to actually engage with them and reflect them in Parliament or outside.

So no, we should not waste our time applauding every act of resistance - especially one like this where lots of ordinary folk will not instinctively be very impressed by Martin's foul mouth. Yes, we need sparks everywhere. But this one is already extinguished.

Fri, 2011-11-18 13:03

KenS

Oh bunk.

Flash in the pans add up.

And what "wrong issue"? They arent all related? Especially in the hearts and minds of those we need to convince?

Fri, 2011-11-18 13:12

Unionist

KenS wrote:

Oh bunk.

C'mon Pat, you can do better than that!

Politicians that regularly give Harper a pass on huge crimes and illegality, while bursting out in profanity at Harper using [b]perfectly lawful parliamentary procedures[/b] to limit the amount of time they get to strut the stage - are not my heroes. And Pat Martin can eat my shorts if he doesn't like it.

I think this comes down to different people's political instincts as to what constitutes an effective or significant event in Canadian political life. I've given my view, and I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

If you want a good contrast, have a look at what Brigette DePape did, all alone. And she's carrying on, in many ways. That's a spark that a politician could emulate and learn from.

Fri, 2011-11-18 13:58

Slumberjack

Unionist wrote:
I thought about it momentarily, but no, I can't praise this scumbag for his clownish antics.

Fri, 2011-11-18 14:04

Unionist

Boom Boom wrote:

Exactly, Catchfire. BTW, I think Martin is the one MP that has worked tirelessly to get asbestos abolished.

Of course he has. Because it's someone else's crime (Québec), and he has [url=http://rabble.ca/babble/canadian-politics/pat-martin-predicts-fall-elect... feelings for Québec[/url] - such as his multi-year private member's effort to force BQ members to swear allegiance to Canada or else be deprived of MP funds and privileges:

Quote:
M-103 — March 3, 2010 — Mr. Martin (Winnipeg Centre) — That, in the opinion of the House, no member of the House of Commons shall sit therein and that no funds shall be made available to the member for the carrying out of parliamentary functions unless he or she takes an oath or makes a solemn affirmation of loyalty to Canada in addition to the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty provided for in the Constitution Act, 1867.

Then of course, because Gary Doer and his clique were always staunch supporters of Israel and the Afghanistan mission, Pathological Martin was never too too critical of those close to home.

Which is also why "Fuck-You" Martin is still a proud member of the ultra-right [url=http://www.cpcca.ca/about.htm]CPCCA[/url], you know, the organization that's trying to criminalize criticism of Israel.

I thought about it momentarily, but no, I can't praise this scumbag for his clownish antics. Would you praise his tweets if he were an avowed white racist, or misogynist, or homophobe? "No", I hear you say? Well think it over please.

Fri, 2011-11-18 15:20

6079_Smith_W

In other news, Conservative senator Nancy Ruth has told lobbyists - for the second time - to "shut the fuck up" about the abortion issue:

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100503/senator-swears-abortion-10...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/feminist-senator-nancy-ruth...

Funny.... the first time it was "It's five weeks to the G8: Shut the fuck up"

This time, regarding what they decided at the G8: "Shut the fuck up and let it play out"

Fri, 2011-11-18 15:25

Unionist

Both articles are from 2010, Smith.

Fri, 2011-11-18 16:26

6079_Smith_W

Ah... my mistake. And here I thought she said it twice.

Fri, 2011-11-18 17:05

KenS

you know, from the distance I view them both...

and this is not new, it just seems like the time to share this...

and reminding that I have always maintained and spoken a respect for Pat Martin even when I also am not liking what he is currently saying and doing.... a general respect that is not shared around here...

but i've always seen a certain similarity in pat martin and unionist.

Fri, 2011-11-18 17:14

KenS

Come to think of it, who is behind that handle 'unionist' ?

and what was Pat Martin's background before electoral politics?

Hmmmm....

Fri, 2011-11-18 17:15

Unionist

KenS wrote:

you know, from the distance I view them both...

You view many things from a distance. Light years.

Quote:
and this is not new, it just seems like the time to share this...

Kautious Ken komes klean...

Quote:
and reminding that I have always maintained and spoken a respect for Pat Martin even when I also am not liking what he is currently saying and doing.... a general respect that is not shared around here...

U. maintains a devout silence while waiting, impatiently, for the shoe to drop...

Quote:
but i've always seen a certain similarity in pat martin and unionist.

Wha!!!??? Huh!!!?????

That does it!

[size=30]Eat my long johns!![/size] @KenS @Pottytalk @avistic

Fri, 2011-11-18 17:18

Unionist

KenS wrote:

Come to think of it, who is behind that handle 'unionist' ?

and what was Pat Martin's background before electoral politics?

Hmmmm....

ROFLMAO!

Never thunk of that!

He ain't heavy - he's my brother!

Mind you, when Pat was a carpenter, and I was a lady...

(Wasn't Pat with the carpenters' union?)

Fri, 2011-11-18 17:44

KenS

Me and Pat from the carpenters...

and i was wondering about you, you've never said, so....

Fri, 2011-11-18 18:32

Fidel

M. Spector wrote:

M. Spector wrote:

There's a lesson in there, if the NDP is willing to see it.

DaveW wrote:

what lesson? swear frequently?

I think that would get old very quickly

Sorry. I guess that was too big of an "if" on my part.

Do carry on.

Yes, if these Harpercrites are just going to ram bills and legislation through Parliament without any debate and lapdog newz on their side, then it's time to start making some noise about it. This is the largest opposition party ever elected to oppose a phony baloney majority government in Ottawa.

Sun, 2011-11-20 00:39

genstrike

You know, I'm actually amazed at the superficiality of political discourse, when Pat Martin, the guy who is one of the biggest apologists for Israeli apartheid, the guy who is one of the biggest supporters of the Afghanistan war in the NDP caucus, who gave that infamous speech regarding socialism as an anchor that needs to be ditched at that NDP convention, and quite possibly the most right-wing member of the federal NDP caucus, all of the sudden turns into this awesome left-wing firebrand simply because he uses the f-word on twitter.

I mean, honestly, do we have a collective memory of five minutes or what?

Sun, 2011-11-20 01:51

NDPP

and again, their unanimous support of NATO's war and regime change in Libya is about as "jackboot shit" as you can get..

Sun, 2011-11-20 09:09

Slumberjack

genstrike wrote:
You know, I'm actually amazed at the superficiality of political discourse... I mean, honestly, do we have a collective memory of five minutes or what?

Amazement seems to have been done in by the tedious repetition it employs to explain the inexplicable.

Sun, 2011-11-20 09:51

Boom Boom

Boom Boom's picture

Oh for heaven's sake. No One is being asked to overlook Martin's history of right wing conservatism, but when he gets it right, as in this Twitter episode and in his long fight against asbestos, I have no hesitation to give credit when credit is due.

MP Pat Martin's vulgarity worked

excerpt:

The prime minister gave way, likely because Martin's vulgar tweets made Canadians pay attention to what's going on in Parliament.

That was wise. The Conservatives won the election in spite of concerted opposition attacks on them for having been found to be in contempt of Parliament, so they have a mandate to be a bit brusque with Parliament, but if they push it too far, we will have government by executive fiat.

Sun, 2011-11-20 10:57

Unionist

Yeah, Pat Martin saying "fuck" and "shit" worked really well. The Cons said to themselves: "Really? Can it really be that cheap???" And they gave the so-called "opposition" two extra days next week to discuss the bill.

Victory for the People! Yay Pat Martin! Parliamentary Democracy is back! Yay Stephen Harper!

What next... lemme see... Oh, I know:

"Harper didn't throw us any crumb this month. What's with this Hitlerite Jackboot Shit? Fascist fucking thugs!" [I think that's 109 characters, should fit into a tweet?]

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