Except it was May's behavior and not the right-wing that caused this situation.
Elizabeth May Press Gallery speech
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:13
#52
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:14
#53
This is ridiculous. Save your rage and disgust for: Bill C-51, anti-terrorism hysteria, musing about making Israeli boycotts "hate speech," austerity budgets, climate change quietism, environmental cuts, and hyped-up foreign wars -- all of which, it should be said, Elizabeth May fights with dignity, courage and eloquence.
"Vomit inducing" indeed.
I have enough rage to include a politician using Omar for politiclal laughs. Maybe you should add to your repertoire of things to be outraged against. As far as I know there is no limit except self imposed ones. Your view of what is vomit inducing is just one persons and IMO quite deserving of derision.
It may not have been particularly well-executed, but I don't think he was the target of her joke. She welcomed him home and said he had class. Oh no! The joke - such as it was - was on the many Canadians who are too petty to do anything but wish ill on this young man. Meanwhile, the story about May's "gaffe" on our national broadcaster's website has countless people openly and unabashedly calling for his death.
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:14
#54
Here's her full speech. I must say given the dismal reality of the Canadian political class, this is one of the better not the worst. And again the final line is right between the eyes...
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2666937386/
Interesting to see the whole thing. Previously I had only seen the little clip on TV or on the Internet. From that I was willing to give May some credit for an attempt at humour that fell flat. Then I read an article about it in the Star, and after reading I thought, yikes, she sounds right off the rails.
Star columnist Tim Harper, who was at the dinner, said May’s turn was “out of character for the tone of the evening.”
“The speeches are supposed to be humorous, self-deprecating, and non-partisan — and she broke all the rules,” said Harper. “Nobody knew if it was ever going to end.”
At one point, Harper added, May “went into a long shtick where she was imitating the sounds her artificial joints make — her artificial parts, she called them.”
When I watched the whole video though I didn't think it was that bad. But it just goes to show, the medium really is the message. While watching the video, I already more or less knew what to expect, and could see how long it was going to be (9 minutes). Live, I would not know this, and instead would also experience the reception of the crowd.
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:17
#55
Of course there would be calls for their resignations if one of the other party leaders had done this. Strike 3 and you're out!
No excuse for Elizabeth May’s meltdown at the Parliamentary Press Gallery dinner
If Harper, Mulcair or Trudeau had taken to the stage in an emotional state and proceeded to act like an arsonist with a blowtorch, there would be calls for their resignation
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/john-ivison-no-excuse-for-eliz...
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:18
#56
Except it was May's behavior and not the right-wing that caused this situation.
No, it was the pearl-clutching pundits and partisans who turned this into a public spectacle, rather than an awkward speech at a private function.
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:21
#57
Looks like right-wing shill John Ivison is already at work with a column against May.
This is getting a lot of coverage because the right-wing media doesn't like Elizabeth May. She gets a little too close to the truth for their liking.
The pro-CPC media dislikes May even more than it dislikes Trudeau or Mulcair.
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:23
#58
This is ridiculous. Save your rage and disgust for: Bill C-51, anti-terrorism hysteria, musing about making Israeli boycotts "hate speech," austerity budgets, climate change quietism, environmental cuts, and hyped-up foreign wars -- all of which, it should be said, Elizabeth May fights with dignity, courage and eloquence.
"Vomit inducing" indeed.
I have enough rage to include a politician using Omar for politiclal laughs. Maybe you should add to your repertoire of things to be outraged against. As far as I know there is no limit except self imposed ones. Your view of what is vomit inducing is just one persons and IMO quite deserving of derision.
It may not have been particularly well-executed, but I don't think he was the target of her joke. She welcomed him home and said he had class. Oh no! The joke - such as it was - was on the many Canadians who are too petty to do anything but wish ill on this young man. Meanwhile, the story about May's "gaffe" on our national broadcaster's website has countless people openly and unabashedly calling for his death.
My left-wing friends are being far more critical and damning of her than my right-wing friends. The latter are just laughing at her while the former want her cast out.
Getting threatened with death is the norm for online reactions these days.
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:25
#59
May fucked up big time and people need to face the facts. If Mulcair or Trudeau had said this there would be calls for their resignation so why is May getting special treatment. Time for her to go.
May apologized profusely for her onstage romp at the Canadian Museum of History over the weekend, the sort of speech that would probably kill the careers of any of her fellow party leaders. Imagine the scene if Justin Trudeau or Thomas Mulcair had told the world that Omar Khadr “had more class than the whole f–king cabinet.” That scene is science fiction, because the people around those leaders would never let it happen.So, yes, May might take a few days to get her groove back, and she probably won’t find much public sympathy in the process.
http://www.macleans.ca/politics/questionperiodlive/elizabeth-may-tanked-...
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:33
#60
Again, trudeau has said stuff like that. I think part of the disparity paladin mentions is not just a matter of rhetoric, but also that may is more of a lightning rod for those o n the left.
Mon, 2015-05-11 18:39
#61
Just so I understand what's At Issue™ here, who has May wronged? Harper's cabinet? Khadr? Gabe Kaplan? Her fellow diners? Her party? The Canadian public? Comedy? Who are her victims that so desperately need to be appeased by her resignation?
Mon, 2015-05-11 19:08
#62
Left Turn
Just so I understand what's At Issue™ here, who has May wronged? Harper's cabinet? Khadr? Gabe Kaplan? Her fellow diners? Her party? The Canadian public? Comedy? Who are her victims that so desperately need to be appeased by her resignation?
Nobody has been wronged, and calls for May's resignation are out of line, imo.
At the same time, I think that a lot of people will view Harper's cabinet as having been wronged, and this could benefit the Conservatives.
Mon, 2015-05-11 20:13
#63
I would not call for her resignation but that doesn't mean I thought her "joke" was appropriate. Omar gets out of jail one day and a politician tries to ride his coat tails with a bad joke the next day. The fact that he indeed appears to carry himself with more class than our sociopathic leader might be true but that should not be a reason to use him as part of a punchline in an ill concieved joke.
Mon, 2015-05-11 21:20
#64
This latest nonsense will damage her relationship with the Ottawa Press Corp and if it was ever being considered in the first place, it might deprive her of participating in the debates, at least the main ones.
Mon, 2015-05-11 21:21
#65
Apparently the Omar thing was just the tip of the ice, she talked about anal and oral sex as well, possibly other stuff. Still I feel bad for her, this level of public humiliation is has to be a horrible experience.
Mon, 2015-05-11 21:29
#66
Apparently the Omar thing was just the tip of the ice, she talked about anal and oral sex as well, possibly other stuff.
Yes, she also acknowledged being on Algonquin territory. Apparently she was the only speaker to do so.
Mon, 2015-05-11 21:30
#67
I am rather shocked at the calls for resignation. What?
Well, she is a woman.
Bingo.
There were also supreme etiquette masters condemning Brigette de Pape for dishonouring the Senate.
And quoting that warmongering shit Dawn Black calling May's performance "cringeworthy".
We are on different planets from each other.
My respect for Elizabeth May goes up all the time. And she is not even "running to be prime minister".
Mon, 2015-05-11 21:34
#68
Apparently the Omar thing was just the tip of the ice, she talked about anal and oral sex as well, possibly other stuff. Still I feel bad for her, this level of public humiliation is has to be a horrible experience.
No, she didn't.
And the idea that she was using Khadr to make a joke is utterly absurd.
Mon, 2015-05-11 21:34
#69
This is ridiculous. Save your rage and disgust for: Bill C-51, anti-terrorism hysteria, musing about making Israeli boycotts "hate speech," austerity budgets, climate change quietism, environmental cuts, and hyped-up foreign wars -- all of which, it should be said, Elizabeth May fights with dignity, courage and eloquence.
"Vomit inducing" indeed.
You're preaching to the perverted.
Mon, 2015-05-11 21:34
#70
Here is Liz May on Evan Solomon's show explaining what happened.
Evan played the oral/anal Freudian joke:
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/Power+%26+Politics/ID/2666961862/
Mon, 2015-05-11 21:38
#71
Apparently the Omar thing was just the tip of the ice, she talked about anal and oral sex as well, possibly other stuff. Still I feel bad for her, this level of public humiliation is has to be a horrible experience.
No, she didn't.
And the idea that she was using Khadr to make a joke is utterly absurd.
She did make a Freudian joke about oral/anal stages.
It's in the Power & Politics interview that Evan Solomon did with May today:
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/Power+%26+Politics/ID/2666961862/
Mon, 2015-05-11 22:52
#72
It's a classic media smear and disinformation campaign. And it has obviously worked.
Mon, 2015-05-11 23:08
#73
Don't care for Kadr to be used as a prop, regardless of who it is. Kid has been in prison for 13 years, and this stupid event is just annoying at the best of times. Not her best moment.
Mon, 2015-05-11 23:21
#74
Except it was May's behavior and not the right-wing that caused this situation.
No, it was the pearl-clutching pundits and partisans who turned this into a public spectacle, rather than an awkward speech at a private function.
Mon, 2015-05-11 23:21
#75
Just so I understand what's At Issue™ here, who has May wronged?
Harper's cabinet?
"Yes!", say the pearl-clutching Ccnservative supporters who believe that Harper's handling of Khadr has been impeccable. How dare she try to besmirch his good name over that!
Khadr?
"Yes!", say the pearl-clutching progressives who insist that she made a joke at his expense, which would be pretty gross if that were what she did.
Her fellow diners?
"Yes!", say the pearl-clutching diners who just wanted an evening of expensive food, an open bar, and milquetoast jokes you can laugh at without having to worry that someone saw you laughing.
Her party?
"Yes!", say the pearl-clutching Greens who just don't need the public to have a new excuse to not vote for them. A joke about helmet hair wouldn't have been sufficient?
The Canadian public?
"Yes!", say the pearl-clutching Canadians who read that something Untoward happened and ruined an otherwise perfect day with some kind of problem-thingy that the Americans are probably smirking at.
Comedy?
"Yes!", say the pearl-clutching folk who don't really care who gets barbed by a joke, so long as it's funny and not awkwardly delivered.
There could be more. If she really did make a Freudian oral/anal joke then wait for the Jungians to have their say.
Mon, 2015-05-11 23:24
#76
Follow
Antonia Zerbisias@AntoniaZ
I can think of 10 stories @PnPCBC could have covered today that have more impact on Canadians than a tired, possibly drunk May saying fuck.
Mon, 2015-05-11 23:28
#77
From what I've seen, Mulcair and Critch were far funnier than May.
Mon, 2015-05-11 23:29
#78
Follow
I can think of 10 stories @PnPCBC could have covered today that have more impact on Canadians than a tired, possibly drunk May saying fuck.
Antonia Zerbisias is fantastic.
Tue, 2015-05-12 01:12
#79
Misfit
I watched her speech, and I liked it. I'm really sorry she is apologizing today. E May is a brainiac. If she isn't a genius, she is very close to being one, and like many brainiacs, ad lib stand up comedy is not her strong suit. Oh well. Next year, she can get a speech writer to help her out. I think she has the capacity to be really funny, and I look forward to her next performance next year. I respect her support for First Nations issues, and her support for Omar Khadr.
Tue, 2015-05-12 01:15
#80
The only thing harmed by Mays performance is herself. No longer can she claim to be non partisan and a defender of decorum.
Any media attention is good media attention by her standards. She was quite gleeful on her rounds with the various media today, making her apologies a la excuses.
Tue, 2015-05-12 02:18
#81
The calls for her resignation are absurd. However, having now seen the speech in its entirety I found it to be really weird.
Tue, 2015-05-12 07:52
#82
Just so I understand what's At Issue™ here, who has May wronged? Harper's cabinet? Khadr? Gabe Kaplan? Her fellow diners? Her party? The Canadian public? Comedy? Who are her victims that so desperately need to be appeased by her resignation?Nobody has been wronged, and calls for May's resignation are out of line, imo.
At the same time, I think that a lot of people will view Harper's cabinet as having been wronged, and this could benefit the Conservatives.
How has Harper's cabinet been wronged?
There was some truth to what she said. Harper & his party have been persecuting Khadr to appeal to their right-wing nutty base.
Harper has a personal vendetta against Khadr and an ideological obsession with appealing every ruling that goes in Khadr's favour.
While I wish May had found a more appropriate way to draw attention to this situation, even the right-leaning CTV Question Period panel on Sunday admitted that Harper has gone too far on Khadr lately.
Tue, 2015-05-12 07:55
#83
Apparently the Omar thing was just the tip of the ice, she talked about anal and oral sex as well, possibly other stuff. Still I feel bad for her, this level of public humiliation is has to be a horrible experience.
No, she didn't.
And the idea that she was using Khadr to make a joke is utterly absurd.
She did make a Freudian joke about oral/anal stages.
It's in the Power & Politics interview that Evan Solomon did with May today:
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/Power+%26+Politics/ID/2666961862/
Yes, but not about "oral and anal sex".
Tue, 2015-05-12 08:00
#84
I absolutely fault her for not sufficiently preparing her remarks. That was really stupid.
But "pearl-clutching" is exactly the way to describe the reaction.
Basically, the Ottawa press corps is extremely pissed because it feels that it was disrespected in its own house. There is no more entitled group in the country.
As someone said yesterday, there is a bubble within the Ottawa bubble.
I'm pretty sure that most Cdns see this for the non-story that it is.
Tue, 2015-05-12 08:13
#85
I don't buy for one second the assertion that the Conservative press is trying to set May up for a fall. There may be right-wing columnists who have it in for her but not the Conservative Party.
They regard May as someting of a useful idiot who splits the non-Conservative vote and who hands them an extra dozen seats or so. That is why the Cons hardly ever criticize May and why they want her in the Leaders' Debates.
Tue, 2015-05-12 08:19
#86
I put a lot of stock in what Alice says:
I've now had a chance to watch the raw video of the entire Elizabeth May Press Gallery Dinner fiasco. Awkward....
Never mind the clips. Watch the full thing and draw your own conclusions.
But to me, she was drunk, unfunny, and a little too much into herself. Yuck.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2666937386/
Tue, 2015-05-12 08:54
#87
Misfit
It was also May's attempt at humour. She was trying to be funny but it fell flat. You have to put it all in context.
Tue, 2015-05-12 09:09
#88
As some are suggesting, this really is total bupkis.
Tue, 2015-05-12 09:16
#89
Left Turn
Just so I understand what's At Issue™ here, who has May wronged? Harper's cabinet? Khadr? Gabe Kaplan? Her fellow diners? Her party? The Canadian public? Comedy? Who are her victims that so desperately need to be appeased by her resignation?Nobody has been wronged, and calls for May's resignation are out of line, imo.
At the same time, I think that a lot of people will view Harper's cabinet as having been wronged, and this could benefit the Conservatives.
How has Harper's cabinet been wronged?
There was some truth to what she said. Harper & his party have been persecuting Khadr to appeal to their right-wing nutty base.
Harper has a personal vendetta against Khadr and an ideological obsession with appealing every ruling that goes in Khadr's favour.
While I wish May had found a more appropriate way to draw attention to this situation, even the right-leaning CTV Question Period panel on Sunday admitted that Harper has gone too far on Khadr lately.
Harpers Cabinet has not been wronged, and I didn't contend that it has been.
I do contend that a lot of Canadians who are not me will think that Harper's cabinet has been wronged.
Elizabeth May's speech should have been a non-story. Had it been a non-strory, no harm would have come of it.
Unfortunately, the media chose to make it an issue, and because they did, it will damage May's reputation. This could prevent her from getting into the debates, and it will likely cost her votes in the election. I hope she's able to keep her seat.
Tue, 2015-05-12 09:52
#90
Elizabeth May's speech should have been a non-story. Had it been a non-strory, no harm would have come of it.Unfortunately, the media chose to make it an issue, and because they did, it will damage May's reputation. This could prevent her from getting into the debates, and it will likely cost her votes in the election. I hope she's able to keep her seat.
The initial reports on CBC spoke mostly of Rick Mercer's spiel and Tom Mulcair's and Mark Critch's act as being the highlights. They mentioned that Trudeau got a couple of chuckles, but his wasn't as good. And they showed the clip of May saying her's fell flat. On social media people focussed on May, expressing a desire to see more of her speech. Later reports discussed this reaction on social media and focussed more on May. So I don't think you can really say that it was the media who "chose to make it an issue".
Tue, 2015-05-12 12:23
#91
I don't think you can blame the media for making a big deal out of a politican all but being dragged off stage by a peer. That's total man bites dog stuff.
Tue, 2015-05-12 20:03
#92
Saw the whole thing.
Not a good speech. But is it really worse than others that have not been covered in the past?
The story here, for me, is that a Press Club Dinner speech, normally off limits for news is being made news.
As bad as her speech was at moments, I don't agree that it should be news.
Perhaps there is less tolerance for women who go overboard and bomb a speech, I don't know. We might want to ponder that.
No, I don't think this story will harm her. The only part of the speech to be remembered next month is the "more class than the fucking cabinet" line. And for those that might consider voting for her, I really don't think that will be a deal breaker.
Tue, 2015-05-12 22:24
#93
iIt has nothing to do with the fact that she's a woman, it has everything to do wit the fact that she ruined the fun night for many in the press and they are getting back at her for it. It made people uncomfortible and bummed out.
Personality it gotten too much attention, she frankly not that important, she's a glorified independant of a fringe party, who humiliated herself. I do feel bad for her though, it totally sucks to be in that situation.
Wed, 2015-05-13 01:16
#94
Perhaps there is less tolerance for women who go overboard and bomb a speech, I don't know. We might want to ponder that.
Indeed. Had it been Justin Trudeau who made that speech, nobody would so much as mention it over the water cooler.
But many have suspected May of being female for a long time, and have just been waiting for an opportunity.
Wed, 2015-05-13 01:23
#95
Wed, 2015-05-13 05:49
#96
peterjcassidy
Personally and politically I would support Elizabeth May on this one.
"Welcome back, Omar Khadr. It matters to say it. Welcome back, Omar Khadr. You're home," says Elizabeth May, the federal Green Party leader, in a video captured by The Huffington Post Canada.
"Omar Khadr, you've got more class than the whole fucking cabinet," she says, before being escorted off the stage by Transport Minister Lisa Raitt.
Wed, 2015-05-13 05:54
#97
I endorse the sentiment May expressed in the speech, regardless of the phrasing.
Wed, 2015-05-13 07:40
#98
Perhaps there is less tolerance for women who go overboard and bomb a speech, I don't know. We might want to ponder that.Indeed. Had it been Justin Trudeau who made that speech, nobody would so much as mention it over the water cooler.
But many have suspected May of being female for a long time, and have just been waiting for an opportunity.
Does no one remember Trudeau Chinese dictator comments and the whole kurffuffle over that, or the Ukraine hockey joke, root causes of terrorism comment ect...
If it had been Trudeau we'd be seeing the ads with the clip in it within a week from the Tories.
Being a woman believe it or not isn't the root cause of all her problems, making an embaressing ass out of herself at a dinner that's supposed to be light and fun ruining the evening for everybody else is.
There times when people are discriminated against because of gender,.sexual orientation, race ect...but when you just assume that's the cause when they're are far more likely reasonable explainations and there is no actual evidence of the discrimination in question only does a disservice to real victims.
Wed, 2015-05-13 07:46
#99
Think of the story about the boy who cried wolf.
Wed, 2015-05-13 10:10
#100
I endorse the sentiment May expressed in the speech, regardless of the phrasing.
I watched her entire speech and couldn't identify a single view or expression that I found wrong or "offensive". I might have missed something, but that was my overall impression.
I wish I could say the same for some of the posts above.
Wed, 2015-05-13 10:15
#101
Its hard to have any sympathy for May's drunken rant and meltdown because she's such an unsympathetic character. There is no one in Canadian politics as arrogant, sanctimonious, self-righteous, condescending, narcissistic and manipulative as Elizabeth May - so forgive us for feeling some schadenfreude at seeing her make such a fool of herself.