There’s a Seinfeld episode with a scene that takes place in a menswear shop:

Jerry: “Excuse me, I’d like to return this jacket.”

Shopkeeper: “Certainly. May I ask why?”

Jerry: “For spite …”

Shopkeeper: “Spite?”

Jerry: “That’s right. I don’t care for the salesman that sold it to me.”

Shopkeeper: “I don’t think you can return an item for spite.”

Jerry: “What do you mean?”

Shopkeeper: “Well, if there was some problem with the garment, if it were unsatisfactory in some way, then we could do it for you, but I’m afraid spite doesn’t fit into any of our conditions for a refund.”

Does “spite” fit into any of your conditions for deciding which party you’re going to vote for?

I don’t know if Elizabeth May should be included in the leaders’ debates or not.  Personally, I find her flakey and self-absorbed, opportunistic and manipulative, but that, in itself, is no reason to keep her out of the debates.

Yesterday, she was a guest on CBC’s Maritime Noon phone-in and today, the program has shared some of the email and phone messages they’ve received since then — the largest response to any issue they’ve ever got in the show’s history.

Most of those who responded announced that they had been undecided or committed to vote for another party but were now changing their minds and voting Green.

Come on, you people!  You’re deciding how to vote based on spite?  This is an election!  There are issues involved!

Canada is at war, where we shouldn’t be.  We have public health care which is in danger of being privatized. We have no national child care.  Women’s reproductive choices are being threatened. Our arts and cultural communities are under attack and the CBC is surely on the endangered list.

And Elizabeth is not the only person in the country who understands the importance of the environment.  In fact, the NDP consistently scores higher than the Green Party on environmental issues.

Yes, I agree, the media networks should have clear rules as to who gets to participate in the debates and this kind of acrimony should be avoided in the future.  But meanwhile, all this is a dangerous distraction.  It’s time to get back to what matters while there’s still time.