Comments on: The intellectual politician

By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:50:01 +0000

“..author, economist, lecturer.”

He is also listed as a “conservative”, but he is certainly a lecturer.

By: dan in van

dan in van — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:43:54 +0000

I don’t think claiming to write things spoken by John Howard count, but you could say he prefers to publish his ‘works’ on the editorial letters pages of the Wall Street Journal, I suppose. By they way, “When Is Harper’s Hockey Book Coming Out?” is now 245 on the amazon pre-order list…

By: Douglass

Douglass — Wed, 20 May 2009 19:43:46 +0000

Ah but doesn’t the truth lay on both sides of the issue? If you stand firm on one side or another, are you not just a partisan? A good leader can dance that tight rope. Taking what is needed from both sides to find the real ‘truth’. Like it or not.

By: jwl

jwl — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:58:22 +0000

I like to think Iggy is correct 200% of the time because there is rarely one ‘truth’ to be found. When he takes both sides of an issue, left and right can agree with parts of what he’s saying.

By: Ted

Ted — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:50:53 +0000

“depending on ivory tower eggheads and lifetime political weiners for all the deep thoughts”

When did we ever do that? That’s the big conservative canard that bugs me probably more than others. Sure, eggheads and talking heads and pundits – like Harper in fact – run around spouting their opinions, but where is the evidence that government has been depending on deep thinkers to do its business? If anything, our government should be relying on and consulting with them more, not less like Harper is doing and not only doing but advocating as a good thing.

The odd thing is that it is often conservatives who lament that we are dumbing down our nation with TV, etc. but then attack our brightest thinkers for being… our brightest thinkers.

By: Ted

Ted — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:45:50 +0000

Perhaps Iggy’s problem lies in the fact that he has learned his political stripes with Harper as the leading polician and example. One would think breaking significant promises based on core principles to be a requirement. Look to other career politicians for examples, Iggy.

By: oompus boompus

oompus boompus — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:42:01 +0000

“Will we have lost a valued thinker only to gain just another politician?”

Evidently his thinking was valued mostly by rich kids burning through their parents’ money and by middle class kids burning through taxpayer loans.

Whether the kind of intellect said to be possessed by Iggy (or Harper) has any value in the real world has not been tested and is unlikely to be tested anytime soon.

“Is that really going to be a fair trade, one for which we’ll come out the better as a society?”

Society will be improved to the extent that people start thinking for themselves and stop depending on ivory tower eggheads and lifetime political weiners for all the deep thoughts.

To take only 2 current hot topics, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that EI is a ripoff and Afghanistan is a bloody waste of time and money. But deferring these decisions to politicians, no matter what their alleged IQ, guarantees that the public will be permanently hosed.

By: john g

john g — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:28:05 +0000

Well I guess if you take both sides of every issue like Ignatieff does, you’ll be telling the truth 50% of the time, right?

By: John.K

John.K — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:06:29 +0000

Ten years, Jack?

You cockeyed optimist, you.

By: catherine

catherine — Wed, 20 May 2009 18:05:31 +0000

Harper is listed as an author? Shouldn’t that be aspiring author?

By: Jack Mitchell

Jack Mitchell — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:44:46 +0000

The problem would easily be solved if one simply resolved, as an intellectual politician, to tell the truth at all times and not massage the facts. Ignatieff has done this on a few occasions and the press — oh, thank you, fourth estate!! — has kicked him for it. Even now, he seems to be hesitating on the brink, hesitating to plunge into the abyss of our cant-fueled political culture. Don’t do it, Iggy! If you forsake your intellectual truth-telling side, we will have to wait another ten years for an honest politician to emerge.