Inkless Wells

 Inkless Wells

Paul Wells on all the latest out of Ottawa—along with the occasional post about jazz. Follow Paul on Twitter: @InklessPW
He also offers his thoughtful perspective of Stephen Harper’s last 10 years in his recent eBook, The Harper Decade.

Categories: Capital Read, Inkless Wells

Hey look: What this week was all about, maybe

by Paul Wells on Friday, April 23, 2010 8:26am - 22 Comments

From the print edition, my new column, at double-ish the regular length, shakes the Guergis-Jaffer spectacle until some different perspectives pop out.

Tags: , ,

Bookmark and Share
  • Mike T.

    If this piece is twice the length of the average, there are other writers at this site (and syndicated columnists picked up by it) who I would like to see emulate your concise-ness (?), Mr. Wells.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/s_c_f s_c_f

    Wells, I'm impressed that you use the word "spectacle" instead of "scandal".

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Crit_Reasoning Crit_Reasoning

      I'm also glad he used the qualifier "maybe".

  • Ryan

    If you're taking requests for future "the secret mind of Harper" columns, here's something about the PM's long term strategy I'm curious about: You have documented at length that Mr. Harper's primary goal is to create a Conservative party that is capable of winning elections consistently, long after he's gone. This (as well as his overall management of the party) would imply that he has an acute interest in his succession, whenever the time comes. I'd guess that he is pretty invested in whatever his best case scenario is, him governing for another 4 years, 6, 8, whatever, in which time he will have properly groomed someone who has the same vision for the party and political skill as he does. But the situation he's in is not all that stable and any random event can come along and trigger his defeat, and the important thing is his party would need to be able to weather the occasional election loss without collapsing into acrimony like it always does.

    Any sense that this is on the prime ministerial brain at the moment? I think it will be interesting when it is.

  • http://www.macleansfordummies.blogspot.com Karen Krisfalusi

    Pulp fiction Wells. In both cases Harper responded to media pressure subsequent to unsavoury revelations. Your little tale adds no further insight.

  • hosertohoosier

    Harper's secrecy comes from his understanding of rational expectations (which should be unsurprising given that he studied economics in the late 80's and early 90's). People are savvy and already price in events that they believe are likely to occur. For instance, Obama has not gained a bounce for passing healthcare reform in part because it was largely expected to pass. Effecting real changes in public opinion requires a politician to do what is unexpected.

  • Holly Stick

    Paul, I just watched your youtube talk with Evan Solomon, Ian Capstick and Ezra Levant. Was Ezra screened elsewhere so nobody would be tempted to either gag him or punch him? I felt like putting my fist through my laptop when he was talking.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Hhv0Gnxbs&fe…

  • Chrs

    nothing like a self serving plug for an article that's already in the headlines… thanks for…. nothing!

  • John D

    Let me introduce you to this new thing called a blog

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/tobyornotoby tobyornotoby

    I wouldn't have read the article it, if I didn't see the blog post here., first.

  • Chrs

    Oh I thought the article he wrote and is pointing to is the blog, and a good read, but this is not a blog, this is a self serving plug for a blog. If both "blogs" weren't headlined on Maclean's front page with distinctly different headlines than I would forgive, but the fact is that this is either a money grab by macleans by generating ad revenue or it's Wells begging for attention.

  • Chrs

    So you are thanking Wells for pointing out the obvious? Perhaps he should just come and read the mag to you? Highlight the important stuff, dog ear the juicy tid bits?

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/john_g2708 john g

    Me too…I have "Canada Blog" bookmarked, so I don't see the articles unless Wells puts a pointer to them in his blog.

    Wells, wondering though if you might want to make a habit of turning off the comments in the "pointer" blog posts just to keep the comments for your articles consolidated there?

  • Chrs

    he only disables comments when they don't agree with him…. oh wait, that's exactly what I'm doing. Considering the grief he took the last time he bothered shutting down comments and the flip flop that ensued I'm pretty sure Wells is still licking his wounds.

  • MacLean's Regular

    "Wells, wondering though if you might want to make a habit of turning off the comments in the "pointer" blog posts just to keep the comments for your articles consolidated there?"

    Not a bad idea, but this works in a fashion too. You can use the other comment section to make remarks about the article's content and use this one to talk about Paul Wells.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/tobyornotoby tobyornotoby

    No I was trying to help you understand that many regulars start with Blog Central and don't necessarily read the site from front to back as if it was a paper magazine. I was trying to do that without insulting you, but you seem intent on announcing that this is your first day on the Internet.

  • Chrs

    My apologies, I do seem to have woken up in a mood, I did not mean to insult, just using sarcasm. No this is not my first day on the net.

    I understand there are many ways to get to the articles, and if you don't go to maclean's home page you might not notice the multiple headlines for the same article but that doesn't justify posting two headlines on the same page pointing to the same article with distinctly different headlines leading readers to believe they will in fact be different. Perhaps to avoid this, Wells would be kind enough to put the actual title in the link so the reader would know what they are clicking on.
    I do most of my reading on the train on my way to work and am paying for each minute used, so when I click on 2 headlines on the same page with different headlines and then find I've been mislead because in fact they are the exact same article it is frustrating.

  • Jim

    Jack Cafferty is that you?

  • Jan

    So you're paying by the minute to write this? Talk about selectively cheap.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/janicemaerose Janice Rose

    What a good Canadian for apologizing for your moody comment Chrs. Now, Toby, you should accept the apology.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Jenn_ Jenn_

    Ah. To prevent this in future, here's a little tip, sort of an injoke for the Inkless Irregular blog readers. If the title of the blog post starts with Hey Look, that means it is referring you to Paul's current piece in the magazine.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/tobyornotoby tobyornotoby

    Fair enough.

    Thank you Chrs. and sorry to get snarky in return.

    ~ reapplying for library card now that citizenship is again in good standing ~

Previous

Next

From Macleans