The Conservatives dropped the ball on this one.
I don't believe the tapes were doctored, but the suspicion is out there and a lot of people have already started with the 'a-ha!s'.
Libs, who have been largely silent until now, are posting comments all over the place suggesting Harper and Grewal resign because of the 'disgrace' they have brought to the political process. And people who are not inclined to care about politics either way, just find this very boring or mildly amusing -- but the accusations of tape-tampering will linger in their psyches. Even when the Conservatives are cleared, it's like when a man is accused of rape and subsequently exhonerated -- there are people who will always believe he must have done it, but got off on a technicality.
The Conservatives have a lot to answer for with this -- not the 'alleged' doctoring (funny how they were 'alleged' transcripts, but no such modifier used by Libs today). They should be answering to their supporters for fumbling so badly.
The tapes should have been handed over immediately. Waiting may have allowed them to catch the news cycle as they saw fit, but it has obviously been a PR disaster.
They are trying to play the same games as the Liberals, and they are amateur hour. People don't want the spin -- they want the truth. It would have been much better to do the information dump than the tease. People get ticked off when you mete out information at a trickle. They start to feel they're being manipulated. The Libs (masters of manipulation) know all the ploys -- they invented them. They've been five steps ahead of the Conservatives from the getgo.
If the Conservatives had played it straight instead of being coy to keep the headlines, maybe it would be the Libs in the spotlight and on the defensive.
Liberal strategists are masters of the game. Regular people don't want games anymore, but when given the choice, they'll pick the winning team -- not because they believe in them -- but because the other guys look like losers.
Honesty and integrity in government begins when we dispense with 'tactics' and 'strategy' and start talking the talk and walking the walk. Otherwise, the Conservatives are nothing better than less-successful hustlers than the Liberals.
canadianna
9 comments:
I'm interested in seeing two thing..1. if the RCMP actually do anything (doubtful) 2. some opinion polling early next week to see if ANY of this Liberal graft makes a difference with the indifferent populace (doubtful).
Aww look..I'm all cynical.
Ya, I'm pissed at the Conservatives over this so I posted a lame rainbow. Makes me happy (not gay)
QP
If you listen to the tapes released by Grewal you don't need to be a techi to hear the editing clicks.
The truth is he now admits there were problems with dubbing. You may as well say to the public, "doctored", cause that is what the public hears.
That is all that is needed for the Liberals to escape from the obvious truth heard on the tape.
Hey, guys, check out what Ed at Captain's Quarters had to say about modern taping technology and how apparent "edits" might not be edits at all.
No edits, baby, just truth!
No, QP, when I say 'I don't believe . . .' I am stating an opinion. Having used 'believe' rather than 'know' should be self-evident. Spin requires my stating opinion as fact.
I have not presented anything in my blog as information. By the use of the word 'I', objectivity is rendered null and void. I have an opinion and my blog is where I state it. Call it 'spin' if you like, but I'm sure if I wanted to spin this for the Conservatives I could do a much better job than saying they 'mishandled' 'dropped the ball' 'fumbled' etc.
You said: I don't know if they were doctored or not. I've phrased my statement in a positive hopeful way, but nowhere have I said that I have inside information -- hence the word 'believe' which implies hope, not fact.
If you inferred from my phrasing that I am 'spinning' then perhaps you'd best consider your reading comprehension.
This whole post takes the Conservatives to task.
You're reading a blog, dear. You aren't reading a news report -- if you want unbiased opinion on something you should check out the Globe & Mail or CBC or CTV --- because they would never give opinion in the form of news.
By the way QP, I just read your answer to Derek -- talk about spin.
Spin is when you take a piece of information and present it in a light that will benefit your own position on a subject.
When Derek says 'obvious truth' he is referring to the tapes as a whole, only a small segment of which are in question.
Your snippet implies that one small portion, taken out of context, could be or is being used impugn to the Liberals, when in fact it is the whole of the tapes that show their behaviour.
A huge amount of editing would have had to be done in order for the conversations to have been innocuous, but appear so damning.
QP
Grewal couldn't have created the entire four hours from snipets of Murphy and Dosansh.
The experts heard a total of ....what two clicks maybe four. If your going to fake an entire tape, make it perfect from reel to reel. Why have clicks in two sections?
Thanks for dropping in.
Question: Is QP assigned to multiple-blog trolling?
I, QP, DO have experience in audio forensics, tape editing, etc. I can tell you that two clicks in 360 minutes worth of tape is not unusual. With the advent of voice-activated recorders, it's surprising that there weren't more, unless they were basically talking over each other or starting right up when the other stopped talking. I can also tell you that dubbing from one medium to another enhances ANY imperfections in either the sending medium (the original) or the receiving medium (CDs in this case, from what I've read)... Most likely the flaws would be in the tape, which is an analog system. Digital, while being sonically superior as an original medium, cannot eradicate flaws in the original analog without a hellacious amount of editing with something more complicated than a ProTools kit and would be difficult to mask, even on top-of-the-line stuff. Given all that, I remain convinced that the tapes are fundamentally legitimate, that Grewal is a bit of a sleaze, and that Dosangh and Murphy are ultimately very sleazy and worthy of being turfed immediately. The tap-dancing during question period (ironic, huh?) only reinforces the indication that something is very rotten indeed in the nation of Canada.
C, Cheers.
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