Nice Guy? Please!

In the print edition of the National Post, the headline of Don Martin's column states:

He didn't get it: Politics is nasty

The online edition says -- Nice guys don't last in politics

Both are referring to Stephane Dion.

Gimme a break!

Martin goes on to say:

Like it or not, and I still think it was beneath him, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper's instant attack on the do-overs of Mr. Dion's bumbled CTV interview was blood sport politics at its finest and is credited for an overnight downturn in Liberal fortunes. By the time Mr. Dion got around to going dirty by repeatedly shouting "liar" at the Prime Minister, it sounded pathetically desperate.

Go back Mr. Martin -- read your paper from the first day of the election race. From the get-go, Dion called Harper a liar. Let's not pretend his animus was in response to anything. Dion broke from the gate calling the PM a liar. Throughout the campaign, he and his party equated Harper to the most hated man in the world, George Bush. Liar, quitter, classless, malevolent -- the name-calling was all one sided and all from the direction of the Liberal campaign. The Conservatives stuck with one issue -- Stephane Dion -- Not a leader, not worth the risk. It was right. Boo hoo.

All the pejorative adjectives thrown out in this campaign were tossed by either Stephane Dion or his attack dog, Elizabeth May. Is Martin so clueless that he doesn't 'get' that Dion and the Liberals planned that she'd do most of the rude and hostile, English mouthing off? But still, it isn't like Dion held back--he showed hostility, arrogance and he spewed vitriol every time he mentioned Harper's name. And yet he gets labelled a 'decent guy' and a 'nice guy' by the press.
What were they watching during those six weeks?

Harper never once name-called. During the debate, he was the only leader to display manners and courtesy, despite the attacks being levelled on him. He sat and listened as Ms May called him incompetent, accused him of not being able to read, suggested that his only good quality is that she's fairly certain he loves his kids -- despite being a bad enough PM to possibly be intentionally destroying the future of their country, and berating him for not making chit-chat with her at some dinner.

Stephane Dion is whining. Throughout the campaign, he whined. He's a whining, crybaby loser who hasn't learned to take responsibility for himself.

Who's the nice guy?

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