Shameless political plug

Now, while my fellow tag-teamer is working for Olivia Chow, and engaging in nefarious plots to mess with the Liberals, I confess that I'm one of those people whose blood is red not because of haemoglobin, but because I'm a Liberal.

Yes, Yes, I know. No principles, "Fiberals," blah blah blah.

I'm a Trudeauvian-Chretienite Liberal. The Charter is my manna. One day this nonsensical anomaly of Martinism will end, the directionless headwaitering to the provinces will stop, and again in Ottawa will be a Prime Minister who's not afraid of a robust, muscular federalism.

Say what you want about the useless Martinites, and how they squandered everything we achieved during the Chretien years - constitutional peace, fiscal stability, etc. I'll agree.

However, thanks to our parliamentary system, I can vote Liberal in good conscience, because I'm not voting for Martin, I'm voting for my MP. My riding's incumbent Liberal MP is Mark Holland. He's young, he's full of energy, and, most importantly, he appears to actually have principles.

As opposed to Martin's very grudging endorsement of same-sex marriage as a Charter issue, Holland, a backbencher, stood up and gave one of the most passionate speeches delivered in the Commons, saying SSM was the right thing to do because it was right. He didn't take the "the Charter made me do it" approach of Martin.

Contrast this to the local Tory, Rondo Thomas. Quite the hottie, eh? He's a big Christian Coalition bigwig and helper to the President (or dean or messiah or whatever they call them) of Canada Christian College, and, during the time when the SSM bill was being considered, offered this little gem in opposition:

"God does not rule from the provincial court bench, or from the hallowed halls of Parliament. He rules from the kingdom of heaven and he is not about to change his mind to accommodate the changing whims of man."

Thrilling stuff, eh? The Globe recently did an article (which of course you now have to pay to get, so I won't link you there) highlighting how he was handing out mad religious pamphlets as part of his electioneering.

And Harper says there's no hidden agenda?

So, faced with the choice of a young, enlightened, dynamic MP who's done a lot for Ajax-Pickering, and an old christian dinosaur, I think my choice is pretty clear cut.

ps - check out the Christian dinosaur link. It's pretty funny. As Warren Kinsella said, "The Flinstones is not a documentary."