Angry in the Great White North

From Susan Delacourt on this "Liberal Revolt":

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff  seems to be facing  some serious trouble  at the party grassroots -- all revolving around the caucus decision to support this bill -- C-15, which introduces mandatory prison sentences for drug crimes. Here's a sampling of opinion on the blogosphere... it points to some significant dissent.

Opinion on the blogosphere?  Come on.  A real revolt is something a lot more substantial than this.

Where are the MPs who, on or off the record, are criticizing this decision?

Where are the riding association presidents who are writing angry letters to their local papers?

Where is the delegation of influential Liberal supporters marching to Michael Ignatieff's office to express their disappointment?

Come on.  Give me something.  A petition even.

But bloggers sputtering in their online echo chambers?

It's not that bloggers don't matter.  We do.  But before you start calling it a revolt, I want to see something substantial.  Something that actually tries to do something about this.

A revolt doesn't happen because a bunch of complainers complain.

A revolt happens because a bunch of complainers stop complaining long enough to get off their butts and storm the gate.

So to the Liberal bloggers out there who are mad at Michael Ignatieff, good for you.  You ought to be disappointed.  But take comfort from the fact that you didn't choose him to be your leader, so no one can blame you.  The one time he actually ran for the job, you rejected him and exactly because you sensed that he would take the Liberal Party down this path.  You were right.  It's too bad for you that Michael Ignatieff was able to mount a coup and take over the party leadership without worrying about you guys or your votes.

Call a spade a spade.  Michael Ignatieff is not the legitimate leader of the Liberal Party.  A revolt is called for.

A make it a real revolt.  A bunch of blog postings?  That's just pathetic.

Get up and do something about this.  Something real.  Something that makes a difference.

The alternative is to sit and complain and watch Michael Ignatieff turn the Liberal Party into...well...whatever he thinks people want it to be at that particular moment.

Changing his position to please his audience is Michael Ignatieff's thing, isn't it?

And if these complainers do nothing more than complain, then I'm afraid they'll get the Liberal Party they deserve to have because of their inaction.

The funny thing is that they stopped Michael Ignatieff once before.  If they really wanted to, they could do it again, and there's no reason to assume that they would have to end up with someone like Stephane Dion a second time.