Angry in the Great White North

In response to Susan Delacourt's blog entry in The Toronto Star regarding a Liberal revolt against Michael Ignatieff's decision to support bill C-15, I mocked the so-called rebels.

A bunch of bloggers whining into their online echo chambers does not constitute a revolt, I maintained. 

I had not ulterior motive.  I was serious in pointing out that a real revolt has MPs or riding presidents or other notables making moves against Michael Ignatieff.

Bloggers?  Please.

I also included a shortened version of the post on Delacourt's posting as a comment.

The responses had me laughing out loud.  Liberals lined up to tell me in no small detail how I was wrong and how this was a serious action against Michael Ignatieff's decision.

One more time: Liberals were mad at me because I did not take the story of Liberal dissent against Michael Ignatieff seriously enough.

Here are some samples of how serious this rift is, as Liberals were so eager to explain:

• Morton is not just a blogger either. He's a lawyer and the recently elected chair of the Council of Presidents of the Liberal Party of Canada.
• At least James Curran is a former EDA president.
• These bloggers are not losers in their parent's basement as you [tony] say they are, they are respected people in this party echoing a strong sentiment of concern over our party's inconsistency here. Ignatieff can not just ignore the anger brewing here.
• It certainly makes sense that there is a grassroots revolt going on when the party explicitely [sic] moves in the other direction on drug policy.
• If you [the Liberal Party] support the mandatory minimums legislation I will send you back my Liberal Party Membership and not support the Party further.

But the best one is this:

• As a Liberal involved in the party, I can attest to the real uneasiness of the party base over supporting this measure. On En Famille, a party website forum, not a single person spoke in favour of the mandatory minimums. There was unanimous opposition.

Thanks Kelsey.  Nothing like having the inside scoop of what is happening in the Liberals-only forum.  What happens on En Famille is supposed to be kept in the family, right? 

So Liberals really are mad at Michael Ignatieff.  And it's more than just some bloggers.  The information about the unanimity at En Famille is particularly intriguing.  Still, I'm unimpressed.

I still don't see petitions or open lettters signed by MPs or anything else that amounts to a serious threat to Michael Ignatieff.

It would seem that these complainers, like Stephane Dion, make a lot of noise, but do nothing.  And when you point out that they're doing nothing but making noise, like Stephane Dion, they are grievously insulted and make even more noise.

An entire party of Stephane Dions.   No wonder Michael Ignatieff found it so easy to take over the Liberal Party without a fight or a vote.