Is Tom Clark Really That Out of Touch?

I didn't catch all of the Liberal Convention coverage live, but did see journalist Tom Clark's interview with Martha Hall Findlay and Scott Brison. Now I don't as a rule, criticize the media, or at least try not to, liking it to blaming referees; but I can't let this one go.

Admittedly, Clark has been out of the country, covering American politics, but did he not have access to Canadian news, or keep up to date on our own political scene? Surely he has researchers who do background before he would get caught asking misinformed questions? Apparently not.

In his excitement, Mr. Brison did refer to the current recession as the 'Conservative recession', which is misleading, and Mr. Clark's smirk was justified, when he asked Mr. Brison if he really thought that the Conservative government caused the global recession.

Ms Hall-Findlay picked up the ball, and clarified that they did not cause it but did lay the treasury bare with mismanagement. They also reminded us that Flaherty has yet to tell us where the money went, making it difficult for the Liberals to create a platform, when they have no idea what our current financial situation is.

One thing has become clear, with the body language and facial expressions of the man who will take over for Mike Duffey. Nothing will change, and Clark will simply pick up where Duffey left off. Is he jockeying for a senate position too?

Arrogance aside, when chuckling at the notion of Harper causing a global recession, Mr. Brison was not off the mark. It may not have been the fault of the Conservative party of Canada, but was definitely created by the new Right Wing conservative movement, spear headed by George W. Bush and the anti-Christian religious right.

Too much money was spent on trying to create a Muslim holocaust, and move forward an ideological agenda, while allowing the markets to spin out of control.

Now maybe Tom Clark's forte is not economics, and as an economist Stephen Harper makes a great shoe salesman, but it was not this part of the interview that made me shake my head.

It was his insinuation that went something like "but come on, you did try to form a coalition with the Bloc...". Has he been living under a rock? I find it mind boggling whenever I discover there are still Canadian citizens this much in the dark, but he's a journalist hoping to run a political debate program. Shouldn't he at least pretend to know what happened back in December?

As stated thousands upon thousands of times, the coalition was between the NDP and the Liberals, with the Bloc only supporting confidence motions for a year and a half. The only federal coalition in recent times that included the Bloc was the one that Stephen Harper engineered in 2004 to topple the Paul Martin government. That one was signed by Gilles Duceppe, Stephen Harper and Jack Layton.

It's inexcusable for a Canadian journalist not to know that. Maybe journalism today really is just cut and paste, and reporters are no longer required to research a story before airing it. How sad.

Steve Murphy may have proven that media ethics is an oxymoron, while Clark just removed the oxy.

More Postings on the Coalition:

1. Harper Forms Coalition with Duceppe and Layton

2. The Green Party, the Economy and Why we Need a Coalition

3. Is This a Good Time For a Coalition Government?

4. Harper Vows no More Coalitions with Bloc Like he Had in 2004

5. Stephen Harper Found in Bed With Separatists

6. Why we Need the Left to Unite, Formally or Informally

7. Look up 'Hypocrite' in the Dictionary: It Says 'See Stephen Harper'

8. New Poll Confirms That Stephen Harper is Unfreakinbelievable!!!

9. Harper and More Coalition Threat Nonsense

10. Harper Still Lying About Coalition to Achieve a Majority

11. The Coalition Unveiled: What Went on Behind the Scenes

12. Is This a Good Time to Unite the Left?

13. Harper Insider Admits That he Perpetrated a Fraud