Jack Layton Can no Longer Claim a Spot on the Moral High Ground

In 2008, when Stephen Harper prorogued Parliament to avoid a non-confidence vote, Jack Layton stated that he was going to turn down their upcoming budget before even reading it, and demanded that his caucus do the same.

He would later send out ten percenters with a countdown of how many times the Liberals supported Conservative bills.

Then when he had a chance to put his money where his mouth was; when Michael Ignatieff said that he was no longer going to prop up the Harper government in 2009, Layton did a 180 and voted with the Conservatives.

Now, when dealing with the possible death of the gun registry, he cries "democracy", and is not going to whip his MPs to vote against what he knows in his gut is wrong. I agree with Heather Mallick:

Even if he changes his mind, it is too late for me. I am done with Layton. He caved before his uninformed voters and his caucus, releasing MPs who would be crucial in letting the Tories win. They will help turn Canada into an unregulated gun zone that is especially dangerous for women.

... A smart NDP friend once explained that life is actually very nice for the caucus. Even though they aren’t in power as such, they have comfortable lives on the high moral ground. No radical or even interesting ideas emerge because it would disrupt the picnic. New ideas and brave stands are messy, like sand on the rug or spilled jam.

I agree with Charlie Angus: Tories attack on police out of line, but that does not get them off the hook. That's tough for me because I respect Angus. He is very familiar with the Adams Mine scandal and holds the former Harris crew involved (Baird, Flaherty, Clement) to account. But the NDP need to vote as a unit. And Jack Layton needs to make it happen.

Brian Topp, another man I greatly respect and admire, wrote an op-ed piece for the Globe & Mail, again making it an urban/rural issue.

Poppycock!

(Did I just say poppycock?)

Unlike voice-of-upper-class-Toronto Michael Ignatieff or voice-of-Alberta Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Jack Layton leads a balanced national caucus with both urban and rural communities well-represented.

Wow! "voice-of-upper-class-Toronto Michael Ignatieff". Please tell me that the NDP are not going down that road too. "Elites" ... "academia" ... "academic circles". Yikes!

C'mon guys. Smarten up or continue to dummy down. Maybe you'll get your own spot on Fox News North.