The first rule for political staffers is never to make yourself part of the story. Conservative Michael Sona and Liberal Adam Carroll broke that rule. Whether they did more than that is a subject for thoughtful investigation rather than supposition. The actions of these individuals, and countless others across all party lines, have contributed to the theatre of the absurd that is taking place on Parliament Hill.
The people behind both "Robocalls" and "Vikileaks" have, at the very least, suffered from major lapses of judgment and character. In some instances, they may have done things that may need to be examined.
For me, the worst thing about 'robocalls' are their annoying tendency to wake up my children at stupid hours of the evening, or interrupt my television / writing / quality family bonding time with things that I neither care about nor intend to act upon. There's nothing like a phone solicitation for cash or votes when you're waiting for a call concerning a job interview or test results from an oncologist! But, once again, I digress...
The recent confession of Liberal MP Tony Valeriote that the party making the biggest noise about these calling practices engaged in it with equal relish has only served to make a broader point about the dysfunction and moral turpitude that has inflicted the body politic like poison ivy- but first, a prediction.
The political circus that is just beginning will stretch out for weeks and months. One group will clam up, retrench, and claim that the guilty parties have been dealt with in an expeditious manner. The other side will claim a conspiracy of monumental proportions that dwarf the allegations of the Kennedy assassination and 9-11 subplots combined.
One cannot disprove a negative, so an argument will be made that every voter in Canada received a questionable call and that the results in all 308 ridings have been irrevocably tainted. In the other instance, the resolution of the dubious twitter account will be characterized as only the tip of the iceberg, and that within one party's research services office lies something no less nefarious than the group that smeared George McGovern and Daniel Ellsberg into oblivion. That is where the interests lie and that is where the narrative will go. After all, if every person who claimed to have been at Woodstock actually did roll around in the mud at Max Yeager's farm, an entire region of upstate New York would have been awash with VW Vans and tie-dyed T-shirts.
When vanity and self-interest are at stake, 1000 robocalls become 500,000, and one bone-headed online poster becomes a room-full of seedy operatives.
Given that both Liberals and Conservatives (so far) have been openly implicated in this practice, we are going to be treated to a level of sophistry that politicians often live down to.
If things are going to get better, people are going to have to get beyond both the actions and the hyperbole attaching itself to it. There is a greater problem, people, and these are but mere symptoms of this disease. The trick of the political operator, like that of the professional magician, is to distract your attention with one hand while the other performs the trick. If you follow the Robocall / Vikileaks soap opera, you will be duly distracted from the real issue.
Once upon a time, yours truly was a political wanna-be. I joined a party before I was old enough to drive, and went to conventions where free food and drink were available at fancy hotel hospitality suites. For a kid from a modest background, getting to dress up and be treated like a high-roller while talking to cabinet ministers was, and remains for some, quite the little ego trip. There were others in my midst, and not much older than me, who would dress the part, try to give the air of a 'serious young man / woman', eager to gain some currency - a summer job on the Hill, or maybe a reference letter for school.
Here's the type - a young person in their early twenties, most likely a political studies graduate, or still working on their degree. They are drawn to political activism for reasons that are unique to them, but they pursue it with all of the vigour and optimism they can muster. They get involved in local campaigns and are willing to do all of the thankless jobs, like stuffing envelopes, doing phonebanks and fetching coffee. They work long hours for no thanks, except maybe the appreciation of a candidate who may become an MP and offer them some sinecure in the local constituency office, or even a chance to walk around Parliament Hill flashing a Blackberry and looking all so formidable.
While it is never fair to generalize, it would also be a lie to say that campaigns and partisan life among the barely-legal set don't have the feel of an episode of 'Mad Men', with a soupcon of apprenticeship of Charlie Sheen's character to Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street". Political issues are often created or destroyed with all of the alacrity of a dice roll in a game of "Risk" or the summoning of a chaotic good half-elf in a marathon Dungeons and Dragons game played in a friend's basement on a ratty old chesterfield.
It is a natural match, however. Politicians and parties need smart, willing and enthusiastic people. They, in turn, are eager, willing to work dreadful hours for crappy pay, and have no life beyond 'the game.' Most people with marriages, families, homes and steady incomes would not want to contemplate the life of an MP. Certainly, taking a paycut and taking a wrecking ball to your personal life would not justify being an assistant to an MP. The only perk - that of being able to walk the hallways of the Centre Block - can easily be accommodated by signing on to one of the many public tours of the edifice.
Where do 'robocalls', anonymous hacks, and impromptu gate crashings / protests come from? Twenty years ago, I would have said a group of these people sitting in the back corner of a Byward market bar, chainsmoking Export 'A''s, quaffing pitchers of draft, and giggling like a bunch of ten year olds who snuck a naughty peek inside the girl's changeroom. Beyond the legal diktats concerning tobacco in public places with four walls and a roof, I doubt much has changed.
Politicians and partisans will wax on about the indignities and the disgust of this type of behaviour. Some will say it's a Tory thing, others will say it's 'American' influence. Some will say it's an orchestrated conspiracy, while others will say it's a rogue with a second hand Nokia and a $10 calling card.
All are right, and all are wrong.
It is a political system where parties have become reliant on a cadre of people who could use:
a) Some ethics training;
b) Some adult supervision;
c) Some real-world experience from the 'School of Hard Knocks';
d) A kick square in the ass; or,
e) All of the above
I vote for 'e'.
