Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Right Side Up
The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen's Harper's New Conservativism
Paul Wells
2007
This is a recounting of Stephen Harper's rise and Martin's fall.
Knowing the story so well (it only recently happened, and I suppose is still happening) I was still surprised several times in the book. In particular, there are a few shocking moments. Paul Martin is treated mercilessly. The author clearly doesn't think any politician has the right to paralyze government and screw around for a couple years only because of their personal ambition. Two things: Nothing in the original Sheila Fraser report on the sponsorship issue was new. All had been reported before. It was just kind of boring until Fraser put it all together (even then though, it was still pretty boring). And, that all things that should have been done to deal with the corruption had already been done by Chretien in 2001. Martin was so obsessed with distancing himself from Chretien he'd rather ramp up a whole inquiry rather than admit Chretien already dealt with it. Martin's shock and outrage following the report was the stupidest political play I have ever seen. Ultimately, the inquiry came to nothing. It stated that Chretien was on track in 2001 to fix it, and the people who ended up charged were already charged before the inquiry opened. Useless.
The story is largely a parallel of Harper's long calculated arrival coinciding precisely with the early stages of Martin's collapse. Harper was so patient, determined, Martin such a wreck. They were like two ends of a scale, one rising equally and concurrently as the other falls. Wow.
At times Well's analysis is unique and intellectual. His theories about small groupthink insulating Martin's in crowd from being able to make smart decisions is fascinating, and accurate. I've long enjoyed criticizing the crowd that dumped Chretien, brought Martin to power, and then screwed everything up, and Wells happily vindicates my criticisms.
The book, in a lot of ways, is a sequel to Juggernaut by Susan Delacourt, the narrative continues right from one to the next. Martin's rise is so unstoppable in the first book; his fall no less so in the second. How Shakespearean, what a story.
The book is conversationally written, many sentences in it are not complete ones. Maybe Wells is trying to build himself as a new kind of journalist with a more youthful voice, or maybe he just doesn't care about literary convention. Sometimes he gets a little too goofy, but mostly he is effective (maybe the subject is such an absurdity that it doesn't warrant serious writing.)
The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen's Harper's New Conservativism
Paul Wells
2007
This is a recounting of Stephen Harper's rise and Martin's fall.
Knowing the story so well (it only recently happened, and I suppose is still happening) I was still surprised several times in the book. In particular, there are a few shocking moments. Paul Martin is treated mercilessly. The author clearly doesn't think any politician has the right to paralyze government and screw around for a couple years only because of their personal ambition. Two things: Nothing in the original Sheila Fraser report on the sponsorship issue was new. All had been reported before. It was just kind of boring until Fraser put it all together (even then though, it was still pretty boring). And, that all things that should have been done to deal with the corruption had already been done by Chretien in 2001. Martin was so obsessed with distancing himself from Chretien he'd rather ramp up a whole inquiry rather than admit Chretien already dealt with it. Martin's shock and outrage following the report was the stupidest political play I have ever seen. Ultimately, the inquiry came to nothing. It stated that Chretien was on track in 2001 to fix it, and the people who ended up charged were already charged before the inquiry opened. Useless.
The story is largely a parallel of Harper's long calculated arrival coinciding precisely with the early stages of Martin's collapse. Harper was so patient, determined, Martin such a wreck. They were like two ends of a scale, one rising equally and concurrently as the other falls. Wow.
At times Well's analysis is unique and intellectual. His theories about small groupthink insulating Martin's in crowd from being able to make smart decisions is fascinating, and accurate. I've long enjoyed criticizing the crowd that dumped Chretien, brought Martin to power, and then screwed everything up, and Wells happily vindicates my criticisms.
The book, in a lot of ways, is a sequel to Juggernaut by Susan Delacourt, the narrative continues right from one to the next. Martin's rise is so unstoppable in the first book; his fall no less so in the second. How Shakespearean, what a story.
The book is conversationally written, many sentences in it are not complete ones. Maybe Wells is trying to build himself as a new kind of journalist with a more youthful voice, or maybe he just doesn't care about literary convention. Sometimes he gets a little too goofy, but mostly he is effective (maybe the subject is such an absurdity that it doesn't warrant serious writing.)
Dogs
A Natural History
Jake Page
2007
This is a natural science book about the evolution and breeding of dogs.
What was more unlikely, that I would come to like dogs, or that I would come to really like researching dog ancestry. The history of dog breeding explains a lot about the current dog. Dogs started in Asia, probably China, form wolves, but only a few wolves. Almost every dog in the word is descended form 3 or 4 dogs in Asia some 15 000 years ago. Dogs may have been domesticated by humans so we could benefit. Dogs may have domesticated themselves, evolution figuring that it was a safe bet in terms of species survival to get close and cuddly with humans. What a fascinating thought. Kind of reminds me of the mice in Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy. Also, the first dogs came into contact with humans by prowling around garbage at the edge of settlements. The ones who didn't run away when shooed became the good candidates for domestication. The ones who ran away stayed wolves. No wonder dogs are so persistent whe eating garbage. That's why we picked them in the first place! So many ideas, so fascinating. I will read more.
A Natural History
Jake Page
2007
This is a natural science book about the evolution and breeding of dogs.
What was more unlikely, that I would come to like dogs, or that I would come to really like researching dog ancestry. The history of dog breeding explains a lot about the current dog. Dogs started in Asia, probably China, form wolves, but only a few wolves. Almost every dog in the word is descended form 3 or 4 dogs in Asia some 15 000 years ago. Dogs may have been domesticated by humans so we could benefit. Dogs may have domesticated themselves, evolution figuring that it was a safe bet in terms of species survival to get close and cuddly with humans. What a fascinating thought. Kind of reminds me of the mice in Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy. Also, the first dogs came into contact with humans by prowling around garbage at the edge of settlements. The ones who didn't run away when shooed became the good candidates for domestication. The ones who ran away stayed wolves. No wonder dogs are so persistent whe eating garbage. That's why we picked them in the first place! So many ideas, so fascinating. I will read more.
