Joseph Planta's Commentary - thecommentary.ca

Monday, 17 January 2005

Moozadell and fancy dress

By Joseph Planta

VANCOUVER - Chasing other worldly pursuits has left me unable to catch up on the news of the day in this space. I'll try here and now, with a few noteworthy items.

Sgro goes

The national papers in this country Saturday were awash with the news of the day before that federal immigration minister Judy Sgro was stepping down. Controversy has dogged Sgro who is alleged to have misused her power giving out, as the press and opposition members allege, ministerial permits to, of all people, a stripper who volunteered on her re-election campaign. Now, Sgro's ouster was only hastened by new news that a pizzeria owner's claims that his immigration in Canada would be looked after in exchange for supplying pizzas for the volunteers in Sgro's campaign office. 'Pizza tale ousts minister,' was the headline in the National Post, under which was a fine Clement cartoon. Sgro's fumbling through her purse looking for money to pay a pizza man who's come to the house, "Gee . . . I don't have any cash . . . will you take a Visa?"

The Globe and Mail was a tad more measured in its coverage. However, like the Post, it discussed the ascension of Joe Volpe as a cabinet minister, who succeeds Sgro as immigration minister, as well both leaders on the editorial page called for attention to reforming the immigration department. The Post focussed some attention on the attention Volpe spends on grooming his hair, while the Globe brought up the fact that there's a sort of rivalry between the former and current immigration minister. (To be fair, John Ivison's column in the Post touched on this briefly.) Both papers did bring up the fact that the immigrant claimee, Harjit Singh, has had a checkered history. Sgro claims he's willing to say the outrageous if only to stay in the country. The 'telltale moozadell,' to borrow from The Sopranos, could be a subtitle to the controversy surrounding Sgro.

Prince Henry's Nazi fancy dress

Imus was recently in Blighty. On the trip from the airport to the Dorchester, he was disenchanted when he saw a McDonalds, a Starbucks and a giant Toys R Us. Here were three less than remarkable symbols of this continent borrowed by the supposedly more sophisticated Brits. We've inherited much from the Brits, Spamalot this spring; but one thing we haven't inherited from the British though is the way they refer to costume parties. News reports from the highbrow broadsheets to the salacious tabs all refer to fancy dress parties. That's probably the most noticeable thing I've noticed in all the coverage of Prince Harry's massive faux pas in donning a swastika armband. Imus also noted the voraciousness of the British tabloid press in light of the David Blunkett hullabaloo. Imus wondered why it was that the British press was relentless to the point that satisfaction couldn't come until the headliner of the moment was dead.

Prince Henry's costume choice was ill advised, in poor taste, lacking of judgement, and irresponsible. Sure he's just a kid, a young lad without much to do in life but party, do some charitable good works, carry a bunch of pre and post-nominal initials on his name, take royal salutes and curtseys from strangers, and accept flowers until death does he part, but as a member of an institution that's the embodiment of history-his country and the Commonwealth-he should have known better. As a member of the monarchy, heeding his grandmother's advice is prudent. In 1992 in the midst of her 'annus horribilis,' she said, "No institution-city, monarchy, whatever-should expect to be free from the scrutiny of those who give it their loyalty and support, not to mention those who don't." More than the money bequeathed through the Civil List, the grace and favour bestowed by the court of public opinion should be enough for our blessed royals to act with due consideration. If not, republicans and anti-monarchist will only be emboldened.

'Pork Chop Butt' to be grilled by Imus

Yup, the Vice President, Dick Cheney (along with his wife, Lynne) will appear on the Imus in the Morning program this Thursday, inauguration morning. Imus will be as relentless as Lucy Liu on the red carpet at the Golden Globes last night, but watch it on MSNBC nonetheless.

Ambassador McKenna goes to Washington

As expected, Prime Minister Martin made official his intention to appoint former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna as Canada's next ambassador to the United States. McKenna becomes the first notable politician since Lester Pearson to be ambassador to Washington. One wonders if Julie McKenna will be as colourful as Sondra Gotlieb.

Equally expected (slower than I thought however, because his name has been mentioned for more than a year now), was the left-liberals questioning McKenna's choice due to his connection with the infamous Carlyle Group, made better known and iniquitous by Bush-baiters like Michael Moore and William Karel for two. Conspicuously notable in mentioning the Carlyle connection was Charlie Smith in his otherwise very fine boldfaced-names news roundup in the Georgia Straight. He rattled off the names associated with the investment firm that's got a proclivity of buying into defence contractors, names like the prominent Republicans close to Bush, former President Bush, Jim Baker, and Frank Carlucci (as well as relatives of Osama bin Laden). In a gesture of fairness and balance he added at the end of his listing, as an aside, that some "former Democrats" also belong to the group too.

Rex likes Margaret. He really does.

Ever since Margaret Wente mused critical of Newfoundlanders in her Globe and Mail column, everyone seems to taking her one column's gist, using it as fodder for their own columns. Her neighbour on the op-ed page, the equally estimable Rex Murphy takes on Wente in his column this past Saturday. Raking her over the proverbial coals, it seems Murphy takes offense to Wente's estimation of his home province in the wake of Premier Danny Williams's taking down of Canadian flags in protest against the federal government. The Murphy-Williams set-to in their columns is fun to read. Here are two Canadian columnists who at long last tell us what they really think.

Deborah Grey on 600 AM

Shiral Tobin, Rafe Mair's producer and co-host, usually fills in for Mair when he goes on holiday. But she's away until August on maternity leave, and Mair's still on holiday. So who does 600 AM tap to fill in? Well, none other than former MP Deborah Grey. I listened in to Grey last week, and she's an ideal fit. She's a good talker and has an infectious personality. (If in doubt, hear the interview I did with her, which is available here at thecommentary.ca.) As expected, though, she's not as up to speed on British Columbian issues. Finance minister Colin Hansen and BC NDP leader Carole James got off far easier than if Rafe were in the hosting chair. Nonetheless, she's at ease talking to guests and callers, and has great general knowledge of current affairs that someone should snap up her services soon. Grey bridging into talk radio in this city would not be averse to tradition. Mair himself is a former pol, so were Dave Barrett, Barrie Clark and the late Judy LaMarsh, who moved to Vancouver to begin a talk career after she bowed out from federal politics. The only place where Grey has room for improvement is not clearing her voice on the air. (Mind you, I stomach the fugly looking Imus hacking on the phlegm in his throat, so Deb's charming compared to the I-Man.) I hope 600 AM slots her mid-mornings after the Rafe Mair program.

The new 'It Couple'

I hardly read the National Post anymore, but as I was away for the weekend, I picked it up to read on my travels. As expected, the Saturday review section had a few good pieces that piqued my interest and held my attention from by line to tag. Anne Kingston's feature crowning the engaged duo of Jude Law and Sienna Miller the new 'It Couple' made fun reading. All 'It Couples' from Frank and Ava, Joe and Marilyn, Jackie and Onassis, Onassis and Callas, Brad and Jen; Sonny and Cher, Tom and Nicole, and now Jude and Sienna have paled in comparison to the tempestuous and stormy union of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. No one can rekindle a romance like that ever again. You'll recall Liz and Dick met on the set of Cleopatra, and soon enough were on par to the star crossed lovers they portrayed-she playing the title role, and he Antony.

Jude Law was yucking it up on Saturday Night Live recently, feigning smugly that it was a bonus he was also smart along with being "extremely good looking." He's no dope as an actor, making good choices in theatre and film at a relatively young age. His status as half of the new 'It Couple' is troubling in that it saturates easily, and style often trumps substance, as seen by the likes of Brad and Jen, Ben and J. Lo. In addition, the fizzling that these unions have experienced in the fullness of time is hardly encouraging. By the way, the food for thought proffered by Kingston's thesis is that 'It Couples' are a social necessity in our seemingly frivolous celebrity culture. Ditto.

Now, folks in the media are guilty of proffering their own 'It Couples' from time to time. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and his incredibly comely lawyer-wife Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom were touted as the new political/media couple to behold, she doing the news bunny thing providing analysis on cable news. Alas, after Christmas the Newsom marriage went kaput. She's moving to the east coast to further her career, while he's staying on the west coast, championing gay marriage. He's handing out marriage licences to gays, while his own union is folding.

Endnote

Living a long ways away from the New York area doesn't prevent one from reading the fish wrappers published there-The Times, Daily News and Post for three. You can live in Podunk, but thanks to globalisation and the internet, you can know all about the antics of Blaine Trump, John Rowland, Lauren Bush, Lizzie Grubman, or Anna Wintour. Nonetheless, being away from the eastern seaboard leaves much to be desired, like context. So, who the heck is Fabian Basabe, and why should we care? Who'd he marry? Why? Who's she? Who cares? I think they call it information overload.

And, another thing . . .

Is Leah McLaren as hot as her by line photo above her Globe and Mail column makes her out to be? If so, I'd take her, chapped elbows and all.

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