Toothpicks and caffeine

Are my best friends today.

I have one period of grade 4 music, followed by a prep, then one period of math. I can handle all that. The real test of my fortitude will come after first break, when I have my grade fives for two solid hours of out-of-routine time.

Wish me luck.

My thoughts on Belinda

1) I have fairly little respect for this woman to begin with. First, she's rich and always has been. Second, she was head of her own company in her thirties, not because she was especially good but because of who Daddy was (the founder of the company.) I'm sure she did a fine job there; I'm not disputing that. What I dispute is her method of rising to the top, based more on parentage and charisma than merit and hard work.

2) I liked her as a potential Conservative leader, because she had a more red-Tory leaning than any of the other candidates. However, I didn't trust someone that new to politics. She needed to get her feet wet in Ottawa before jumping in and possibly drowning.

3) She was in politics for less than two years, and in the shadow cabinet only eleven months, before leaving the party. That does not indicate a great deal of staying power.

4) She left in the nastiest possible way. She didn't have a face-to-face meeting with her boss (Harper) to tell him about her decision. She didn't even tell her boyfriend, the second-in-command, until all the details had been worked out. In short, she was a coward.

5) I have very little respect for MPs who cross the floor. The fact is, her constituents didn't elect her so much as electing her party, with her as its representative. Many, maybe most of them would not have voted for her if she had been a Liberal at the time. It is immoral to cross the floor in that way during the middle of a term. If you have a problem with the party you're in, leave it. But sit as an independent. Go after the new party's nomination in the lead-up to the next election, and let your constituents decide which party they want to represent them in an election. That decision should not be made for them.

6) Lastly - the timing. Let's derail the Conservative plan to topple the government, in a way that makes them all look like they've got their heads up their asses and gives the LIberals the best press they've had all year. That's just cruel. Not to mention the fact that this government deserves to fall, and she's propping it up.

In short, I have no respect for Belinda Stronach.