Stephane Dion Meets Meryl Streep, Kennedy's No Kennedy, Liberal Fratricide 2.0, Jason Kenney's Inferno And Another Idiot Who Spoke Too Soon

- Twice this week (here and here) columnists have drawn attention to the difficulty some people seem to have understanding Stephane Dion when he speaks English. In Montreal, we're used to hearing both Official Languages accompanied by mangling accents on a regular basis, so I don't tend to notice it all that much. (Or should I say, we're used to listening and decoding imperfections at the same time.)

I don't know if the Dion campaign is doing anything to address this concern, but here's some unsolicited advice: If he's getting any help with grammar and/or vocabulary, stop immediately. It will only make M. Dion preoccupied and self-conscious about something most people are prepared to overlook. It may also cultivate a tendency to self-correct when he's speaking, which looks bad.

Stephane Dion needs a dialect coach and/or a speech therapist. People with these expertise will be able to find the source of M. Dion's difficulty and provide him with the tools to improve his pronunciation relatively quickly. Whoever coached Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice or A Cry In The Dark, would be ideal.

- Sure Gerard Kennedy can draw (click here), but can he deliver a decent speech (click here). Maybe it's time to call-up Ted Sorensen!

- As for changing the topic, which I'm all in favour of, here's a suggestion: Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff (here and here) have said they favour opening up the constitutional file with the intention of inserting a provision regarding the unique nature of Quebec in Canada, i.e. Quebec is a distinct society, Quebec is a nation. Should the Liberal Party have a plank in it's platform along these lines for the next election regardless of who wins the leadership? How's that for an issue fraught with fratricidal possibilities?

- Now to Jason Kenney. Unfortunately the guy's probably going to be around for a while. In addition to the usual "do as I say, not as I do" defense, the Tory's will probably argue that any MP would have a reasonable expectation that a group given permission to hold a rally on Parliament Hill wouldn't be associated terrorism. (Come to think of it, who did give the OK for this rally -- the Speaker's Office, the RCMP or the City of Ottawa police?)

But we can console ourselves in the knowledge that Cerberus will be able to keep nipping at Kenney's ample girth in the afterlife. Unless, of course, Mr. Kenney is destined for a worse fate in the fifth ditch of the eighth circle of Hell.

- Finally, maybe any idiot can have a blog, but can any idiot post on regular basis? Come on back to the blogosphere, or you may be spending eternity with Mr. Kenney. :-)