that's just sick
- January 11, 2003
this just disgusts me. our premier. a figurehead of our province. one of the liberals said "he's just human, everyone makes mistakes."
weird or not weird, a lot of people look to the primier of the province to figure out what is okay and what is not okay. all of a sudden, gordon campbell is a drunk driver. every single person in the province who has been caught driving drunk feels a little weight taken off their own back. they think "oh, it's not so bad, look, he's doing it too."
it's not okay. he's smiling in some of the mug shots. this is disgusting. someone driving a vehicle is in charge of a lethal weapon. it's a big physical object that the driver can direct at speeds 8 times faster than what is needed to kill a person, usually cruising fast enough to easily kill someone. if people didn't take drunk driving seriously before, they almost definitely are not now.
he says he's sorry? he doesn't look like someone who is sorry. look at his mug shots, he's grinning like an idiot.
this is the guy who calls the shots for BC? please .. say it aint so. if he's getting caught drinking and driving, who is to say that he doesn't have his judgement impaired in places that are not checked? such as places that he'd be making decisions, maybe places that he takes his homework to?
i'll have to add "car" to the list of places where i don't trust gordon campbell to be in control.
that is sad.
what is not sad is that i have uploaded my featured artist mix to lefty.ca! woot!
download it.
Posted by davin on January 11, 2003 10:02 PM | Permalink
Comments
where'd you all go tonite?..got an invite from mina, but was too late..hope y'all had a good time! I'm going to bed nowzzzzzzzzzz
we're planning on going to hush and then for a tea or something. yeah.
unfortunately, in most cases, those who end up getting elected to lead don't land there because they're best to lead, rather because they are the best at getting elected.
of course campbell must resign, and i think he will. but the chances are almost certain he'll be replaced by someone just as dodgy, but someone who hasn't been caught yet in violation of the principles we hold out for leadership.
so the next time i go to maui perhaps i'll get to hear what a province of drunks we are perceived to be, perhaps if i'm in a traffic stop, the mere sight of my driver's license will cause me to be subjected to unjustified scrutny.
i think in the case of elected officials, there should be a second set of laws beyond those in place, i think their transgressions should be punished far beyond the common folk, given that they are literally the law-makers. how about 5000 hours of community service for campbell, helping the homeless or perhaps those whose lives have been shattered by impaired drivers.
and he's grinning like an idiot because that, and an expression of faux outrage over whatever will make him popular, are the only facial expressions he knows.
i'm about 40 minutes into the mix and i *love* it! nice one dav. it goes perfectly with my sunday afternoon coffee.
*hugs* can i see you next time you are down? i miss you!
Davin,
Just listening to your 01-08-2003 set here.
Pat yourself on the friek'n back, because this is AWESOME!
- OTri.
davin this set is fantastic!!! i'm just 35 minutes in now and loving it!
1rst muzak: is just great... grabed stuff to read and shall thoroughly enjoy the set!! :D
2nd: premier. i'm very mixed (as always with politics). one part of me says "ah bc hasn't blown up yet we're ok" (but then i think it hasn't physically blownup but campbell has screwed a lot of ppl including my family) Then i think "this is a great way to get this guy out and for bc to get on a better track" then i remember this " [good] economists are never consulted properly, but neither were the socialist or the environmentalists or any other "ists" -so who the heck is running the world... DAMN POLITICIANS! (and what do they really know -poli sci??) ta
First: Nice mix ... Krishen had me take a boo, would not mind getting more of this in my 'standard' iTunes collection.
Second: Your comments today. Very valid I think. He is in a high position of government and thus should be a lot more careful with his actions. However, at the same point in time he should be treated as just another citizen of this province. With regards to his leadership, I believe that it is more important to see his actions 'afterwards' than the action itself. If he abuses his power to 'make it go away' then we should worry about him staying in power. If he admits the problem - does the time - and does not do it again then why take away his job. To a large degree I think this has been blown _way_ out of proportion.
Third: This province under the NDP was run into the economic toilet. Businesses were heading out left and right, lobbyists were getting WAY too much power, and nothing was getting done to move our province forward. I look forward to the pro-business and pro-future attitude of this government to continue -- it will one day bring back respect of the rest of the country and the world.
Love the new mix, i totally wanna put it on cd though so i can groove in my car but its so long ><
one thing i find i'm asking myself in all of this is: what if he were a great premier? that's a mythic distinction, no ruler is perfect, but let's just say he was doing what almost everyone thought was a great job, what if there were prosperity and an end to strife caused by his leadership? would we all still be crying for his ouster over the d.u.i. charge and imminant conviction?
whether he's a great leader or not doesn't really matter in this issue. actually, it's completely irrelevant. the only two things that are relevent are that: 1)he is the leader of this province, and 2)he has been charged with, and has said he'll plead no contest to, a sadly common crime of moderate severity.
the issue rests on that and that alone. any debate must be built around those two points and their subsets. whether he's hurt or helped the people of bc though his leadership so far isn't even secondary, he is the legally elected senior legislative official in this province and by extention and through established parlimentary and constitutional process, he leads as he sees fit.
we can't get personal over this. we simply have to ask: is a crime of this severity a demonstration of character which renders him unable to continue leading, whether it be for ethical, moral, or legal reasons?
personally, i think it is. i think, for many of the reasons davin has stated, he should step down. he has flouted a law we elected him to enforce, albeit in a foreign land but we have the same law here. he has recklessly endangered the wellbeing of others, and shown a complete disregard for their lives and liberty. what that means is that he lacks the ethics to be a lawmaker himself, and to preside over a system of jurisprudence, which i can only hope is composed of people with higher ethics and morals than his own.
i also don't think he's doing a great job as premier, but that can't be a deciding factor.
Jim, I would be inclined to agree. The arguement that he's "saved BC" doesn't even come close to coming into play here. Beyond the points you have made, this is The Man who represents British Columbia abroad whether we like it or not, and whether he is on vacation or not. He is The Man in BC. So, ladies and gentlemen, this *is* how you're being represented. Are you happy with the job he is doing? I definitely am embarassed and ashamed of him. He is not fit to represent me.
Today, the 14th Jan 03, I heard his blood alcohol level was .0149 when arrested. That is DRUNK! Wednesday he meets with his cabinet, which in itself SHOULD BE a shouting match, but will instead be a hand wringing back patting rubber stamping of approval for him. But then comes Thursday; where he is scheduled to meet with the entire caucus, and that is where I believe the really strong words and emotion will erupt, but could be wrong there too. But not to worry, there is another player in all of this; the B.C. Liberal Party!!!!! After some sober thought, I am sure they will realise that this man cannot lead them into the next provincial election, because he is now 'damaged goods'. I predict that if the caucus doesn't convince him to resign, the party will.