And further to that....

A few observational updates to the two items below:

On Hillier, we find it odd here that he adamantly refused to talk to CBC reporter Julie van Dusen, but lo and behold, here he is talking at length to the National Post about his decision to step down.

On the RCMP raid, at least one blogger and Liberal insiders have noted the somewhat comical coincidence that the Conservatives dubbed this "stronger justice week" in Parliament.

And on both, there are some people theorizing it's not an accident the two stories landed together on the news agenda today. The PMO communications office is known for attempting to diffuse bad news with other, bigger news. Is it possible that the government decided to let loose the Hillier news to throw media off the trail of the RCMP? Or the screwups of Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier?

Comments

[bluesclair]

And to think that it is only tuesday. It's going to be a long week for them Tories.

[Ed the Hun]

And why would it be so surprising that Hillier wouldn't speak with van dusen? I know the General and he is a no-bull kind of guy. The CBC has never given the military any type of 'fair shake' so why would he feel beholding to her?

Even a soldier has the 'right' to speak (or not speak) with whomever he chooses.

Hillier just knows who sees the world in a similar light as he does.

[Emma H.]

It is hard to get excited about the in and out scandal. So what if the PC party (I'm party-neutral) sent funds to local candidates. If they had the spending room in their allocations, they were entitled to spend it. There is no law against the party funding candidates, is there? If anything, the handling of the matter by Elections Canada shows a tendency to over-react, over-regulate and undermine politicians and ordinary Canadians, a trend that is now plaguing this country. Errant over-enthusiastic regulators such as Elections Canada and about 20 others I could name, need to stop throwing political curves. They must act conservatively and only on their mandate. Tracing campaign spending to launch a fishing trip is just wrong. If Elections Canada wants to prevent local politicians from accepting party money, which is a offensive and inappropriate idea that may well violate the Charter, it should make that proposal to government. As a second thought, I'd like to know if Liberal cameras were at PC headquarters before the RCMP raid and who at Elections Canada or the RCMP tipped them off. Canada must clean up regulators who abuse others, just as Canadian governmets at all levels need to become more accountable and transparent. The pendulum swings both ways, and leads to smooth governance with minimal conflict when everyone fulfills their legal roles without rancor or political ends in mind.

[bob ward]

No surprised Hillier would not talk to Van Dusen of the CBC.
Someday you LIBERAL elites will realize the average Canadian gets it and sees the bias of CBC and their ilk.

[Darwin O'Connor]

As a person he would have the right to speak to whomever he chooses.

As a soldier, especially the top General, he is responsible to all the people of Canada and should be prepared to talk to any media without discrimination.

[Machiavelli]

Why should the general talk to an affirmative action member of the far-left, bias CBC that has been partnering with their NDP to contend that Canada must cut, run and surrender to the Afghanistan terrorists?

CBC's far-left bimbos appear to be more interested in caring for terrorists prisoners than gallant Canadian troops.

The general knows that anything he says to the American despising CBC will be interpreted to make Canadian troops look like aggressive intruders, and the war in Afghanistan look like an unjustified, inexcusable invasion

[Vid Ingelevics]

Ed the Hun, who is supposedly party-neutral, seems to be spouting the same lines as one finds on the Tory blogs and coming from Tory party members today. I guess that's just a coincidence.

One big problem with the "in and out" scam is that it isn't just about "the party funding candidates" but about you and I doing so through our tax dollars in the form of subsidies applied for by Tory candidates. The goal of the scheme is pretty clear - to do an end run around the rules for election spending that govern all parties.

Sorry, but that kind of disregard for the institutions of government seems to fit perfectly with the arrogance one feels oozing out of the PMO. Sleaze is sleaze no matter which party partakes. And, in this case it's the Tories. Wonder where those promises to set high ethical standards went?

[Ed the Hun]

Well bob ward, thank goodness you don't run the world/canada. That way even soldiers (Canadians don't you know) have the benefit of the rights and freedoms and they fight for everyday.

If Hillier doesn't want to speak with van dusen that that is his PEROGATIVE and his Right!

Even if you don't like it!

[Jan]

That General Hillier does not wish to speak to a CBC reporter is no surprise.CBC reporting is to biassed against anything this Govt. does.