‘PM Black has a ring to it’
Journalists often cross over and become politicians, so last week, letters editor Paul Russell asked readers who they thought should be the next writer to make that jump. Many Post scribes were on that list.
Conrad Black: ‘He knows stuff ’
❚ Prime Minister Lord black of crossharbour has a unique ring to it. even the self-absorbed Americans would sit up and take notice.
Jim Reinhart, Kitchener, Ont.
❚ Wasn’t it Allan Fotheringham who once wrote: “A journalist who wants to be a politician is like a jockey who wants to be a horse.” If that is the case, then I nominate conrad black. At least we would get someone who knows his history and has spent time reflecting on the right policies for the country.
Patrick O’Neill, Ottawa.
❚ He is articulate, handsome, educated, adroit and an effusive eidolon of the social scene. yes, a man above Lords but never lording it over you. A man of the people, internationally renowned and with ample resources. A man who has overcome adversity and will work for public accolades without rancour. conrad black would make an excellent prime minister — he has done his time.
Madeleine Wannop Ross Salter, Stoney Creek, Ont.
❚ conrad black as Senate Foreign relations chair.
David W. Lincoln, Edmonton.
❚ Winston churchill (and Spanish philosopher, George Santayana, with a variation of it) said: “Those who fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it,” so I think that conrad black, a historian as well as a businessman, would make a great politician.
Barry Bloch, Thornhill, Ont.
❚ I believe conrad black could make a significant contribution as a politician, say as minister of foreign affairs. With his encyclopedia-like knowledge of history he would be a natural.
Jim Gehl, Calgary.
❚ conrad black should definitely be considered for canada’s PM, as he is knowledgeable in a number of areas. I eagerly await his columns to gain new insight into world events.
James Kang, Toronto.
❚ conrad black for prime minister. (1) He doesn’t suffer fools. (2) He knows lots of stuff.
Fraser Petrick, Kingston, Ont.
Christie Blatchford ‘speaks our language’
❚ certainly, any National Post columnist would contribute well to politics. However, christie blatchford speaks and understands the language of us “ordinary canadians.” Further, she would be an outstanding prime minister. On the world stage, she would tell Vladimir Putin and bashar al-Assad where it’s at in no uncertain terms, and would see through the likes of Iran’s Hassan rouhani in a flash.
Doris Garner, Calgary.
❚ What has been sadly lacking in canadian politics for many years is a leader who can inspire the people. christie blatchford has this quality, as well as intelligence in spades.
Norbert Kaysser, Port Coquitlam, B.C.
‘I love Rex Murphy’
❚ I love rex Murphy — he would make a great prime minister.
Twitter.com/Alexandra Manolesco
❚ rex with his mellifluous grace is already Prelate of all canada. From the tar sands of Alberta to the outports of Newfoundland he is exactly what his name says he is. Quite simply he is, Monarch of our great glen. He transcends politics. Please stop me...
D. McClure, Edmonton.
❚ Anyone employed by the cbc for as long as Peter Mansbridge has been is not fit to be prime minister. Sorry Amanda Lang, you neither. I’d make an exception, however, for rex Murphy.
Rob Nieuwesteeg, Calgary.
❚ Imagine rex Murphy’s State of the english Language address. Writers who could understand how civilizing forces are becoming unglued in vast portions of the United States are all no longer with us: like Sigmund Freud, Mark Twain and Mordecai richler. I might add Margaret Atwood, but why risk boring or offending david Gilmour?
Ron Charach, Toronto.
Give us Ezra
❚ ezra Levant is the only intellectually gifted journalist communicator in canada.. He promotes our economy’s essential dependency on ethical fuels and he is alert to the canadian vulnerability to global terrorism and to our need to be aggressive in global trading. And he’s our best defence against the media bias.
Peter M. Maclean, Kingston, Ont.
❚ ezra Levant would be good for the Liberal Party of canada Twitter.com/M.Huggins
Other choices
❚ My choices: Foreign Affairs — George (I’m right, I told you so) Jonas; Health — Jonathan (Now listen up, it’s important) Kay; Justice — chris (I’ll get right to the point) Selley; Woman’s Affairs — barbara (I’m a no-nonsense feminist) Kay; Aboriginal Affairs — Tasha (Just point me in the direction, it’s done) Kheiriddin; Finance: diane (I’m the smartest economist) Francis; Industry — Kelly (I’ll tackle any issue, with style) McParland; and PM — robert (I’m well read, level headed, and wise) Fulford.
David Saul, Toronto.
❚ There a number of worthy candidates that would do a great job as politicians. The following have brains, principles and courage: ezra Levant, Mark Steyn, barbara Kay, brian Lilley and christie blatchford .
Leigh U. Smith, Burnaby, B.C.
❚ Peter Mansbridge. He should open every QP with “Good evening. I’m Peter Mansbridge, and this is Parliament.”
Twitter.com/Oliver Sachgau
❚ Kelly McParland for Minister of common Sense.
Twitter.com/Shane Dingman
❚ chris Selley for minister of safety regulations. Heather Mallick as ambassador to the moon.
Twitter.com/Alex Banks
❚ can one imagine Mark Steyn’s speeches and op-eds? Spectacular!
Paula Kelly, Oshawa, Ont.
❚ While any Post writer could probably make a seamless transition into politics, only graphic columnist Steve Murray would make a difference at any level. His sage and sound advice to readers, his sympathetic account of his friends and colleagues lives (lovingly retold in “The Posties”) and his kind and gentle illustrations all point to a man who would fill any political role with sincerity and credibility. Murray for
mayor or minister; it doesn’t really matter.
Max Finucane, Oakville, Ont.
❚ My choice is brilliant, acerbic and doesn’t mince words; has a host of political and business connections in the United States; has a medical background; like, Fdr, is wheelchair bound and carries that same gravitas; and if we ever got into another war with Germany has a perfect name:
Krauthammer, charles.
Peter Mifsud, Toronto.
❚ barbara Kay would make a good justice minister. She would not pander to special interest groups, but would rightly put them in their place and is not afraid to
challenge the politically correct establishment. you go girl.
Steve Flanagan, Ottawa.
❚ My choice for a journalist to become an MP would be for Father raymond J. de Souza, although sadly the Vatican does not allow priests to get involved with politics. He has been honest with writing his broadminded views expressed in columns in the Post. This virtue of honesty is lacking today’s Parliament.
Marie Jalsevac-Smit, Collingwood, Ont.
❚ It’s uncertain whether she “should” be, but it would surprise very few if cbc business journalist Amanda Lang hadn’t been politically courted at Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s Wakefield, Que. retreat for canada’s “brain trust” this past August. Whether she holds allegiance to father and former cabinet minister Otto’s Liberal Party might be the “biggar” question.
Mark S. Rash, Winnipeg.
❚ I’ve had the misfortune to witness two or three of Pastor Mansbridge’s less than incisive interviews. He would be a disaster in the House, notwithstanding it’s own inadequacies in the art of debate. PM? No bloody way. And who’s Amanda Lang?
Malcolm Bell, Lions Bay, B.C.
❚ I nominate Jonathan Kay for the Senate. This way, John Moore can reclaim his position as the National Post’s only resident left-wing writer, while Mr. Kay joins his like-minded former journalistic colleagues in the upper chamber.
Milan Mijatovic, Windsor, Ont.
❚ Someone who understands the meaning and value of true capitalism and who, unlike Harper, is willing to move us quickly away from the destructiveness of statism. Perhaps Terence corcoran or ezra Levant or rex Murphy. If rex, then a good start would be to privatize the cbc.
Glenn Woiceshyn, Calgary.
❚ Mike Holmes, who writes a column in the Post, would certainly make an interesting politician, especially if he was appointed to a post in regional development and infrastructure.
John Clubine, Toronto.
❚ I would vote for the cast of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. They would prime minister by committee. What can go wrong?
Twitter.com/Chris McKerracher ?
❚ Professor and author robert Spencer would bring some much-needed erudition and clarity to politics. He would clear away the cobwebs that are preventing the truth from coming out. despite being incorrectly and consistently labelled by the ever blind leftwing consensus media, he is the canary in the mine that everyone is ignoring at their peril.
Jerome Henen, North Vancouver.
❚ There is no such person on the horizon. benjamin disraeli, who said “your principles be damned, vote with the party” came close. Winston churchill also. Socrates came close but consider what happened to him. It appears that being dead is a necessary requirement. George R. Monckton, London, Ont.
❚ Only journalist who deserves to be PM is Jeffery Simpson of the Globe and Mail. His columns are thought-provoking and to the point. He has a deep understanding of various issues. I think he can be considered as Walter Lippmann of canada. Mr. Simpson will make a great PM.
Mahmood Elahi, Ottawa.
Too many journalists
are in politics now
❚ Why would any journalist want the job? It would be like aspiring to captain the Titanic with the knowledge that the ship is heading directly towards a huge fiscal iceberg and its momentum is too great to change course. I am assuming, of course, that most journalists have enough economic smarts to see the iceberg in the first place.
Gene Balfour, Thornhill, Ont.
❚ After the mess with Mike duffy and the fiasco with Pamela Wallin, do we really want to go down that bumpy road again?
Douglas Cornish, Ottawa.
❚ your Monday Letters invitation appears next to a column titled (in part) “Parliament’s “trained seals.” Need more be said.
Moishe (Thomas) Goldstein, Toronto.
❚ There are too many journos in there already. What we need is ordinary honest folks.
Twitter.com/Gayle
❚ Zero journalists because the bad ones like Wallin & duffy proved just as corrupt and the good ones are too partisan.
Twitter.com/Gordon Bonenfant ?
❚ Just a second while I puke over your two examples (christie blatchford and rex Murphy)
Twitter.com/Grant Bowen
‘If one were asked to serve …’
❚ I actually tried, in the 1980s, for public office. The good people of Newfoundland rejected me with a force and volume that was terribly impressive. I would not, ever again, so to speak, fly again in the face of that impeccable, implacable, infallible judgement. What New-founadlanders have rejected let no man put in Parliament.
Rex Murphy
❚ One would never be presumptuous but if one were asked to serve ….
John Ivison
❚ I think I could be quite enthralling in the foreign affairs portfolio.
Shinan Govani
❚ If allotted sufficient political power, I would impose anarchy just long enough for us to eat all the anarchists. It would probably not be canada’s finest hour, but certainly its most ironic.
Tristin Hopper
❚ My only political aspiration, and ‘twas ever thus, is to exercise my democratic vote.
Christie Blatchford
❚ I refuse to represent any electorate ignorant enough to elect me.
Kelly McParland
❚ candidates for high office are usually disqualified for being stupid enough to think they can do the job. What disqualifies me is being smart enough to know that I can’t.
George Jonas
❚ If history has taught us anything, it’s that democracy doesn’t work. Which is why I intend to violently overthrow my ward’s public school trustee and bathe in the riches and power that will soon follow.
Steve Murray
❚ I value my family, my sleep, and my freedom too much to enter the fray. Unless, of course, my riding goes NdP.
Tasha Kheiriddin
❚ I could never be a politician. you have to be nice to people all the time. And they are allowed to berate you, but you are not allowed to say back to them: “you must be confusing me with someone who cares what you think.”
Barbara Kay
❚ Unfortunately, I’m unelectable because of some stuff that happened when I was in second year undergrad. but if I lie low, no one’s go
ing to find out about that. right, becky?
Jonathan Kay
❚ Newspapers are a competitive business and upward mobility can be difficult. That’s why, in my capacity as his second in command in the comment section, it is my pleasure to nominate my boss, Jonathan Kay, for ... anything, really. prime minister, senator, premier, school trustee, bylaw officer, anything. Just, please, would someone get him out of my way?
Matt Gurney