No room in N.L. for imperfect politicians, it seems

Finally, a would-be politician who admits that he is not perfect.

Do you think we should give him a chance? Not bloody likely!

You see, what we desire is perfection. We will settle for nothing

less. And since we are already drowning in perfection, Ches Crosbie doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming our next premier.

Dwight Ball has it in the bag, at 51 per cent in the polls and rising. And with federal Liberal Justin Trudeau garnering over 70 per cent support in our province, what better could we ask for? Teamwork personified.

So there you are! Two bullies are better than one. They knock us down, then help us up so that we can say thank you. Then they knock us down again.

Some gullible we are. Gluttons for punishment. But then, us

Newfies always were a “turn the other cheek” sort of people. When the bully punches us in the nose, we get really mad but we don’t have what it takes to strike back. Our response is more receptive to more bullying. “Go ahead, hit me again.”

And you, Ches Crosbie, might be the orchid that we overlooked.

So Ches, me son, I’m sorry. You’re not good enough.

Sure Danny was the best thing since sliced bread, and now we’ve thrown him to the wolves. But not before he took us to the cleaners by saddling us with Muskrat Falls and left of his own accord.

Dwight and Justin still have a couple of terms left in them before they go running scared. But for now, they’ll keep leading us down the garden path toward the bramble bushes and the thorny roses. And you, Ches Crosbie, might be the orchid that we overlooked.

The same can be said about Andrew Scheer. Another imperfect

politician. He’s a Conservative, so there has to be something wrong with him, at least in the eyes of the pundits from “The Rock.” Another orchid trampled under our feet as we opt for the perfect rose.

It’s happened before, you know; to Robert Stanfield. Beaten down by Pierre Elliott Trudeau three times. And in retrospect, he has been touted as the “best prime minister Canada never had.” And the Trudeau legacy lives on, for better or worse.

And then there was Tom Rideout, who crawled out of the thorny rose bush to bloom in the orchid patch. Didn’t last long, did he? As soon as we got the chance we cast him aside for another perfect specimen of a rose named Clyde Wells.

Personally, I liked Tom, but my opinion didn’t matter much. You see, I’m not perfect neither. But don’t give up, guys. Don’t let this old codger deter you. I’ve been wrong before.

I remember it well — 60 years ago, when I was in Grade 3. Got a damn good strapping because I spelled a word wrong. A simple little word — “can.” And I “couldn’t.” Now, you talk about being bullied. Legally.

But I’ll get over it eventually. And so will the rest of us Newfies, I hope.

Wilbur Dean Random Heights, Random Island