The "Talk".

In life, nothing truly important is simple: sometimes you just have to have the talk, be it in politics, business or your personal relationships. But that's not easy to do, especially for those who put their ego and pride above all other considerations. 

So, this weekend I took it upon myself to have The "Talk" with a friend who's a longstanding dyed-in-the-wool Conservative. Never bolted, unlike yours truly, who said Fuck You and departed for a decade. Anyway, back to the story: I explained to him the facts of life. I told him how he and his friends were simply both passionate and deluded when it came to replacing O'Toole. 

This guy thinks it's already a done deal: he takes those signatures from twenty percent of caucus as an eventual given -- not on your life. He's living in LA LA LAND. I reminded him what happened at the CPC convention in Montreal after the election loss. 

Many gathered around the bars with the various discussions primarily driven by the strutting peacocks of the day -- you'll know who they were. LOL. Anway, they all sang from the unity bible as the scotch flowed and was consumed by all. Except not by this bozo, I showed up at that convention to vote against Harper and that's what I did, only to run straight into him and his entourage five minutes later. Boy, did I feel cheap. Point is, the tide was turned and my friend voted for Harper and for me that was the biggest conversion I'd seen since hearing about the one on the road to Damascus.

I told him this is exactly what will happen at the next policy convention. The stirred up will go out with a whimper, not a bang. The party will rally around Erin and generously give him another shot, as they should. Now, if the leader blows the next one, he won't need to be prompted. He'll do like Harper and Martin did.

So, there you have it folks. Been there, done that and am smart enough these days not to go there. (I used to joke that when I died, on my headstone you'd find my full name, birth and death date and the following: Against Harper.) Caucus, like all caucuses everywhere only care about three people: me, myself and I. They very much want Erin to consider them for cabinet -- or at least parliamentary secretary when we finally get there as a government and we will. They also, to a person, want the leader to sign those nomination papers. So, voilà, that pretty much says it all except for those who are both deluded and hopelessly low-ranking. This thing is already done meaning Chen, Byrne and company should speak their final piece and then quickly move on. End of story.