Head Tale

Here are some random things I'm seeing around the web as the Hale Report seems to have only poured fuel on the fire rather than clearing things up. 

The amount of attention being paid to the NDP leadership race seems to have grown greatly but unfortunately, not just because people are paying more attention now that we're down to less than a month until the Leadership convention. 

For example, The National Post picked up a Saskatoon Star-Phoenix story about the membership controversy.  Except they chose to illustrate it with a photo of Dwain Lingenfelter with Calgary's Banker's Hall behind him. 

Here are some more things I've seen…

CBC – Opponents Call for Police Probe into NDP Membership Controversy
Here's a comment that has 34 “Agree” votes and 0 “Disagree” votes as I type this:
“The big corporate outsider hoping to return the ndp to
its glory days is brought down by his own arrogance. I was thinking ndp
in the next election, but if he is in charge no freakin way.
I am sick of the ndp sense of entitlement. We don't need him. He went to alberta, he can stay there.”

NewsTalk 650 – “Putting A Name to the 'Over-zealous' Volunteer“
The name of the “over zealous” volunteer is apparently Earnest Morin (did some news outlets refer to the volunteer as “overly earnest”?  If not, they should start!), a former President of the Aboriginal New Democrats of Saskatchewan.  (You'd think someone who was that involved in the party would know the rules, no?)

Dwain Lingenfelter Announces First Nations Endorsement
Of course it came from a long-time supporter of his and was announced on the very day that the Hale Report was first supposed to be released.  Can you say “damage control”?

Brendan Pyle Link to Ryan's Campaign Videos “Liked” by Pat Atkinson
The Meili Campaign's Regina co-chair, Brendan Pyle, has done an awesome job of sharing a constant stream of Facebook links to relevant stories from across the web about all aspects of the NDP leadership race.  I was a bit surprised to see a recent link to Ryan's YouTube campaign videos “liked” by Pat Atkinson.   Obviously you can't read too much in this (I think the Agriculture video features a man named Roy Atkinson who may be her father?) but it was a small show of support for Ryan's campaign by someone who, at least based on their donations, is in the Deb Higgins camp. 

CBC Political Panel (mp3 link)
CBC Radio has a great podcast up featuring a discussion with Leader Post columnist Murray Mandryk and CBC reporter Stefani Langenegger moderated by CBC Regina morning host, Sheila Coles.  Line of the night goes to Langenegger who observes: “A good source told me that Brad Wall would rather run against Dwain Lingenfelter than Ryan Meili, a social democratic doctor living a social democratic life rather than a guy who, whether it's his fault or not, has more baggage ending the campaign than he did at the start.” 

Also in the podcast, there was a brief discussion about how Lingenfelter's scandal and the subsequent release of the Hale report managed to overshadow the final day of Lorne Calvert in the Legislature – one last blow to someone who was almost universally regarded as a genuine good guy.  (Mr. Calvert, it's not too late to change your mind!)

Accidental Deliberations Comment
I haven't seen this posted anywhere else or in the mainstream media but user Sunnyside, posted the following on Accidental Deliberations:

“On Tueday night all the leadership candidates were asked about their
commitment to the NDP, and how they will continue to support the NDP if
they lose. Deb Higgins, Ryan Meili and Yen Pederson all said they would
run for a seat. What did Link say, “I am only on leave from my job, I
will go back to my job”. Yes, that's right, he will leave the party and
go back to his big oil company in Alberta. Is that the kind of leader
the NDP need, or want.”

On top of that, Mr. Lingenfelter who has spent most of the last decade in Alberta working for an oil & gas company without even contributing in any way last year – financially or otherwise – to the party where he spent nearly twenty years of his life.  (In fact, rumours are that he was looking at the possibility of running for the Alberta Conservative Party while he lived in Calgary.)

Now to be fair, Ryan Meili didn't donate to the party either – though I'm willing to give him more leeway – not just because I'm a supporter of his but also because he's much younger than Mr. Lingenfelter, much less connected to the party and has spent much of the past eight years either as a student or doing international development work – both things that pretty much guarantee you'll have fewer resources than a high-paid oil executive.

RiderFans.com – “Lingenfelter Stuffing the Ballot Box“
You know you're getting attention from more than just the political junkies when you get seven pages on a Rider fan board! 

YouTube – “The Missing Link” – Saskatchewan Party Version and Mid-South Championship Wrestling Version

Oh, and only tangentially related to the topic at hand, the husband of one of my co-workers got a really good anti-Nuke Letter to the Editor printed in the Leader-Post today.