It’s harder to get into a Conservative campaign event than it is to get a decent response to a question directed at the Prime Minister, and the latter is nearly impossible. Unsurprisingly, Canadian jaws dropped when an old man in attendance at a Harper campaign event aggressively heckled reporters who were asking the Prime Minister questions about his Senate scandal.
Presumably in defence of truth, or some other lofty ideal, the old man took issue when reporters began asking Harper about his knowledge of and involvement in the infamous $90 000 payment to Mike Duffy. Summarizing the scandal with the eloquence of a vacuum cleaner and the accuracy of blindfolded mortar team, he said that Duffy “did a bit of cheating on his tax return,” and accused reporters of turning it into a “fantasy scandal.” When asked why he thought Harper didn’t know about Nigel Wright’s deal with Mike Duffy, the man said, “It isn’t a deal, it’s a nothing. [Harper] doesn’t read income tax forms, you idiot.” Then, presumably attempting to set a record for the most unprompted and unwarranted outbursts in 60 seconds at a political event, he accused a reporter of “[cheating] more on [her] tax returns than Duffy ever did.” When asked why he would say anything about the reporter’s tax returns, the man called the reporter “a lying piece of shit.” As security took him away, he added that the reporter is “a piece of lying shit.” Apparently that was different.
The old man, seen here, pondering the difference between a lying piece of shit and a piece of lying shit.
So who the hell is this man? He refused to give his name to reporters at the event, so his identity remains unknown to everyone outside the Conservative Party campaign team (which, for the record, could probably provide details about trivial, barely political events during his childhood). Still, his appearance tells us something about him. The old man was wearing pins in support of Ted Opitz and Doug Ford. This tells us that he enjoys tainted elections and a former hash dealer in denial. The contents of his tirade tell us more. For example, when he said that Stephen Harper “has produced good government,” he demonstrated that he is out of touch with reality. Tainted elections, public disdain for a marijuana derivative, denial, delusion…no wonder this man was allowed to attend a Harper campaign event. He is the Conservative base.
This isn’t to say that Conservative fanatics are the only delusional enthusiasts out there, just that they beat their political rivals to the punch. And, unfortunately, this punch landed squarely on their own faces. Thankfully, this is a young campaign. Hopefully we’ll be treated to a few more of these rants from a few other lunatics before we mark our ballots in October.