Svend Robinson - Again!
Oh, say it isn't so! I'm certain not to be the only one in Canada who hoped never to have to read about, hear about, witness the actions of Svend Robinson in the House of Commons again. The man is an outright menace, and he's intent on returning. Canada's gadfly of uncommon causes. He calls himself a social activist, but his attention to, and actions on behalf of social causes are rather selective and self-serving. The man is an oblivious egotist of the highest order. Spare us, please do. Svend, go away somewhere really nice where your particular brand of self-adoration can be understood and admired for what it truly is. Your bedroom, lined with mirrors might be a good starting point.Everyone likes a good laugh, it's true, and even parliamentarians can be excused for providing comedic moments from time to time in their sometimes-zeal for attention. Svend leaves everyone else in the dust. He takes himself seriously, however, and evidently fully believes that the Canadian public at large does so, also. He could never see himself as an embarrasment to public office, even to the well-being of same-gender couples and activists, but he is, he is. There was a time, perhaps a decade ago, when the full extent of his narcissistic self-occupation was not yet fully revealed, and he did have the respect of many people, myself included. That day is long gone.
Entirely apart from stupid behaviours carefully choreographed for the camera and the serious ingestion of the public back home, such as his querulous trip to China, his offensively childish trip to Israel and the Palestinian Territories, his last venture into the public eye should have been enough to make anyone else step back completely and permanently from said public eye.
I'm sure there are plenty of people who love their life-companions and would wish to give their significant others, be they husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, boyfriend/boyfriend, girlfriend/girlfriend, anything their little hearts desire. I know that I often wish I could give my husband, our children, opportunities, good health, material gifts which might conceivably make their lives so much better than they are. But I cannot, other than what I can manage with what I already possess. Svend, on the other hand, thought nothing of pocketing (stealing; his word for his transgression was 'pocketing') an ultra-costly bauble for his boyfriend. Why, to begin with, anyone in their right mind would equate love with the possession and gifting of an improbably-valued gem, is beyond me to begin with.
Yes, we had the spectacle of Svend Robinson purloining a $64,000 diamond ring from a public display of expensive items, meaning to gift it to his boyfriend. How would he explain to his friend the manner in which he was able to obtain and pay for such an expensive item, one would wonder? And if he confessed to his friend the manner in which it was obtained, would that be seen to be all right with his friend? Well, the ring was discovered to be absent from where it was supposed to be, but closed-circuit cameras (aha! gotcha!) caught the good Svend Robinson lifting the item, and when that came to his attention, he thought he had better return it, apologize (kind of) and explain his actions by saying he had been under great personal pressure. Poor Svend. None of us has experienced pressure, just him. Those of us who do experience pressure often do so as a result of having too little of the stuff that ensures a decent place to live, food for one's family, access to good health care.
Svend Robinson, the selfless social activist thought it would be appropriate to be able to give his friend a very expensive trifle as a token of his love. Aren't people who do things like that outright thieves, crooks, social deviants, given the fact that we have laws to protect private property? On the other hand, if we were smart enough to engineer trees to grow expensive baubles then everyone could just pluck whatever they wanted from the public domaine and we'd have no theft. Since we haven't yet mastered that little trick, we have laws to ensure that people behave themselves according to publicly, socially accepted standards.
Shed a few tears of public regret, claim fatigue and illness, nudge people into thinking that you're just a poor little misunderstood figure, and you garner sympathy you haven't earned, nor deserved in any measure whatever. No jail time, no parole, just a kindly probation for poor battered Svend.
But Svend loves the public arena, and the grander, the larger the arena the more it massages his ego. So, back to the federal election scene, it is. Out comes a new weapon in his armament of excuses. He is now bi-polar. Slightly. But, bi-polar, and hence not really responsible for his 'mood swings', but able to cope now that he understands what his problem is. Really, oh really.
Svend, don't do it. It's not only that we understand what a colossal hypocrite you are, finally, and at long last, but we just don't trust you, don't like you, and don't want to be manipulated by you yet again. Spare Vancouver Centre, spare the country at large, and stay home, be a good boy, eat your broccoli, and find another job. We don't want to pay your obviously inadequate salary any more.
You are truly an odious little wretch.
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, October 22, 2005
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