Second Thots

Sometimes one has to step back, take pause, and have some "second thots"

Sunday, December 17, 2006

 

The ongoing split on the Canadian left


Layton looking from the outside in?
Poor Jack Layton. He seems to be alone among lefties in his refusal to acknowledge the Liberals as their champion. There was Buzz Hargrove and his hugging of Paul Martin. Now there's Lizzy May and her hugging of Stephane Dion.

Only Jack and others within the NDP seem to be think that they ought to be the champion of progressive values in Canada — and not the Libs.

I'm not exactly sure what to make of all of this.

I suppose the question comes down to this: The Liberals talk a progressive talk, but do they walk a progressive walk, too? And is it simply enough to be enough of a progressive that you're better than Stephen Harper? Does being against something mean you're actually for something?

Whenever you have a split within a political movement, usually it's the puritans who battle it out with the pragmatists. The former exist in order to move the latter more in their direction.

For Jack and other Dippers, the Liberals have never moved far enough in the direction of the NDP. I suppose it'll take at least another election to sort it all out.

UPDATE (5:17 pm): To be fair to Jack, no institution in this country does more to promote so-called progressive values than does the Liberal Party of Canada. So, if Liberals don't like the idea that someone else wants them to be more progressive, well, they only really have themselves to blame. When you talk the talk, others will expect that you walk the walk. That's what Jack Layton and the NDP are all about.




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