It's St. Patrick's Day and I'm stuck thinking about a guy named Mulroney. Remember him? He was the Prime Minister who had the gall to stand up on a stage with opera singer Maureen Forrester, his wife Mila, and Ron and Nancy Reagan after the Shamrock Summit, and sing............
When Irish Eyes are Smiling...................
With a big ending...............hamming it up. Front and Centre. It was a Mulroney moment
There they were, the five of them standing in a row, dressed in fancy green duds looking united, enjoying each other's company. The ladies were all sparkly in their beaded gowns; the two men handsome in their tuxedos. Their Irish eyes were smiling. I remember thinking........gee, they look like they are having fun. No biggie.
oooooooooops..........silly me...........it was a biggie............or so the scathing media decided to portray it to be.
It was the beginning of the end of Mulroney, the guy who had just won the largest majority in the history of Canadian politics, the guy who finally ousted the Liberals, who stood up to patronage during the election debate, who charmed the country with his Irish roots charisma. Dead in the water in the eyes of the media. Consequently dead in the water in the eyes of many Canadians. All of a sudden, he was the guy who sang along with a "Neo-con" like Reagan, and was painted with the same brush.
It wasn't like Mulroney was seranading Reagan......he wasn't on his knees woooing the Knute man. He was just singing with him. I guess the hand holding of the five of them, and the comfort level exhibited was enough to send the media monkeys into a frenzy. They did their very best painting a picture of our Prime Minister acting like Chester the little excitable dog in that cartoon trying to gain the attention and respect of Spike the bulldog. Somehow, the negotiations on behalf of our business world, with our largest trading partner became a farce.....personalized to sway the masses that the only objective Mulroney had was a personal desire to sleep with a giant. The masses swallowed it whole.
And it started with Irish Eyes smiling............
It was also the beginning of a vocalization of disdain by Canadians towards American politics. Though it was always simmering under the surface, the supposedly blatant coupling with Reagan brought it to the surface. It was like a bubble of decorum had burst and out slagged vitriolic green puke a la Regan in the exorcist and it hasn't stopped flowing. Nasty.
In hindsight, I believe it was also the time that the MSM decided to jump on the opposition horse and lead. Mulroney NEVER had a honeymoon period with the press, and in fact the shortest honeymoon since then has been with Dion. Harper seems relatively unscathed by the MSM. Trudeau, who abhored the media, and wouldn't give them the time of day still manages from the grave to be the political poster boy...............why? I DO NOT KNOW......... Maybe the rule is that if you treat the media with disdain, with a don't give a shit attitude, they flee?
From that point on, it seems that the media has taken on this role, and has decided it is their right (or should I say left??) to BE the opposition................they've been pretty consistent since then, havent they??
Mulroney? He liked the spotlight.........still does I bet, but it's a snowstorm on a summer day when you see him, a powerful man who was our Prime Minister for 9 years ever being interviewed. Brian Mulroney loved the scrums, loved the interaction with the media. He was a self-confessed newsy addict. And yet, the media HATED him..........and did their very best to sway the masses. The masses loathed him. Still do. Heaven forbid someone brings up his name in a crowd of people. You'd get flogged and an earful of hate. You'd think that he did something heinously evil. He never did, and yet at the time, journalists were writing tripe comparing him to Hitler.
I saw a short interview last night with him and George Strombolopolous on his CBC show, and was once again pulled in by this man. Brian Mulroney is the person who stoked my interest in politics, who pulled me into the blue light of the Progressive Conservatives. His vision, his manner, his ideas at the time resonated with me. Having stated that, I think I'm probably the only person left besides his family who still likes the guy. As I watched the interview, and could see that he has obviously had time to reflect on his years running this country, I wondered how much his long illness last year affected the way he looks at the decisions he made. Has it humbled him more now, so that the pride he displayed didn't rankle others so much anymore? He seemed more humble, but who am I to be able to gauge that. I still like the guy. I'm a bit biased.
Would "history" be kinder to him than previously predicted? I hope so..........he deserves to be.
I also hope he BELTS out Irish Eyes every St. Patricks Day with a smile on his face.
When Irish Eyes are Smiling...................
With a big ending...............hamming it up. Front and Centre. It was a Mulroney moment
There they were, the five of them standing in a row, dressed in fancy green duds looking united, enjoying each other's company. The ladies were all sparkly in their beaded gowns; the two men handsome in their tuxedos. Their Irish eyes were smiling. I remember thinking........gee, they look like they are having fun. No biggie.
oooooooooops..........silly me...........it was a biggie............or so the scathing media decided to portray it to be.
It was the beginning of the end of Mulroney, the guy who had just won the largest majority in the history of Canadian politics, the guy who finally ousted the Liberals, who stood up to patronage during the election debate, who charmed the country with his Irish roots charisma. Dead in the water in the eyes of the media. Consequently dead in the water in the eyes of many Canadians. All of a sudden, he was the guy who sang along with a "Neo-con" like Reagan, and was painted with the same brush.
It wasn't like Mulroney was seranading Reagan......he wasn't on his knees woooing the Knute man. He was just singing with him. I guess the hand holding of the five of them, and the comfort level exhibited was enough to send the media monkeys into a frenzy. They did their very best painting a picture of our Prime Minister acting like Chester the little excitable dog in that cartoon trying to gain the attention and respect of Spike the bulldog. Somehow, the negotiations on behalf of our business world, with our largest trading partner became a farce.....personalized to sway the masses that the only objective Mulroney had was a personal desire to sleep with a giant. The masses swallowed it whole.
And it started with Irish Eyes smiling............
It was also the beginning of a vocalization of disdain by Canadians towards American politics. Though it was always simmering under the surface, the supposedly blatant coupling with Reagan brought it to the surface. It was like a bubble of decorum had burst and out slagged vitriolic green puke a la Regan in the exorcist and it hasn't stopped flowing. Nasty.
In hindsight, I believe it was also the time that the MSM decided to jump on the opposition horse and lead. Mulroney NEVER had a honeymoon period with the press, and in fact the shortest honeymoon since then has been with Dion. Harper seems relatively unscathed by the MSM. Trudeau, who abhored the media, and wouldn't give them the time of day still manages from the grave to be the political poster boy...............why? I DO NOT KNOW......... Maybe the rule is that if you treat the media with disdain, with a don't give a shit attitude, they flee?
From that point on, it seems that the media has taken on this role, and has decided it is their right (or should I say left??) to BE the opposition................they've been pretty consistent since then, havent they??
Mulroney? He liked the spotlight.........still does I bet, but it's a snowstorm on a summer day when you see him, a powerful man who was our Prime Minister for 9 years ever being interviewed. Brian Mulroney loved the scrums, loved the interaction with the media. He was a self-confessed newsy addict. And yet, the media HATED him..........and did their very best to sway the masses. The masses loathed him. Still do. Heaven forbid someone brings up his name in a crowd of people. You'd get flogged and an earful of hate. You'd think that he did something heinously evil. He never did, and yet at the time, journalists were writing tripe comparing him to Hitler.
I saw a short interview last night with him and George Strombolopolous on his CBC show, and was once again pulled in by this man. Brian Mulroney is the person who stoked my interest in politics, who pulled me into the blue light of the Progressive Conservatives. His vision, his manner, his ideas at the time resonated with me. Having stated that, I think I'm probably the only person left besides his family who still likes the guy. As I watched the interview, and could see that he has obviously had time to reflect on his years running this country, I wondered how much his long illness last year affected the way he looks at the decisions he made. Has it humbled him more now, so that the pride he displayed didn't rankle others so much anymore? He seemed more humble, but who am I to be able to gauge that. I still like the guy. I'm a bit biased.
Would "history" be kinder to him than previously predicted? I hope so..........he deserves to be.
I also hope he BELTS out Irish Eyes every St. Patricks Day with a smile on his face.
3 comments:
Mulroney was a long way from "Hitler". That's just absurd. But as far as I can see he was, and remains, a pompous ass. I likened him to a fast talking used car salesman. Full of shit and ready to con you if he could find a way.
it was absurd.
Yes, I think he has been portrayed as a pompass ass quite nicely. The ongoing portrait the media showed of him and a few of his "watch me" moments, especially during the whole Meech Lake negotiations went beyond our collective acceptance of how much of a pompous ass one can be in this country!!
Show too much pride, too much showmanship around here and KAPOW..... you are voted off the island.
We like our politicians vanilla and victorian like.
let me add..........we also seem to support the haughty rude ones too, especially the rose in the lapel ones. gag.
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