i just want to...

i'm not mad about dion, or something. as though i knew him? of course, i didn't.
 
i'm surprised, but not mad. what i'm surprised about is the decision to offer him a position outside of parliament. but, i don't think that the prime minister was being snide when he pointed out that the ambassadorship to the eu is not an unimportant job, either.

i offer no opposition to the removal of the exact portfolio. frankly, it's not the job i would have given him to begin with, and for a lot of the reasons that are being presented in his removal. rather, i would have given him a technocratic domestic portfolio from the get go. and, when his name came up, it was where i was expecting him to be shuffled in to. i may have even offered him a position as a parliamentary secretary. these are where his strengths are, after all. his english is terrible, and he's horribly awkward, but he's brutally smart. you want this guy writing policy papers, not giving speeches.

maybe you can see why i like the guy? it's for all of the same reasons so many people hate him. i have a similar temperament and similar strengths and weaknesses. so, i found something inspiring in him, when so many people just saw him as a hapless nerd. and, i haven't been shy about my contempt for jocks, either.

again: i grasp that the point of sending him to the eu is that he's a political appointee. you don't send him to brussels to never hear from him. you send him to brussels so that brussels has a direct line to ottawa. i pointed out that the media hates him for the reasons i like him, so the way they're spinning it as a deep demotion was predictable. it isn't. it's a move sideways, and it will better utilize his strengths.

but, i'm still surprised at the decision to take him out of parliament. as mentioned: he has a lot of respect in the party, and it's well deserved. you want his input on policy, even if you don't want to let him speak to the crowd. so, i would not have expected that to have been in the list of contemplated options.

but, i'll acknowledge that he might be offering me the explanation in his reaction. that is to say that he might not have accepted the offer, or may have brought an unwelcome attitude in if he did.