Graves is right... Parrish is a whack job. Doesn't say much for tucker that he lost that debate embarassingly... I did see it in its entirety when it originally aired. He might have looked like less of a moron if he hadn't treated the whole thing as a joke.
'OTTAWA - Carolyn Parrish has talked her way out of the Liberal party. The outspoken maverick MP has been under fire for her repeated rants against Americans in general and President George Bush in particular. And with the re-elected White House occupant heading to Ottawa for a visit on November 30th, it became apparent Prime Minister Paul Martin wanted to avoid another international incident.
The Mississauga MP had promised not to heckle Bush if he chose to address Parliament, but refused to keep silent if asked her opinion about the man. And those views are already well known.
Parrish had previously called the American leader a “war monger� who’s out of step with the real world. And she became infamous for calling our nearest neighbours “‘bastards� for their involvement in the Iraq war.
She also termed the countries supporting Bush's missile defence plan a “coalition of idiots�.
In her most recent stunt, Parrish taped a spot for a Canadian comedy series in which she gleefully stomped on a doll representing Bush.
And she was critical of Martin’s leadership, and refused his admonishments to in effect, sit down and shut up.
It all finally became too much for the Liberal chief, who pulled the trigger on Parrish Wednesday afternoon. “I cannot, as leader of our party and the government caucus, tolerate behaviour that demeans and disrespects others,' the P.M. notes. “It is unacceptable.'
The move isn’t without considerable risk for the Martin. His slender minority government is hanging by a thread, and with the loss of Parrish, the Liberals now only have 134 seats in Parliament, while the Conservatives remain with 99, the Bloc, 54 and the N.D.P., 19.
Parrish will sit as an independent for the remainder of the term, and remains unrepentant. “If he loses the next election and he has to resign, I wouldn't shed a tear over it,' she noted before Martin’s moves. 'I have absolutely no loyalty to this team - none.'
No one sang the praises of MP Carolyn Parrish when she was in the Liberal caucus making anti-American statements, but one MP was moved to write her a poem.
Conservative Brian Pallister rose in the Commons on Thursday to recite a few lines:
Winter is coming, Christmas is near,
The anti-American carollers cheer,
Damning those Yankees with all that they've got,
Just like carolin' Carolyn; Perish the thought.
The carollers sing out the simplest of tunes:
'All Yankees are brutish, warmongering loons!'
Never thinking that they're the best friends that we've got,
carolin' Carolyn; Perish the thought.
Their soldiers, their firemen, had husbands and wives,
They stood up for freedom, they paid with their lives,
But the anti-Americans have already forgot,
Like carolin' Carolyn; Perish the thought.
Canadian farmers cannot sell their beef,
Too much is their cattle, abundant their grief,
But the Liberal relief plan is let them smoke pot,
Carolin' Carolyn; Perish the thought.
What the carollers chant is unwise and untrue,
To quiet them a piece of duct tape would do.
But the Prime Minister needs all the friends that he's got,
Except Carolyn, Carolyn, perish the thought.'
------------
In a haze
A stormy haze
I’ll be around
I’ll be loving you
Always
Always
Here I am
And I’ll take my time
Here I am
And I’ll wait in line
Always
Always...