In the rollicking discourse of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the bard points out that our lives are but a brief part on the human stage. It would likely be the preference of many that their words be penned by the popular writers of our day. We are not all as fortunate as Babel MP Patrick Brown to have sage words prepared for us while enjoying a foreign holiday, courtesy of Canada’s taxpayers.
In case we wondered where our Member of Parliament might be, we have been told he has returned from traveling abroad with Prime Minister Harper. This was a special treat for the boy because he has been such a staunch supporter of anything Stephen Harper tells him to do. What use he could be in South-East Asia or Japan during the Prime Ministerial travels is cause for wonder.
But, as soon as he had rested up from the travels, he has been put to work. He was told to get out with the other members of the Conservative caucus and tell the populace of the wonders of the budget of Finance Minister Flaherty. Not being a quick study, Mr. Brown was given his Coles Notes on the 2012 Budget and sent out to spread the word.
Mr. Brown must have been reading from those notes to the reporter from the Babel Disabler (otherwise known as the Barrie Examiner). All the reader has to do is try to imagine Mr. Brown actually saying the quoted words in a conversation. They might read like the hyperbole a writer might use to extol Mr. Flaherty’s budget. They are not words that any of us would use conversationally.
In fact the quotes all read like a Conservative advertisement. Not that it would bother a slavishly Conservative puff organ, owned by Sun Media.
It is not until you get to the last third of the article that you are treated to some less Conservative comments from the Liberal and NDP candidates in the last election in Babel. These more balanced observations about the budget do not get much prominence.
But what enquiring minds in Babel really want to know is what Mr. Brown was doing while the Prime Minister was conducting the affairs of state on this recent trip? Did these countries have some sort of spouses’ program arranged for the retinue of MPs accompanying Mr. Harper? Maybe the reporter should have asked Mr. Brown about the free trade deal being discussed in Japan? Does Mr. Brown know anything about that?
Maybe Mr. Brown needs broader, more interesting scripts during his minutes of fame.
-30-
Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]