Shut Up And Listen 140

Exit Person, Enter Politician
Never thought I’d say this, but I’m really gonna miss Jean Chrétien.
	Ever since that old bastard announced his retirement, I’ve loved what he’s been doing. I have to subscribe to the theory that right when he no longer was held to the next election, he stopped being a politician and became a person once again. You know, most politicians can’t do exactly what they want because the goal of the politician is to get elected. Well, for Jean, that was no longer a concern and all of a sudden he could do what he really wanted to do. Stuff like ratifying the Kyoto Accord, pushing for decriminalized marijuana and homosexual marriages are the most visible.
	But, well, the good times are over, all my fellow left-wing socialists. The person is out and the politician is returning to the Prime Minister’s office. The politician goes by the name Paul Martin and I kind of think he’s the Canadian version of Joseph Lieberman. Well, except for the Jewish part.
	You see, the esteemed Mister Martin, our Prime Minister as of December 12, is a guy who is really in the wrong party, much like Lieberman (who, let’s be honest would be a Republican except for the fact that he’s Jewish). Before I go into those details, I should probably explain how Martin will become the PM without being elected. Because the Canadian parliamentary system is based on the party system, whichever party makes up he government’s leader is made the Prime Minister (first amongst ministers, really). It’s only through convention that the PM has as much power as he/she currently does. 
	The thing about Paul Martin is he’s just about money. He doesn’t seem to care about anything other than making Canada a home for big business and cutting spending, which is exactly what people like me don’t want. I really think that he became a Liberal only because his father was (his father, Paul Martin, Sr. was a Liberal MP and his son actually took over his riding when he retired pretty much). Also, a lot of the promises he’s made are basically vote-grabbing ones, caving into Alliance demands for a change in the system, which I think is needed, just not necessarily the way they want it done. For example, I don’t think there should be set election dates like the US because look at their year-and-a-half long campaigns. How long have the Democrats been campaigning now and the election is just barely less than a year away? 
	Remember how a few weeks back I ranted and raved about how the new Conservative Party could fuck Canada over because of their views? Well, sadly, I think with Paul Martin, the ambitious politician in charge, we may be there already. This is also the problem with the Liberal Party, you know? We go from one kind of Prime Minister to a totally different one within the same party. At least with most of the other parties, you’d have some consistencies. Hell, part of what Martin seems to want to do is go against all those great things Chrétien has been doing since he announced he was going to retire.
	Well, here’s to Jean Chrétien: I may not have liked most of the years you were in charge, but the last year-and-a-half has been a blast, man. I’ll miss having a person in charge of the country.