I tried to watch a bit of the provincial leaders debate the other night but maybe my timing was off.
The part that I tried to watch was when the two frontrunners, the Liberal Party’s Christy Clark and the NDP’s John Horgan were trying to talk over each other and I don’t think anyone without Superman-type hearing could have made out a word either one of them saying.
That was enough for me as I’m sure it happened again, and again, and again…..
From what I hear they all did pretty well, especially the Greens’ Andrew Weaver from some accounts, who definitely has the power to make a difference in the upcoming election between the two traditional powerhouses. Whether or not he does is largely up to us voters, of course.
I’m not sure this is a Gordon Wilson moment, see B.C. Political History 101, but then the ebbs and flows of politics in this province have certainly ebbed and flowed to their own drummer in the past. See same political history course for why the rest of the country calls us Lotusland…..
…..and speaking of competitions, I once again thoroughly enjoyed the 10th annual Adult Spelling Bee Challenge at the Vernon Lodge on Wednesday. As you probably know already we came in second, as we are wont to do, but it’s not from a lack of trying. We came so close to spelling mnemonics right, it was truly painful.
Which surprised me. I’m a fairly competitive guy and follow and used to play sports as much as anybody but who knew the juices can get flowing so much for a spelling bee?
But anyone who has enjoyed the Junction Literacy Centre event knows how agonizing it can be as the team goes back and forth on words that they think they know how to spell but when push comes to shove, and the debate ensues, and the clock keeps ticking, and doubt starts to creep in, and your reputation is on the line and….
Well, you get the idea but it’s still a ton of fun and you get a great breakfast and see a lot of people who you don’t see in your everyday travels. And everyone there helped raise $31,100 for a wonderful cause. See you next year…..
……and speaking of debates and competitions I just want to put a shoutout to all the local candidates who have let their names stand for public office.
They truly have my respect and admiration for standing up for what they believe in at a time when people are not just cynical about politics and what it can achieve, but even dismissive and rude.
Please show them the respect they deserve and remember public debate means listening as much as talking and respecting what the other side has to offer, even if you disagree passionately…….
…..and speaking of disagreeing passionately, this North Korea and the United States of America scenario is a scary thing for a number of reasons.
Let’s see, an isolated and possibly paranoid dictator and a rookie president who appears to be winging it and has a tendency to overstate his case on occasion (ahem), are trying to work out a political resolution in a growingly tense situation, all played out behind a backdrop that includes nuclear weapons.
I don’t know about you but it’s just another thing that makes it difificult to fall asleep at night.
Maybe we can arrange for a TV debate where the two of them can yell over each other and save us all a lot of grief…….