When Frank McKenna presents his credentials to Ms. Rice Secretary of State for the United States, will she ask him at some point if he is acquainted with Lloyd Axworthy? After all they both have occupied the same nest and I'm sure that they have shmoozed together at Liberal functions. Mr. Axworthy represents what the Liberal Party consists of today. Over the years it has embraced and used every means to try and stay in power. As a party it has all the awkwardness of a Frankenstein, a shambling staggering gait and incoherent speech. It has tried to tack all these little bits of different policy together to attract various minority groups and now staggers along directionless, waiting for someone or something to put it out of it's misery. It has become a Canadian Monster not so much an evil monster but just a monster floundering along searching for release. In the meanwhile it is forced to respond to events which it doesn't understand and that push it here and there while it's incomprehension to the real world grows greater along with it's panic.
Mr. Martin who until recently was considered to be a strong dynamic leader, was only responsible for a small part of the Liberal 'body politique', now that he has inherited Mr. Chretien's mantle he is acting as if imbued by Mr. Chretien's spirit. As a comedic thought one can expect him to start muttering from the side of his mouth. What is causing this strange change must be the attempt to manipulate this incogruent group of policies and people that make up the Liberal Party of today. Like the American Democratic party the Liberals have attracted to their cause a great number of confused and angry individuals. Many of their concerns have to do with their personal lives and have no real bearing on public policy. They insist that private compromise must become public policy. Fear is a large part of their motivation, fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of their own mortality. Having abandoned their culture's traditional spirituality and embraced a boundless secularity there is nothing to buttress their inner spirit at times of personal challenge and stress. When they attempt to intellectualize what they are about we are treated to Lloyd Axworthy's letters and Linda MCQuaig's books. Any potential they might have had is buried under sophomoric attitudes and Marxist doctrines.
Strength of mind is no longer a Canadian attribute. Resolute leaders appeal to the electorate's strengths and tests it's moral fortitude. They speak about the realities of the world and provide the answers that are required. They find the country's future out of it's past and tell their people what must be done. Are we going to have a large calibre leader at some time?
