I love it when readers write notes to me. Here is one that I thought was of interest:
- A small correction Ed in your note this morning. You mentioned that the E-machine win would be plastered all over every newspaper across Ontario. Not so, the National Post and the Globe did not even mention it in their papers this morning. London was mentioned, so was Ottawa but not a word about Windsor. Maybe the rest of Ontario doesn't give a rats ass about what happens in Windsor.
My take on this election. Re-enforces in my mind the fundamental problem in W-EC. That is there is a culture bias in the area that can't recognize broader trends outside their jurisdiction. Call it insular if you want. Look at the incumbent factor across major centres and for the most part the rest of Ontario through their local incumbents out on their butt. Oakville, Hamilton, Vaughn, Whitby, Clarington, Ottawa to name just a few. Even David Millar was given a stiff run for his money by a no-name.
Not in Windsor who overwhelmingly put incumbents back in their chairs. I see this as a culture thing. Windsor has this victimization culture and the politicians play to that and thus get re-elected. I firmly believe that until this culture bias is cleaned out that Windsor will struggle meeting its expectations.
So the election played out exactly as I thought it would. The old guys who played on fear get back in and the new blood gets pushed to the back row. Even worse, in the future, new blood will be hesitant to come forward. At the end of the day Windsor can't handle the TRUTH that new thinkers bring to the table and continue to re-elect the backward thinking do nothing politicians that got them into this mess to begin with.
My two cents.
A few more of my thoughts:
- Further to my reader's note, Eddie's "massive victory" will be a starting point for the Eminence Grise's negotiations for a Cabinet position in the Tory Government. Eddie really needed 80% to clinch a senior position. Damn that Chicken!
- Tecumseh's Gary McNamara's winning percentage was 83%, higher than Eddie's. So does he win the arena referendum popularity contest?
- The war has started against our "enemies" although it has not been declared yet. Why do I say that? Henderson's column was titled "A new battle plan." He said "Francis, in an interview just hours before the polls closed, sounded like a politician girding for battle on a border file." Eddie is building up his forces ready to attack. Obviously for the $400K set aside, the Commander in the field will be lawyer David Estrin. The war starts right after "the city's response to border construction proposals from the senior levels of government that could hit the fan in days or weeks."
- Is Gridlock Sam coming back to help David Estrin? There was his name mentioned: "the airport transportation hub proposed by New York traffic guru Sam Schwartz?" Pretend he is coming back for one reason and then have him do something else.
- Who lied by omission to the electorate by NOT revealing information that is crucial to us. "Francis wouldn't tip his hand on plans for Windsor Airport, which has been bleeding red ink under a contract with a private operator, but said the airport, and especially the airport lands, will be a top priority."
Did you hear anything about that in our fiscally prudent Mayor's election brochure or campaign speeches? Did the Windsor Star report it? Where were the Councillors dealing with this in the budget process? What other surprises are coming out now since the election is over!
Lucky Councillors-elect. Their salaries will increase dramatically as they did last year when they have to attend all of those extra meetings to salvage the airport as they did to salvage Enwin. May be they can run up extra meetings for the Tunnel too since its finances are going into the toilet.
Anyone want to buy a package of the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel and airport, cheap? Hmmmm maybe that is the plan after all. - Is "the Zalev scrapyard" our new Urban Village for dreaming for Eddie's second term?
- "Confident" not "arrogant" must be the word to describe Eddie's meeting with Gord on election day "just hours before the polls closed." Eddie must have had the "confidence" he would win and so needed Gord to hear his plans so they could be put in print the day after the election.
- Do you want to join the pool to guess the date when Council becomes dysfunctional?
- How much work will the Govenor's hubby get in Windsor as the Council implodes?
- Will Councillor Budget dare take on Councillor Dilkens as he took on Councillor Zuk?
- What does Alan know about Eddie's future plans since he is taking on such a dramatically different position on the border than the rest of Council? Who is his campaign Chair for his mayoral-run?
- Can you imagine being behind closed doors with Councillors Marra and Lewenza?
- When will Bill Marra stop being the nice guy and take on Eddie? What will the issue be? Who would be the first person, if that happened, to beg Bill to back off since we need to keep Eddie's position strong to fight for Windsor? And would Bill give in to such BS!
- How much did the Star "trash" talk hurt the Senator, espeically when the Mayor did not back him up even though he stood in for the Mayor?
- Which of the two Ward 5 Councillors' hair will be more silver on camera
- Will the Star now rein in Roseann Danese's Blog or will they continue to let her say what she wants to show how "fair" they are?
- The Liberals, Conservatives and NDP can all take credit for some election wins as can Segway!
A reader writes:
ReplyDeleteAn interesting comment brought up by you and your reader about the same old same old given the final results from Monday night. Let's examine the statement Not in Windsor who overwhelmingly put incumbents back in their chairs. I see this as a culture thing. Windsor has this victimization culture and the politicians play to that and thus get re-elected. I firmly believe that until this culture bias is cleaned out that Windsor will struggle meeting its expectations.
This is exactly what happened in Detroit a year ago when Kwame Kilpatrick was re-elected. The victimization of the voter was played through very cleverly by the victimization of the Mayor and the City by various media outlets including and most notably the Windsor Star. Desrosiers was correct in pointing out that the Star is part of Windsor's culture and not a positive part either. The recent articles on the death of Lori Dupont showed great insensitivity to her family and friends by rehashing her relationship with extremely unfortunate consequences. Was this designed to sell papers or tell it like it is? It lacks class. But let's get back to the italicized statement.
Desiree Cooper wrote in the Detroit Free Press a few days after Kilpatrick won (shockingly to some) on how a great many of the voters who cast ballots for him were the one's who feel victimized through Mayor Kilpatrick and his bashing in the media yet the one's who vote for him are the one's Kilpatrick does the very least for! It's the same scenario played out over here. Eddie Francis is defending this town for trucks running all over the city. No thru-ways through my town, says Eddie. I'll tell those provinical and federal types where to go. He plays the victim quite nicely and so many who read the Star get duped by that thinking. When Eddie runs provincially in 1.25 years, will those same people still feel that way. Listen, the decisions on the border are made. Done. All the rest is posturing to get a cut of the action and this victim complex Windsor has needs to go away. Or do we have The Detroit Complex.....you decide.
A reader writes:
ReplyDeleteI love it….’will Percy's hair be more silver on TV than in person!’
Now I know why I read the Blog-meisters blog!