Rebagliati Raises a Few Eyebrows

A recent article featuring Liberal Party hopeful Ross Rebagliati is becoming the talk of the town. In it he touched upon several topics ranging from marijuana to the Commonwealth. If I were to put on a partisan hat I would scold him for some of his statements but I’ll not do that. I actually enjoyed reading the article.

On marijuana:

“Smoking was part of our culture in Vancouver and Whistler, but I stopped 10 months before Nagano. What happened was that a few weeks before the Games I went to two parties where there was a lot of smoking.”

This is where I should express disbelief and shock after all isn’t that what one should do publicly? Sorry, feigning outrage to look good in the eyes of others is not my bag. If anyone wants to label me as someone who condones drugs go for it. That doesn’t concern me either.

On PM Stephen Harper:

“He is disconnected from society. Only an arrogant man can play The Beatles on the piano wearing a tuxedo.”

and,

“We know that what he really wanted was to be the president of the United States. He was Bush’s puppet.”

Take it with a grain of salt. We all know is he trying to fit in with his LPC pals so of course he is going to flap his gums. I don’t think anyone believes a word of it – himself included.

On Queen Elizabeth II:

“Don’t know what the official position is, but I think the Commonwealth is over. We have to move forward. To have the Queen apointing a governor general… I don’t know.”

Outside of having a philosophical discussion I really don’t care if the Queen is the head of state or not. I occupy my time with other concerns such as, the economy, health care, looking after my family, paying bills – you know, the really exciting stuff.

On himself:

“And I gave a speech before the Liberals at the Ottawa parliament without being an MP. That is something that had never happened in history, I’m like a star.”

Arrogant? Yup. Cocky? For sure. But that’s a character trait I’ve missed in Canadian politics for some time. Pierre Trudeau was a colourful character. I didn’t much care for his politics but he was colourful. The same can be said for Jean Chretien.

All in all I don’t think it’s worth the effort to get bent out of shape over the remarks of this guy. He’s young and cocky. He’ll keep talking until Michael Ignatieff figures out he’s a liability and either slaps him down or throws him out. Or he doesn’t and Mr. Rebagliati eventually says something the LPC will regret.

Credit: www.monstersandcritics.com