{"id":218,"date":"2004-12-31T14:41:00","date_gmt":"2004-12-31T19:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/?p=218"},"modified":"2004-12-31T14:41:00","modified_gmt":"2004-12-31T19:41:00","slug":"218","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/?p=218","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Grities<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As 2004 comes to a close, I thought I\u2019d do one of those useless, yet somewhat fun year in review awards that everyone likes to roll out at this time of the year. The award title still needs work, but here are my picks for the best and worst of 2004:<\/p>\n

Nuclear Cockroach Award<\/strong> (for refusing to die): Anne McLellan wins again<\/p>\n

Dead Men Walking:<\/strong> John Efford, Scott Simms, Gerry Byrne, Bill Matthew<\/p>\n

Dead Woman Walking<\/strong>: Judge Sgro<\/p>\n

Bushism of the Year<\/strong>: \u201cOur enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bushism of the Year \u2013 Runner Up<\/strong>: \u201cToo many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB\/GYNs aren\u2019t able to practice their love with woman all across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet Another Bushism:<\/strong> \u201cI want to thank my friend, Senator Bill First, for joining us today\u2026He married a Texas girl\u2026Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bushism of the Year \u2013 Canada<\/strong>: Paul Martin\u2019s \u201cNormandy\u201d\/\u201dNorway\u201d slip-up<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Quit Your Day Job<\/strong>: Glenn Murray<\/p>\n

Jekyl and Hyde Award:<\/strong> Stephen Harper. He\u2019s a genius, he won the leadership. He\u2019s incompetent. He\u2019s running a brilliant campaign. He\u2019s running a terrible campaign. He\u2019s a brilliant opposition leader. He\u2019s invisible\u2026<\/p>\n

Rest in Peace<\/strong>: Mitchell Sharp 1912-2004<\/p>\n

Winners of 2004:<\/strong>
\n
1. George Bush: We all misunderestimated him
\n
2. Attack Adds: They worked for Bush, and they worked for Martin.
\n
3. Jon Stewart: The Crossfire smackdown was one of the best media moments of 2004
\n
4. Kevin Taft: Takes over Alberta Liberal Party in March and runs great campaign
\n
5. Danny Williams: He\u2019s out to lunch on this offshore thing but it\u2019s playing well at home. Ralph Klein\u2019s heir a Premier you just wish would go away.<\/p>\n

Losers of 2004:<\/strong>
\n
1. David Herle: The Martin backroom gets disastrous reviews for their handling of nomination meetings, party purge and the election campaign.
\n
2. Carolyn Parrish: Managed to get booted from a Caucus in minority government
\n
3. Tony Clement: Loses Ontario Tory leadership\u2026loses provincial seat\u2026loses federal Tory leadership\u2026loses federal seat \u2013 this guy has \u201closer\u201d written all over him.<\/p>\n

4. Howard Dean: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!<\/p>\n

5. John Kerry: In an election \u201cnot Bush\u201d would have won, Kerry loses.<\/p>\n

6. Judy Sgro: Going\u2026Going\u2026Going\u2026<\/p>\n

7. Sheila Copps: I\u2019m a big fan, but she lost the nomination, got driven out of the party and, fairly or unfairly, her book was completely discredited.<\/p>\n

8. Jean Lapierre: Not exactly the star performance in Quebec<\/p>\n

9. Bigots: Same Sex marriage passed<\/p>\n

10. John Efford: Between offshore oil and SSM, this guy is in deep trouble.<\/p>\n

Bouncing Back
\n
<\/strong>1. Asymmetrical Federalism: Meech is dead but Martin is quietly implementing it.
\n
2. Jean Charest
\n
3. Gilles Duceppe: Where\u2019s a hairnet when you need one?
\n
4. Stephane Dion
\n
5. Ed Broadbent<\/p>\n

Bloom is off the Rose<\/strong>
\n
1. Paul Martin: 200 seats?
\n
2. Ralph Klein: Every seat?
\n
3. Bernard Lord: He could be Prime Minister right now, if he\u2019d jumped into the ring.
\n
4. Dalton McGuinty: I\u2019m a big fan, but the budget hurt him.
\n
5. Alberta Alliance: 1 seat? Even Kim Campbell won 2.<\/p>\n

Breakthrough<\/strong>
\n
1. Calgary Liberal \u2013 Chase, Taylor, Swann
\n
2. Stephen Fletcher
\n
3. Tories in Ontario
\n
4. Belinda Stronach \u2013 who knew her a year ago?
\n
5. Sheila Fraser \u2013 ditto.<\/p>\n

Keep on Eye on\u2026in 2005 and beyond
\n
<\/strong>1. Star Wars\u2026the movie and the plan
\n
2. James Moore\/Belinda Stronach \u2013 more on this later
\n
3. Edwards\/Obama 2008
\n
4. Grandiose Gomery, the Gabby Gavel Jockey
\n
5. Ken Dryden \u2013 Childcare
\n
6. Martin\/Chretien back-to-back in the inquiry
\n
7. Ralph Goodale\u2019s budget \u2013 will it bring down the government
\n
8. Carole James \u2013 BC NDP leader
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grities As 2004 comes to a close, I thought I\u2019d do one of those useless, yet somewhat fun year in review awards that everyone likes to roll out at this time of the year. The award title still needs work, but here are my picks for the best and worst of 2004: Nuclear Cockroach Award […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}