If I were Stephen Harper, or a member of the Conservative Party, I would be salivating over the twin prospects that Bob Rae may become permanent leader of the Liberal Party and that non-members may be able to vote for a Liberal Leader. Bob Rae, the socialist who ran Ontario into the ground from 1990 to 1995, became leader of the Liberals on the condition he wouldn’t seek the job in a Leadership Contest. Obviously someone was thinking when they said they didn’t want him as the leader long term.

One of the key ideas that have come out of the Liberal Convention this weekend was the idea of having people who aren’t members of the Liberal Party vote for the leader of the Liberal Party. No Membership Required. Great Idea. Just as you see with the primaries in the United States, you can have members of the opposition affect your party. I can see an organized “Operation Chaos” in the works for this if it passes.

If Liberals were smart, they would vote down this idea in a heart beat. Imagine if you have a field with a few strong candidates and one weak one. With an organized infiltration by non-members, instead of the Liberals electing a leader like Justin Trudeau or Dominic Leblanc, the party could get… Bob Rae.

Sounds like a good thing to ensure a further fragmented left, a weakened opposition and a long rule of the Conservatives over the land.

I remember, not all that long ago, when car shows were cool. Bob Segar signing ‘Like a Rock’ as the newest Chevy pickup smashed through a wall of rocks and massive fireworks explosions celebrating all that bravado that is the American Car Industry…

Now you go to the Detroit International Car Show and you get this…

A pick-up truck. This is what the greenies are calling a pickup truck. I can haul more in my 2003 Toyota Corolla than that POS. It looks like a cheap dollar-store toy that was made in China with melamine-tainted plastic.

 
Look at this commercial.

Could you see loading a single bail of hay in the back of the “Smart” “Pick-Up”?

“Common sense is not so common.” – Voltaire

I love common sense. Common sense is such a relative term. What makes sense to me likely is gibberish to someone else. But that doesn’t stop us from all saying what is common sense, from our perspective.

“Common sense is the most widely shared commodity in the world, for every man is convinced that he is well supplied with it.” – René Descartes

So how do I define common sense? I over-think it of course. Common sense is just that, plain simple thought. Turn the breaker off before changing a light switch. Why? If you don’t you will get electrocuted. That’s common sense. The bag of garbage is at the front door. Why? Whoever opens the door next needs to take it out to the trash bin. Common sense.

When my kids do something that makes no sense to me whatsoever, I fire a comment to them say to use their common sense. Of course they did, their perspective is different from mine. I may have the maturity of a nine year old boy at times, but I have 26 years more experience than him.

So comparing the common sense of my kids to my own is like comparing Apples and Cauliflower. That I can deal with, although I will still act like the old guy sitting on the front step telling people to get off his lawn.

Where common sense starts to raise my blood pressure, is when there are people of the same or older age than I, using their common sense and failing. A good example of this is the debate in Ottawa recently about wither the public library should stop charging fines for late fees to help encourage more people to use the library. That makes about as much sense as saying that parking bylaw officers should stop giving tickets to help encourage more people to use parking spaces.

Another fit of common sense is stance that if the Americans don’t want our oil sands, we should sell it to China because they do. Never mind that Eastern Canada imports oil still. Why would we not build our own pipeline from East to West and put a few refineries in Ontario to process it? Why would we become self sufficient and not import any oil?

More common sense in my own community. My township is hiring a consultant to develop a concept and plan of what the people in the township want as the plan for the township for the next several years. The consultant will cost $25,000. An ad in the local paper would cost $65 and get the same results. Common sense.

So when my son says it makes sense to use the Krazy Karpet to sled down the stairs because there is not enough snow in the yard to sled outside, who am I to argue?

Drive like crazy: or in the case I had today, park like crazy. I was trying to leave my parking spot, a guy wanted it, but wouldn’t back up so I had room to get out first. Note to drivers, if you want a parking spot, let the person who’s leaving the spot, leave the spot!

Eat a bagel: or in my case, five dozen. Go to St. Viateur Bagel. The bagels I bought went from the wood-fired oven to the bag in about two minutes. My car still smells like bagels now. Which is a good thing. So good. Usually when a parent comes home from a trip, the kids ask if the parent bought toys; my kids ask if I brought bagels.

Let your friends know you are going to Montréal: only after you state you are on your way home. This way you are not trucking back stuff they are too lazy to drive to Quebec to get themselves.

Buy gas in Ontario: Crossing the Ontario/Quebec border jacks the price of gas slightly (1.16/1.19 per liter), but going drive 20km east to Dorion, it’s 1.27/l and along Decarie Blvd, 1.37/l. Always remember to fill up BEFORE you get to Quebec. The exception to this rule is going to Ottawa and getting gas in Gatineau, but this blog posting is about Montréal.

And in winter: bring windshield washer fluid. Montréal roads + winter weather = salt spray on your windshield.