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| The location of Layton's "shiatsu" |
That's what NDP leader Jack Layton had to say about the Velvet Touch
The "Masturgate" issue for Layton, as far as I'm concerned, is not about whether or not Layton was manually or orally pleasured in a bawdy house 15 years ago. If he was, I don't care. I'd make fun about him for it becoming public fodder, but I do not believe that it should disqualify someone from being Prime Minister of Canada. If every sexual peccadillo were grounds to eliminate someone from the political sphere, we'd be left with a very sorry offering of leaders (maybe that explains the current state of politics in this country).
Layton's handling of the matter, now that it's become news, is the issue. It gives us some insight into how a Prime Minister Layton would deal with a crisis, and that picture isn't nearly as pretty as an Asian erotic masseuse.
What have we learned about Layton from all of this:
1. Collapses under pressure
A smart leader would have said, "I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't commit a crime nor was I ever charged with one. This is just desperation on the part of my opponents, and you can tell how desperate they are. I'm not going to talk about this anymore; I'm sticking to the real issues of the election." and left it at that. He should have refused to say anything more about it. Instead, he panics, and keeps blathering idiotic, unlikely nonsense that makes him look foolish at best and guilty and foolish at worst.
If Layton crumbles like this when dealing with a minor public relations blip, what kind of ineptitude could we expect from him in the face of a real crisis were he to be Prime Minister? The result could be catastrophic.
2 Can't keep his mouth shut
There's a time to talk and a time to shut up.
Though Layton is not a religious man, he would have done well to have listened to the Book of Proverbs, Chapter 18, Verse 28:
"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding."Invariably, politicians get in trouble for what they do say, not for what they don't say. Layton doesn't have the basic wisdom or understanding of that simple rule, which does not suggest he will make a good leader.
At the time of the incident, Layton was a long-serving downtown Toronto councillor. He claims he didn't see anything sketchy about the Velvet Touch Massage Parlour, which Layton now refers to as a "community clinic" on the second floor of a shady facade of a seedy area in Toronto's Chinatown. According to reports, the place has a coded red light/green light system to indicate when police were coming up the stairs. For his "therapeutic massage" Mr. Layton was found totally nude by police.
Layton's answers raise more questions about his competence and judgement than staying silent would have.
3. Layton is incapable of not making himself look like an idiot over a minor matter
Mr. Layton is a very intelligent individual, who had lived in the downtown core for a long time. If he is telling the truth, Layton is saying that he lacked the savvy that just about every other resident of downtown Toronto has.
What is Layton's spin? That he's the kind of guy who couldn't even get laid in a whorehouse? It's doubtful that would be a particularly encouraging message to voters doubtful about whether he would be a strong Prime Minister.
Frankly, I'd rather have a Prime Minister who isn't stupid and got a hand job than one who is stupid and didn't. In either case, Mr. Layton has babbled himself into a position where he would have us believe he was stupid. That's not how a competent leader does things.
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One sign of the times is the CBC radio news report I heard this morning. Usually, they try to picture Stephen Harper in the worst possible light, while portraying Layton as a leader. They must have had a whiff of the way the winds are blowing, because this morning the report had Harper sounding Prime Ministerial with a report about how Liberals who want sound economic policies will find the Conservatives the best choice this election. The report about Layton was all about the (alleged) hand job.
If you're a socialist that the CBC has bailed on, you've got to know you're in trouble.
UPDATE: Just in - The Toronto Star shows a poll that says Tories may be headed for a majority. And as will come as a surprise to no one, the NDP has the least committed voters.
10 comments:
Are you saying Dippers come and go? :D
If the media is controlled by the rich and powerful and it is then we can expect the media to support who they want in power. This story is an excellent example of the media using a technique to reduce Jack's votes just enough to allow Stephen's majority. And what a better smear to destroy a man's character than to have him buck naked on a table when uniformed officers barge in? The media is very good at what it does and always gets what it wants. That is why the rich and powerful own the media.
It wasn't the media that put Layton naked on a massage table in a bawdy house. Layton managed that all on his own. The media just exposed his voluntary exposure. That IS their job, you know. The guy wants to be PM and possibly could be. Character issues at that level are relevant. In this case, what's important isn't what he did then but how he handles himself now that the story has come out, and the results make Layton look like a buffoon.
If this blog is controlled by the "rich and powerful" that's fabulous. Could someone please let them know and tell them to send me a cheque?
Obviously you've never had either anything like a normally intensive/extensive, legitimate, therapeutic massage; otherwise you'd know that quite often, if not usually, one is completely unclothed at least at some point during it, with one's private parts covered only by a sheet or towel or the like. Also, not everyone can afford get a therapeutic massage at a 5-star resort or fancy clinic. Many alternative medicine pratices, such as practicioners of varying sorts of theraputic massages, are of an non-White ethnicity, and especially in urban areas, live and have their businesses in what others might consider a "seedy area" or in close proximity to less-than-fancy or less legimate businesses. They may also not have the "marketing savvy" or the money to present their business in what your average North-American born consumer would consider "classy" way. Beleive it or not, you really can't always judge a book by its cover, and not everything that isn't presented to appeal to your taste or worldview is thus "shady" or shabby.
Reader RG submitted the following comment. I don't like to censor or edit, but I had to redact certain parts - the rest is here:
"any sane person voting for the neo commie party of Jack Off Layton must have a wish for total control of ones personal life. Layton, over the years has proven exactly what he is. Together with his wife "Chow" has XXXXXX our system for hundreds of thousands of dollars each and every year.All the stories that have followed Layton over the years must have XXXXXXX. The latest one of a community clinic where one could receive a rub-a-dub and a yank just didn't have one ring of truth to it. This little man considers all of us to be extremely naive if he really thinks he is going to sell that one to the Canadian voters. Jack Layton is a XXXX, he has always been a XXXX, he will always be a XXXX. His history over the years from his days on City Council to today as the leader of the the socialist party is one of XXXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXXs and saying what he thinks people want to hear.It is time for the media to out this little person for what he really is. Today Canadians can simply say no to Layton, no to his XXXX, no to his deception and most of all no to his belief that we are a bunch of tree choppers in the woods lacking the intelligence to recognize a snake oil salesman who XXXXXXX getting naked in a community clinic that normal people call a whore house. Vote wisely my friends.
Anon at 1:18, you don't sound like you're from Toronto or know that area well. If you did, the story would make more sense to you. Although I don't think Layton supporters really care about what makes sense.
That area of Dundas West has been dingy for a long time and still is. There are 3 Chinatowns in Toronto and that one is on the grungier edges of the main one downtown. There are some very nice, respectable establishments in Chinatown, particularly near the Dragon City complex. The "Velvet Touch Massage Parlour" wasn't one of them. And if that name in that area isn't a tip off, you have to be pretty clueless. Are you suggesting Jack is a complete dolt?
Nowhere in your post do you actually refer to the speech, phrases, or even words that you disagree with and which you claim are 'digging him a hole' or make him unfit for political office. Instead your vague references and juvenile political analysis are presented as verbatim true. If you're going to criticize someone try pointing to exactly what they say rather than just waving your hands and making proclamations.
Yeah, I dealt with that in this post,
http://eyecrazy.blogspot.com/2011/04/not-rready-for-prime-time-hand-job-jack.html
and I think by now people are pretty familiar with Jack's "community clinic" line and some of the other nonsense. I did start this piece out with a quote from him which is also pretty absurd.
Do you know that now, because of your leader, all over Canada, men are walking into REAL community clinics and leaving disappointed because they didn't get a hand job.
Cool question mark at the end of that last sentence (which, of course, held the syntax of a question), bro.
An anonymous comment came in which I have to redact:
"I would LOVE to know if The Velvet Touch provided Jack with a receipt and if he submitted it to his extended benefits plan for reimbursement. Doubt it. He's XXXXX, plain and simple."
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