what i'm watching: maple grief

I'm not responsible for the bad pun at the top of this post; blame Jon Stewart. Last night The Daily Show led with - guess what? - the Canadian election. It wasn't all that funny, really. They mostly played to the truism of Americans not knowing anything about Canada - including where it is - and closed with a lame "eh" and "aboot" joke. But it was still fun to see! I actually said, "Hey, we made The Daily Show!" Yes, I said we!

Which brings me to today's milestone: we've been here three months. What a lot has happened. Our lives in New York feel so long ago.

* * * *

On "The National" last night, they recapped the results of a poll of Canadians' top concerns for the election. Health care was number one. Number two, however, surprised both of us: trust.

I just don't get that. When I consider what's important to me in elections, trust doesn't even enter into the picture. On a list of 1 to 10, it's an irrelevant zero. Several people interviewed gave the expected responses: you can't believe anything they say, they'll say anything to get elected, politicians don't honour campaign promises. Yes? And?

Who cares what anyone says? All that matters is what they do. I don't have to trust my elected officials. I don't have to like them. I don't have to approve of their personal lives. I only have to approve of the way they vote, the priorities they advance, the budgets they create. Focusing on intangibles like trust and integrity in a national election seems to me immature and naive. I'm sure I've just offended half of you, but that's not my intention. It's just the way I see it.

"The trust issue" seems not unlike Americans who chose Moron over Kerry because "he's a guy you'd like to have a beer with". That was very big during the 2004 US election. I'll have an Export, and give my friend here a double arsenic with a cyanide chaser...

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