A couple "political" comments

Today, a couple reflections on the world of politics.

First, nationally I think Canada is truly blessed right now to have two very intelligent men in the leadership of the nations two political parties: Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party and Michael Ignatieff, newly chosen leader of the Liberal party. Certainly intelligence does not mean these men will be good or moral leaders. I read a book my David Gergen during my graduate studies at Gonzaga, and it was his opinion that Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton were the most intelligent presidents in 20th century in the USA. Many of Canada's leaders have been good political figures who are diplomatic (not surprising in Canada, eh?) though generally not recognized as intellectually astute. The early signs are that the two political parties are once again willing to work together to assure that the affairs of the country are governed well... this is hopeful!

Secondly, the international incident of the last few days... the reporter, Muntather al-Zaidi throwing his shoe at US president George W Bush at a press conference in Iraq. This itself is a sign of how much "freedom to dissent" now exists in Iraq... yet this freedom of speech/dissent is even more evidenced by the thousands reportedly "protesting" in the streets for al-Zaidi's release and calling him a hero. Again, though I'm not a huge George W Bush fan, one must admit that this story illustrates precisely the purpose of the US (and UN) forces entering Iraq. Can you spell I-R-O-N-Y?