Fear and Loathing in Toronto
By David Robson Today I witnessed absurdity firsthand. I was at Bay and King when anarchists set two police cars alight, I was at Yonge Street for the aftermath of the anarchist’s so-called “class war,” and I was in Queen’s park when the police finally corralled protesters, launched their tear gas, and ineffectually tried to restore order to the city. What happened today was not oppression; there was no police brutality, no great affront to human rights. What happened today was not a social movement; there was no meaningful free speech, no meaningful attempt to persuade, enlighten, or inform. What happened today was not necessary; it was absurd. I went out to Queen’s Park, where several thousand protesters had gathered, and...
Read MoreIn Other News, Carla Bruni is Kind of a Bitch
Taking a little break from the G8 to backtrack to Sarkozi’s visit to Number 10 last week. Jan Moir at the Daily Mail, wrote a delightfully bitchy article about Carla Bruni’s behaviour in London, entitled Moi, Moi, Moi (or, how Shameless Carla Monopolized the Camera) which basically takes everything we suspect about Carla Bruni (self-involved, golddigger, attention whore) and matches it up with some pretty priceless pictures. You’ll see Carla Bruni does everything in her power to act like the only girl with boobs at a middle school dance. Not only does she like to be the centre of attention, she makes it very clear that the attention should be centred around her sex appeal in particular. Hence, ass shots, hair flicking, lip licking...
Read MoreRed Zone Reflections
Since the G20/G8 preparations have started to get underway in Toronto and Huntsville, I’ve heard a lot of fat guys with neck beards, presumably from some kind of “independent” or “alternative” press, tell me that my rights will properly shat-upon as soon as the the Summits have arrived. Well, here I am, in my family cottage which is helpfully located right in the middle of the G8 Red Zone on Peninsula Lake. At the other end of this lake is Deerhurst, where Stephan Harper will officially open the 37th annual G8 conference in about twenty minutes. While I won’t say I haven’t been mildly inconvenienced here and there, the whole ordeal has been tame and well… rather cute. It’s been a...
Read MoreI Want This Guy’s Job
It’s good to be Joe Biden. In 2008, when Barack Obama was hustling for the presidency, his running mate had two jobs: Look old and look white. Done and done. Now that he’s in office, the only thing he really seems to do is bleach his teeth and attend international sporting events. You might remember him blending in with the iceburg motif during the opening ceremonies at the Vancouver Olympics, and now he’s jetted off to South Africa for the World Cup while Barack Obama gets to deal with the worst man-made environmental disaster in the history of the world. Here’s a little snippet from his press conference in SA: “I am honored to be (here) representing the United States,” Biden told the Associated...
Read MoreHookers Might Be his Problem
Silvio Berlusconi has been prime minister of Italy since 2001… 2001. Is it just me, or was that a lifetime ago? Yes, it was the 9/11 year, but 2001 was also the year Ariel Sharon was voted in as Israeli Prime Minister, it was the year Wikipedia was founded and the year that launched both the Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings film franchises. Do you remember how old you were when you saw The Fellowship of the Ring?? Who were your friends? What did your hair look like? That is how long Berlusconi has been the PM of Italy. He’s managed to hold onto power for most of that period despite serious discomfort about his leadership in international public opinion. He’s had every accusation thrown in his face from being a...
Read MoreBlood, Sweat and Mayoralty
Guest Post By Gabrielle I sometimes get this burning…….. call to public service. Often shooting out of me like a powerful stream of patriotism. I have these, let’s call them episodes, where I think that there can be no nobler path in my life than that of politics. My most recent episode led me to the Toronto Mayoral Race and the George Smitherman campaign, or as I will affectionately refer to them; Smither’s Manz. If there is one thing I’ve learned from attending a private girl’s school, watching the West Wing, the allegory of Plato’s cave and of course, reading Polonoscopy.com, it’s that all we know is image. All we care about is image. So when six mayoral candidates are sitting around a table in the CP24 news...
Read MoreAbout the Site
Polonoscopy is a site devoted to political fluff. While I do appreciate that there are important issues out there… with respect… eh… don’t really care. Not here anyway, not now, that is not what Polonoscopy is about. Fluff. It’s all about image and perception in politics. Rather than vote for someone based on a record of public service and commitment to the meaningful issues of the day, wouldn’t you rather vote for someone who’s personality seems similar if only slightly more impressive then your own? Of course, we all would.