The word from the street
TONY
“Did you hear my good news?”
PHILIP
“Not that I remember.”
TONY
“Well I don’t have the cancer in the lung they thought might have it. I was just at St. Joe’s with my doctors and that’s what they told me.”
PHILIP
“What about the other lung?”
TONY
“They don’t know yet but it’s looking good if you ask me.”
TONY
“Hey, happy new year, Phil.”
PHILIP
“Happy new year, Mr. Clemens. I think it’s going to be a good one.”
TONY
“Me too.”
PHILIP
“Tony, is there anything good about being homeless?”
TONY
“That’s like asking if there’s anything good about having cancer.”
PHILIP
“Sorry.”
TONY
“Don’t worry; it was a good question, if you know what I mean.”
TONY
“Check out my breakfast here. They say these things aren’t so good for you but I ain’t saying no to this.”
Here’s a photo I took in late November. Tony’sw doing OK, as much as OK works in his world.
Philip
PHILIP
“Can you believe what Al Gore said on the front page of the Toronto Star yesterday? You know, Al Gore, the guy who was VP under Bill Clinton for eight years. He actually said that the Alberta tar sands are a threat to human existence. I’m telling you, even the the word ‘Armageddon’ was in the article, although I don’t actually know if Gore said that specific word. It’s pretty amazing, eh?”
TONY
“Sorry Phil, what’s your point, if you don’t mind me asking that?”
PHILIP
“My point is that this is the same Al Gore who was the number two guy in the most powerful country on Earth for eight years straight and who is the winner — if you ask me — of the 2000 US Presidential elections and he’s a Nobel Peace Prize winner and he doubtlessly has warm ties to the current US administration. Anyway, I think he’s signalling that the US government will be playing hard-ball about the environmental consequences of the oil sands, and that’s going to jeopardize billions of dollars and jobs in Alberta. You gotta realize that the folks who own the oil sands are Harper’s biggest supporters. OK, so I don’t know exactly how this is going to play out but I think that this means Harper is toast. Finis.”
TONY
“So … OK, you’re telling me that Gore just sort of slapped Harper upside the head in public by telling Harper’s big oil buddies in Alberta that their investments might end up losing them some money.”
PHILIP
“I don’t think I could say it better than that, actually.”
TONY
“OK, like kids sometimes say: “‘Is this is a good thing?'”
PHILIP
“I know I tell you this stuff all the time, even if it doesn’t get into the blog. It’s simple,man. I don’t think that Stephen Harper is good for Canada. I actually think he’s dangerous, maybe not him specifically but some of the people around him. And that’s not a risk I want to take. I’ve got four kids and a mortgage … sorry, Tony, you heard all this stuff before. And now, he can’t even provide diplomatic cover for his oil buddies.
“Look, there’s a lot of people at the top of the Harper government who openly supported the Bush Administration, including even Harper himself for god’s sake. My basic point is that I’m telling you, if you give the Harper guys a majority in Parliament, all I can say is “watch out”, because it’s going to be a disaster. Environment, economy, you name it. Sure, I know that Ignatieff supported the Iraq War in the beginning. At least Ignatieff had the huevos to own up to his mistake in public. And he didn’t support Bush’s other crazy policies the way Harper has. Everybody, including even smart guys like Ignatieff, they learn something when it’s the first time a situation has ever come up, like what we now know was corrupt and stupid decision process to go to war in Iraq in 2003. Quite a few Canadians supported the Iraq War in the beginning — lots of people got sucked in by the fabrications. Even Hillary Clinton and Colin Powell got hornswoggled on this one, you know.
Anyway, at least Ignatieff took some time to think about how the actual Iraq War actually played out over actual time after it started, and he learned what the whole world also learned about the actual Bush Administration decision processes and in regard to the Iraq War.”
Anyway, you know what I can’t figure out? Somehow, I think people think that having the Liberals in Ottawa for the next few years won’t make any difference. Now maybe I’m missing something. Since Ignatieff and the Obama are friendly and respect each other quite a lot — apparently Obama has read all of Michael Ignatieff’s book — then negotiations about things like the oil sands and will be better for Canada if Ignatieff’s the Prime Minister. After all, the top folks make make the final decisions, no?
TONY
“And your point is …?”
PHILIP
“The point is, it’s weird. Ignatieff’s Liberals would do a better job protecting Alberta’s interests than Harper can possibly do. If that’s true, then Albertans should be voting en masse for Ignatieff. It’s weirdly simple, in a way.”
TONY
“So you’re zaying that this Mr. Ignatieff should be our next Prime Minister?”
PHILIP
“Duh.”
TONY
“Did you know that I was working for the cops tonight?”
PHILIP
“What’s up?”
TONY
“There’s a guy around who’s snatching purses. He grabbed an older lady’s purse and put her in the hospital. You know, she was 72 years old and he put her in St. Joe’s.
“They thought they had him cornered in the lane behind but he must’ve slipped away. He was wearing a green jacket and probably aged around 17.”
PHILIP
“So what are you doing for the cops?”
TONY
“They want me to tell everyone who comes down the street that there’s a purse-snatcher around. So that’s what I’m doing. One sec, Phil
“Excuse me, Miss …”
Homeless Man Speaks 