A Non-political Political Viewpoint

By Laurel L. Russwurm
[CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons
I have to start by saying that I am, for the most part, not a political person. I follow most politics only for the sake of being able to vote armed with information related to my local area. Anything much outside of that generally doesn't take my notice. But at the moment the issue with Patrick Brown has become an issue that isn't just political, and that made me sit up and take note.

Why? Because as much as I dislike ( politically) Patrick Brown, I don't think any man's life should be ruined by allegations. If this woman's story is true, then she needs to bring charges and have it settled in a court of law. I don't know one way or the other if it's true, or not true, (at this point, it's really just a he said/she said) but since she brought it up, she needs to stand up and take the actions to prove her case and not just have it floating on the wind like this.

I suspect there are probably things in Brown's past that nobody (including his party) are/were aware, but then ... "no man is an island", and no man is perfect either.  He does deserve to have his day in court, and not be tried by public opinion.

Brown's sister said she know for a fact the rumours are 100% untrue, but if that is the case ... she would have had to be present at each and every location/time ... and I expect that isn't case. It's pretty natural for a family member to hold 100% belief in another family member.

I didn't support his party leadership ... he reminds me far too much of Trudeau, and Ontario does not need one of those.  I never really understood how Dunlop could support him, and just step down like he did. I always thought there was something completely wrong in that move.

By Tudor Costache (Own work)
 [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons
Garfield Dunlop did a good job for our riding. He was what most people would call "a stand-up guy", and yes, that is my personal opinion based on the times we've needed help from his office, and always got that help.  He represented the people here, and he did that first ... then represented the party. That was something that made him well liked, even by people who didn't support the party.

It's pretty unforunate that they decide (after-the-fact) to blame Dunlop and fire him. Isn't the parties job to vette all candidates fully? THEY didn't do their job.

For my part, I wish he would just come back. He'd oust Wynne in seconds in a Provincial ... hands-down.

Edit: So, even though Dunlop was fired, he does the man-up and maligns no one, still willing to fight to help the PCs defeat Wynne (and I hope to god they are successful).

Any coming election will be difficult for me - the choice will not be an easy one. The only easy choice would be to vote anti-liberal, and that means exploring all parties now. Ugh. For someone whose not that interested politics, that's going to be a chore.

Edit again: I've noticed several articles on the web (I hesitate to call them news because they have no real verification yet) indicating that Ms. Nash and the reporter may not be what everyone thinks. The story there is definitely not something you would call "assault", not in my books anyways. Sure, unwanted advances are unwanted, but if you tell a guy to stop and he stops ... then what happened was what's been accepted since time began. A guy makes an overture, the girls accepts or rejects. Assault is when you reject the advance and the guy keeps going. HOWEVER (and this is a big "but") - is the story being shared really true, or is it another fantasy created by web denizens?  Who knows ... I certainly don't but one thing it does show is that the allegations bear investigating fully.