So what is more interesting, busty hookers and political scandal or volcanic ash?    If you ask the NDP they might say volcanic ash.  Credit goes to them this week as they belatedly decided that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to have Helena Guergis and husband Rahim Jaffer testified before a standing committee.  It would seem the NDP thinks there are better things politicians should be worrying about.

Who knows the truth?  That surely is blowing in the wind or among the ash.  However when you have a high profile political job everything gets thrown on the table.  You do not have the luxury of creating any type of risk that could negatively affect the government.  The last time I checked that would include spouses who were passed MP’s cavorting with fraudsters.  Add a few busty hookers and some cocaine in the mix and yes, that might cause a few problems.  No matter what the truth is, the optics of this situation made it toxic for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Is also made me somewhat of a mockery of Prime Minister Harper’s commitment to clean up government after the sponsorship scandal.   However, this scandal is pretty low rent.  I hate to see smart political women get jerked around by male politicians.

It’s a good example of how good people can get mixed up in the meat grinder of politics.  For instance what is the incentive for successful people to put their careers on the line?   Once people put their name in for the nomination process their whole life becomes a bit of a fishbowl.  A few wrong steps and everything goes up in smoke.  Of course there is everything between that and nothing happening and that’s another reason why people don’t get involved in politics.  It has certainly bred political cynicism throughout Canada.

What is made this political scandal little bit more interesting is the Prime Minister asked for the resignation based on things he didn’t tell us.  Usually there is some obvious faux pas that puts the minister’s job at risk.  In this case the Prime Minister put the problem over on the RCMP and the Ethics Commissioner.  The ethics Commissioner then went on to say that there wasn’t enough going on with this for her to bother with.  So there’s been a cottage industry over the last week within the media to find the smoking gun.

There has been a bit of a bounce in the polls for the Liberal party coming off this scandal.  It’s not buried much of one; essentially the Conservatives are in a dead heat with the Liberals.  Needless to say it made me think maybe Michael Ignatieff’s strategy should be to just wait.  He has tried almost everything like threatening an election or asking for written clarification of budget documents but maybe the best thing he can do is just wait it out.  Sometimes self-inflicted wounds in the political sense come along when you least expect it.

Let me give you an example from the past.  In 1976 Pres. Gerald Ford was running against Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter.  During one of the debates during the election campaign President Ford was asked a question about Poland and Eastern Europe.  The question was in the context of the Soviet Union controlling these countries through brute force.  Pres. Ford responded to the question by saying the Soviet Union did not dominate those countries and in fact there was a semblance of responsibility to what they were doing there.  Jimmy Carter could not believe what he was saying as well as the millions of people watching it on television.  1976 was a year deep within the Cold War and the Soviet Union brutalized Eastern Europe and controlled them denying the population freedom.  Ignoring that fact during the debate was a political mistake and a real goof.

It was obvious to Pres. Ford’s handlers when he said it but the damage was done.  However, Pres. Ford was a smart man and he said it anyway.  He may have been tired or whatever.  At the end of the day it was a political gift to Jimmy Carter that he least expected.  34 years later who is to say the same type of thing might happen to Michael Ignatieff?   The Guergis Jaffer Affair is just one example of things that can come out of the political ether, which you least expect.

Does that mean our Liberal friends should be scouring the “busty hooker” hangouts in Toronto?   I don’t think so, that would just get them in trouble and their turn will come.  Needless to say, with a hint of summer weather in the air the half-life to this latest scandal seems to be short.  But you never know!  Temptation, especially in the political world always has its takers.