“I… I came out, on Thursday, I signed my name, I became a member of the NDP party. And I did that because the principles of the ND party, NDP, NDP best reflect who I am and what I stand for. I believe that Jack Layton is the best leader in this country to bring us all together. To bring Newfoundland and Labrador into Confederation.”
NDP Candidate Ryan Cleary is the fodder for discussion at Macleans.ca again. This time it is Arron Wherry not Paul Wells. It would appear the media have it out for Cleary at the moment.
I thought the questions about the failure of the Independent and his employment status were dirty and underhanded. “You couldn’t get a job in journalism, so now you’re going to be a politician?” one asked leading to" So you wanted this job because you couldn’t be a journalist any longer?”
What utter tripe. Lets do a poll of what candidates are doing as occupations at the moment. You might find a few others are making career shifts, what makes Cleary so special or some form of opportunist? His job was to offer controversial opinions and make colorful statements.
People have crossed the floor of the House of Commons and gone through less of an Inquisition than Cleary.
This is fluorescent yellow journalism at its worst!
You might want to actually read the article you criticised. it was essentially a transcript of the scrum and the question on why he was running (couldn't get a job) came from Cleary's own explanation of why he was running.
ReplyDeleteI read the transcript Ed. I thought it was an unfair question.
ReplyDeleteIf Cleary made the comment himself, voluntarily as part of an answer to an earlier question which was straight forward and simple, why is the follow-up unfair?
ReplyDeleteI know your man didn't handle the whole situation very well and took quite the bruising but it seems rather childish and silly to be whining about a situation Cleary should have anticipated and clearly been better prepared for.
The perception of what is fair or unfair - right or wrong - usually depends on ones personal, political, business, religious beliefs or agendas.
ReplyDeleteAsking Mr. Cleary WHY he has suddenly seen the NDP political light, just a week before the election and not long after loosing his job, is a perfectly legitimate question that every politician gets asked at some point.
Unfortunetly in his case, he put the bait in his own trap.
PS: I was there.
Do ya kind of get that the question didn't come from Aaron Wherry, or was the information whizzing past your head too fast to figure everything out before you posted?
ReplyDeletePaul:
ReplyDeleteI read the transcript a couple of times. First Question The first question "How do you explain calling the NDP losers..."
Who asked the questions "But how do you explain it to the man you’re now running for?” I can only assume that was question two.
I assume question three was “How do you explain that evolution in thinking in such a short period of time? Now suddenly you’re buying into national unity and you’re buying into Jack Layton?”
Question Four "“But the question is why do you now think that when you didn’t think just a little while ago? Journalists have opinions, clearly you didn’t like the guy and now you do you like him…”
Question Five: "“… why do you suddenly like him and buy into what he’s saying?”
Question Six "“You couldn’t get a job in journalism, so now you’re going to be a politician?”
Question Seven "So you wanted this job because you couldn’t be a journalist any longer?”
Ryan said the Indy closed and he had a chance to look at other opportunities. I did do not see where he said he can;t get a job so politics was his only option.
Greg: I was going by what was posted at the blog. Ryan said "
Home > Blog Central > National > The Commons > BTC: Ryan’s first scrum
BTC: Ryan’s first scrum
By Aaron Wherry | Email | September 12th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Posted to: Capital Read, The Commons | 4 | Comment on post
Filed Under: Capital Read • The Commons
Tags: Danny Williams • Election Watch • Jack Layton • Loyola Hearn • Ryan Cleary • Stephen Harper
Next to the campus of Memorial University, where, after suitably inspiring about 150 of Newfoundland’s finest young minds in a manufacturedly casual setting, Jack Layton appeared at a press conference with his suddenly noteworthy candidate for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl.
Pressed again to account for Ryan Cleary’s altogether pessimistic feelings for both the NDP and Confederation, the NDP leader made variations on his earlier points, reassuring us of his assurance that Mr. Cleary was not a separatist and would never again refer to him in print as “Jackie Layton.” Upping the ante just slightly, Layton made sure to be photographed shaking Mr. Cleary’s hand and smiling wide.
Then Layton turned the proceedings over to Mr. Cleary and disappeared from sight.
“This is my first scrum,” said Cleary, sporting a black suit, white shirt and open collar. “On this side of the mic.”
First question: “How do you explain calling the NDP losers, aging artsy-fartsy granolas, and your comments about leaving the country? How do you explain that to Jack Layton?”
“I’m not going to apologize for the comments, for what I wrote at the time and in the context in which I wrote them. I was a columnist for a lot of years. I was a newspaper person for 18 years. And I expressed an opinion. And I did it to challenge, I did it to entertain, I did it to provide my lay of the land.”
“But how do you explain it to the man you’re now running for?”
“Jack Layton asked me, am I a separatist. No, I am not a separatist. Jack Layton asked me, do I believe in Canada? I believe in Canada. I have nothing to explain.”
But explain he did.
“I think that this confederation needs work. That’s a fact … I was simply pointing out that confederation has problems, specifically to Newfoundland and Labrador, and something needs to be done about it.”
“How do you explain that evolution in thinking in such a short period of time? Now suddenly you’re buying into national unity and you’re buying into Jack Layton?”
“I… I came out, on Thursday, I signed my name, I became a member of the NDP party. And I did that because the principles of the ND party, NDP, NDP best reflect who I am and what I stand for. I believe that Jack Layton is the best leader in this country to bring us all together. To bring Newfoundland and Labrador into Confederation.”
Louis St. Laurent objected from the hereafter. Opposite Cleary, a bust of Joey Smallwood frowned.
“But the question is why do you now think that when you didn’t think just a little while ago? Journalists have opinions, clearly you didn’t like the guy and now you do you like him…”
“I have a lot of opinions.”
“… why do you suddenly like him and buy into what he’s saying?”
“First off, there are no NDP MPs in Newfoundland and Labrador, there’s one NDP MHA in the House of Assembly. When I wrote the things that I wrote about the NDP, it was more to challenge the party, more to challenge the people to have a look at the NDP as an alternative.”
He disparages, you see, because he cares.
“When the Independent closed in mid-July, I took a good, hard look at all the different parties. I considered politics for the first time, because I didn’t think I had any alternatives in journalism in Newfoundland and Labrador, for various reasons."
Politics is about opportunities and timing. The two converged and he looked at something he had not considered before. It was framed to be something else.
Paul:
ReplyDeleteI read the transcript a couple of times. First Question The first question "How do you explain calling the NDP losers..."
Who asked the questions "But how do you explain it to the man you’re now running for?” I can only assume that was question two.
I assume question three was “How do you explain that evolution in thinking in such a short period of time? Now suddenly you’re buying into national unity and you’re buying into Jack Layton?”
Question Four "“But the question is why do you now think that when you didn’t think just a little while ago? Journalists have opinions, clearly you didn’t like the guy and now you do you like him…”
Question Five: "“… why do you suddenly like him and buy into what he’s saying?”
Question Six "“You couldn’t get a job in journalism, so now you’re going to be a politician?”
Question Seven "So you wanted this job because you couldn’t be a journalist any longer?”
Ryan said the Indy closed and he had a chance to look at other opportunities. I did do not see where he said he can;t get a job so politics was his only option.
Greg: I was going by what was posted at the blog. Ryan said "
Home > Blog Central > National > The Commons > BTC: Ryan’s first scrum
BTC: Ryan’s first scrum
By Aaron Wherry | Email | September 12th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Posted to: Capital Read, The Commons | 4 | Comment on post
Filed Under: Capital Read • The Commons
Tags: Danny Williams • Election Watch • Jack Layton • Loyola Hearn • Ryan Cleary • Stephen Harper
Next to the campus of Memorial University, where, after suitably inspiring about 150 of Newfoundland’s finest young minds in a manufacturedly casual setting, Jack Layton appeared at a press conference with his suddenly noteworthy candidate for St. John’s South-Mount Pearl.
Pressed again to account for Ryan Cleary’s altogether pessimistic feelings for both the NDP and Confederation, the NDP leader made variations on his earlier points, reassuring us of his assurance that Mr. Cleary was not a separatist and would never again refer to him in print as “Jackie Layton.” Upping the ante just slightly, Layton made sure to be photographed shaking Mr. Cleary’s hand and smiling wide.
Then Layton turned the proceedings over to Mr. Cleary and disappeared from sight.
“This is my first scrum,” said Cleary, sporting a black suit, white shirt and open collar. “On this side of the mic.”
First question: “How do you explain calling the NDP losers, aging artsy-fartsy granolas, and your comments about leaving the country? How do you explain that to Jack Layton?”
“I’m not going to apologize for the comments, for what I wrote at the time and in the context in which I wrote them. I was a columnist for a lot of years. I was a newspaper person for 18 years. And I expressed an opinion. And I did it to challenge, I did it to entertain, I did it to provide my lay of the land.”
“But how do you explain it to the man you’re now running for?”
“Jack Layton asked me, am I a separatist. No, I am not a separatist. Jack Layton asked me, do I believe in Canada? I believe in Canada. I have nothing to explain.”
But explain he did.
“I think that this confederation needs work. That’s a fact … I was simply pointing out that confederation has problems, specifically to Newfoundland and Labrador, and something needs to be done about it.”
“How do you explain that evolution in thinking in such a short period of time? Now suddenly you’re buying into national unity and you’re buying into Jack Layton?”
“I… I came out, on Thursday, I signed my name, I became a member of the NDP party. And I did that because the principles of the ND party, NDP, NDP best reflect who I am and what I stand for. I believe that Jack Layton is the best leader in this country to bring us all together. To bring Newfoundland and Labrador into Confederation.”
Louis St. Laurent objected from the hereafter. Opposite Cleary, a bust of Joey Smallwood frowned.
“But the question is why do you now think that when you didn’t think just a little while ago? Journalists have opinions, clearly you didn’t like the guy and now you do you like him…”
“I have a lot of opinions.”
“… why do you suddenly like him and buy into what he’s saying?”
“First off, there are no NDP MPs in Newfoundland and Labrador, there’s one NDP MHA in the House of Assembly. When I wrote the things that I wrote about the NDP, it was more to challenge the party, more to challenge the people to have a look at the NDP as an alternative.”
He disparages, you see, because he cares.
“When the Independent closed in mid-July, I took a good, hard look at all the different parties. I considered politics for the first time, because I didn’t think I had any alternatives in journalism in Newfoundland and Labrador, for various reasons."
Politics is about opportunities and timing. The two converged and he looked at something he had not considered before. It was framed to be something else.
Pauld did you read my post before you posted? Obviously not.
ReplyDeleteI said Ryan's scrum was fodder for discussion by Wherry. I never said he asked the question.
Take some time to read it again. I said a member of the media asked the question. "one asked leading to"
Was the information whizzing past your head too fast to figure everything out before you posted?
Peter:
ReplyDeletePerhaps you'd like to take a few minutes to compose yourself, delete the redundant posts and try to deal with the simple questions.
It's fairly obvious you didn't read anything or watch the vid clips before you posted.
Painfully obvious.
Ed:
ReplyDeleteI read a blog post about the scrum that included a transcript of reporters question(s) Am I to assume now that Ryan asked himself all but that one question?
What is the simple question ed?
Well, Peter, you presented the questions on Cleary being out of work as if they were from nowhere.
ReplyDeleteI pointed out that they flowed from his own answer to a question about why he is running.
So I asked you how it can be a hatchet job if the reporter's question is taken right out of what Cleary said.
Now to go a step further, when you reproduced the macleans blog post, you conveniently left out that portion of the exchange. You gave Cleary's answer but inserted your own interpretation of what his answer was.
So just to make sure it's clear:
How is it a hatchet job if the question flow out of what Cleary said?