NEIL WAUGH: C'MON ED, CHURCH HIM TOO.

Waugh: Time for a wedding?

Stelmach (left) with Olsen, now happily settled down.

The reader will recall my ribald and rollicking blog about the long overdue marriage between the Alberta Tory Party and two of its ink-stained flim-flam artistes Tom Olsen and Paul Stanway (Tories, Stanway, Olsen: Finally Churched, Darryl Raymaker Blog 1/16/07).

Stanway, you will recall, was for many years a scribe for SunMedia during which time he was a loyal and faithful shill for all manner of Tories. Ditto for the longtime Calgary Herald Legislative columnist Olsen. Olsen's Tory connections included his own brother working as a PR flack out of the Klein Premier's office. It was a sign of the times that it dawned on neither of the Olsens that both were in a real and perceived conflict of interest and that the honourable thing to do was for one to resign.

Special Ed finally stopped the charade. Realizing his run as Premier was off to an unpromising start, he felt he needed his shills closer at hand, and so he hired both Stanway and Olsen as press mouthpieces for his office. No longer were these two scribes merely illicit lovers and mistresses of the Tories, they were now married. No doubt each had a fat pre-nuptual contract complete with a sweetheart Murray Smith severance payment clause.

But left at the altar, surprisingly, was another working stiff at the Tory's SunMedia bordello - one Neil Waugh. Waugh, you will recall, was the subject of another brilliant piece, Weasel Words and the Art of the Big Lie (Darryl Raymaker Blog 2/1/07), which reflected on Waugh's aptitude in both of those subjects.

Among other services performed for the Tories over the years, Waugh and others among his colleagues argued that the Multicorp scandal (wherein many of Klein's associates were given shares of a company that was trying to do business in a Chinese city where the Premier was about to do some promotion work), was dead and buried and that opposition members were wasting their time trying to focus public attention on it. He also was one of the first scribes out of the chute to promote the message that the real story behind Premier Klein's egregious drunken behaviour at a homeless shelter just before Christmas a few years ago, was not the Premier's behaviour. No, no, no. According to Waugh it was that the Premier had quit drinking as a result.

Waugh is at it again. In this morning's Calgary Sun (December 23, 2007), in commenting on what he sees as the dismal state of opposition to the Tories in the Legislature, he writes about Opposition Leader KevinTaft:

"Taft's fall session was dismal - fixated on his madeup claim that billions in royalty money was missing from the treasury. It was a preposterous claim that lost media traction two days in."

Just as Waugh conveniently ignored the highly suspicious circumstances of Multicorp, and the scandalous actions of the Premier at the homeless shelter, he ignores the scathing report of the Tory appointed Auditor General Fred Dunn on the collection of royalties issue.

Dunn stated that the Alberta Government was losing a billion dollars a year by not collecting from the industry the royalties that should have been collected. Indeed, he noted, even though these losses were identified by government personnel, they were still not collected. Dunn further commented deploring the government's lack of "completeness and accuracy" of well production data for oil and natural gas. And in dealing with royalties, Dunn said that the government did not follow "principles of transparency and accountability."

So if Taft's claim is 'preposterous,' and a 'made up claim,' Waugh's logic would conclude that so is the report of the Auditor General of Alberta.

I have a message for Special Ed:

Eddie, this is yeoman service from one of your great Tory flim-flam ink-stained tarts. Lord knows, he's been loyal and faithful to you. A true Tory toady. And l hasten to point out that all isn't well in the SunMedia empire where he toils. There are those who are highly critical of its present management, and of course the Chairman of the Board of its parent company Quebecor Inc, is none other than Brian Mulroney himself. Think of poor Neil's reputation. It was bad enough having to lurk around in quiet bars as a Tory mistress. C'mon Eddie, church him, like you did Olsen and Stanway. Its time. And don't forget the contract. He might need the Murray Smith severance clause after the next election.

REFLECTIONS ON LORD BLACK, 'LYIN' BRIAN, AND O.J.

What can one say about Lord Black of Crossharbours? Is he sane? Is he a martyr? Is he a fool? An idiot? A shyster? A crook?

Lord Black

And what about the boy from Baie Comeau who, in the mean streets of his hometown used to charm and sing songs for Colonel McCormick, the wealthy owner of the Chicago Tribune? The one who became Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney? Is he sane? Is he a bit slow? Is he an idiot, shyster or crook?

Brian Mulroney (on the right) with former friend

For certain they are both narcissists. They love the limelight. They love attention. They think primarily of themselves. They love mellifluous language, particularly when it is spoken by themselves. When each speaks, they themselves are their favorite subject.

Fundamentally, they are both snobs. Ordinary people, unless they are people whose favour they may require to curry in the short term, are the flotsam and jetsam of life. Both love to consort with the rich, powerful and famous. Each loves the camaraderie found in the oak panelled board rooms, in the company of men of substance, captains of industry, and conservative movers and shakers.

Corporate governance, to both, is clearly a nuisance. In Black's words it is "rubbish," and its spokespeople, fanatics. Mulroney, who has yet to be quoted on the subject, has displayed his disdain for the post-Enron movement by not stepping down from even one of his many lucrative Board appointments despite the disquieting, and now quite substantiated facts about his 'dealings' with a shadowy businessman who sought the favour of the Canadian government.

Black (on right) with friend

Both then are narcissists. Indeed, even to the untrained eye and ear, it is evident that both probably suffer from a clinical 'narcissistic' personality disorder. In their own minds they can do whatever they wish. Because, as each might say, "Its all about me!"

Watching Lord Black commit his very public hara-kiri, and Brian Mulroney blarney his way through the reasons for his inexcusable behaviour, brings to mind another celebrity who continues to be forever etched in our minds, whether we like it or not. None other than the notorious Orenthal J. Simpson, formerly of football fame, but now, the quite infamous "O.J." as the North American pop world refers to him.

O.J.

Just as Mr. Simpson continues to effortlessly stumble or propel himself by design into public spectacles, so does Lord Black and Brian Mulroney. Most recently, Simpson allowed himself to be once again the subject of lurid headlines as part of a strong arm operation gone bad to retrieve what he says are his own personal items. The result is criminal charges of armed robbery, protestations of innocence and no doubt, another spectacular trial. This time he may be carried off in an orange jumpsuit for some time. But what the hell, as O. J. no doubt believes, "Its all about me."


And what about Lord Black? He tweaks his tormentors, goads them, berates them, attacks them, libels them. Indeed he does all of this and more. Nonstop. Facing six and a half or so years in the slammer, he continues to needle the prosecution, the now-revered culture of corporate governance, and his unhappy shareholders who brought him down.

Even his old pals, like William F. Buckley and Henry Kissinger - both fellow narcissists in their own right - do not escape his vitriol. Witness Black's column in today's National Post that trashed them both because of their incredibly luke-warm endorsements of his character in the sentencing process.

So whatever else Conrad Black may be - anti-social, psychopathic, arrogant bully (and he is that for sure), crook - he is a narcissist. They say there's a bit of the narcissist in all of us and that sometimes it is good. That may well be true. But there is a whole lot of it in Conrad Black, and - particularly now - it is not so good for him.

Beyond that, as many have suspected, suspicions which have now been confirmed by the Trial Judge and Jury, he is also - - how can I put this - alas, a felon.

One hopes he will see a shrink as well as the warden in the years ahead.

And now for Muldoon (as that splendid muckraking rag 'Frank Magazine' calls him). The fact that he is a narcissistic and grovelling personality is beyond debate. Of course he is. The preening, the primping, the pandering to power, the public crooning of Irish ballads to the President of the United States, the indefatigable bowing and scraping and kow-towing to the likes George H. W. Bush, the society weddings, the corporate board appointments, yada, yada, yada. Yes, we know him well. And in the words of that great Canadian chronicler of the national condition, Peter C. Newman, "He bugs us still."

But what of an ex-Prime Minister who, while still in office befriends and consorts with a sleazy and corrupt businessman who makes a living through bribing government officials? An ex-Prime Minister who agrees to take cash to lobby for this gentleman shortly after leaving office? An ex-Prime Minister who, shortly after leaving office, is paid $100,000 cash payments from the same sleaze bag on three different occasions in three different hotels? An ex-Prime Minister who takes that money and puts it in a safety deposit box, who spends at least part of the money, and only years later - only when things get hot - pays tax on the money? An ex-Prime Minister who does not appear to have rendered any service for that money and to this day has not rendered an account for any service, and who misled lawyers while under oath in a law suit by denying he ever dealt with the low-life when in fact he did? What about that?

And add to all of that the fact that the three payments of one hundred grand each came from a Swiss bank account controlled by the (tsk tsk) gentleman which contained commissions he earned from Airbus industries for sales of airplanes to Air Canada he helped arrange through his political influence! Oh yes, and remember the lawsuit wherein Muldoon took the Government of Canada for 2.1 million big ones for a defamation, that may not have been a defamation at all.

We know Mulroney is a narcissistic blowhard. But what else is he? The facts thusfar tell us that he may be a whole lot more than that. And that is something the people of Canada have a right to know. In other words, just who was their Prime Minister Brian Mulroney?

The Commons Ethics Committee hearings continue. Surprisingly, there are many talking heads that are saying that we have learned enough. They say, let's get on with it - governing the nation, rising to new challenges, etc. After all, they say, both of them are liars - Schreiber and Mulroney - so what is to be gained by going further in the investigation?

The Canadian people have a right to know about their Prime Ministers and if it takes a public inquiry into highly suspicious facts and circumstances, so be it. Equally, those who aspire to high public office in this country had better learn their limits - and their ethics.

Bring on the public inquiry!

HERR SCHREIBER'S EVIDENCE: DECEMBER 11, 2007

Herr Schreiber (on the left) at a meeting at 24 Sussex Drive March 1993:
"Britan, I wish to speak about the Bear Head Project."

Britan (on the right): "Herr Schreiber, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

HERR SCHREIBER'S EVIDENCE DECEMBER 6, 2007

Doucet (on the right): "Transfer the Airbus money to Brian's Geneva lawyer!"
Herr Schreiber (on the left): "I'm shocked! Shocked!"

HERR SCHREIBER: AN ENEMY OF THE STATE

Karlheinz Schreiber is not a sympathetic character. At least, not naturally.

We suspect that at least, he is a rogue and charlatan from what we have read and heard in several books and countless newspaper and media reports. He has the appearance of a - well - a gorgoyle.

Schreiber

But as Herr Schreiber says about himself, although he was born ugly, he is not stupid.

At the moment, as we all know, Schreiber has become the chief tormentor of another gorgoyle-like figure, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

Mulroney

Whether or not Mr. Mulroney is ugly is not for me to judge. However, at the very least, he does seem to have had moments of stupidity.

For example, he has admitted to receiving from Herr Schreiber shortly after leaving office as Prime Minister of Canada, three cash payments of $100,000 each in 3 different hotel rooms in murky circumstances that Parliament, and soon a public inquiry will attempt to uncover.

Schreiber is facing very serious charges - in Germany - the land of his birth where he had some very serious pals, including an ex-Chancellor of Germany and conservative politician in the Reagan-Thatcher mould, Helmut Kohl, who presided in that post for 16 years.

It is to face those charges that he has been ordered extradited to Germany. If he faces justice in the fatherland, chances are he will languish in jail there for many years to come. And so, at 73, he would just as soon stay in his beloved adopted homeland, Canada.

Herr Schreiber has been a Canadian citizen for several years, and while here has had many friends in high places as well as a colourful career. One of his first political adventures in Canada was to help dislodge Joe Clark from the leadership of the now-defunct Progressive Conservative Party. This led the way to his former pal Mulroney ascending to power in 1984.

Another adventure was Schreiber's engineering a sweetheart deal - for him and his pals - wherein Air Canada bought a number of passenger jets from Airbus Industries for whom Schreiber was shilling back in the good old days when Tory Frank Moores was on the Air Canada Board and 'Britan' Mulroney was Prime Minister.

So no wonder Schreiber has a soft spot in his heart for his adopted homeland. Apart from it being a safe haven, it has been full of adventure and considerable profit.

Enter the Prime Minister, Bush's pal Steve Harper.

Although relations were icy at first between Harper and Mulroney, over the past year or so there has been a definite thaw. In his perpetual quest for acceptance and rehabilitation, Mulroney said some good things about Harper. Harper, looking to soften his image as the hard-right neocon we all know he is, found it convenient to embrace Mulroney and to intimate to the public that he and Mulroney are so palsy-walsy that he is even receiving counsel from Mulroney from time to time.

For Herr Schreiber, this was good news. His old friend Mulroney, could perhaps use a little of his vaunted Irish charm and blarney on the stern and driven ideologue and perhaps head off the unwanted trip back to Deutscheland.

Alas, it was not to be. In the minds of both Mulroney and Stevie, Schreiber - a Canadian citizen - was not only expendable. They wanted him out. And they were prepared to go to any length to get him out. Without Schreiber, there would be no meaningful Parliamentary or public inquiry into the 300 grand, or any other nefarious dealings between Schreiber and his Conservative friends in high places.

How far would they go? Well, as the greatest Prime Minister of Canada of all-time once said, "Just watch me."

Well, watch this:

Karlheinz Schreiber, a Canadian citizen, with no criminal record in Canada or elsewhere, who has paid his income taxes in Canada for several years, who wants to stay in this country as opposed to returning to Germany, who has fought extradition for several years, who has never run away from Canadian justice, who with his wife makes his home in Canada, is transported to Ottawa in leg-irons, handcuffed, in an orange prison jump-suit, and deprived of his belt such that his pants fall down while television cameras record his total humiliation for millions to see, all of which is brought to you by the good offices of the Harper government.

This is what happens to enemies of the state in Harper's Canada. Karlheinz Schreiber has become an enemy of the state in Canada. His former conservative friends in high places fear he knows too much.