NEIL WAUGH'S CONTINUING QUEST FOR RESPECTABILITY

In his Sun Media column today, 'Liberal Bent to Blogger' http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Waugh_Neil/2008/01/10/4764940.html, it looked for a moment as though Neil Waugh was finally going to take his beloved Tories to task. That he was going to show some guts. Some independence. He called 'obscene' a payment of 1,348,645 big ones by the Stelmach government to a company controlled by ex-energy department mandarin Kellan Fluckiger for a redesign of the provincial electrical system. He noted - courageously for Waugh, who is normally a Tory lackey - that so far the only thing coming out of Fluckiger's expensive retooling effort was a near brownout at Christmas and 'sky-high' utility rates.

Alas, his just and righteous indignation at the continuing excesses of the Special Ed crew was not to last. It was merely the opening act for - surprise, surprise, - an attack on the Liberals. The nearly one-and-a-half million dollar scam on the taxpayer was bad. But in Waugh's twisted mind, it was not near as bad as the actions of an over-zealous young Liberal, who Waugh himself referred to as a 'teeny, tiny Grit.'

So what horrendous act did this 'teeny, tiny Grit,' commit that would justify Waugh's judgement that it overshadowed the Fluckiger cookie jar invasion?

This 'teeny, tiny Grit' reserved the domain website name of http://edstelmach.ca/. Horror of horrors! Oh, the humanity! A juvenile prank committed by one barely beyond the age of a juvenile in Waugh's Tory-warped brain is a far more weighty breach of ethics and honor than the awarding of a contract - untendered of course - of over a million bucks to a government pal.

Premier Eddie, this here Waugh fellow has been turning chicken sh** into chicken salad for Provincial Tories for so long, I doubt that he knows the difference any more. Let him take his rightful place alongside of Olsen and Stanway. C'mon Ed, you owe him big time!