In an interview with AR media when Mr. Layton was asked if he had stopped beating his wife he replied no.
Full Transcript follows;
AR Media: Mr. Layton, have you stopped beating your wife?
Mr. Layton: Well since I never started beating my wife and in fact believe strongly in ending domestic abuse, I would have to say no.
AR Media: Mr Layton some might opine that by saying no you are in fact aligning yourself with those who see nothing wrong with such activity. How would you answer those people?
Jack Layton: Well to repeat I am against domestic violence and this question is one which has no winning answer to say yes I have implies support for an activity I condemn, to say no implies that I am going to continue on with an activity which in reality I have never been a part of.
AR Media: Can you explain further?
Mr. Layton: Look it’s much this vote on Afghanistan. If we vote to support a partial pull out in 2009 we are seen as saying we support our troops being there until that time, if we vote against it we are seen as saying that we support a war effort completely and without timetable.
It is much like your first question, one in which there is no way not to come out smeared by an accusation of an activity I was never involved with in the first place.
AR Media: Thank you Mr. Layton
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Edited to add there was an NDP ammendment proposed
In an effort to try to find common ground, let me propose the following amendment to determine whether or not the House would be willing to take the appropriate actions. The amendment would read as follows: “That the motion be amended by deleting the words after ‘operations in southern Afghanistan’ in the preamble and replacing them with the following: ‘This House call on the government to begin now to withdraw Canadian Forces in a safe and secure manner from the counter-insurgency mission in Afghanistan and call upon the government to notify NATO of this decision immediately’”.
Nice comparison, AR
When there’s no real option on the table, what is the right choice?
I agree this was a trap for the NDP. I think abstaining from the vote would have been best…
I would argue that they should have voted for it anyway, as even a partial pullout is better than what we now have. It is still possible to press for a complete pullout later.
Tactically, the NDP made a mistake. On almost any other vote, I would have suspected they were secretly agreeing with the Conservatives. Obviously, they aren’t here, but they will get smeared for it, because actions speak louder than words.
So, put another way, while trying to decide whether Layton ate one baby for breakfast or none, I seem to have settled on one-half.
Mark Francis,
There was no offer on the table for a partial pullout. It wasn’t even asking to take any troops out, it was asking for a musical chairs game. I see no reason in getting involved in that.
excellent post.