“It is a fine thing to be honest, but it is also very important to be right.” — Winston Churchill.When celebrated James Bond author Ian Fleming was rushed to hospital after he collapsed at a hotel in Canterbury, he's believed to have told the ambulance drivers, “I am sorry to trouble you chaps. I don’t know how you get along so fast with the traffic on the roads these days.”.A gentleman to the very end, you could say. The famed Naval Intelligence Division officer, who would die just hours later on 12th August 1964, had endured a lifetime of heavy drinking and smoking and a reluctance to cut down on the vices he so much enjoyed. He was just 56. A sad tale to recount, of course..Which brings me to the antithesis, the polar opposite, the converse of what I witnessed last night in the unhinged Great Debate between NDP Leader Rachel Notley and UCP Leader Danielle Smith..I tried to watch it, I really did. I was expecting serious discussion on issues which meant a lot to me and to other Albertans..For example, I wanted to know why Notley rapped the deal for the new Calgary hockey arena. What did she mean by wanting to see the “fine print” before endorsing the deal? Was she just being a contrarian, as she always seems to be or did she really have valid concerns?.Instead, what I saw last night was a disgusting display of desperation, of twisted truths and dredged up facts, of orchestrated verbal attacks which had no validity. A combative Notley, feigning Shakespearean outrage, repeated the same attack ad statements, hoping they would stick. In other words, just a continuation of her smear campaign..The more smears the better, I guess?.For example, trying to stoke fear that Smith would charge for doctor visits (she would not, could not), alleging Smith’s governing style is chaotic (it is, in fact, the exact opposite — Smith’s style is balanced, thoughtful and forthright)..And then, the pièce de résistance..“You know you can’t trust Danielle Smith,” she said. “This is just not how our province should be won.”.What that is based on, I have no idea. If anything, Danielle has appeared completely and totally trustworthy in this writer’s opinion..Have you listened to any of her radio appearances on QR77’s Saturday morning show, “Your Province. Your Premier.” hosted by Wayne Nelson?.In that program, Smith takes questions from Albertans — sometimes tough questions. The latter are not scripted, either, nor are they censored. If you have, you would discover that her answers are clear, concise and … well, honest. There’s not much more I could add in that respect..She comes across as very honest and very intelligent..Media reports alleged it was based on so called “scandals,” or negative developments — some of which are out of Smith’s control..Earlier Thursday, Alberta’s ethics commissioner declared Smith contravened the Conflict of Interest Act over a conversation she had with her justice minister about a high-profile COVID-19 case..Smith took to Twitter to respond, saying she had always sought "amnesty for those charged with non-violent COVID-related offences and violations during the pandemic" and wrote that "CBC and NDP had repeatedly lied to Albertans for months" about her office contacting Crown prosecutors..That, ladies and gents, is a fact. The absolute nonsense from those two sources have piled up like garbage in a hoarder's apartment and was spewed out on our TV sets last night..The timing of the report also raises suspicions. Why choose the day of the Great Debate to release it?.But to allege she is not trustworthy — again, to instill an irrational fear, is probably not how the province should be won either..To say that Notley took out the torque wrench (something we in the media do when we want to “boost” a story), would be an understatement..The lady is entirely untrustworthy, stretches the truth, shall we say, makes ridiculous claims and really has no real basis to take over as premier again..I would go so far as to say, Notley's vitriolic rants destroyed what could have been an informative and revealing discussion..Which made winning the debate basically impossible. Nobody won. If anything, we Albertans lost..To quote the great T.S. Eliot: I would rather be “a pair of ragged claws, scuttling across the floors of silent seas,” than view another..Furthermore, should the lacklustre and dishonest NDP get back in power, it could set the province back decades..The cost of this election, the repercussions, could be very high. A disaster in the making, you might say. Especially if Calgary goes orange..At the end of the day, as the saying goes, it left me with more than “a pint of disillusionment.”.It completely ruined the cold Czech beer I was trying to drink, because I wanted to throw it at the TV set..I found myself ranting at this disgusting woman, trying to pull the wool over our eyes with ridiculous claims — anything, just anything to gain power..To imagine this horrid woman back as premier was a thought too terrible to imagine. Too frightening to imagine..The Footsies With Trudeau party, back at the helm. God help us..However, sanity prevailed, and … to be honest I didn’t want to hike down to Best Buy to buy a new TV. It just wasn’t worth it..And the TV, of course, did nothing to deserve such a fate..Thankfully, I switched to the Lakers vs. Nuggets NBA playoff game, which ended well..The pint then quickly disappeared.
