Dear Steve

I really think you have gone and done it this time. You have made Don Martin cynical. You bastard.

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Dear Don Martin

If you think debating issues like torture and democracy is boring, you really need to start looking for a new beat. I hear Lifestyles is looking for a new gardening columnist.

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Don Martin, C'Mon Down

Don Martin writes:

Okay, reality check here, one Afghan getting whacked around by some shoes in the middle of a war zone does not fit my definition of torture.

Don Martin, are you willing to take the Shoe Torture Challenge?

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Tell Us How He Does It, Don

Don Martin is still on the pipe:

The challenge is not as daunting for Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. He needs to shine as a recession-fighting alternative with constructive inputs beyond mere snarling at the Conservative government's squandering of a Liberal surplus racked up with ease during prosperous times. And Ignatieff must keep distancing himself from the coalition concept to better define himself and the party as a stand-alone government-in-waiting.

Very good Don, that sounds easy. There is just one problem, Harper cannot survive without a partner. If Iggy becomes that partner (because neither Layton or Duceppe are even remotely interested), it will be impossible for Iggy to portray himself as an alternative anything. Both Harper and Layton, for their own reasons will embrace Iggy's change of heart over the government as "proof" that a) the government is on the right path or b) that the Liberals are feckless and weak and are really just Conservatives with better teeth. Telling Iggy to dump the coalition is great advice -- for the Conservatives and NDP. For the Liberals, on the other hand, it is a recipe for more pain.

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