the hills are a-buzz

i've never been one of those people who refers to ottawa as sleepy or boring. but that's only because i'm a political junkie. so imagine my delight when the fit hit the shan today. this town is a-buzz over belinda-gate. it's fucking exciting. barely a pre-teen in terms of her life in federal politics, the sassy mp not only crossed the floor today, she did it without giving any heads-up to harper. and she really did more than just cross the floor. more like leapt to the other side, high enough to land her pert self a big cabinet seat. as if enough havoc isn't wreaked with her defection, a certain senior tory may be nursing a wounded heart because he might have thought he knew her. apparently, they are now taking a break.

so score one for martin - albeit a little one - and too bad so sad harper. martin's acquisition may not be enough to impact the much-anticipated budget vote this thursday, but then again, it may. given how quickly things change in this town, anything can happen. on the other hand, the reaction to today's belindamania provides a harsh reminder of how things don't change in this town. it's hardly the case that men in politics - however provocative their choices - would be referred to, venomously, as "attractive", a "dipstick", or "whoring" himself to another party.

the sexism that continues to pervade politics should hardly be a surprise, but somehow, always is. i don't give a good god damn what belinda's career ambitions are. c'mon, anyone who runs for any kind of public office has ambitions - too few noble. but that's not the fucking point. whenever the white men in politics get a chance, they rush to media scrums to pin a bulls-eye on a female colleague and lambast her. look back to lethal-turned-personal criticism heaped onto the likes of hedy fry, jane stewart, sheila copps. questionable decisions or not, women in politics continue to have to endure the most scatching and inappropriate attacks. it's fucking apalling and it makes me sick. it happens all the time and we just let it. meanwhile, the men make shitty decisions every minute of every fucking day, and we usually re-elect their sorry asses. guess it's not the female politicians who are "vacuous" ... maybe the entire fucking electorate is one big ditzy blonde.

speaking of ass, members of the us senate subcommittee for homeland security and governmental affairs got theirs whooped today. and it was beautiful. i saw footage of british mp george galloway's testimony, and i swear i got a big boner. it was hot. on the agenda: investigation into the so-called oil for food scandal. galloway was called in to defend himself against alleged involvement. and he was pissed. the anti-war politician unleashed a fierce indictment of his own, calling the subcommittee's claims the "mother of all smokescreens" and even referring to the post-"liberation" democracy in iraq an installed "puppet government". the subcommittee was rendered virtually speechless, the room was stunned. galloway was fearless, articule, credible, and fucking brilliant. he may not have made a single friend during his hour on capitol hill, but he made sense - and that's refreshing by any washington standard.