More proof Harper knows diddly about Canadians, hockey and The Code

Hockey has a Code.  It is unwritten and complex.  It may be right.  It may be wrong.  But there is a Code.  And hockey players, real hockey players, know it and practice it.  For example.  If you want to fight someone you challenge them.  You don't jump them.  Once the player is on the ice and you have won; you stop.  Even if you are in mid-punch.  At the end, if the other player fought within the code, you congratulate him.  It is all about respect for the other players and the game.  You don't embarrass the officials.  You don't intentionally land one on a linesman.

Canadians know and understand the code.  It is central to the Canadian mystique.  The key to Don Cherry's, otherwise inexplicable, appeal is his invocation of the code.  And a  player that egregiously breaks the code, even one you like, is never looked at the same again.  Even if he does it to a player you detest.

Canadians viscerally know this Code applies to life.  And politics.  Politics is much more vicious than hockey.  But there is a Code.  You can savage the Opposition all you want but you show them respect.  Trudeau may have fought Clark savagely but he made sure there was a mention of him in his eulogy.  Trudeau praised Diefenbaker for the Bill Of Rights.  Trudeau made a place for Tommy Douglas in the House after he retired.  Respect.  Canadians understood this.

This is why the Mulroney Membership Mess (M^3 (tm)) is going to bite Harper hard.  Zacardelli threw the election to Harper by causing the electorate to lose faith in Goodale and by association Martin.  Most voters aren't going to pay attention to day to day stuff.  They will pay attention to this:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, from overseas, was aware of and agreed with plans to leak stories that would distance him and the current party leadership from former prime minister Brian Mulroney, the Star has learned.

They kind of suspected he wasn't man enough to play by the code.  Now they know.  He jumped the one of the most successful Conservative Prime Ministers ever from behind.  This the electorate can understand.

If Harper was a hockey fan he would know this.  If Harper was in touch with average Canadians he would understand this.  He doesn't live by the Code.  As this permeates the consciousness he will pay.

What did Tiger Williams say?  It relates to Harper.  Oh yeah.  "Done like dinner."

Recommend this Post