Four year karma's gonna get you

Instant karma’s gonna get you

Gonna knock you right on the head

John Lennon

During the early days of the Harper Regime, when it was just a bad dream rather than the nightmare it has become, the NDP and it's supporters reveled in the Conservative tactic of making every bill a confidence measure. No matter how specious this tactic you could count on seeing Layton cheering on Harper. No matter the consequences to Canada and the NDP's ideals. To heck with the heritage left by Douglas, Lewis and Broadbent. All that Layton cared about was the damage it caused the Liberals. And how it gave him a chance to move into Stornoway.

It's payback time:

NDP Leader Jack Layton has spoken passionately about the need for a federal long-gun registry, but he could end up with its demise as part of his political legacy.

Mr. Layton is head of a largely urban caucus that owes a third of its seats to the rural regions of Canada, where the registry is widely despised. Those party dynamics leave him far more exposed than leaders of the other parties, forcing him to straddle an issue that divides the country along city and country lines.

or how about:

NDP Leader Jack Layton is a good man with a political problem: the long-gun registry that the Conservatives want to abolish.

Usually, the New Democrats spurn with varying degrees of bile anything the Conservatives desire. True, they kept the Conservatives afloat for a while in the minority Parliament, but that tactic reflected the NDP’s instinct for self-preservation, not any warming toward Stephen Harper and his crowd.

The long-gun registry, controversial since its inception under the Liberals, has always been seen by the Harper strategists as a “wedge issue” demarcating their party from the others. Indeed, it has done just that, but the registry has also driven a wedge into the NDP.

I am not enjoying this one bit. But it is a cautionary tale to all of us to forgo the easy partisan advantage and remain focused on the main goal. Getting Harper out of office.

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