PM Paul, absentee blogger

When he was merely "ousted Finance Minister" Paul Martin, our new unelected Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin tried to get in touch with us kooky internet kids by starting a weblog, with the incredibly creative title of Paul's Blog.

Wow, I thought at the time. Here's the heir apparent to power in Canada and he's reaching out to all us "little folk." Many other "smart" Canadian weblogs I frequent also thought this would be interesting, much more interesting than similar attempts south of the border (c'mon. Does anybody believe that Gary Hart has a snowball's chance in hell at the U.S. Presidency?) Mr. Martin has REAL power, and done right, a weblog could provide real insight into the process of a new leadership change.

Alas, like most politicians' writings, Paul's Blog is as bland as pablum and as far as new entries go, is deader than acid-wash jeans (outside low rent trailer parks, that is.) It wasn't even that good when it was being updated semi-regularly...It appeared to be vetted by hacks to be devoid of anything opinionated or controversial- in essence those very things that make weblogs an interesting read.

Normally I provide examples to lampoon but even these are so bland: Canadian spirit, pulling together, energy that Canada embodies, yada yada yada - you can read them yourselves but I suggest some STRONG coffee first.

It was hardly timely, as backdated entries were posted en masse at irregular intervals, long after the event described in the entries were over. If I were him, I would've at least employed a "ghost blogger" to ensure that the entries would be posted every day; even if they were boring, at least it would follow the forms of a weblog.

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So it was a failure, so why the hell am I even bothering writing about yet another politician who doesn't "get" the internet?

Via Boing Boing:



The laugh riot is that the lawyers that are conducting this little raid are internet-inept as well...



I, in two minutes, was able to find out who runs the parody site. It's on the about me page. I hope the lawyer got his fee up front.

The parody site is http://paulmartintime.ca/
The actual Paul Martin site is: http://www.paulmartintimes.ca/home/default_e.asp

At this point I don't have a solid opinion of PM Paul Martin: whether he's more of the same or if he actually will chart a different, better course than his predecessor.

If it's true that Liberal Party lawyers are bullying a parody-site, then this is the kind of PR blunder that will drive tons o' hits to the intended target. If they'd left it alone, then, as most specific-target parody sites, paulmartintime.ca would've probably died a very quick, very private death.

I'll have to keep checking to see what happens.