(Chuckle!...snort!) Doug, you are my favorite conservative, cos you have a good sense of humor....

I think this little brouhaha is damned funny. Chretien, of course, is falling all over himself trying to repair the "damage", and making a big deal out of what is actually the sort of thing that happens all the time off camera. He doesn't want to sack a possibly useful employee, but he doesn't want to look anti-Bush either. Ah, the glorious hypocrisies and shameless ass-covering we find in politics!

You should hear what they say when the microphones are turned off! Rick could tell a few tales about that...but he is far too judicious to do so...

Still lookin' for gigs south of the border, eh, Rick? :-)

I jest. Hey, man, there was "suspected drug activity" just about EVERYWHERE 30 years ago. Illegal drugs, I mean. As for legal ones, well, they are a complete epidemic at this point. The War on Drugs is probably the most unsuccessful war of all time, except maybe for Saddam's attempt to take Kuwait and hold it.

So, Doug, you want me to present Francois Ducros with a Mudcat T-shirt? Well...I would...but I'm busy right now trying to set up a discreet weekend with Diana Rigg. Oops! Wasn't sposed to talk about that... Okay, I didn't say that...I meant...um...I have to "feed the pigs" is what I meant to say. Yeah, that's it.

But I think you're right. She does deserve at least a T-shirt (Ducros, I mean. Diana Rigg deserves anything she bloody well wants!). I'll think about how I can fit it into my schedule.

I'm going on a trip to Trinidad shortly, for 3 weeks, so you won't have me to kick the political Right around any more for awhile...

But I should be back by mid-December if all goes as expected, so hang in there... :-)

- LH