Geez… Edith, stop encouraging Meathead

Everybody sing! 1, and a 2 and a 3..."Boy the way Glen Miller played, songs that made the hit parade, guys like us we had it made, those were the days, and you know where you were then, girls were girls and men were men, mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again, didn't need no welfare states, everybody pulled his weight, gee our old Lasalle ran great, Those... were... the... days!"

Did you hear it? Just like “All In The Family” those days have come back. No kidding! CBC has scheduled a Canadian version of the 70’s era show “All in The Family”. The pilot episode will air two evenings. It starts October 1st with the second part on October 2nd. Don’t miss it!
Yes, Archie Bunker, Michael Stivic ‘Meathead’, Gloria Bunker the ‘the Little Girl ‘and Edith Bunker the ‘dingbat’ will all be there. My inside sources tell me that they have been casting that show for nearly three years and have made the selection. The role of Gloria was up-in-the-air because they had a tiff among the cast members whether she should be included. But the arguments from Meathead and a change of heart from ‘the dingbat’ made Archie concede. I am so excited!!

If you remember All in the Family, it was amazing. It was shameless in its political incorrectness. Archie was the power broker of the household. He would come up with some family policy, call a meeting in the living room in front of the TV, and tell everyone where the ‘bears#$% in the buckwheat’ is. We would watch as Gloria, ‘da little goil’ burst in emotions flailing her arms, Meathead seeing an opportunity to berate Archie echoes her sentiment. Archie would tell Gloria to shut up and Meathead would yell at Archie citing freedom of speech under the protection of democracy. “It’s a free country Arch.., you know that!” Sitting in the corner is a confused ‘dingbat’ one hand at her lips, top two teeth exposed with a deer-in-the-headlight look saying, “Who’s going to clean up this mess?”

Yep, they are back, and I will not miss an episode. I love Canada!

Can you see it?
The leadership debate will air Oct. 1st, Stephan Harper is cast as Archie, Michael Stivic is played by Stephane Dion, Gloria Bunker is amply played by Elizabeth May and of course in the corner is Edith Bunker brilliantly played by Jack Layton. What a family it is!

The events of last week was as embarrassing and funny for Canadians as Archie’s family was for Americans. The Conservatives didn’t want May in the debate, because they would marry up with the Liberals only to gang up on Harper. Always holding the balance of power and not knowing what to do with it was Layton supporting May’s exclusion from the debate. The feathers ruffled, and arguments ensued. Edith’s eyes glaze over and after an emotional plea, she sides with meathead and ‘the little girl’.

But rightfully so, the Greens, being a recognized federal party had a right to have their leader participate. All Canadians, whether they like the narrow focus of the Greens or not, knew that it was wrong not to have her there. But the fact that such drama had to occur at the planning stage for CBC is embarrassing to Canadians. The whole thing played out on TV, Radio, and newsprint for all to see. What is going on? What happened to fair play? Why are the people that we hold out as being worthy of our representation acting like a sitcom?

But when it comes to the actual debate it will be a must-see. The concerns of the conservatives and the initial position of the NDP relating to May, I believe, will come true. Anyone that has ever witnessed May speak, knows that she is extremely passionate about the environment to the point that she tends to get emotional. Her emotions can be detrimental to the Greens because she says things that will hurt those candidates running throughout the country. On CHED radio this week they played a sound byte of May referring to Canadians as ‘stupid’. This response was to a question on why there was so little political will for a carbon tax. What is not clear is if she was referring to other politicians thinking Canadians were stupid. There has been some allegations that the sound byte may have been tampered with, but even so, emotions tend to make her use words that can be taken out of context, and as a result, peppers her participation in a debate. We should be all looking forward to interesting moments on CBC.

It will be interesting to see if Harper can deal with three opponents challenging him on his enviromental policies, because with May in the mix, I suspect that the climate of the debate may get off track from time to time. (pun intended)

In any light, the federal election is getting up to speed and by the time the debate is on we will be in full swing. In the end, it really does not matter who wins the debate as long as Archie Bunker goes on to his spin-off. See you all in “Archie Bunker’s Place.”