Oh well. I guess that’s to be expected…probably off to a rest home to yell at seniors, or maybe over to Stornoway so he can leave a flaming bag of shit on Iggy’s door.   I’m sure of one thing though, whatever jagoff thing he’s doing, he’s doing it well.  As rogues go, he’s no amateur. He is all pro rogue (cue rim shot).

But after writing my letter to Steve, I feel so…EXERCISED now!  I mean,  reaching out to a major political figure like that has put me in a frothy-mouthed, political frenzy.  The only thing is…I’m completely out of the loop as to what’s going on.  A combination of  low-level contempt for politicians and intense self-absorption has left me somewhat ill-informed on the issues affecting my community.  By “somewhat ill-informed” I mean “utterly clueless.”

So I’ve got to put Project MODEL CITIZEN into play.

I’m going to do like Steve is and get myself re-calibrated. But instead of ignoring the rest of the democratically-elected,  I’m going to MEET with my political representatives.

Federally, that would be Olivia Chow (married to an insurance salesman that looks a lot like NDP leader Jack Layton).  Provincially, I’ll be getting up in-the-grille of Rosario Marchese, a 20 year veteran of Ontario politics who probably knows where lots of bodies are buried.  And then there’s  my City Councillor, Adam Vaughan, son of the late Colin Vaughan, a political titan in this town.

If they’re willing, I will take measure of their character  and  ask them about the biggest issues affecting my community, plus what (if anything) I might do to help out.   I will forewarn them that in the event an election is called at any level of government in the next calendar year, (unlikely for Marchese, possible for Chow, sure thing for Vaughan), I might consider running against them. And if I do, I will be coming at them with BOTH HANDS!  Unless they can talk me out of it…

I admit, this probably seems like the eating-your-peas part of being a Better Man; it’s not sexy, but it is important. I do believe revolutionaries are sexy and get all the ladies because they stir passions for change, but implementing that change is a long, labour-intensive process that involves hours of frustration and compromise which could result in something other than what you’d hoped.  Kinda like real life.

For years I’ve been bitching about those people whose ignorance of politics is so deep they think Parliament is  a funk band.  At the same time I’ve gleefully mocked those geekwads who LOVE politics.  Any way you look at it I’m a hypocrite and a flake, qualities that I suspect you’re unlikely to find in a Better Man.

So here’s where it begins.   Project MODEL CITIZEN is a GO! If nothing else, maybe I’ll get a free cup of coffee and some funny things to tell you about afterwards.