Thursday, October 13, 2005

The End of the Garish Ms. Parrish?

Guess who won't be returning to Parliament come the next election? Yep, the Garish Ms. Carolyn Parrish, according to the Globe and Mail:

Former Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish is not planning to run for office in the next federal election, a spokesman confirmed Thursday.

"Right now her intentions are not to run," a spokeswoman at Ms. Parrish's Mississauga-Erindale constituency office told globeandmail.com.

She also said Ms. Parrish's office was confirming her decision "without detail."


For pretty much everyone else in Parliament (except, perhaps, for journalists in search of colorful copy), this is not surprising. Ms. Parrish's hysterical views -- on George W. Bush, on Iraq, on Canada's work in Afghanistan -- pretty much guaranteed her perpetual isolation from the Librano caucus.

And without a party infrastructure to back her up, it would have been an uphill struggle to keep her seat regardless of when an election was held. Ms. Parrish has stomped on too many dolls, made too many statements that could be held against her:

"Americans -- those bastards -- I hate them."

"We're sending in armed troops to kill people (in Afghanistan). This is a drastic change in direction. I don't think anybody has consulted with the Canadian public. The first time Canadian soldiers come back in body bags, you just wait for the outcry."


"A coalition of idiots" -- in reference to an American missile proposal.

[Americans are] "out of touch with the rest of the free world" -- in reference to George Bush's re-election.

"Flinging challenges at 'murderers and scumbags' and vowing 'We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people' is truly barbaric" -- from a letter to Defence Minister Bill Graham.

The Garish One has also argued against holding a by-election to replace the late independent MP Chuck Cadman -- on the grounds that a Tory would be the winner.

Will she be missed? Possibly -- by a press corps who could count on her to open her mouth before her brain kicked into gear, resulting in career-wrecking copy. By bloggers in search of a Canadian example of a moonbat in office.

But for the rest of us, the Garish One's 15 minutes of fame ended a long time ago.

Goodbye, Ms. Parrish -- don't let the door hit you on the way out.