Today's News: Sorting it out

I was trying to sort out the David Akin vs Pierre Poilievre contretemps yesterday and I couldn't figure out what happened or who did what.

I should just have waited for Dale Smith's column today:

...the federal government has announced their assistance package for low-income people dealing the effects of high inflation, and Poilievre calls a press conference to react. And the spectacle begins. 

David Akin, one of the reporters present, takes offence that Poilievre insists he won’t take questions (and he hasn’t since he was made leader), and starts shouting questions at him. 

And what does Poilievre do? Call Akin a “Liberal heckler” (because the pool camera can’t see Akin as he’s behind it), and a few hours later, sends out a fundraising appeal to his base that plays victim, that the media is out to get him, and that they’re all protecting Trudeau, and that you need to send him money to take on both Trudeau and the media. 

It’s gross, it undermines institutions, it undermines democracy, but he doesn’t care. It’s his game. And most of the media in this country have no idea how to react to it, and it’s going to be a real problem going forward. 

Here's the background:

Wow. It’s going to be a stupid few years with this bullshit. Great. https://t.co/UiE7ZcXYMU

— David Moscrop (@David_Moscrop) September 13, 2022

Lots of readers/viewers called me about today’s Parliament Hill presser. Many said I was rude and disrespectful to @PierrePoilievre . I agree. I’m sorry for that. We all want politicians to answer questions — but there are better ways of making that point.

— David Akin 🇨🇦 (@davidakin) September 14, 2022

Also, Smith's "hermit crab" analogy is great here:

It’s a hell of a bet. Either the Tories think Poilievre can attract urban and central Cdn voters where Scheer & O’Toole failed, or they’ve given up trying to win them over in favour of going after PPC and non-voters.

Or: this isn’t about winning, but just tribal affirmation.

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦 (@acoyne) September 14, 2022

This is what I keep saying—because we have so throughly bastardized leadership contests, political parties are now hollow shells to be inhabited by a series of hermit crabs. They are little more than brand names being fought over, and little else. https://t.co/9sqkUgPiDP

— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) September 14, 2022

On a side note, the Royals are having their challenges these days:

Reassuring to see that even a King gets embroiled in feuds with the inanimate objects of our culture. https://t.co/9ot1ZXjkg5

— Cathie from Canada 🇨🇦 😷🏳️‍🌈 (@CathieCanada) September 13, 2022

Had a dream I presented King Charles and the queen escort with a BIC pen and he kicked me in the nuts.

— Gary Shteyngart (@Shteyngart) September 14, 2022

Finally, yesterday I saw this tweet and the comments and suggestions that followed:

It's hilarious to me that there are celebrities in their mid-20s who pay small fortunes to have PR consultants run their social media, and meanwhile, there's Henry Winkler and Dan Rather just effortlessly understanding the assignment.

— Charlotte Clymer 🏳️‍⚧️🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) September 13, 2022

So now I have put together a new Twitter List that I call "Tweet Masters" so I won't lose track of the best tweeters on the Internet. You can follow this list if you want: https://twitter.com/i/lists/1569911596562137091?s=20