Bud Talkinghorn: Before Davos, Mount Athos -- Martin Still Mad as Hell
Before the mandarins of money in Davos, there was Mount Athos
An article in The National Post (Jan. 29 FP3) recounts the pilgrimages made by the high and mighty to a mountain top retreat in Greece. Since 1444, the monastery atop Mount Athos has received kings and men of economic influence. Even the imfamous Medicis arrived in 1472. All were seeking spiritual guidance, a meaning to life beyond their worldly powers. The 20th Century visitors are a who's-who of influence. Herbert W Bush, Vladimir Putin, Fidel Castro, Prince Philip, Mel Gibson, CEO Peter Armitage, and Charles de Gualle have all attended. The retreat normally last three days. The spartan set-up is the opposite of the five-star treatment meted out at Switzerland's Davos. A monk wakes up his colleagues and the guests at 4 a.m., thence to a five hour prayer meeting, and then to a silent breakfast of wine, vegetables and more prayer. What transpires after that is kept secret, although confession is oftern part of it. The evening meal typically consists of grains and mountain grasses. The names of the thousands of famous visitors is never revealed by the monks.
The Deputy-abbot of Vatopedi, the most famous of the monasteries says he has heard the confessions of numerous Davos attendees, who came to him later. "All of them have great difficulties focusing on what is important. They all come to Vatopedi with a need to understand the difficulties they face in work and their private lives. All. . .come feeling a great emptiness."
Not at his predecessor, Chretien, who is trying to derail the Gomery Commission, but at Stephen Harper. Harper is threatening to bring down the government if Martin doesn't stand behind Justice Gomery. Rather than take the high road, Martin is using a classic deflection manouever called, "Shoot the messenger." I noticed that Jack Layton backs Harper in this demand, but Martin is fearful of attacking the man who props up his increasingly shaky coalition. If truth be told, Martin doesn't want the Commission to keep digging deeper, as witness after witness places the blame of the scandal ever closer to Martin and his lieutenants. An ex-bureaucract, Jean-Marc Bard, claims that everyone in the command chain knew about how the sponsorship deal was being handled. This completely refutes Stephane Dion's testimony that he knew little about it. That claim by an Intergovernmental Minister is as lame as that of Martin, as Finance Minister, being in the dark.
I hope for the Liberals' sake, they don't think that the electorate is going to look benignly on, as the Commission is scuttled by that cr**k Chretien, and is being undefended by Martin. Thinking people have always looked askance at the length of time it took Gomery to even get to the heart of the cabal that ran the scam. To have to start all over again is, to quote Layton, "a bloody outrage". Martin may not be "mad as hell" anymore, but the average Canadian still is. The casual disregard of this anger might just be the equal of Mulroney's "let's roll the dice" comment. That cynicism left two Conservatives standing. Mulroney had artfully slipped out the side door before that apocalyptic party massacre. Martin has no such escape route after only a year as leader.
