Monday, December 28, 2009

"I" is for Ignatieff

Today I watched CTV's "A Conversation With The Prime Minister" with Lloyd Robertson and Robert Fife.  I was particularly struck at how often Mr. Harper, who also was newsmaker of the year, answered with "We", as in "We are working with ..."  

Then afterward was Craig Oliver's interview with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff (which I can't find the video for right now). What I noticed is that he often answered with "I", as in "I'm getting better", "I'm learning", "I'm resilient".  I couldn't believe how often he he said it compared to Mr. Harper's "We".

Sounds like Iggy is a real team player.

Then in the post interview analysis, CTV's Robert Fife, noted the frequency of Iggy saying "I" a lot as well and how Mr. Ignatieff referred to his policy as "stuff that's out there".

Yep, there is no "I" in "team" but there sure is one in "Ignatieff".

5 comments:

Skinny Dipper said...

I saw Harper's interview on the CBC. No, wait, Harper didn't have an interview on the CBC.

Also, just because Harper likes to go "we we," it doesn't mean that he is a team player. He still is a control freak.

Agent Smith said...

Curious how Iggy cant master the basics of public speaking and leadership by his reluctance to use 'we' if only for public consumption.

Skinny u say 'control freak' i say healthy discipline nicely falling between Liberal headless chicken ninny pack and NDP robotic borg entity group think. But that's just me.

Alberta Girl said...

Hey Skinny...Why would the prime minister want to be interviewed by a network that is continually and consistently trying to denigrate and smear him.

I guess maybe if they were actually 'balanced' and 'doing news better' like they propose they do in their commercials, he might be inclined to do an interview.

You are blinded by the love of all things Iggy on the CBC and have bought into the all hate, all the time they spew against Stephen Harper.

Instead of plunking yourself down in front of the CBC, Skinny, why not try to do some critical thinking and reading - you might be surprised at how you have been brainwashed.

Joe said...

I haven't watched the interview yet so I don't know the context of PM Harper's 'We' usage. However one longtime political observer once commented that you could tell when a minister had been co-opted by the civil service because the minister used 'we' where (s)he once used 'I'.

Brian in Calgary said...

He still is a control freak.

Unlike the great, easy-going, open-minded, tolerant Jack Layton, whose party dumped a Manitoba NDP MP because she dared to vote according to the wishes of her constituents on the issue of same-sex marriage.