The sewage which occupies parliament

I'll admit to a bit of a prejudicial dislike for most politicians, whatever their ilk. Falling somewhere between a grade nine biology teacher I would have liked to have seen hit by a bus and a traveling snake-oil salesman, I have rarely encountered a politician I felt deserved any real respect.

Yesterday's brawl in Canada's parliament simply underscored the reasons for those feelings.

All that was missing was fisticuffs, or maybe a member of Parliament dropping his trousers and mooning his opponents. The House of Commons and its environs devolved into a scene of schoolyard taunts, shrill denunciations, partisan knee-capping, and procedural constipation Wednesday as the spring session ground toward its summer recess.

And one particular member displayed, without the aid of loco-weed, that he is unfit to hold the position of Deputy Speaker of the House.

Deputy speaker Royal Galipeau - a Conservative whose parliamentary position makes him responsible for keeping the peace - charged over to Liberal MP David McGuinty in the middle of question period and launched a finger-wagging tirade.

And it just went on from there, doing little to enhance the public perception of politicians beyond something that simply increases the fecal coliform count of the wading pool which used to be the House of Commons.

And the Conservatives, unable to accept their minority position, led the way.

You can read more about it here, here, here and here. And... here.

I've never agreed with the way Oliver Cromwell dealt with the British parliament, but if yesterday's behaviour was any indication of where Canada's parliament is going, I can understand why he did it.