Tuesday Morning Allegory

Well, if Michael Enright can create a fable about the political escapades, I figure I can write my own fan piece. With apologies to the Sunday Edition:

I lost a girlfriend a couple of years ago. She and I had been very close companions for quite some time, sharing laughs and good times and, as girls are wont to do, some of our deepest thoughts and fears and hopes. I trusted her with my secrets and she shared hers with me.

Over time, there were small things about my friend that annoyed and irritated me, but for a long time, they were not annoying or irritating enough to threaten the friendship. However, the irritations and annoyances eventually began to pile up.

Gradually, as she departed my home or I left hers, I became less and less eager to make our next plans. I still considered her a good friend, and always included her on my dinner party list, but there was a subtle shift in what had once been terra firma. Then, The Incident took place. It wasn't a huge thing; I didn't catch her slagging me to a mutual friend, stealing my jewels or making a pass at Sweetie, but The Incident sure was a big thing when added to the pile of smaller troubles that had been accumulating.

Suddenly, I found myself asking whether my girlfriend was really a friend at all. Each memory of a good time together suddenly seemed to come with a, 'but..' and a secondary, less pleasant memory attached. Sure, we have fun when I invite her to dinner, but why is the meal always at my place, with me doing the cooking and cleanup? Sure, we have a lot of laughs at lunch, but why is it I who has to make the call to plan it? There was that joke, told at my expense, a cutting remark,'You look almost... cool in that outfit,' and I feeling less than great about myself and my choice of pals. As my Sweetheart put it, my friend started making more withdrawals than deposits in our mutual emotional bank account.

Little things all seem too small to mention but when the One Big Thing happens, the friendship, already faltering, can not be saved. Or can it?

I wonder whether the massive collection of not-so-little things are now enough for to be a final straw for fans of Rob Ford. I wonder whether the Senate stuff will be a flag on the top of the steaming pile of control freakishness in the PMO.

It will be very fun to watch and see whether Ford Nation will come apart, and whether 'The Conservative Base' will be compromised after seven years in power, which is, if you follow politics, usually about when the rot sets in.