When "Me" Can Be Better Than "We"

It's kinda funny to a guy like me when I see political hacks like Howard Dean try to establish a dichotomy between his party and his opponents, particularly when that dichotomy can very easily be manipulated and turned against you. Thus, when he established his Democrats and by implication Canada's Liberals as the "parties of we" to stand in steadfast opposition to the deleterious policies of the "parties of me," the Republicans and that gosh-darned Stephen Harper's Conservatives, I couldn't help but think of some ways in which "me" can be more productive than "we." It is, of course, not an absolute standard, as I do like the idiom that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one," but when we're talking politics, creating extreme poles and dichotomies on which people rest because of their particular party association is a dividing and potentially dangerous maneuver.

"Together, we Liberals passed the Kyoto Accord and did nothing about it for almost a full decade, and then, when we lost power because we ran the most inept and pathetic election campaign in a generation, we decided it was time we should at least say something about it."

"For an environmentally-conscious person like me, riding the bus is my small contribution to stemming emissions."

"We abandoned our ally on a crucial global security initiative after we extracted all sorts of concessions and pledges and indicated that we would participate in it."

"Me, I'm just one guy that supports what Canada is doing to fight terrorism, and that's why I send Christmas cards off to the troops and why I support my Government's policy."

"We were in power for 12 years and we promised to bring in a national daycare program. We know what's best for Canada's children, and let's face it, we know that when you do it because you're all about "me, me, me" the children turn out to be criminals."

"The Government of Canada, under Stephen Harper, has entrusted me to raise my kid responsibly, and is giving me a modest contribution to help that effort. One hundred bucks a month isn't a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but I tell ya, it'll help me out with stuff like food and school supplies for the little fella."

On a closing note, like Riley said, there was nothing in Dean's speech that was so emotive and inspirational that it couldn't have been said by any number of Canadian luminaries.