Fellow parliamentarians name Ralph Goodale as Canada's 'best' Member of Parliament

Saskatchewan's Ralph Goodale is truly a great Canadian. As a Member of Parliament he brings great honor and integrity to the House of Commons. I am very pleased that Mr. Goodale's fellow Members of Parliament voted him as Canada's 'best' Member of Parliament and that he is on the cover of MacLean's magazine. Ralph Goodale is one M.P. I very much respect and admire.

Prime Minister Harper says Quebec is a nation within Canada

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper surprised the House of Commons on Wednesday by announcing his Conservative Government wants to recognize Quebec as nation within a united Canada.

Prime Minister Harper said the Conservative Government is putting forward a motion to recognize Quebec’s nationhood within Canada in order to supersede a Bloc Quebecois motion that he says would virtually be a vote for separation from the rest of Canada.

MICHAEL McCAFFERTY says: I am proud of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He has demonstated that he has the vision and strong leadership to be an outstanding prime minister.

My wife is from Quebec City and like her I believe Quebec is truly a natuon within Canada.
Quebec is really a very distinct society.

Sad news. Our cat Cody is blind.

Recently we took our cat Cody to the vet -- and we got really sad news.
Cody is blind.

Cody is one of God's special creatures and we love him very much. Cody is 19 years old -- and the vet said that aside from being blind Cody is in excellent shape for a senior cat. We told him we love Cody so much that we will pamper him and take excellent care of him right up until he passes away. The vet said he appreciated how much we love our cat. Yes Cody the cat is very special to me and my family. It was 19 years ago this fall that we took our little Nicholas and Sarah to the Humane Society to pick out a kitten.
I spotted Cody and it was love at first sight. He has always been a very adorable and loving cat. Thank you for letting me share my feelings with you about my wonderful cat Cody who now is blind.

Henry Kissinger says US cannot win in Iraq

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger -- who served during the Vietnam War under Presidents Nixon and Ford -- said Sunday in an interview with the BBC that he did not believe it was realistic for the US to win a victory in Iraq. "If you mean by clear military victory an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control ... I don't believe that is possible," he said ...


Michael McCafferty says: I respect and admire Henry Kissinger -- and the White House should listen to this great statesman.

Prime Minister Harper touts 'frank' foreign policy

— The Conservative government has introduced a gutsier, pull-no-punches style to its dealings on the international stage, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared Sunday, suggesting the Liberals had lacked courage in the past.

MICHAEL McCAFFERTY says: I admire the courage and conviction of Prime Minister Harper. His foreign policy leadership is truly outstanding -- he is standing up for Canada.

NOVEMBER 11 - Canada honors its veterans and remembers its war dead.

MICHAEL McCAFFERTY says:

If you value freedom -- thank a veteran. My dad was a veteran of World War II and was at
D Day in June of 1944. Remembrance Day is a very important day to me.

United States vetoes anti-Israel resolution at United Nations

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States vetoed a UN Security Council draft resolution Saturday that sought to condemn an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and demand Israeli troops pull out of the territory.U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the Arab-backed draft resolution was “biased against Israel and politically motivated.”

MICHAEL McCAFFERTY says: Three cheers for the UnitedStates in standing up for Israel at the United Nations. I am proud that Canada has a 'pro-Israel' Prime Minister.

My prediction on the US Congress was really 'close'

Now that the final count has copme it turns out the Democrats gained 33 new seats in Congress that is just 1 more than the 32 I predicted.

May I respectfully sugest that I sure can guage the pulse of American politics !

Election USA - the real results.

Yesterday Americans voted for change. Real change !

The Democrats at this point in time have won the Senate 51-49. Just as I had predicted.

The Democrats picked up 28 new seats in the House of Representatives -- 4 less than the 32 I predicted. But sure was close. As a result there is now a Democratic majority in Congress.

As far as Governors, I had predicted 8 new Democrats. They picked up 6. Again I was close.

It will be absolutely amazing to see what happens next in American politics. We live in very interesting times. 

ELECTION USA: Michael McCafferty's predictions.

For the past 40 years I have followed American politics with a passion -- and I have read many books about American politics. I am willing to stick my neck out and make some predictions on the US Elections.

I believe there are several forces at work that will make this a 'big' win for the Democrats.

1. The Democrats are really energized. They can taste victory.
2. The high anxiety about the war in Iraq.
3. The deep 'unpopularity' of George W. Bush.
4. The Christian conservative vote is going to stay at home by the thousands.

Put all of that into the mix and here are my predictions:

UNITED STATES SENATE 51 Democrats and 49 Republicans.
The Democrats take the Senate.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. A 32 seat gain for the Democrats to give them a solid majority.

GOVERNORS 8 new Democratic Governors. A majority of state governors will now be Democrats.

So there you have it folks. Check back on Wednesday to see how close I came in my predictions. 

Bob Rae rules out re-opening constitution debate

OTTAWA (CP) — Leadership hopeful Bob Rae is warning Liberals that there is no appetite in the country for constitutional adventures or “abstract debates” over Quebec’s identity.While he wouldn’t go so far as to say the Constitution should never be reopened, Rae made it clear Friday that it wouldn’t happen under his watch.

MICHAEL McCAFFERTY says:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is my prime minister. I am very loyal to him and admire Prime Minister Harper very much.

Having said that I do believe Bob Rae has lots of common sense in saying that he would not reopen the debate on Canada's constitution.

Rae is right -- there is no appetite in Canada for constitutional foolishness.

John Kerry should apologize to US Troops in Iraq

"You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. And if you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

- From a campaign speech by US Senator John Kerry.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A few Democratic candidates joined Republicans Wednesday in pressing John Kerry to apologize for a comment critics said appeared disrespectful of U.S. troops as several Kerry campaign appearances were canceled.

"Sen. Kerry's remarks were poorly worded and just plain stupid," said Montana Senate President Jon Tester, a Democrat trying to unseat GOP Sen. Conrad Burns. "He owes our troops and their families an apology."

MICHAEL McCAFFERTY says:

"The Senator's suggestion that the men and women of the United States military are somehow uneducated is insulting and shameful.

It shows the contempt left wing Democrats have for America's Armed Forces.

At issue is Kerry's comment, to a group of California students on Monday, that people unable to succeed in the U.S. educational system would likely "get stuck in Iraq."