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[Editor’s note: Steve Burgess is an accredited spin doctor with a PhD in Centrifugal Rhetoric from the University of SASE, situated on the lovely campus of PO Box 7650, Cayman Islands. In this space he dispenses PR advice to politicians, the rich and famous, the troubled and well-heeled, the wealthy and gullible.]
Dear Dr. Steve,
There's been some ugly stuff coming out of Vancouver city council recently. In a video aimed at Mandarin-speaking voters, Coun. Lenny Zhou directed unfounded smears about drug trafficking at some of his fellow councillors. Mayor Ken Sim accepted an apology from Zhou, before it emerged that Sim himself had already made similar claims about Coun. Sean Orr to Chinese-language media. Which Orr has denied.
Is this a preview of things to come, Dr. Steve?
Signed,
Seeking the Straight Dope
Dear Seeking,
There's definitely some bad stuff circulating on Vancouver streets this week. After it emerged that Coun. Zhou had posted a Mandarin-language video accusing other Vancouver council members of both distributing and taking drugs, Mayor Sim accepted his subsequent apology.
Then a report surfaced from the Sing Tao newspaper in which Sim was quoted saying, “Last Christmas, a Vancouver city councillor [apparently identified as Orr] handed out free drugs on the street — this is something our ABC party cannot accept.”
Was Orr dressed as Santa Claus at the time? Did he awake Christmas morning after being visited by the three ghosts of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and call out, “Boy! Bring me the big bag of dope hanging in the window of druggists’ shop, and be quick about it! God stone us, every one!”
Imagine an alternate version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas where instead of repenting, the Grinch pins the whole caper on Cindy Lou Who. In this production, Coun. Zhou is playing the role of Coun. Who. After Zhou apologized for saying more or less the same thing Sim said, the mayor applauded Zhou for “taking responsibility.” In underworld circles, “taking responsibility” is usually referred to in this context as “taking the rap.” “’Tis a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done,” Zhou must have thought, on his way to the guillotine.
After all, every member of the ABC team has their assigned task, whether it's holding the bag, facing the music or carrying the can. A busy mayor has other things to do. Remember, good leaders know how to delegate. Mayor Sim is a man of action. The reaction? That's someone else's department.
There are plenty of dirty tricks in politics. Right now if you were to ask Mayor Sim to identify the dirtiest trick of all, he'd probably reply, “Google Translate.” ABC apparently stands for “Accusations Broadcast in Chinese,” but it's getting so you can't even silo your political smears anymore. Once upon a time you could have accused Coun. Orr of car theft in Tagalog, shooting his dog in German and killing Bambi's mom in Farsi. Now everybody's talking to each other. Who needs that?
“Divide and conquer” is a time-honoured political strategy. With several potential rivals on the left-wing side of the spectrum in this electoral cycle — OneCity, COPE and the Greens are all busy debating which party should carry the progressive banner — Mayor Sim is already calculating that long division will give him the vote totals he's after come this October.
Multiplying his negatives is the last thing Sim needs. But with reckless charges like these — and the slippery little dodge he apparently attempted — that's exactly what he seems to be doing.
You'd have to describe it as dopey. ![[Tyee]](/design-article.thetyee.ca/ui/img/yellowblob.png){kind=small}
Read more: Municipal Politics
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