Pubdate: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC) Copyright: 2008, BC Newspaper Group Contact: http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948 Author: Mitch Wright Note: Mitch Wright is managing editor of the Nanaimo News Bulletin. A provincial and national award-winning reporter and editor, he writes about Nanaimo and provincial issues every Saturday. MEDIA FANS FLAMES OF CONTROVERSY NDP now stands for Naked, Dumb Potheads. I had to shake my head last week watching news coverage of the 'revelations' over the past indiscretions of now-former federal NDP candidates Julian West and Dana Larsen. Most media treated word that Larsen was an avid pot-head who loudly advocated for marijuana legalization and that West had dropped trow in front of a bunch of teenagers some 12 years ago like it was startling new information. But the fact is it's old news in both cases. Larsen never made a secret of his pot-head past (and present), even distributing a marijuana advocacy newsletter (on hemp paper, no doubt) in recent weeks. He hosted and broadcast a weekly Internet segment specifically about weed - growing, smoking, and so forth. West's past, meanwhile, made major headlines in 1996, shortly after the naked truth was exposed about his embarrassing (yes, I meant to use that word) romp at a teenage environmental awareness camp. The incident made news again several times since, primarily because he continued to put himself (though not quite as much of himself, thankfully) in the public eye as a member and candidate with the Green Party (which he was at the time of the incident), and as a vocal advocate for electoral reform. Certainly, in both cases, the information must be made public again, considering the men in question are asking for the public's trust in running for federal office. Voters need to know the past history, both the good and the not-so-good, of their candidates if they're to make an informed decision at the ballot box. But the story really shouldn't have been front-page news yet again. As usual, the TV stations were the worst offenders, presenting the information as if they'd had an investigative reporter on the case for weeks digging up the dirt. In reality, all anyone had to do was punch the name Julian West (who is a Vancouver Island University mathematics professor in Nanaimo) into any Internet search engine and the details would have popped up. Of course, put that search in now and you get page after page after page of salacious coverage of this 'new' scandal. Where's the coverage of how many of our 308 incumbent representatives have criminal records? Drunk driving arrests? Abuse charges? We've already sent a rogue's gallery of these characters to Ottawa. Adding West and Larsen to the mix would just spice up the parliamentary party with some skin and a spliff, especially if committee meetings ran up against 4:20... But seriously, the fact that either actually earned their respective nominations raises questions about the NDP's obviously lax candidate-screening process, but also about the real intentions of the individuals themselves. Did either actually think they could make it through a federal election campaign without their skeletons tumbling out of the closet in a noisy clatter? Especially considering both secrets were already so poorly hidden? And given that both former candidate's pasts were more or less already out in the open, I have to wonder what they were trying to accomplish. Call me a conspiracy theorist (you certainly wouldn't be the first, nor likely the last), but I'd say they're both trying to discredit the NDP - and perhaps by default, send those iffy voters over to the Greens or the Liberals. Larsen's weedy ways are far more aligned with the Green's earthy approach, while in West's case (remember, he was a longtime Green supporter and candidate), he waited just long enough to resign his candidacy so that there will be no NDP to vote for in Saanich-Gulf Island - his name will remain on the ballot. By the way, Saanich-Gulf Islands is the riding of choice for candidates with a penchant for public nudity. Briony Penn, also a former Green now running under the Liberal banner, wore nothing but her pride as Lady Godiva during a 2001 horseback ride through Vancouver to protest Saltspring Island logging. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin