Dear David: Yes, your children are fair game. Deal with it.

Apparently, political turncoat David Emerson is upset that his kids are getting some abuse over the way he betrayed his constituents, to which I can only respond -- Gee, Dave, that's too bad, but it's no one's fault but yours. Let me explain.

Not surprisingly, the residents of Wankerville are shocked -- shocked, I say -- that anyone would be so cruel as to take out their annoyance on Emerson's children. As an example, we have pathological whack job Bill Strong, getting all prissy and sanctimonious on us (emphasis added):

It's just shameful behaviour to attack Emerson's kids. If Liberals are ticked off at Emerson over his defection, they can go after him. He's fair game. He's also a big boy and can handle himself. But dragging his kids into the fray is reprehensible.

Ah, but therein lies the problem because Emerson has made it virtually impossible to "go after him," hasn't he?

First, Emerson never warned anyone about his possible defection so no one had the opportunity to choose their vote based on that. In addition, Emerson has made it abundantly clear that he has no intention of resigning and running again to give the voters a chance to reconsider their votes. And on top of all that, he's also made it clear he has no intention of paying back what his riding association claims he owes them. In short, Emerson has completely insulated himself from the furor of his constituents and refuses in any way to be accountable to the very people who elected him.

Now, if Emerson had the courage to face his riding and deal with the anger, that would be one thing. That would at least mean he was prepared to accept the consequences of his actions, at least to some extent. But that's not what's happening, is it?

In a nutshell, Emerson campaigned under false pretenses, spent all that money, got elected and then walked across the floor, making it clear he has no interest in defending himself or being accountable in any way. In short, he's just told all his constituents to fuck off and that he really doesn't give a shit what they think.

Under the circumstances, then, if Emerson refuses to be accountable in even the smallest way, well, there's a lot of anger and that anger's got to go some place, and if that involves a million-pound shithammer dropping on top of his family members, it's safe to say that Dave has no one to blame but himself.

Dave pissed off all of those people, then walked away from a whole lot of frustration that, at the moment, is just looking for an outlet. And if Dave is too much of a fucking coward to face up to it, he can't possibly complain when those folks go looking for the next best thing.

Sorry, Dave, but if your kids are getting grief, the reason for that grief is no further than your bathroom mirror.