Denied

It is with no small regret that I must inform the readership that I have been denied accreditation to cover the Conservative Party convention in Winnipeg. I received the sad news in an email from one Paul Stickney. To Mr Stickney's credit he avoided the potential embarrassment and awkwardness of falling into the non-gendered name trap and simply left off the Mr or Ms when he wrote me. Beyond that, he offered no more than a limp form letter with no indication of why I was not invited. To be sure, Canadian Cynic is a blog that more than exceeds the requirements stated in their criteria. Here's the note I received:

Lindsay,

Thank you for your interest in obtaining blogging credentials at the 2008 Conservative Party Convention in Winnipeg.

I regret to inform you that the Party will not be granting you blogger accreditation.

We have received numerous submissions from bloggers for accreditation at the convention in November.

In order for the Party to have a variety of political bloggers, we have unfortunately been unable to accept everyone who submits an application.

Thank you.

Paul.

I believe that translates to, we are afraid of you and you are a big meanie. Will someone please get Stockwell a tissue, the poor thing. And who might Paul Stickney be?

Conservative Research Group staffer Paul Stickney was voted 23rd. Mr. Stickney, a relative newcomer, having only been on the Hill for two years, says that he enjoys his research position, adding, "If you have a passion for politics, this is the place to be."

That's right, he's number 23 in The Hill Times listing of the Terrific Twenty-Five Staffer Survey!

Canadian Cynic is widely read, we generate a great deal of original content and we are influential within the blogosphere. We are firmly cemented in the top ten Canadian political blog lists generated monthly by Tory blogger rjjago using Alexa and Google metrics, currently nestled in 8th place.



When it comes to matters of credibility, to be sure, we are combative and often uncivil in our use of language. However, this blog has generated more than 8,000 posts and we have never been forced to apologize or retract a post. For all of the colourful language, we are sticklers for accuracy. If one considers the list generated by rjjago this month, four of the top five blogs, all of which are right wing blogs, are being sued. I can't help but wonder if Mr Stickney felt it necessary to send a pithy little note denying accreditation to Mark Steyn or Ezra Levant. After all, their choice of vulgarity is actionable. It will be very interesting to see just whom is considered worthy of invitation.

On a happier note, I am more than pleased to learn that the eminent Dr. Dawg has received accreditation. We shall be linking to him throughout the convention, come November. He is a worthy choice, being a socialist, an academic and an immigrant. Dawg is one of the blogosphere's more reliably sane voices. As for Dawg's concerns about wardrobe for attending such an august gathering, I'd recommend hip waders.