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Simon Lono
Liberal Candidate Verbally Attacks Voters and Supports Tory
By Myles Higgins
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Politics makes strange bedfellows and in Newfoundland and Labrador the evidence to back that statement up has never been clearer. This is definitely one for the "Would you Believe" files.
Even though newly minted Liberal party candidate, Simon Lono, is running for a seat in the district of St. John's North he still found time before hitting the campaign trail to cast a vote during the Conservative nomination race in neighboring St. John's East.
As a Liberal candidate Lono has been busy this week defending his decision to take part in the Conservative nomination process and in helping Conservative candidate Ed Buckingham win that party's nomination. The question on many voter's minds is whether Lono voted for the Conservative candidate he thought would best represent the district or the one he felt the Liberal candidate in the riding had the best chance of winning against.
This isn't the first time Lono has exhibited questionable judgment over the past year. In May he offended many Bloggers at the site, Web Talk -- Newfoundland and Labrador, by verbally assaulting people who didn't agree with his point of view.
At the time contributors to the political Blog were discussing a refusal by the Globe and Mail to publish an editorial response by Premier Danny Williams. Williams had written the paper after a column appeared that was very critical of his province. While most people visiting the Blog site thought the Globe should have allowed the Premier to respond, Lono took exception to those expressing that view.
The following is a direct quote from Lono published on the site:
"...This is a snake's nest of hateful venomous neo-nationalist navel-gazing presented by a gang of the NL equivalent of Archie Bunkers who blame the world for their problems and can't figure out why a red-blooded white-skinned proud patriotic NL'er can't get an even break in a cruel and contemptuous world as you sit in your comfy chair, read the Independent, listen to Great Big Sea on the stereo and drink a bottle of Screech in your fisherman's sweater in the big plastic-covered house in the suburbs of Commonwealth Avenue.
It's the same kind of professional NL'er who wears the Pink-White-Green to cocktail parties with your buddies from MUN res - ready to defend the outports but secretly grateful for not living there because it's too far from George Street, the Mall and the LSPU.
Shallow, hollow, empty, negative pseudo-pride with no motivating force of expression other than greedy grasping demands for endless compensation for historical grievance...".
The tirade and seemingly unstable actions of the Liberal's new star candidate were further displayed when, after being confronted about his attack and pressured for an apology, by contributors from across the province and around the world, Lono refused to respond. Instead he later quietly deleted every comment he had posted to that point in time, but not until after several quick fingered visitors, and the Blog moderator (yours truly), had time to make copies of his statement.
After Lono decided to run for the Liberal nomination copies of his comments were sent directly to the leadership of the Liberal party and party leader Gerry Reid. To date there has been no response from the party itself however Simon Lono did respond directly via email with the statement, "You're a fruitloop".
No doubt about it folks, the future of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal party is in good hands.
Myles Higgins is freelance columnist, who lives with his wife and a terminally lazy Terrier named "Molson" in the beautiful town of Portugal Cove - St. Philips, His website can be found at: Web Talk - Newfoundland and Labrador. Myles can be reached at: letters@canadafreepress.com
