There is a curse out there that goes "May you live in interesting times." And I think that these are inded interesting times! Just look at what has been happening in the political realm here in Canada. We've had more political leadership swaps and changes in the last year than our country has experienced in the last decade.

Of course, these things have to happen to a party now and again, it is the normal path of political renewal and generation stepping of the leadership, but when it begins to happen in more than one party, or in all three leading political parties in the country, then they begin to approach the status of interesting. That is, approach, but not achieve.

What has caused us to tip over into the realm of interesting has been the trials and tribulations of the new leadership. These pains of prestiege and power have been visited upon the leadership of both the Liberal and the newly minted Conservative Party. What is the source of the pain, well it appears to be from the ghosts of the past, from those who used to hold the throne both of the party and of the nation. Mr. Martin has seen a clear road to re-election fogged over with the mist of scandal and corruption, none of which is of his doing, yet he is being set up to take the fall. It is clear what the source of this pain is, that would be the former leader of the same party, Mr. Cretien, who has been well quoted as wanting to prevent Mr. Martin from ever being Prime Minister.

While Mr. Cretien has failed to stop Mr. Martin from taking the throne, he has been greatly successful at making the throne be as prickly a seat as possible. He may still succeed at preventing his successor from having a legitimate seat on the throne through an election win.

This brings us to the other ghost, Mr. Clark, who might, believe it or not, be the one to put Mr. Martin in residence at 24 Sussex Dr. for the next four years. I could not believe what I heard today, but it is clear that Mr. Who intends on being a somebody, even if it is through working for his old political enemy, as it appears that his new political enemy is the successor to his old party. Mr. Clark wants us all to go out and vote Liberal in the coming national election, it is a great thing to hear coming from a former Prime Minister, and a wonderful endorsement from a political foe.

It would seem that the ghosts of Joe and Jean don't like living with the dead, they like the feeling of power coursing through their veins, and there is nothing more powerful than moving the events of history, even if the real outcome is negative to all that you may have sweat to build in the past. It would seem that it is the feeling and experience of power that matters to these ghosts, er men, not the consequences. The only problem is that they are ghosts, who we know can't really hurt us, but they sure can give us a good fright for a while.