They harbour them. Dubya being a prime example.

Dubya was not a post grad doctoral student though or a faculty member... Power money and influence got Dubya in, but thats not generally how they go about hiring the academic directors, some ability and international standing is usually a prerequisite

You are, of course, completely correct, I have no actual evidence that Iggy bullied anyone. I completey retract my previous statement, it is, of course, complete hyberbole to suggest that academics do so.

I would submit that it would be extremely unusal for an academic not to bully his/her students. I doubt that anyone that has been to university anywhere in the world would disagree with that particular statement.

The electorate is entitled to its opinion, just as you are entitled to your opinion. It would appear that the polls are suggesting that the majority of the electorate doesn't agree with you in that they suggest more support for both Harper and Layton than for Iggy.

As you know, I do not intend to vote and so have no particular horse in this race.

Evidence please.

Are you also suggesting that power and influence got Dubya his qualification as well?

He went on the alumni offspring program, did he not?

Maybe, I have no idea. I am not one to pore over programs offered by academic institutions. I do have to admit to any such program being offered by such an institution.

Would you like me to go into the draft dodging too while Im at it.

Seing as he's not a candidate in the current election it seems rather a waste of time to me.


Dont know what University you went to, but in my 7+ years at Leeds I dont recall being bullied. Unless being forced to retake and actually pass my subsidiary Electrical Engineering course counts, but I figured that passing the exams was a pre requisite to getting a degree so I didnt make a fuss about it.

With the full benefit of hindsite forcing students to do Electrical Engineering is a flagrant abuse of their human rights, but its all water under the bridge now I guess.

We'll see where Obama's children end up. I suspect they won't be bus drivers somehow. Same goes for Gordon Brown's children etc

I guess it depends upon how one defines bullying. As I have indicated before, I can recall one's teachers making replies such as "Sorry, you are Lord who?" when one had the temerity to suggest that their interpretation of a case was wrong.

Anyway, I think this thread has, due to me, become sidetracked somewhat.

I wonder whether Iggy will leave Canada if he leaves politics.

So what, Im not condemning Dubya for going to Harvard,thats not the point, Undergraduate life isnt the point here.

The point is that regardless of their parents, if they are not smart and respected in their fields of study they are unlikely to end up director of a Harvard think tank either...

IF he leaves Canadian politics it wouldnt suprise me. Lets face it, not too many people choose Canada for an academic career if thats what he goes back to.

I still think its a reasonably large IF though. Maybe after Monday if they really take a beating things will look different, but I dont seen anyone as standing out as a more acceptable leader of the liberals, not to the point that they would write of their investment in him and push him under the bus? The things working against him from the get go I think were a perceived lack of commitment to Canada and a lack of campaign experience. Now he has the latter, and by sticking around he would demonstrate the former. Harper didnt win on his first go, and still hasnt won a majority.

I wouldn't call it bullying exactly but certainly some academics do suffer from big fish small pond syndrome and delusions of self importance. Most of the time it's harmless eccentricity more than anything.

He might be deluded enough to think he could do better next time around but I suspect his party will see to it that he doesn't get to find out. Then he will return to the "our country" of the attack ads.

That didn't help. But read the responses between your post and this one and you can see that it really doesn't help to be seen as brainy.

Seven years? How many times did you fail that course FFS?

Post grad They never quite bullied me into writing up the thesis though...