say it ain't so, Joe

Joe Fontana for the leadership of the Liberal party. Doing my birth riding... proud?

You can be excused if you don't know a lot about him. His political career has been extraordinarily undistinguished, considering its longevity. He is probably best remembered as playing a mean set of drums for True Grit - with Jean Chretien on the trombone.

His unbridled passion is unquestionable. Unfortunately, it generally renders him unable to put a sentence together. He sadly doesn't share the cool self-assuredness of Denis Farina's Law and Order character of the same name.

"He said... that support came from housing, labour, and ethno-cultural groups who think he's progressive."

To those that know him, this comes as a bit of a shock. To those that don't:

- he has said that abortion should be limited to "exceptional extenuating circumstances" involving rape or incest (London Free Press, October 12, 1988).
- he opposed same-sex marriage bitterly until he landed a cabinet job, saying such a move would violate "what our country stands for" (separate but equal).
- He was one of a few Liberal MPs that helped the Harper Conservatives narrowly defeat a bill to ban the use of replacement workers in 2005.

But he sure can bang on some drums.