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"...[Kinsella is] a modern-day Machiavelli, the mastermind who ran war rooms for Jean Chretien and Dalton McGuinty... He's the ultimate political insider... [The War Room] has plenty of fascinating insights and is a must-read for political junkies."
- The Toronto Sun
"The top Canadian spin doctor...tells all!"
- The National Post
"Warren Kinsella’s new book is a must-read for anyone interested in political campaigning in Canada. And not just political campaigning.…I wish I’d had the chance to read The War Room before I became Stephen Harper’s campaign manager; it might have saved me from many mistakes and months of painful learning on the job."
- Tom Flanagan, The Literary Review of Canada
"The War Room is a rich, detailed, and substantive primer on how to run a winning war room - warts, pizza boxes, smelly couches and all - from a master war roomer."
- The Hill Times
"Kinsella has crafted a handy little guide for politicos and non-politicos alike. Just keep it away from the kids."
- The Winnipeg Free Press
"... a great read ... full of fascinating stories..."
- John Moore, CFRB
"...I don't want to say [he's a] genius...but there's valuable insights here..."
- John Oakley, AM640
"I just got one copy, but I plan to get more!"
- John Wright, Ipsos, CFRB
"I do recommend [The War Room] to everyone."
- Charles Adler, Adler Online
"He's Canada's James Carville...a must-read...If you really want to win, you need this book!"
- Tommy Schnurmacher, CJAD
"A fascinating book...full of great stories."
- Ken Rockburn, CPAC
 
Friday, May 9, 2008, 10:25 AM
My one-person focus group is my gal; she's smarter and more intuitive than me, even if she was a Tory, long ago. She laughed out loud when I read her this line from the Prime Minister. I was laughing, too. "Mr. Dion and Mr. Duceppe are quite a group of gossipy old busy-bodies." Sorry, fed Lib pals, but that was a killer line. Game, set, match. Let it go, move on.
Friday, May 9, 2008, 08:07 AM
A million years ago, when I was a young fella - when I thought I would be dead before I hit 20, say, and then when I hit 20, highly unlikely to ever reach 30 - I got in fights. My mug, and my hands, still bear little mementos of various youthful stupidities. Between my mouth and my nose, for example, I've still got a nasty-looking scar from the time in Calgary I tangled with a mountain-sized army reservist. (We ended up shaking hands and having a pint together, I dimly recall.) Anyway. All of this is to say that - when me and my gang were still scrappin' - we scrapped with our fists. I'm not saying we weren't stupid - we were - but we generally weren't out to kill each other. These days, as all of us are reminded on a daily basis, kids don't seem to fight so much with their fists anymore. Every once in a while, they actually use guns. And, with much more frequency, they carry and use knives. I don't know about you, but I think that when a kid is apparently stabbed over a cell phone - in his school, where he is supposed to be safe - I think it's time to acknowledge that there has been quite enough chit-chat about this insanity. And if one solution has to be metal detectors at schools, so be it. (The need for a handgun ban, meanwhile, is so self-evident, anyone who debates against it is clinically insane.) Kids and fights go together, unfortunately. It happens. When it happens, however, I will continue to vote for the guy or gal who want to ensure knives are no longer within arm's reach.
DOUBLE VID HIT: DOA AND TIGER ARMY
Friday, May 9, 2008, 07:56 AM
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Thursday, May 8, 2008, 06:40 PM
I'm heading to a celebration of Israel's 60th year, and who do I see in a blue van right behind me? John Tory.
I know this because, if his guy had been tailgating anymore, we would have been doing a little piggyback dance.
Crazy old town, is Toronto.
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LIZ THOMPSON ISSUES A MEGA MEA CULPA
Thursday, May 8, 2008, 04:20 PM
...and therefore shows that she is a classy person. And human, like the rest of us who have messed up (and still regret it very much). Here.
INVITATION TO MARK STEYN TO DEBATE
Thursday, May 8, 2008, 01:33 PM
"...The Public Policy Forum (PPF) is holding a symposium entitled: “Revisiting Canada’s Human Rights Commissions: A Public Symposium.” This half-day event will take place in Ottawa on the morning of Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008. I am writing to determine if you are available and interesting in being a speaker in a panel discussion. If you are available, an official invitation will follow. In the meantime, a draft copy of the agenda and proposal is attached...
As you know, there has recently been a great deal of public discussion concerning the mandate and effectiveness of human rights commissions (HRCs) in Canada. The PPF believes that the current public focus offers an excellent opportunity to examine the public policy role HRCs play in upholding human rights and reducing discrimination in Canadian society.
The Public Policy Forum has gained a reputation as a trusted, neutral facilitator capable of bringing together a wide range of stakeholders to discuss and develop policy. This symposium will feature a spirited and timely discussion about freedom of speech and the role of the state. As important as the free speech debate is, the PPF would also like to address the effectiveness of HRCs in helping to push Canadian society in the direction of greater respect for individual and group human rights. Doing so will require frank and honest debate about their mandates, resources, and relationships to legislative bodies. It will also require consideration of the views from both rights groups and the private sector.
We welcome feedback on our attached proposal, including ideas about speakers and any other topics that need to be examined. Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have regarding this symposium. Thank you for considering this invitation. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience..." ... That's the letter the Public Policy Forum sent to Mark Steyn, inviting him to debate Yours Truly. Twice. Two other respected free speech types have declined, politely. Impolitely, I think, Mark Steyn hasn't responded at all. However, Steyn is - by all accounts - still alive. My readers tell me the great man is still out there in ether, doing what he does best - you know, cheerfully defaming Muslims (whom he calls rapists), Chinese people (whom he calls Chinks), Japanese people (who he calls Japs), Indian people (whom he calls Wogs), and so on. John Daly heard him on the radio this morning, on the Breakingridge Islamophobic Hour. Here's what John wrote in the comments section, herein: "...I listened, this morning, to His Steyness interviewed on the Brekenridge (sic) show. I was almost shocked at his response when the host informed him you were willing to debate him...the very mention of your name reduced him to a pissed of seven year old. He basically said you are a dirty bum and he sees no point in spending one more moment in your company. He's SCARED Warren! Not sure, exactly, what the basis for the fear, but damn sure he is scared. So do not let him off the hook." I won't. Neither will the Public Policy Forum, I am told, until they get an answer. Stay tuned. In the meantime, we can safely regard Mark Steyn as a chickenshit. Because he is. UPDATE: Ezra wants in on the fun. He's got a big post up about me. In it, he goes on and on about how I was named by my good pal Judge Gomery in his report, which Stephen Harper and others have disowned. True, dat. Not mentioned: the time Ezra came to my office at McMillan Binch and offered me House of Commons property in exchange for a political donation (for him). Ez desperately wants to debate, which is understandable - the poor fella has been unemployed for months. I'll debate you right after that little Alberta Law Society matter is cleared up, okay? You know the one. Promise.
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Thursday, May 8, 2008, 08:25 AM
• Memo To Tim Horton’s Communications Staff: (a) jump off a very tall building, because sometimes that is all that communications advisors can do (b) before leaping, explore ways to sell Tim’s back to Canadians. • The Atomic Hug: That’s what the eight-year-old calls what he delivers to me when I leave in the morning, and come home at night. Does a running start, jumps at me for the big squeeze. The he heads off to play what we call the GNDS (cf. Goddamn Nintendo Double Screen). • Paying a lot for gas? We want you to pay more! That, it seems, is the shiny new Liberal Party of Canada platform. Make sense to you? Me neither. • Chicken-stein Update: The Public Policy Forum and I want Mark Steyn to come to a debate about human rights and speech. Some of his winged monkeys, rarely capable of independent thought, even think it would be fun. So what are you afraid of, O Pompous Windbag-o? Surely not me! You'd make short work of me, wouldn't you? • So, um, where was David? He’s got a not-bad op ed, here. Makes some good points. But where was he when we at the OBA – which represents him, and of which he is arguably a member – was making submissions on Bill 107? Hmmm.
PORTRAIT OF MARK STEYN AT NEXT MONTH'S DEBATE
Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 09:01 PM
 C'mon Mark! You're not afraid to debate little old me, are you?
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Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 12:55 PM
I hope she gets well soon, and both of us wish her the very best (my wife knows her from way, way back). The way in which this news is reported, meanwhile, is completely unbecoming of Liz, and completely undeserved for someone in Sandra's position.
HEY THERE, POMPOUS WINDBAG
Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 09:05 PM
I'll debate you. I've got the forum, too. In Ottawa, in June. Proceeds split and going to the litigants on our respective sides. Let's go, tough guy. UPDATE, MORE THAN TWELVE HOURS LATER: Steyn is even linking to this web site, but - curiously - hasn't yet responded to my offer. So I will send him a letter, just so he doesn't miss my modest challenge. He should be able to take me easily, shouldn't he?
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 08:37 PM
It's now just a question of when she, he, accept that. Or will they stubbornly hold on, and tank the Democratic Party's chances in November? I sure hope not. But it sure looks like that's where this thing is headed. As I told the folks who kindly came to see me speak in Ottawa today: the Democratic race is a five-alarm mess, and John McCain has therefore got to be a pretty happy guy. Can the G.O.P. actually re-take the White House when (a) the U.S. is in a massive and enduring recession, and (b) the Republicans created the Iraq quagmire in the first place? Can they win again, in such circumstances? That would be amazing, but the Clintons are - as of tonight - facilitating just that.
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 05:26 PM
Rob Breakenridge has admitted he went "over the line" in linking me to Elmasry. He's deleted that lie. Here's the bottom line, for me - Elmasry, Lemire, Klatt, et al. are all the same. They're haters, and if you defend them, you are well on your way to becoming just like them. Breakenridge's email: "From: Rob Breakenridge [mailto:Rob.Breakenridge@corusent.com]
Sent: May-06-08 2:08 PM
To:
Subject: RE: Warren Kinsella
Fair enough, "BFF" may have been over the line. The phrase has been removed."
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ON MY WAY TO OTTAWA TO GIVE A SPEECH
Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 09:42 AM
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RELIGION AND POLITICS MIXMASTER
Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 06:58 AM
Religion and politics don't mix, and - in this country, at least - they never will. My friend and I were discussing this very subject at a fundraiser for the disabled at Labatt House last night, in fact. But while religion and politics don't mix, the fact is that when you mix them, people sure like to mix it up about the resulting mix-up. ... Legislature Lord's Prayer (Legislature-Lords-Praye)
Source: The Canadian Press
May 6, 2008 3:24
TORONTO - Thousands of people are telling politicians what they think about doing away with the reading of the Lord's Prayer in the Ontario legislature.
Some 57-hundred people have weighed in so far on the issue through the legislature's website, causing it to crash temporarily.
It's now up to an all-party committee to sift through the opinions and talk to other faith groups before making a recommendation.
Premier Dalton McGuinty says he's looking forward to a new system which will reflect the values of all Ontarians.
He says that may mean getting rid of the prayer altogether or rotating it with other readings.
Conservative Leader John Tory says people would probably rather discuss clogged up emergency rooms and the weakening economy than the Lord's Prayer.
(The Canadian Press)
Monday, May 5, 2008, 11:34 AM
He was a regular reader of this web site, he told me once, and a great Liberal in the Trudeau/Chretien tradition. He will be greatly missed.
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