NDP MP Pat Martin - More Wackiness

[Wetcoaster]

And just to show that all the wackiness does not emanate from the right wing of the political spectrum (e.g. CPC MP Rob Anders)...

Pat Martin has been unusually quiet since the $5 million defamation suit was filed against him by RackNine over the Robocalls affair.

An abject public apology by the NDP's talkative MP, Pat Martin, has failed to fend off a $5 million lawsuit by the president of Edmonton automated calls firm RackNine.

Asked Friday if the lawsuit is going ahead anyway, Matt Meier's lawyer, Justin Matthews of Edmonton, said, "Yes."

In a new court filing, Matthews cites what he calls "exceptionally inflammatory and sensationalistic" defamation and "ongoing malice" by the New Democratic Party and its much-quoted MP from Winnipeg Centre.

Meier's company, RackNine, wants the NDP and Martin to pay $5 million in damages for saying that "RackNine rascals" helped the Conservatives to mislead voters with bogus robocalls in the May 2011 election.

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...pat-martin.html

And Martin took to the interweb thingie pleading for donors to help him out with his legal fees to fight the defamation case..

Martin has launched a website, Patmartindefencefund.ca, to solicit $250,000 in donations to fight the suit. In February, Martin repeatedly attacked Matt Meier and RackNine in the media and on national TV, calling the company “rascals” and “goons,” and accusing it of making “hundreds of thousands of phoney phone calls” that were part of a “massive conspiracy to defraud the electoral system.”

Martin apologized on April 16, admitting that RackNine was a legitimate automated call service and “an innocent intermediary” in any fraudulent robocalls.

“I singled out a private individual, Mr. Matt Meier, along with his business, RackNine Inc., and I wrongfully accused them of being part of a conspiracy to commit electoral fraud,” an unusually contrite Martin said at the time.

“I now know that the statements I made insinuating Mr. Meier’s and RackNine’s participation in an electoral fraud conspiracy were wholly and unequivocally false.”

Martin also offered penance on behalf of the NDP for related statements made on the party website.

http://www.intellige...alls-libel-suit

But it looks like all that leftist fury and angst has been pent up and needed to be released - over the funding of children at risk centre project in Winnipeg and the fact that those dastardly Conservatives chose to not invite him to the announcement ceremony.

You know the same project that Martin had previously attacked. In 2010, Martin described public investment in the centre for at-risk youth as "taxpayer-funded proselytization," according to the Winnipeg Free Press.

And a sampling of Martin's latest tweets on his non-invitation to the funding announcement - note the reference to the CPC as "rat faced whores". :laugh:

NDP MP Pat Martin took to Twitter last night to express his displeasure with a local infrastructure project and the Minister of Public Safety.

First Nations were concerned ‘Youth for Christ’ would try to steal their children’s souls.

Now building is empty…Vic Toews big project.

All the $oney for inner city youth went to USA Youth for Christ. Big building, no benefit. Vic Toews Mr family values. What gives?

All the money for inner city youth went to ‘Youth For Christ’, who are Vic Toews’ donors and buddies, now the bldg is all but empty.

Listen, I would never judge someone who screwed their babysitter for years or knocked up their secretary, so don’t ask me to. Respect…

Not sure the public really knows their Minister of Public Safety who forgot to invite me to announcement in my risding AGAIN

!!! RFW

Next time I’m bringing my own folding chair if the Minister ‘forgets’ to invite me to his spending announcements in my riding. Arrogance

When Vic gave the USA Youth for Christ ALL the money for inner city youth, FN’s said they don’t want people to ‘steal their chldn’s souls’

These are truly bad people.They won their razor thin majority by cheating; Robocalls and who knows what else. American style dirty tricks.

@CTVMercedes

I’m not ‘worked up’ so much as ‘fed up’ with the rat faced whores in the CPC who neglect to invite me to ancemnts in my riding

Look…Given the parliamentary session we’ve just endured, the term ‘rat faced whores’ is using a great deal of restraint…

http://www2.macleans...alated-quickly/

Pat Martin we have missed your complete and utter wackiness. Welcome back.

Oh yeah and just some pro bono (aka free) legal advice... while you have parliamentary privilege and cannot be sued for remarks made in the House of Commons, the same is not true for tweets and other statements made outside the House. It seems you failed to learn that lesson in the RackNine affair.

[aGENT]

Waaaah!

[Common sense]

Wacky Patty strikes again!

[Common sense]

What a bummer...it looks as if Pat Martin has deactivated his Twitter account. Not sure if that's of his own accord, or the NDP's (who very likely will be receiving a call from some lawyers).

[Wetcoaster]

Per PM Harper's Director of Communication:

Andrew MacDougall ‏@PMO_MacDougall

Shorter @PatMartinMP: can't stand group gov't funds to help WPG youth; why didn't u invite me to event with group I can't stand? #cdnpoli

And Pat Martin says over and out to Twitter. As one person noted about his decision:

Chris Tindal ‏@christindal

Pat Martin is leaving Twitter but will stay in the House of Commons because the standards for the latter are lower.

BTW a few short months back Some of you may recall Pat Martin’s noble quest to bring civility to Parliament:

“This is my new policy,” Martin said, holding up a handful of party-coloured buttons he had made reading “Opto Civitas.”

“I choose civility. That’s the new me.”

He had 300 buttons made up in all party colours — including a green one for Green party MP Elizabeth May — and plans to hand them out when the House resumes sitting next week.

So much for civility, eh?

Outspoken NDP MP Pat Martin has signed off Twitter after a profanity-laced tirade on the microblogging site, the latest politician to tweet himself into trouble in full public view.

Martin tweeted out Thursday afternoon that he was done with Twitter.

Martin said he crossed the line when he attacked Public Safety Minister Vic Toews after Toews made a funding announcement in Martin’s riding without inviting the NDP MP to attend. During the string of tweets Wednesday night, Martin took personal aim at Toews, referring to Toews’s messy divorce and also calling the Conservatives “rat faced whores.”

Less than 24 hours later, Martin, who represents Winnipeg-Centre, apologized and closed his account.

“I apologize for my regrettable and inappropriate language yesterday. It seems some people shouldn’t tweet so with this, I sign off.”

Martin deleted his account, along with the offending tweets, after talking with party officials Thursday, although the NDP did not demand that he shut down the account. Martin told party officials he was considering closing the account.

A spokesman for NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair said the comments were “simply inappropriate and unacceptable.

“Mr. Martin agrees and we understand that he has decided to stop using his Twitter account,” Karl Belanger said in an emailed statement.

Toews, in response, posted a statement to his website, chiding Martin for a “rambling tirade” that started when Martin wasn’t invited to a funding announcement in his riding.

“It is news to me that he is suddenly interested in the concerns of his riding. I’ve dealt with many opposition MPs in Winnipeg, including former MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis and current Winnipeg-North MP Kevin Lamoureux, both of whom have contacted my office previously and have spoken with me regarding funding for their ridings – in my six years as the Senior Minister for Manitoba, Mr. Martin has not made the same efforts,” Toews wrote.

“Given that the bulk of the money was allocated by the provincial NDP government, I have to wonder why they also chose not to invite him. Clearly even his own party doesn’t want him at events.”

By closing his account, Martin joins a list of politicians who have left Twitter this year after being active on the social media site, including Conservative Sen. Patrick Brazeau (although he subsequently returned) and fellow NDP MP Charlie Angus. Brazeau went on hiatus in June after arguing with two reporters online, which included him referring to a female reporter in unflattering terms. Angus left Twitter in April, saying he had had enough with the site.

On Thursday, Angus said no one should be surprised that a politician sent out an errant tweet.

Outside of Martin’s rant, Treasury Board President Tony Clement once called a teenager a “Jack ass (sic)” in a direct message on Twitter, while criticizing the student’s grammar. Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae intervened in a debate between young party members with a simple question: “what bull is this?”

“I’ve never seen anything intelligent come (from) a politician on Twitter,” Angus said in an interview. ”It’s Twitter. The Twitterverse is a silly little place.”

Martin then decided to vent his frustration with federal funding flowing to a local Winnipeg group, Youth For Christ, as part of a program to help inner city youth. Martin had initially opposed the $3.2 million in federal cash to help Youth For Christ build a home in Winnipeg, but later supported the spending.

However, Martin let loose on Twitter that the group was “Vic Toews’ donors and buddies” and the building is “all but empty.” Martin also tweeted that First Nations were concerned the group “would try to steal their children’s souls.”

“All the $oney for inner city youth went to USA Youth for Christ. Big building, no benefit. Vic Toews Mr family values. What gives?” Martin tweeted.

It was at that point that Martin turned his attention to Toews’s personal history, including the details of his divorce, which became public fodder earlier this year after being tweeted online by a Liberal staffer. Martin referred to a purported affair Toews had, saying in response to one user that he was “not one to judge (Toews’) personal life.”

He then went on to tweet insults about Toews’s personal life.

When someone suggested that Martin might be heading for another lawsuit with his tweets — a reference to a lawsuit by RackNine over comments Martin made at a press conference about investigations into robocalls on election day 2011. In response, Martin simply tweeted: “f––– you, my friend : ).”

In the statement on his website, Toews said Martin’s tweets contained “blatant mistruths” about Youth For Christ, calling the tweets “both irresponsible and disgraceful.”

“It is beyond comprehension why he would attack an organization for its religious affiliations while claiming that it funnels money out of Canada and has low enrollment in the Winnipeg area. These claims are patently false,” Toews wrote. “The funding for Youth for Christ was allocated through Infrastructure Canada as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan and was meant to allow for the necessary upgrades that would better serve the community.”

Earlier this year, Martin tweeted his frustration with the government limiting debate on the budget by questioning who would put up with this “jackboot sh–.” In November 2011, he called the government’s move to limit debate on bills a “f—ing disgrace.” In February, he called a Conservative MP an asshole.

http://www.canada.com/Martin+leaves+Twitter+after+tirade/7726948/story.html#ixzz2Fd0KDyzx

Maybe time for Martin to seek out professional help for his obvious mental disorders?

[elvis15]

What the hell does he need a defence fund for? "Yes, I already admitted I was wrong so I'll face up to my responsibilities." Very little reason to hand out a $250,000 cheque to someone for that, much less solicit donations to cover it when it was he that put his foot in his own mouth to begin with.

[Wetcoaster]

What the hell does he need a defence fund for? "Yes, I already admitted I was wrong so I'll face up to my responsibilities." Very little reason to hand out a $250,000 cheque to someone for that, much less solicit donations to cover it when it was he that put his foot in his own mouth to begin with.

[elvis15]

Just because you apologize for being a moron and defaming someone does not mean that you escape civil liability. It may go to reducing damages but the delict (civil crime/wrong) remains.

[Common sense]

What the hell does he need a defence fund for? "Yes, I already admitted I was wrong so I'll face up to my responsibilities." Very little reason to hand out a $250,000 cheque to someone for that, much less solicit donations to cover it when it was he that put his foot in his own mouth to begin with.