Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word... (en francais)

Unfortunately, it's time for another appearance by bonehead.

Maurice Vellacott is not a rookie MP. (not that that would forgive a statement like this, but would go a little farther in explaining it). I don't believe the Supreme Court and its' Justices are above criticism, but at least make the argument credible.

Mr. Vellacott is not alone though. Reading through some of the opposition responses, Mr. Comartin's struck me as somewhat on the sanctimonious side:

PM downplays MP's attack on judiciary
"NDP justice critic Joe Comartin, who practiced law for 27 years, said Vellacott is "simply following a pattern that we've seen from this Conservative government repeatedly.

"That tendency to be almost paranoid about our judiciary really does permeate the Conservative party. . . It's offensive for anybody who's practiced in the courts, who understands how the courts function."

"Paranoid", "permeate", "pattern" - ooohhh - those scary Conservatives. Vellacott's statements no more reflect the government's views than would any one of Mr. Comartin's comments necessarily automatically reflect the view of the NDP.

It's not like Mr. Comartin would every impugn the credibility of a Superior Court Justice (soon to be a Supreme Court Justice, at that time) and a Senior Minister of the Crown in one sentence:

Dan Cook on the Supreme Court committee review
4:27 p.m. Final Summary Justice Minister Vic Toews: Thanks everyone. Let's Justice Rothstein know that he attended one of his classes thirty-years ago. Rude interruption by NDP member Joe Comartin: suggests Justice Rothstein got Justice Minister Vic Toews through law school.

Of course, for someone who's practiced in the courts and understands things, he must obviously be referring to the extra study help Justice Rothstein offered Mr. Toews.

I'll score that as two boneheads for the price of one.

Criticism is healthy, especially for one so deserving as Mr. Vellacott in this situation. Over the top rhetoric, on the other hand, tends to minimize that which you are trying to achieve.