[ZTWsquared]

(08-24-2011, 05:55 AM)darkpuppet Wrote: <sarcasm>Not sure if anyone has heard</sarcasm>, but Jack Layton recently passed away.

Now, I normally wouldn't say boo, but it seems that a lot of attention is being given to his recent death.

I accept the fact that he was rather popular (or at least posthumously), but I'm a bit lost on why it's such a big deal -- big enough for a state funeral.

I've been trying to do some reading up, and I can't find any real accomplishments or contributions he's made that's actually changed the country -- or city, or otherwise... I'm not sure if breaking the Bloc's back is really that big of an accomplishment or winning the most seats in history for the NDP (coming in the most second place?)...

am I missing something?

Dying of cancer is a tragedy for anyone and their family, I know this first hand, and a great many other amazing people have died from cancer in sudden, unexpected manners....

But why is it so special for this one instance?

I don't want to sound insensitive, but I seem to not have the empathy for this huge headline...

note: I didn't care about the recent royal wedding either

I think it's more that he seemed to connect at a very basic level with a lot of people in a way that is unusual for politicians; and in terms of his adherence to principle he seemed to be a lot more consistent than most people in public life.

I didn't care much for a lot of his politics (or his wife for that matter), but I did find myself liking him a lot especially throughout this past campaign.

His accomplishments per se probably don't warrant the state funeral - but I don't mind that he's getting one either.