Partisans and sober second thought

Partisans and sober second thought - The Globe and Mail: "Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, was right to fill nine vacancies in the Senate yesterday, though he should also work harder toward making it into an elected chamber. The Senate is in any case part of the Canadian form of government. The Constitution established, and continues to require, a bicameral Parliament. The Senate should be enabled to function, not left to wither away."

Something has always bothered me about the chamber of sober second thought. Many Liberals in the past have defended keeping it by appointment only to "temper" the decisions made by the government du-jour. As was the case during my youth, the LPC had majorities in both the senate and the house, and all was well.

Now we're very close to a CPC (and allies) majority in the senate, and suddenly the Globe and Mail is pro senate reform. Suddenly they don't consider the thought to be so sober.

In essence, a second thought is only "sober" if it falls into your view of right. So the sober second thought of the senate, is unelected partisans preventing the democratic will of the people.

For a party that ushered Ignatieff into power by subverting their own constitution, it's pretty disturbing to hear that appointment is "sober" democracy.