Dumb and dumber?

They don't make politicians like John Diefenbaker anymore. Last of the great Canadian orators, his one-liners were usually better than Carson's. One of my first "political" memories is watching The Chief scold Pierre Trudeau for using the F-word ('fuddle duddle') in the House of Commons. Here's another of my favourite Diefenbaker anecdotes, as revisited in a recent newspaper column on the history of "Tory turncoats":

Back in 1976, the ultra-rightwing Jack Horner couldn't persuade Tory delegates that he should succeed Robert Stanfield as leader (Horner came fourth in a field of 11 candidates). What did he do? Why, he switched to the Liberals and became Pierre Trudeau's minister of industry. When Horner crossed the floor, that marvellous, vitriolic renegade John Diefenbaker quipped that the IQ in both parties had suddenly risen.

—Peter Worthington, Toronto Sun, May 20, 2005