J--'s Trivia 'n' Tidbits ... Part 5

"Did you know that they consider Sir John A Macdonald the greatest Prime Minister that Canada has ever had?" J-- asked as he approached the table, a coffee in one hand, and a paper back book in the other.

"That so?" answered one of the two men sitting there.

"Absolutely," replied J--, as he sat down,

"Not Mulroney?" asked the second regular at the table.

J-- chuckled, "No, I don't think Brian even ranks on the best of list, but that's just my opinion."

"So, how do they determine that Sir John A was our greatest Prime Minister?" asked the first regular, "wasn't he a big drunk?

"Maybe that's why he was such a good Prime Minister," offered the second regular, "Didn't they say that they'd rather have Sir John A drunk, then any of his enemies sober?"

"I've heard that," said J--, "but what I like about him is the stories of his rapier wit."

"That so," said the first regular, "a politician with a rapier wit. Next you'll be waxing eloquently about Pierre and his reign."

"I wouldn't go THAT far," laughed J--, "but you have to admit that both of them had a certain panache when it came to holding office."

"Fuddle Duddle," commented the second regular, laughing.

"Exactly," said J--, sipping his coffee before continuing, "That's the kind of panache I'm talking about. Apparently, one time some heckler yelled at Sir John A, 'I wouldn't vote for you if you were the Angel Gabriel' and Sir John A replied, 'you're absolutely right sir, because if I was, you wouldn't be in my constituency.' "

The two regulars stared at J-- in dumb silence.

"It's brilliant," said J-- enthusiastically, "absolutely brilliant. It's like the time Sir John A was hung over from a long night with the demon gin, and he was throwing up before making a big speech, his opponent said 'why would you vote for this man? He's an embarassment, just look at him,' and Sir John A retorted with an apology saying, 'I'm sorry, but it is just whenever I hear a Grit open his mouth and start to speak I just want to throw up ...' You NEVER hear that kind of rapier wit in a politician any more."

"Um, J--," one of the regulars said softly, "I think you might want to cut back on the coffee intake, you're getting a little strange lately."

"Yeah," agreed the second, "you know way too much abou Sir John A for your own good."

J-- shaking his head laughed.