GOOD GRIEF, CHARLIE BROWN!

Time for the Loony factions to come out..

TORONTO -- In a meeting room at the Royal York Hotel yesterday, they lined up firing-squad style -- in two rows, one seated, the other standing against a wall behind the first -- as befits the sombre mood created by the prospect of a Stephen Harper Canada.

They included the great actor R. H. Thomson; Canadian Auto Workers union boss Buzz Hargrove; Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians; Bonnie Diamond of the National Association of Women and the Law; street nurse and advocate for the homeless Cathy Crowe; and a bunch of others.

Their collective motto may be fairly characterized as, "Be afraid. Be very afraid."

Their general demeanour is best described as barely contained panic.

CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD

The Globe and Mail: Thinking for yourself or Thinking Twice