Ever since last May's federal election that drove the Bloc out of Ottawa, die-hard sovereigntists held onto the belief that the meltdown was a hiccup, an obstacle like so many others, with the project of Quebec independence remaining intact and inviolate.
Alas for them, circumstances dictate an alternate reality, one where Quebecers have given up on their forty year flirtation with sovereignty, where even those still willing to support the independence option admit that the project is no longer doable.
And so quite simply, the CAQ of Francois Legault is rising to replace the PQ as the natural alternative to the Quebec Liberal Party. It's a party that preaches nationalism without any threat of an actual referendum, something that is striking a chord with many Quebecers who wish to maintain a strong nationalistic front against Ottawa without any of the painful drama promised by hard-liner sovereigntists.
And so, many separatists, including defecting members of the PQ caucus, are moving over to the CAQ, something that Premier Charest is trying to exploit as an issue, calling the CAQ a separatist party in sheep's clothing.
The truth is rather the opposite, those separatists moving over to the CAQ are going to the safest place where they can go to give up their sovereigntist dream without sacrificing their pride.
In order to assuage the guilty consciences of these fallen sovereigntists, Mr. Legault has said that in the future, perhaps ten years, they might review the independence option, a convenient lie meant to make the painful transition more palatable.
What remains are the hard-liners in the PQ and their supporters who live in a fantasy world where they believe, that they can turn things around by pushing the sovereignty and referendum option even harder.
Its like a store raising its prices, in reaction to a market survey that indicates that consumers have rejected the company's products because they are already too expensive. Talk about disconnect...
The reality is that the PQ is out of leaders and out of options.
As the end approaches, we are treated to a frightening view of the real personality of the members of the Parti Quebecois, the selfish, cruel and incompetent fools who are clawing and fighting each other like pigs in a trough.
The opening salvo in the PQ war of independence was fired by the betrayers, the old guard who quit the party to sit as independents because the party leader couldn't produce a successful independence strategy, where quite frankly, none exists.
Led by the ugly duo of Louise Beaudoin and Louise Lapointe (Jacques Parizeau's wife) and supported by the very simple Pierre Curzi, the betrayal triggered an undisciplined food fight, with Marois served up as the main course.
Then, more betrayers and more defectors, tearful interviews and hand-wringing, the birth of the CAQ, all leading to the inevitable conclusion that the Parti Quebecois is circling the drain.
But reality is hard to accept.
Everybody within and everyone outside the party have suggestions as to how to right the sinking ship, the pages of vigile.net chock full of ideas that smack of flightful fantasy or desperation extraordinaire.
The final straw for the party is the now failed Duceppe gambit.
This desperate belief that if only Gilles Duceppe would take over from Marois, perhaps all could be saved, with party faithfuls telling each other that we federalsits would be quaking in our boots at the threat of so formidable an opponent.
This is of course, that very same Gilles Duceppe who just eight months ago led the separatists to their greatest electoral debacle ever. What galling fantasy to believe we'd be afraid.
And so in the fine tradition of the PQ, the knives were unsheathed by Marois supporters and Duceppe was gutted like a fish by a monger. Et tu, Pauline?
At least this time it was the hardliners feeling the hard edge of the blade.
The political tragicomedy continues to run unchecked with today's chapter, a blueprint published in the form of an open letter by the insufferable, Bernard Landry, the ex leader of the PQ.
Here he provides us with his valuable insight, a road map to lead Quebec out of the desert and on towards the promised land.
The solution- a quick referendum. Arghh...
The overwhelming reacting of Quebecers to his open letter? -Indifference....
While hardline PQers and their diminishing band of supporters piss and moan in public, their audience is gone.
The PQ isn't destroyed over infighting as we are led to believe.
The PQ is destroyed because sovereignty is no longer relevant.
It's over...
Ladies and gentlemen of the sovereignty movement, turn out the lights on your way out and please, don't let the door hit you in the ass as you leave.
