This week in bullshit

While the Commons spends the day debating a Liberal motion calling on the House to defend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms against the attacks of Julian Fantino, an anonymous senior Liberal laments the unilingual nature of the Prime Minister’s rock show and a Conservative backbencher enthuses as follows.

The other day the Liberal leader suggested that Stephen Harper was emitting the scent of sulphur—a smell that is variously associated with rotten eggs, flatulence, natural gas or, apparently, the devil. The editors of the National Post have since published at least four pieces for the purpose of investigating the meaning of this comment—one writer suggesting it is proof the Liberal leader is an elitist snob who will never understand Canadians, one claiming this is proof he is not actually smart, one exploring biblical history, one suggesting this somehow insults the Prime Minister’s wife and wondering what would happen if Mr. Harper said something similar of his political opponents. (Note: this latter bit of outrage is most understandable if you forget any reference Mr. Harper or his backbenchers have made to an “unholy” coalition of opposition parties.) The parliamentary secretary to the Minister of National Defence has since taken to Twitter to wonder if Mr. Ignatieff even believes in the devil, while the comment was made the subject of the first question of a scrum Mr. Ignatieff was giving on Parliament Hill just now on the occasion of the launch of his summer tour.

So Warren says that Alf told him that someone said something to Ed and Roy. And John says that Alf told him that Jean talked to Ed and Roy and Joe. But Alf says he’s only talked to Warren and John and that he only heard about Jean and Ed because Warren told him. Anyway. Hopefully the guys at the West Beverly Blaze will figure it all out soon.

A month after the CBC hired Stephen Harper’s former director of communications and a CBC reporter was breathlessly reported to be the designated traveller for a Conservative MP, the national broadcaster has astutely been identified by the Conservative party as a major force in the liberal media conspiracy and the pollster who is central to this conspiracy has been made to go on the national airwaves and explain to that former director of communications which politicians he’s donated money to in the past. And so the pollster has now formally and publicly apologized for thoughts offered to a Globe and Mail columnist.