The story of Stephen Harper stating that he chooses to watch news from the United States as opposed to Canada has caught my eye not for how it read but how its been twisted way out of proportion. There seems to be a trend, and it isn’t much different to other recent stories designed to gaffe trap Harper and the Conservative all for the benefit of opposition parties. A previous example was wafergate, a story which went on in the news for way too long in the summer doldrums. There was also the earth shattering revelation in September that Stephen Harper actually wants a majority (here’s a link to the explosive video) designed, I suppose, to whip up old fears that the PM has a devious hidden agenda, in this case to push through evil legislation like some dictator, or in the Canadian sense, rule like majority tyrants Chretien, or Mulroney, or Trudeau, etc.
Here’s a case of a simple story blown way out of proportion. I’ve definitely had some fun at Harper’s expense suggesting he’s a lover of the low grade journalism dished out on American cable, but now the piling on Harper is in full force after having him admit to only watching it.
The reality is, according to Allan Gregg, an “At Issue” panelist on the CBC, the PM made the spur of the moment comment in jest at Gregg’s expense. It was a wise crack, in other words. So what follows is a slew of interpretations not just from people blowing it out of proportion, ie: Bob Rae, but goofballs like Jason Kenny who defend Harper by saying he’s too busy to be so “vainglorious” watching himself on tv. This in essence is what we get on every story churned of Ottawa. Reality obscured by conjecture, and it gives lots of fodder to editorial cartoonists.