You Know What? Whatzisname Did a Funny.

I'm a fair, generous pseudonym if ever there was one. So I'm willing to say that this:



Was funny!

(Oh, text? Sure. Here:)

...I look kind of tired, here, because I was at the back of the NOFX tour bus with Fat Mike, late last night, and...it sure was interesting!

That notwithstanding, here's Bart asking to start over in an interview. It's shocking! It's appalling! Is this fish a Prime Minister? Wouldn't you be embarrassed if this fish became Prime Minister?

And, do you think - by spending so much time on it - the Tories are pissing away the few Quebec seats they have left?

I figured he'd weigh in, considering his own boss--who gave a stunning endorsement of Dion last night, by all accounts--had that little attack ad problem in 1993 that ended up costing the OTHER guy the big chair. I don't think he's wrong.

But the other thing it shows is that America has no copyright on evil, vicious gotcha journalism. This "lie to the subject and exploit the lie" kind of scummy gotcha hackery is par for the course for Fox News or a tabloid, but to see one of the oldest, most established national networks play this game is astounding. Mike Duffy really has outed himself as a Rush wannabe, and the rest of his network is little better.

I used to argue that Canadians need a more vibrant liberal netroots because the only progressive party that can form a government can't properly fundraise online. But it's not just that anymore. I think they may need it simply because they need someone to respond to the clear, growing and nauseating conservative bias in their country's mainstream media.

When you've got conservative bloggers writing columns in national newspapers and reporters desperately hunting anti-Liberal material while ignoring any and every Tory miscue that isn't big enough to eclipse the sun, what the hell else are you going to do?

Edit: And for a good laugh, check out the comments thread. It's amazing, the volume of the wingnuts there.

Post-election Edit: Speaking of that conservative bias I mentioned. Notice how every newspaper that isn't the Toronto Star is saying that the Liberals need to move rightward? Not a word about what that would do to the progressive wing of the party, which would see itself cast aside as its party played the Democratic game of triangulation. (It never really worked.) Not a word about the seats that Jack stole away from the Liberals, showing that, yes, the Liberals really do face a threat from the left. Not a word about vote-splitting, and how Harper could simply respond to the shift by moving the goalposts, Republican-style.

(The Liberals DESPERATELY need to read and maybe hire Lakoff.)

Nope, what the Liberals need to do is become another conservative party. After all, it worked so well for Martin.

Oh. Wait.