No mistake

At least one blogger wonders whether Stephane Dion has made a mistake in ruminating publicly about Kosovo independence. But it's worth wondering just what end Dion was pursuing with his remarks - and from what I can tell, they far more sense as a bare political ploy rather than a strong declaration of principle.

After all, having once again retreated from any willingness to oppose the Cons' agenda - and in the face of a new set of (however dishonest) Con attacks, Dion is in obvious need of something to change the current subjects of discussion. And the Libs' efforts at renewal have resulted in remarkably few new ideas, leaving them with no other apparent options to try to take any control over Canada's political agenda.

In that context, it only makes sense that they'd take a ready-made opportunity to go back to what was once their bread and butter: reigniting the Quebec separation debate in hopes that the Libs could regain their position as the federalist side of a two-party battle with the Bloc.

Whether that choice is a responsible one for Canada as a whole - or even likely to succeed for Dion in the longer term - is another story entirely. But I don't think it's an accident that Dion might want to use Kosovo to move back to his more comfortable rhetorical territory and try to remind Canadians of his more-positive image from a decade ago.