Thursday, June 10, 2010

On misplaced faith

Bob Hepburn is right to note that Stephen Harper seems to have reached the point of having "grown too arrogant, too uncaring and too obsessed with (his) own image" to avoid a significant popular backlash. But it's worth noting why exactly Harper is reaching that point so quickly, as this looks to be another example of the Cons' insularity leading them to incorrectly assume that public opinion will find their spin to be reasonable.

For a mere ordinary Canadian, the concept of fabricating a fake lake - or spending upwards of a million dollars on backdrops alone - as part of a government's PR strategy in a time of supposed austerity can only reflect an appalling lack of judgment.

But the calculation probably looks entirely different to a group of people trained to operate as the Prime Minister's personal cult: Harper's true believers aren't about to suggest that there's any limit to what the Dear Leader can do to promote himself. And Harper's consistent pattern of shutting down or shutting out any dissenting voices can only exacerbate the gap between what the public will see as acceptable limits on self-promotion, and the lengths the Cons will go to for the greater glory of King Steve.

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