Unquestioned

Yes, Chantal Hebert is right to point out the glaring disconnect between the help the media has offered the Cons, and the constant scorn it's received in return. But there's even more glaring evidence of the Cons' manipulations in how the party is currently being covered:

In an odd quirk, even though Mr. Clement is now Treasury Board president, who is responsible for the secretariat that prepares government spending estimates for Parliamentary approval every year, he cannot answer questions in the House of Commons about the G8 spending because he is no longer Industry minister. Mr. Clement had that position when he and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird (Ottawa West-Nepean, Ont.), Transport minister and responsible for infrastructure spending, approved the riding largesse.

Mr. Clement, who sits right beside Mr. Baird in the Commons, has remained silent over the past two weeks as Mr. Baird, who Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) depends on to field sensitive political questions in the Commons, has answered all of the questions about the Muskoka G8 spending.

The above is from Tim Naumetz, who from my observation generally does great work for the Hill Times.

But for some obscure reason, he's entirely willing to buy the spin that Clement's shift in position renders him unable to answer for his own actions, rather than even slightly questioning the cynical politics behind Clement's silence. And never mind that the questions about the G8 are instead being answered by a minister who's likewise been moved out of the cabinet position which had any relevance to the questions, and whose sole purpose in responding is to "field sensitive questions" regardless of who actually bears responsibility for the underlying issue.

Which looks to signal as much unjustified credulity in the face of blatant deception as the Harper Cons could possibly want - and also make it clear that however much the Cons want to try to demonize the media, their real opposition lies elsewhere.