Same old story

During the election campaign, it was a good chunk of the Libs' membership in Quebec that gave Stephen Harper the organization he needed to win seats. Then David Emerson further showed the interchangeability of Libs and Cons by crossing seamlessly from one Cabinet to the other. Now, several more prominent Libs have shown their willingness to switch to the Cons at the drop of a hat:

Liberal power couple Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz have publicly broken with the Liberal Party line on the Middle East crisis and are turning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper because of his support of Israel...

Mr. Schwartz's wife, Ms. Reisman, says she is leaving the party to support the Conservatives under Stephen Harper.

Mr. Harper has expressed firm support for Israel during the Middle East war. It's not clear whether Mr. Schwartz is also leaving the Liberals for the Conservatives...

A recipient of (an e-mail from Reisman) confirmed that Ms. Reisman, who was the Liberal Party of Canada's policy chairwoman in the 1980s and who worked for Pierre Trudeau in his first election in 1965, had sent the e-mail to several friends, and that she has told others the same thing.

So remind me again - why is it that Canadians are supposed to believe that a party whose members from top to bottom are willing to switch allegiance to the Cons at the slightest inducement or policy statement can do a remotely credible job opposing the Harper agenda? And how much longer will it take for the genuine alternative to get the credit it deserves for actually and consistently opposing the Cons, rather than looking to jump ship at the first opportunity?