--Harper Completely Sidesteps PMO / Senate Scandal - Today marks the beginning of the end of his government ...
(The Harpranos)
Stephen Harper's speech to his Caucus isn't going to work out very well for the Conservatives in the long run.
Here's how the emergency Conservative Caucus meeting went this morning:
1) Harper invited the Parliamentary Press Gallery into the Caucus room for the first part of the meeting.
2) He started the meeting by making a statement. He didn't let Caucus members have a chance to do or say anything on the issue in front of the press.
3) He had his stern face on and lectured the Caucus, threatening anyone who falsely files expense claims from here on.
4) The Caucus applauded ..
5) The Press were not allowed to ask any questions and then left the meeting.
6) Basically the emergency Conservative Caucus meeting was over. Control of the Caucus by the PMO remains resolute and firm.
7) There was no press scrum with Harper after the Caucus meeting.
8) Harper will leave shortly for his trip to Peru.
... all hell breaks loose in social media and perhaps even the MSM! :)
(graphic reproduced with kind permission of Montreal Simon ....)
Dog, I don't think we know what's going on here. Duffy is only tangential to whatever is driving Harper.
Really, Nigel Wright and Benjamin Perrin are going to throw their careers into jeopardy to bail out the Cavendish Cottager? I'm sure they could have sprung a day pass for Karl Heinz Schreiber to give Duffy a cash-stuffed envelope at an airport coffee shop if that's what this is all about.
And try to make some sense of the deal to interfere with the Senate audit report to have it laundered so it "went easy on" Duffy?
No there was real desperation to all of this and Duffy wasn't at the centre of it either. From the outset I've been told that Duffy is just a minor sub-plot. I had trouble buying that. It just sounded like conspiracy talk. Now, however, it seems to be consistent with what we know, what remains in question, and with the bizarre conduct of some very knowledgeable and powerful people.
Harper's comments this morning were telling. He repeated the narrative that he was let down by people in the PMO and some Parliamentarians. He was effectively repeating the claim that he has nothing whatsoever to do with this Duffy business.
The telling thing is that Harper is once again trying to make this all about Duffy. He wants people focused on Friendly Lane, not Sussex Drive.
Posted by
The Mound of Sound |
11:25 am, May 21, 2013
Thanks Buckdog .. excellent & accurate tracking .. alert perspective ! MOS has the blood scent too .. Duffy, Wallin, Wright et al are SMOKE .. who is FIRE ?
Ray Novak lurches .. OK he flaps from the Harper attic to Chief of Staff ? Say what ? This dude has defined invisibility for what? Ten years or more? (right up there with Jenni Byrne)
Mainstream media won't go near this guy .. next to Loreen Harper and the children. . this guy is equally hands off, along with Steve's 'hairdresser' ..
Novak is ultra Reform - Alliance, Fraser School, Anders, Manning, Flanagan up the ying yang .. There is NOTHING this guy does not know .. from Cadman to live/robo calling, FIPA, Boessenkool, Afghanistan torture, In/Out Conviction, F-35's, Contempt of Parliament, abortion, muzzled science..
Harper is about to dive down the magic rabbit hole & try to preserve a frail facade of accomplishment & mystique and a pipeline or two plus a few chinese supertankers. Ray Novak will slap a ten ton manhole cover on the escape hole.. and defy or stonewall all comers.
Posted by
the salamander |
7:38 pm, May 21, 2013