In the past, Harper had ridden out other ethical storms over lesser members of his team. The initial instinct of any prime minister would be to try to avoid a loss of the magnitude of the sudden departure of a chief of staff.
But if this episode is not rooted in malevolence on his or his staff’s part, why does Harper not just admit that he, too, is not impervious to human error rather than resort to serial character assassination to fend off opposition queries?
Because that's the way the game is played.
The closest parallel that exists in the real world to politics is junior high recess. The name calling, the silly intrigues, the tantrums and petty neuroses. Well adjusted adults have a hard time living in the political milieu. Making blatant attacks on another person's character directly to their face is, in private life, a career limiting move. Gossip mongering behind their backs is not that uncommon in corporate politics. But even then there is a certain delicacy involved. Politics is not delicate.
So we have the shouting, the lying and the absurd melodrama. Watch Question Period for any length of time and you become amazed that anyone can be that angry for that long. Rarely is it about a serious issue. The typical pol is typically outraged by stuff so petty normal people would just ignore it. Imagine conducting a business, a marriage or a friendship in which you constantly remind the other person of every mistake they've ever made. And then remind them of every mistake their friends and relations has ever made. A few years back the parties were blaming each other for the Chinese Head Tax. A shameful injustice that was repealed long before any of the current MPs were even born.
But hey, it makes for a cheap insult so why not use it?
In this environment the last thing you do is admit you made a mistake. That's blood in the water. The opposition will be using that admission against you in every Question Period from now until Doomsday. The public may, for the briefest of moments, give an honest politician credit. The public, however, is near permanently inattentive. They applaud you one day and forget you the next. By the following week you're back to being considered a lying bastard.
Our politics is amateur kabuki theatre. Any pol brave enough to play the game honestly would get all the blame and none of the gain. Sensibly most of them demure from political martyrdom. We get the politics and the politicians we deserve. A distracted and disengaged electorate gets scheming and juvenile politicians. If you want better politicians, pay attention to politics. Don't allow minor trespasses to go unnoticed. Reward those pols who put principle above party. Support MPs who demonstrate integrity above cheap gimmickry.
Canadian voters are like absentee landlords of their own country. Don't be surprised when the tenants run riot over the place.
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