Paul Calandra and the Little PMO Monsters

Well last night I brought you the sad story of the Con clown Paul Calandra who has been turning Parliament into a freak show, with the help of the Speaker who claims he just can't control him.

And I used this graphic to try to illustrate how Calandras's insane replies to opposition questions had turned Question Period into a madhouse...



So I'm happy to report that to illustrate tonight's story all I had to do was change the bottom right panel...



Because there was the Con clown today, in the Commons, apologizing to Tom Mulcair, and crying like a baby. 

A Conservative MP broke down in tears Friday as he apologized for his non-answers to opposition questions earlier in the week, responses that stirred ridicule and prompted a Speaker’s warning about the level of parliamentary debate.

And I have to admit after watching that tape about ten times, especially this version with the sad violin music....



I too had tears flowing down my cheeks, and was gasping for breath, after laughing so long and so loudly.

It was THAT good... 



In fact, I think I'm going to go out on a limb and say I believe it was Paulie's BEST performance, to date. A mixture of pathos, false modesty, and humiliation, and almost as moving as the story about his daughter's lemonade stand.

In response to a question about Senate expenses,

And dare I say it? 

Even BETTER than the one delivered by Harper's former Parliamentary Secretary Dean Del Mastro....



Which is tribute indeed.

Especially since as you know, the Deaner is now explaining the "Why? Why?" to a judge.

But of course, this was the line I enjoyed the most today.

“Despite what people think about kids in short pants, this was my response and I take full responsibility. I apologize to the leader of the opposition, to you, Mr. Speaker, and to all my colleagues.”

Because it tells me all I need to know about Calandra, and the kids in short pants, the young fanatics who are running the PMO. 

Harper's chosen few...



Or as I like to call them, his little monsters.

Who as EVERYBODY knows dictate every word, every Con, delivers during Question Period.

And despite what Calandra said, this time was apparently no different. 

CBC News has learned that Calandra was put up to the responses by a senior staffer in the Prime Minister's Office. 

Sources tell CBC News that Calandra was handed material by Alykhan Velshi, director of issues management in the PMO, during the Conservatives' daily preparation for question period and was told to use it in his answer no matter what question was asked in the House.

It WAS Alykhan Velshi, the Con operative hatched in the American Enterprise Institute, nurtured by Jason Kenney, and raised to maturity in the rarefied air of Ethical Oil...



It WAS one of the kids in short pants. 

Who are such ruthless fanatics that they would send out Calandra with his prepared lines, then when the shit hit the fan send him out to humiliate himself, and LIE about their involvement, like a good soldier or a good stooge. 

Only to humiliate himself further. 

But not being as smart as they think they are, didn't realize they might set off a caucus revolt.

Many Conservative MPs were upset when they heard Calandra give his answers in the House. At least one wrote an angry email to the PMO saying it was wrong and had to stop.

And are now being attacked so ferociously that even Dimitri Soudas has felt the need to come out and defend them...



Which tells you it's getting UGLY.

And of course all of this is the LAST thing Stephen Harper needs at a time when his election campaign is gearing up to full throttle.

And is leading to more rumours that he is planning his early departure.

Bourque has learned that Prime Minister Stephen Harper may be planning his imminent exit strategy from the national political stage.

In recent days, a number of key Conservatives in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, and Vancouver have confided to Bourque they envision a late-winter announcement that the PM will step down, triggering a spring leadership convention to choose his successor.

Which may or may not be true.

But what is certain is that the Con regime is starting to unravel. It has never looked more desperate, or more vulnerable.

The kids in the short pants have never looked so incompetent or out of control.

And since Stephen Harper created those little monsters.

As I warned from the day they were appointed.

Don't be surprised if they take him down with them...



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