The Duffy Diary and the Panic in the PMO

Lordy. The Duffy trial is just beginning, and I don't think I've ever seen the fanatics in the PMO looking so frightened, or their Great Leader in a such a state of obvious panic.

And it's not just because so many of them are going to have to testify under oath, or the thousands of their secret e-mails that Duffy's lawyer is brandishing like a weapon.

Or the fact that the trial is already reminding Canadians that Stephen Harper bent the rules to make Duffy a Senator...



So he could be his porky fundraiser.

What's also terrifying them is Duffy's Diary. 

Mike Duffy kept a detailed calendar that was part diary, part day-timer that reveal political intrigue and mundane dealings.

It confirms that Duffy was a man in motion, a high-profile personality who crisscrossed the country helping Conservative MPs with local fundraisers and campaigns.

Because it makes it clear that Ol' Duff was a bigger wheel in the Con organization than most people might have imagined. Not just their superstar fundraiser, but also a valued communications adviser, summoned by the PMO to deal with other scandals.

In earlier 2012, the Prime Minister’s Office sought his help to “assist with media on robocalls,” the election controversy over the automated phone calls that misdirected voters away from polling stations.

Summoned to supper with Stephen Harper.

The calendar also records several cocktails and dinners at 24 Sussex, the home of the prime minister, as well as times when Duffy spoke to Harper during caucus meetings.

And since he's already embarrassing Peter MacKay.



Caught taking a ride in a search-and-rescue chopper from a fancy fishing lodge in Newfoundland, senior Tory cabinet minister Peter MacKay suspected he had been set up by a senior aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, evidence at the trial of Mike Duffy reveals.

Who knows what Duffy might say about Great Leader when his time comes to testify?



And as Chris Waddell points out, what must really have him in a panic is what the trial and the scandal are threatening to reveal about HIM

Harper knowingly appointing a senator who probably wasn’t eligible for the job wouldn’t be just an instance of bad judgement — it would sum up his entire approach to politics. When the PM wants something, nothing — not the rules, not decency or common sense — can stand in his way. 

He wanted Mike Duffy in the Senate because he wanted to exploit the Red Chamber’s laughably lax rules to channel the broadcaster’s fame and charisma into fundraising for the Conservative Party of Canada — with the sucker taxpayer covering the tab.

Because it's not pretty...



What the Duffy affair laid bare is how the Harper PMO approaches the game, whether it’s appointing a Senator or ramming a bill through Parliament: If it can’t be demonstrated that what the PM wants to do is strictly, clearly illegal, then it’s good to go.

It makes Boss Harper look more like mad emperor than a Prime Minister. It will damage his image that he's been trying so hard to improve.

And it will almost certainly make more Canadians believe that HE is good to go.

Gosh. Who knew Duffy's Diary would be such a good read?

Even the really scary parts:

Duffy was also painstaking in recording his health, weight and doctor visits, with notations like this one April 27, 2012 that hint at his condition that day, “MD explosive (Garlic cabbage rolls?)”

Because the way this trial is going, with a little luck, and some more garlic cabbage rolls, I wouldn't be surprised if Ol' Duff blows Stephen Harper off his perch...



And takes the whole Con regime down with him.

Isn't that great? This trial is already hurting them.

And the best is still to come...

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