Not A Good Way To Start Your Week

The result you get by googling "Peter Van Loan" + "The Mob".

Meanwhile, Bourque, who bats about .250 on such things, thinks Housakos

...may be turfed from the Conservative caucus because of lingering ethics issues that have elicited a barrage of questions in the House of Commons to the extent that the Quebec politico himself has called in the Senate ethics officer to probe potential derring-do and unknown nefarious deeds. Senior Tory sources who've read the tea leaves and who spoke to Bourque on condition of anonymity assert "the situation is untenable". Such is the breach of trust within the highest echelons of Team Harper, otherwise preoccupied with ravishing glances at their current poll numbers.

An Interesting Concatenation Of Names

Leo Housakos + Stephen Harper + Tony Accurso

Send More Fake Cheques!

EKOS president Frank Graves said the news of last week was dominated more by the use of Conservative logos on "prop" cheques by MPs at funding announcements than on Liberal attempts to trigger a federal election.

As much as media advice to the Libs--find a narrative (of Tory perfidy) and stick to it--sounds nice, and is to a certain degree useful, it isn't always so easy: sometimes you just have to toss whatever is at hand.

Also, you are subject to the whims of media attention spans: why did the MSM suddenly cue to Tory patronage stories now, for example, when the original story dates to a Susan Delacourt column from July? Were they waiting for somebody to wrap it up for them in a nice flickr presentation? Or did they just get bored with bashing Iggy and move on the next smelly object that attracted their attention, like seagulls picking through garbage in a mall parking lot?

In any case, now that Tory patronage scandals have got their attention, I suggest feasting upon the latest in the L'affair Housakos, in which senator and receiver of Tory largess Leo Housakos makes like Tony Soprano and blames a fellow Conservative for finking him out to the press:

Mr. Housakos blamed his troubles on “somebody in my own caucus,” and said, “I'm going to take care of him soon,” La Presse reported Wednesday.

Quick! Someone drag the Ottawa River!