Elect Bob Rae in Toronto Centre!

I read with interest Jesse Hirsh's note on how many times our new website was visited by the Privy Council Office. Welcome guys, nice to have your interest.

Mr Harper's "Canada's New Government" has always had a slightly Orwellian feel to it, the central messaging every day, the effort to micro-manage decisions, the media, the cabinet, the provinces, you name it.

The good news is that he will fail at it, looking more and more like Captain Queeg's "where's my strawberries" (the Caine Mutiny with Humphrey Bogart). The top down authoritarian style won't work - the issues are too complex, too many voices are suppressed, too much talent is squished. It's a lousy way to run things.

Parliamentary government became Cabinet government. It has now become One Man Government. He orders public servants to visit political websites, he then orders his political party to put out potted responses, and so it goes. His favoured columnists and bloggers will join the fray.

The answer isn't to become equally authoritarian, it's to make fun of this increasingly bizarre behaviour (the RCMP clearing a hotel lobby of journalists ?), to make sure we all realize what's happening, and to contrast it with an effective, democratic team on the other side.