:::More Notes From Underground:::

Previously in the national contest to be the most embarrassing federal cabinet minister, we saw Stockwell Day use the term spear-chucker. This, in tandem with his global warming comments put him ahead of both Rona Ambrose and Vic Toews in my book.

Now Ambrose has been a bit of a dud with her attempts dealing with the so-called greenhouse gases. For someone who was touted as almost a star in cabinet, her ministerial career does not look promising. As for Toews, he regularly muses about stupid ideas like letting police pick judges and throwing ten year-olds in jail.

Harper himself attempts to respond reasonably to prevent the most egregious embarrassments from continuing (Stock's blog is gone I hear). Now I'm sure he could shunt some of duller ministers in to more obscure portfolios, but I suspect that they may serve a purpose for Harper. If everyone is paying attention to the gong show put on by cabinet, there are less column inches devoted to some of the more suspect policies of his government. Misdirection, just like a magic trick!

Consider the following two items:

Harper's ideological war on the Canadian Wheat Board. There is a small but vocal minority of farmers that oppose the CWB, according to the Star though, this only 1000 out of 85000 farmers. There seems to be no practical reason to dismantle the wheat board, what we have here is a right-wing ideology being installed for its own sake.
Today the Globe & Mail reported on Harper's new fertility oversight body that will make decisions on the future of stem cell research. The composition of this board excludes anyone actually involved in stem-cell research in favour of some Vatican lackeys and others categorically opposed to stem-cell research.

My theory is that Harper probably doesn't mind his cabinet acting a bit foolish in the media. He seems to be using every method outside of cabinet and parliament to pursue his agenda. So while we laugh at Stock or call for his resignation, Harper quietly puts his agenda into place. The Penn & Teller method is what I'd call it.