Wild Crazy Cabinet Shuffle Extravaganza Lollapolooza

Yea exactly.

I don't know about you, but all this talk of a cabinet shuffle has me completely baffled. I can't sleep at night; I'm worrying about the future of the country; one small step for Canada, one giant leap for Albertakind. Yadda Yadda etc.

So yes, the summer political scene has been quite boring, and this one small piece of news has got everyone trying to talk. Well they have been talking, but they haven't been really saying anything. So far with this pending cabinet shuffle, I've learned that Stephen Harper is a control freak who will anger much of his caucus because he overlooked them for a promotion.

Well, that story's not new. I guess it makes sense though. This summer we had a new Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Spiderman, Fantastic Four, Rush Hour and I'm sure other crap that I forgot, so why not have all the pundits repeat the same old crap about Stephen Harper. I mean a lot of it is true, but I think by now most people know that stuff; hell, Stephen Harper knows it, but the point is right now it hasn't hurt him significantly, yet. Still, it hasn't gained him anything.

From my perspective, Harper's cabinet shuffle and his governing style don't really hurt him. Being as defiant as he is, that then makes him a bit of an outsider even though he's as inside as they get by being the leader of that pack. Regardless, being seen as an outsider is always good because it's quite au courant for the citizenry to loathe the administration. Therefore, to not be seen as part of the administration or the institution is quite major as Mrs. Beckham would say. Yes, I'm still about her.

Anyway, I think they should stop all this shuffle talk because most Canadians won't care how pissed off Diane Ablonczy is that she didn't get her well deserved promotion. Shoot, I'd be surprised if most people could recognize her. All this shuffle talk is the political junky's version of one of those nicotine gums. It's there to fill the void of something you really crave, but once you start consuming it, it tastes bad and it really doesn't give you the same rush. The only really good thing I've seen from all this so far is that Dion, or Dion's communications people, gave a really good line: "I think the prime minister we have thinks he is a president and Mr. Bush is his American Idol."

That's pretty funny, but even that likeness of Stephen Harper to Monsieur Bush bit is more than well worn. That peaked around the time Jean Chretien kept us out of Iraq, aka the good ol' days. Ok fine, it's not that long ago, but if you're a Liberal who's used to winning, those days are barely a memory. I'm talking federally of course.

What do I suggest, well relax. Stop overanalyzing and let things happen. With such an active punditry, it's like politics doesn't happen anymore. Everything is known before it happens, and the effects are predicted before people even have time to digest them. Nothing is organic. No wonder people can't stomach it. Give the public this summer off because there isn't that much good analysis to give anyway, so don't feed them crap. 07 is the summer of the political detox. And a bit of advice for the fall, comment more on what's going on, rather than what should happen. At least that way people can have the chance to form an opinion.

Opiniwho..?