Harper and the NewsHawks

Stephen Harper is having another tiff with the Ottawa news establishment. Harper is a testy fellow and the supposedly level-headed advisors he keeps on his team don't seem to be able to rein him in and tell him when his arse is a star. The Conservatives would like to 'manage' the news, and only deal with reporters they like. They take this position so they won't have to answer any of those nasty questions they don't have satisfactory answers for.

I'd like the news types to be just as obnoxious, prying, irreverent and nosy as they can be. When they do this, they serve my interest and not the interest of the party in power. The Conservatives are starting to lose sight of the requirements of the job. They thought they had a clear view when they were in opposition, but now.... well now Stephen Harper has had a taste of the absolute power that has accumulated in the office of the Prime Minister of Canada over the years. Instead of divesting himself of some of the perks and tools gathered by previous Prime Ministers, he is starting to lay about him and smite those evil-doers, especially those nasty noos-hawks!

I'm not sure where the Harperites think Canadians are going to learn what the government is up to if he and his minions won't talk to the news types. I've got a flash for them, if the Conservatives keep it up, they just may piss the newsies off so much that they really buckle down and start doing their jobs - digging, measuring, counting, relating, analyzing and arriving at conclusions. It is only by speaking to the news people that the Conservatives get to put their colour on events. Ottawa leaks like a sieve and there isn't anything Stephen Harper can do to stop that. People talk because people love to talk. They do so dearly love relating secrets to admiring audiences, and the newsies are going to continue to milk out the gossip, innuendo and facts - it's just that the Harperites won't get to put their spin on the ball.