He is, when all is said and done, still The Eminence Grease

Lots of excitement this evening over the title of this ConTV report :

Gov't not 'credible' on proroguing: ex-Harper advisor

But looking beyond the headline it is obvious that he isn't exactly criticizing P2 itself (MEIB):

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's latest reasoning behind his decision to prorogue Parliament has left many scratching their heads, and a former top Tory advisor says the government hasn't been "credible" in their explanation of the decision.

"I fault the government for not coming forward with a more adult explanation of why this is necessary," Harper's former chief of staff, Tom Flanagan, told CTV News Channel's Power Play on Tuesday.

"I think the government's talking points haven't been entirely credible."

On Monday, Harper told the Business News Network that financial markets are concerned about the stability of a minority government, claiming proroguing avoids instability.

Harper had previously said the government needed to change its agenda as the economy moves into recovery as a reason for proroguing.

Flanagan, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, says he supports the prorogation but thinks Harper's latest justification for it doesn't add up.

...

Flanagan dismissed the Canadian political scientists' letter, saying there was nothing wrong with proroguing.

"This is part of the discretion of the prime minister . . . there's nothing unconstitutional about it," he said.

Flanagan added that the government's explanation of proroguing was "skirting the real issue -- which is the harm the opposition parties are trying to do to the Canadian Forces" regarding the Afghan detainee issue.

Flanagan served as Harper's chief of staff from 2001 to 2005.

So two hundred political scientists are wrong and the Eminence Grease is right.

Oh, right. And according to Tommy Flanagan, Harper is right to accuse the Opposition of harming the Forces by investigating the detainee issue.

Looking for support from this unrepentant neo-con is wishful thinking. But no worries. There is no lack of support out there from non-loonies.

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