Photo caption contest and related rant

The PMO has released this photograph of Mr. Lonely-For-A-Reason

and here is my suggested caption:

After all of the other kids have headed out for the summer, Stephen Harper serves a detention for his outrages against Canadian democracy. He will be there for quite a while.

I will reference two articles to make a point about the shoddy journalism at the Grope and Flail.

As Rosemary Barton points out on CBC.ca,

The photo is, of course, staged.

*But part of the reason Harper can get away with his depredations against democracy is due to the tendency of the fourth estate to unquestionably regurgitate Conservative propaganda. Jane Taber and the prime journalistic real estate she occupies is an ongoing example of this. Her take on the photo (MEIB):

From time to time, the Prime Minister’s photographer sends out to the press gallery candid shots of Stephen Harper. On Thursday, he captured the Prime Minister in a very solitary moment in a totally empty House of Commons. It was to signify the rising of the House for the summer as MPs go back to their ridings*

For Ms. Taber's benefit, I will provide a definition of candid and encourage her and her readers to read the third usage: .

Not posed or rehearsed: a candid snapshot.

n.An unposed informal photograph.

Regardless of political leanings no one who has followed the antics of this Prime Minister thinks there is anything spontaneous emanating from the PMO. Everything is arranged for it's presumed effect. Harper's image manipulation is only possible with the cooperation of the media. In the case of Ms. Taber, it is hard to tell whether this is due to Conservative leanings or because there is enough air up there to film an entire Jacques Cousteau special. The net effect is that once Canada has completed the descent into the tar pit of a Harper dictatorship Taber and her ilk will still not have realized the role they played in leading us there.

*P.S.: My apologies for the fonts. Blogger sucks.

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