"Vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle"

Stephane Dion gets flack, flack, and more flack in todays' national papers. I'm sorry, but this is getting a little ridiculous.

The current political clime reminds me particularly of that famous line from W.B. Yeats' "The Second Coming," about the best lacking all conviction, and the worst being full of passionate intensity.

Every day, vitriol pours down on Dion from all sides. Of course the Liberal leader is not a saint, and is still finding his rhythm (and under some of the most stressful political conditions possible). Of course he's made gaffes.

But in the 24-hour news cycle echo chamber, what's really remarkable, more so than getting a story reported, is getting a story reported again and again, and again. And it's that last fact that is helping the Reformed-Name Party to win hands down.

Does any Canadian really believe that there are no debates or discussions around policy or strategy inside "Canada's New Government" (or as I've taken to calling it, Canada's Ewww Government)? No factions? No competing interests? No changes in position? No disagreements around the Cabinet table? Chalk it up to the Prime Minister's legendary anal-retentiveness that very little of that ever comes up in the press. But when Harper changes a position (on the environment, on Quebec, on Iraq) it's "statesmanlike." Columnists are already calling Dion "Flipper."

Jason Cherniak suggests that the Liberals need to grin and bear things for the moment. I agree. But the Liberals also have to start operating like an Opposition party. Stephen Harper does - his entire strategy has been to pretend to be in oppositon even while in government. And the Liberals also have to find a way to get the press, sympathetically conservative as they are, to be, if not on-side, then at least not offside. 'Cause at the moment there aren't too many people crying foul.