Gordon O'Connor: Canada's biggest liability in Afghanistan

How long can Harper afford to keep O'Connor in as defense minister, if Canadian support for the war in Afghanistan is being undermined by his inability to get the message straight? Even the PMs friends agree that this is what's happening.

I get that the Prime Minister wants to shuffle his cabinet on his own terms, and doesn't want to appear weakened by moving O'Connor at a time when he's taking fire, but most of O'Connor's wounds are self-inflicted. And he reloads so quickly.

If Harper insists on waiting until the fall, he'd better muzzle O'Connor now, or (as humiliating as this would undoubtedly be) order him to get his lines from Hillier's office, since Hillier clearly isn't taking his lines from the Minister's Office. O'Connor needs to know that if he continues to blunder along, his demotion will be to the back benches, rather than Veteran's Affairs, or some other lesser portfolio.

General Hillier won't be managed, at least not by someone he doesn't respect. He's already demonstrated that he doesn't feel beholden to his political masters. He knows they won't fire him; he's more popular than all of them put together, and his is the voice Canadians trust, even if they don't always like what he has to say.

Can anyone tell me what the NDP stands for anymore?

After previously advocating for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Mr. Mustache yesterday displayed a stunning piece of leadership by backing the Conservatives in defeating the Liberal motion that would have prevented the government from extending the mission beyond its current commitment to participate until 2009.

Of course, the Dippers insist that this is because they want the mission to end even sooner, but what they want doesn't matter because the effect of this move is what's important, not the principle behind their vote.

If the Conservatives are re-elected – an outcome the NDP seems determined to facilitate – they will have free reign to extend the mission as long as they like. Whether or not you think that's a good thing, the NDP has been clear that they don't. Their 'principled' move has the exact opposite result as their stated objective.

Angus Reid posted its latest poll yesterday which on the surface seems to be a spanking to the May/Dion agreement (Far and Wide has a good analysis, despite its unfortunate and, I think, inaccurate title), but its most significant finding, in my view, is that the deal has the support of 43% of NDP voters. This suggests to me that left-leaning Canadians, who are generally more interested in results than partisanship, are increasingly losing touch with the NDP.

And with good reason.