Fit hitting the Sham?

globeandmail.com: Police set to turn spotlight on Liberal officials

Well, not quite.

An important piece of the story that will likely be forgotten by anyone with an axe to grind against the Liberal party is the fact that the party is really a victim in all of this.

Having focused on issues of fraud since 2002, the Mounties sent a clear message last week they are now looking at allegations of influence peddling, laying charges against former federal Liberal official Benoît Corbeil.

Sources said the RCMP is hoping to go higher up the Liberal hierarchy than Mr. Corbeil, the former director-general of the Liberal Party's Quebec wing, who is accused of taking a bribe from a businessman and defrauding the party.

Unless someone can show systemic corruption within the party, this should not tarnish the whole party. The whole party will have some explaining to do, but it is a big stretch to say the entire party is corrupt.

Similarly, it is a stretch to say the entire CPC are guilty of election fraud. However, their current leadership is much more closely tied to the problem than the current Liberal leadership is to the 6 year old Sponsorship investigation.

A.L.

And on to our next trick! (Brought to you by the Accountability Party)

globeandmail.com: Search warrants claim Tories overspent by $1-million

OOPS!

A.L.

What the media is not reporting about Bush's announcement...

Today President Bush announced that tours of duty in Iraq will be reduced to 12 months instead of 15. Nearly every media outlet that has reported on this makes it sound like a great and generous announcement on the President's part. It almost sounds like the troops will come home early.

What they have failed to report is a very important part of the deal. Anyone currently in Iraq is NOT coming home early. The 12 month tour of duty only applies to troops deploying after August 1st.

From the White House website: President Bush Discusses Iraq:

"Our work in Iraq will still demand sacrifices from our whole nation, especially our military, for some time to come. To ease the burden on our troops and their families, I've directed the Secretary of Defense to reduce deployment lengths from 15 months to 12 months for all active Army soldiers deploying to the Central Command area of operations. These changes will be effective for those deploying after August 1st."

This means this promise from President Bush is one he won't be around to keep.

The media seems to be giving Bush a free PR day.

A.L.