Thursday, August 20, 2009

How stupid is Stephen Harper?


This can't be right (emphasis forehead-whappingly added):

IQALUIT–Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he's happy Suaad Hagi Mohamud is back in Canada but admits he's waiting for answers about her nightmare at the hands of Canadian officials.

Harper suggested he became aware of the case only last week, even though her well-publicized plight of being stuck in Kenya had begun 11 weeks earlier.

How is that even remotely possible?

WEIRDER AND WEIRDER: A closer read of that article is even creepier (emphasis added):

"When we became aware of the case last week, we asked our officials in various departments to give us some information," Harper said at a news conference yesterday. "Obviously there (is) some troubling information here. It's a complex case. I have asked my officials for a thorough review of the matter ... (then) we'll decide what further inquiry we do have to do."

"We?" Who exactly is Harper referring to here, since the news has been full of Harper government officials commenting on this case for the last several weeks. Here's Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, almost a month ago:

"The individual has to be straightforward, has to let us know whether or not she is a Canadian citizen," Cannon told reporters in Ottawa.

"She's saying so, but there is no tangible proof to the effect. All Canadians who hold passports generally have a picture that is identical in their passport to what they claim to be."

So who precisely is Harper claiming learned of Mohamud's case "only last week?" And for someone who is as obsessive a micro-manager as Stephen Harper, does anyone actually believe he had no clue about any of this until only days ago? Oh, please.

2 comments:

sooey said...

Were his pants on fire when he said that?

David V. said...

The answer's very simple: Harper doesn't speak to his foreign affairs minister.

Or his Cabinet.

Or his Prime Minister's Office.

Also, he doesn't read newspapers.

See? It's plausible! It could happen!