It's simple, really.

Apparently, Stephen Harper has made life a wee bit awkward for his own party members:

Members of the Conservative caucus squirmed in public and seethed in private yesterday, trying to come to grips with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's two controversial cabinet appointments.

"This looks like expediency, even hypocrisy," a veteran Conservative MP from Western Canada said of the appointments of David Emerson, who was elected last month as a Liberal, and Conservative campaign co-chairman Michael Fortier, who didn't run but will get a Senate appointment.

"This is shocking. It's just unbelievable. Who was Stephen talking to? We campaigned against this kind of stuff," the MP said.

A rookie MP said: "I'm not sure how I'm going to explain these appointments to my constituents. It's bewildering."

How to explain them? How about:

"Um ... you remember how we in the CPC ran on a platform of honesty, integrity and accountability? Well, we lied."

No, no, don't thank me. Just trying to help.