A couple of weeks ago, I praised Stephen Harper's visit to Afghanistan and his pragmatism. At the same time, I warned the jury was still out there for him.
Today I have reached the final verdict on Stephen Harper. I am done with him. He is just another extreme right winger disguised in sheep's clothes. From now on, I will relentlessly attack Stephen Harper's right wing agenda.
A couple of developments have solidified my opinion on Stephen Harper. The idiotic tax and childcare policies, the out-of-control federal spending, the lou-dobbs style frenzy of accusing 'red China' spying on Canada, and this final nail in the coffin.
MPs, soldiers' families criticize Tory media ban on return of dead
Directly borrowing from George W. Bush's playbook, Stephen Harper banned media coverage of fallen soilders' caskets returning from Afghanistan. Not only did he ban the media coverage, he also refused to lower flag half-mast. It has become a PR nightmare for Stephen Harper.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper dismissed accusations Tuesday that he's using the power of his office to conceal Canada's mounting military casualties from the public spotlight.
His decision to bar journalists from covering the homecoming of soldiers killed in Afghanistan has earned the scorn of military brass, the families of fallen soldiers and even some of his own MPs.
"It is not about photo-ops and media coverage," Harper told the House of Commons.
"It is about what is in the best interests of the families."
The unprecedented shutdown of a military airfield Tuesday for the arrival of four dead soldiers has drawn fire from all sides - including some military families touched by tragedy in Afghanistan.
The father of the late Sgt. Marcel Leger said the public participation in his son's homecoming in 2002 was something he will cherish forever.
"It was a Canadian thing. It was something we wanted to show all Canadians - what the cost of their liberty is," Richard Leger said.
"It's still heartwarming to (remember) the people's faces. People were lined up on the 401, in 2002, all the way from Trenton to Toronto.
"They wanted to be there. They had to be there. I was told that often. . . and those are the things I carry with me all my life."
The father of one of the fallen soldiers being repatriated Tuesday is criticizing the government over another controversial decision - to stop lowering the flags on Parliament Hill to half mast when a soldier is killed in combat.
On April 7, Lincoln Dinning wrote a letter to Harper asking him to reconsider the flag decision. The matter took a tragically personal turn two weeks later when Dinning's son, Cpl. Matthew Dinning, was killed in the line of duty.
The grandmother of Pte. Richard Green, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan four year ago, also wants to see flags lowered.
The Liberals introduced a motion to that effect in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
Unlikely democrats in U.S., liberals and fallen soilder's relatives in Canada are fighting back hard and very effectively.
Federal politicians heard first hand Tuesday a request from the father of a fallen soldier that flags on Parliament Hill be lowered to honour those killed in service of their country.
The letter was written by Lincoln Dinning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper just weeks before his own son was killed in Afghanistan on a mission to help restore stability to the war-torn nation.
"My question is simple," Mr. Dinning said in the letter, read in Parliament by Liberal MP Paul Steckle.
"For all the support and respect you say publicly, why do you choose not to fly the flag on Parliament Hill at half-mast when one of our soldiers was killed?
"When I called your Heritage Minister's office this week to inquire why it wasn't lowered in the death of Private Robert Costall [who was killed in March in Afghanistan], I was told it is usually done for politicians and VIPs.
"I would suggest to you that there is no more important VIP than a Canadian soldier who gave his life in the service of his country."
Even conservatives are fleeing fast for cover.
At least two Tory MPs came out swinging against their own government.
Ontario MP Garth Turner said he's been "besieged" by angry phone calls from constituents about the caskets and the government's new flag policy.
He said callers panned the move as disrespectful to the fallen soldiers and to regular Canadians who feel they're being shut out of an event of national mourning.
"Right now (the calls are) probably running 30 to 1 (against the government)," Turner said.
"There's a great deal of concern, confusion and uncertainty about why the government has adopted the position that it has."
Eastern Ontario Tory MP Daryl Cramp, whose riding neighbours the Trenton military base where the soldiers will be returned, said media should have been allowed in for Tuesday's event.
This has become Stephen Harper's PR nightmare. I hope he will be thrown out very soon.