Web silliness a symptom of missing civility in politics

It's hard to know which is worse.The Liberals for posting a doctored photo of Lee Harvey Oswald assassinating Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Or the crocodile tears gushing from Tory MPs and spin doctors.

The most recent incident of online political suicide confirms two important facts. First, that almost no one in federal politics has learned to harness the incendiary power of the Internet. And second, that Canada's federal political parties are losing touch with what it means to fight a fair fight.

The Liberal photo contest was supposed to be a humorous affair. The public was invited to post doctored photographs that showed all the places in the world Harper would rather visit than the climate change summit in Copenhagen, where he only reluctantly agreed to attend at the last minute.

I will admit to chuckling a bit when I saw the website two weeks ago. But I imagined Harper's head on the body of a pear-shaped snowbird walking on a sandy beach in black socks and sandals. Posting a photo of the head of state being assassinated is stupid, but then again, that is the only qualification needed to litter the Internet with hateful comments and images.

Political operatives should know better than anyone that online forums and contests are depositories for raw effluent that flows from angry, maladjusted axe grinders who lurk in the dark recesses of Internet. Open up a contest for anonymous visitors to submit doctored photographs of the prime minister, and what did you think would happen?

What is beyond brainless is the Liberals actually posted the submission. By now, most capable political operatives know that you don't make your enemy look like Adolph Hitler and you don't portray him or her as a victim of politically motivated violence.

Negative advertising, as a rule, is pretty effective but most strategists believe there are lines you must not cross when assailing the enemy. Although there will always be a core constituency that celebrates down and dirty efforts like this, more often than not they force leaders into the uncomfortable position of having to apologize for the indiscretions of underlings they have probably never met. And that doesn't make anyone look prime ministerial.

(Ironically, this is exactly the kind of boorish tactic that is vogue south of the border. Doctored images of President Barack Obama as a spear-bearing Aborigine and Hitler, or his wife Michelle as an ape, have become standard fare at anti-Democrat, anti-health care reform, anti-Obama rallies and websites. No one said electing the first African-American president would be easy, but this kind of stuff is hitting new lows.)

Back in Canada, disgust over the Harper image was mitigated somewhat by the mock outrage expressed by the Tories. The party that brought us pooping puffins and pamphlets accusing Grits of promoting pedophilia and anti-Semitism was apparently left speechless by the doctored photograph.

A spokesman for the prime minister said nobody from the government benches would comment on the photo flap. You can probably figure out what happened next. He made a comment.

Dimtri Soudas told Ottawa reporters the government wouldn't "dignify this with a response." To underline his claim that no one would comment, Soudas continued to add to his no comment. "Mr. Ignatieff should comment, not us, as this incident reflects on Mr. Ignatieff's judgment."

The Liberals apologized, but they did not do it gracefully. Shortly after posting an apology, a Liberal official told the Globe and Mail that Tories complaining about this kind of tactic was like "Attila the Hun complaining about the Romans' table manners."

The defence of the indefensible continued when Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella dug out a campaign ad from 2008 that showed a hapless Stéphane Dion surrounded by what looked like bullet holes. Unrepentant Tories claimed the holes were not bullet holes, but metaphorical holes in his election campaign. Uh-huh.

It is widely known that there is little civility left in federal politics. But the "you-call-that-vile-I'll-show-you-vile" contest now raging between the Tories and Liberals is reaching absurd proportions. What's next? A slap fight between Tory minister John Baird and Liberal critic Bob Rae on the floor of the House of Commons? (Baird outweighs his opponent, but Rae is sneaky fast. This one is too close to call.)

So as 2009 draws to a close, we are reminded that all is fair in love, war and political gamesmanship. When nothing is sacred in politics, the only thing we can hope is that sometime soon, politicians re-discover their collective sense of self-control and fair play.

Even as I wrote that I had to laugh.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 18, 2009 A9