Prime Minister? I have no Prime Minister

I woke up this morning feeling kind of rudderless. At first I thought it was just the usual Monday blahs and then it suddenly hit me. I have no Prime Minister. I have no federal leader. Now, I didn't vote for Stephen Harper, but I do respect the democratic process, and was therefore willing to give him a chance. I figured if he happened to be in line behind me at an Ottawa Tim Hortons, I'd cheerfully say "Good morning Mr. Prime Minister -- please go ahead of me." After all, there are plenty of problems in this country. Maybe if the PM gets a nice hot double-double and a few extra minutes before the next cabinet meeting, some of those problems will get a little smaller. Unlikely. But it could happen thinks I in the midst of a Monday funk.

But there have been too many signs that this PM is wrong for Canada. I don't even know if this PM drinks coffee. Lately he's been percolating his own blend of partisan venom. He's waving his robotic arms and droning on in that mopey monotone, pretending that he speaks for Canadians. (And someone is really mixing his metaphors tonight) O well. Here's a quick summary of recent reasons why this PM is no PM:

Item: Prime Minister Stephen Harper bans media from covering the repatriation of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. Yes, bereaved families should be protected from hounding media, but these arrivals still need to be recorded. The public has a right to know -- and to grieve -- along with the families. Canadians don't "cut and run" if the cause is just, but most Canadians were cut out of the decision to send troops into Afghanistan in the first place.

Item: Harper brings down a mean-spirited, politicized budget that rewards the wealthy (by lowering the GST), penalizes the poor (by raising the base income tax rate) and then sprinkles a few dollars here and there in a cynical bid to encourage stay-at-home parents (in a society that is structured to essentially require two-income families).

Item: Harper snubs Ontario's Premier by a) delaying a meeting with Premier McGuinty; b) refuses to be publicly photographed with McGuinty either before or after their short meeting; c) attends -- and speaks at -- a Conservative fundraising dinner for John Tory immediately afterward and declaring that candidate the "next Premier of Ontario". Real PMs don't do these things.

Item: Harper justifies his meddling in provincial politics by telling the Toronto Star that John Tory is "a very good friend of mine". What does that mean? Are the other provinces supposed to trust him even if he is not 'bestest friends' with their democratically elected premiers?

Item: He tries to further justify his snub of McGuinty by having the PMO produce pages of Liberal quotations denouncing Ontario's premier. Yes Mr. PM, we know. The previous liberal government was arrogant and corrupt and they self-destructed when they realized they were going to lose the election. Dredging that up does not make your actions more palatable. It only makes your high-school approach to government more apparent.

Mr. Harper, you are one low-down, opportunistic, smug, self-righteous, bad-faith, partisan scallywag. You are no longer my Prime Minister. In Colbertian terms "You are dead to me". If Jon Stewart could add anything to this, no doubt he would close with his patented: "Good day sir. I said good day." And I would only add "What he said".