Stephen Harper: A Man Without Grace

There are few things that upset me more than a leader who has no grace and no tact.

Stephen Harper has proven that he has neither today.

In question period, Harper's comments about a media report that a member of the Liberal caucus was a "son-in-law" of someone interviewed in the Air India bombing case.

The inference is clear, the Liberals must be "protecting" one of their own - after all, his father-in-law was clearly involved in the Air India bombing.

As far as I'm concerned, Harper has just demonstrated that he is nothing more than a low grade politician seeking to make cheap points - even if it means engaging in a blatant smear of someone else's character.

Underlying the whole thing is a not so subtle layer of borderline racism, as well as the obviously ridiculous assertion that someone who was "interviewed" about the bombing is somehow provably linked to it. It's a rather astonishing assertion. Surely he realizes full well that in an investigation as broad as the Air India investigation, hundreds of people were no doubt interviewed but not because they are criminally responsible.

Of course, in Harper's mind, it's okay because the man he's just slagged is one of them dark-skinned swarthy characters he saw on CNN with the label "terrorist" on the screen.