John Gormley's new drinking game (en francais)

This could be a VERY dangerous game to play - especially in the East.

Harper won't dance to media tune
Gormley, The StarPhoenix
Published: Friday, April 07, 2006

The chosen media label in recent days -- at least among the usual suspects at the CBC, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail -- is that Harper is pro-American or "George Bush Lite."

Trying to stereotype Harper as a suburban, chubby, serious and cerebral guy who watches his son at the rink and wears bad weekend clothes makes him seem too much like many Canadians.

But to suggest that he is a lapdog of America is a far more insulting label for Harper, at least if you believe the increasing number of stories about Afghanistan that imply this.

The mainstream media, especially the Liberal-friendly Toronto Star, are increasingly using the term "American-style" to describe even issues as remote as Harper's criminal justice policies.

Even the Globe and Mail's coverage of the throne speech mentioned the attendance of a war hero, a country singer and a famous artist as evidence that Harper was trying to "emulate the way the Americans deliver their state of nation address" by inviting distinguished people.

So, for your fun and pleasure in the Harper era I propose a new national drinking game. Every time the mainstream Left-Lib fawning media invoke America in the same breath as Stephen Harper, take a swig. It won't do much for you, except to help dull the annoying pain of what often passes for political journalism in Canada.

I think I'm going to head out tonight and give it a try. I'll let you know the results tomorrow. (late tomorrow!)