Harper playing GI Joe today

Check out the spin on how Harper is putting himself as near as possible to Taliban territory today: "Harper tours front line in Afghanistan." A willing military guy does his bit:

"No serving prime minister, in my opinion, has been closer to combat operations than this prime minister today," said Col. Mike Cessford, the deputy commander of the Canadian contingent in Kandahar.

Um, OK guy. Why is this at all important for us to know? Are we supposed to marvel at Steve's exploits or something? Be bowled over? Big yawn. I'm tired of the Hillier types and their "my Prime Minister" shtick. The PMO did its best to spin, too, and then, of course, dump on the media:

Officials travelling with Mr. Harper said he had insisted on getting as close to the "front" as possible, although no clear lines demarcate the shifting control and sporadic fighting that characterizes the vicious counter-insurgency war waged by Canadian troops in Kandahar province, heartland of the Taliban.

Officials in the Prime Minister's office turfed the Canadian Press reporter out of the small media pool allowed on board the pair of Black Hawk helicopters that flew Mr. Harper to the forward operating base, southwest of Kandahar.

That turned the visit into a photo opportunity, with only a TV cameraman and two still photographers accompanying Mr. Harper.

Oh yes, he's a fearless one. Unafraid of the Taliban but the Canadian Press? Get 'em out of there...

And doing his best Bush impression, once again:

We "can't set arbitrary deadlines and hope for the best," he said. "You known that we can't just put down our weapons and hope for peace.'' "Terrorism will come home if we don't confront it," in Afghanistan, he said.

Did you miss that incident with the guys in Mississauga, Steve? More intelligence and policing. Not tank buying.

And another thing, I just don't buy this military gung ho rhetoric coming from Harper, the man. He just can't pull off this tough talking thing. I'm not sure any Canadian leader can. It's not in their DNA. I can't even recall a federal leader I would believe uttering this military rah-rah stuff. When I hear Harper with these military speeches, I'm thinking it's like my accountant is over there. And I'm thinking some soldiers agree...note the "scattered" and "polite" applause for Harper reported in the article...