That Harper picture...caught between a rock and a hard place

And we thought Stockwell Day had set a new bar for photo-ops...Stockwell Day of the infamous jet ski, the rose on the silver platter. Well, there have been a doozy of a set of pictures from Harper's Afghanistan trip that rate as well in the annals of photo-op stage management.

Take for instance the photo accompanying this Star article on Harper's visit to the "front line" in and about Kandahar. You know, the one where he's perched in the middle of a rocky crag, peering out from between the rocks. The lone PM metaphorically caught between a rock and a hard place? Between Afghanistan and the House of Commons disastrous month that he had where his Obstruction Manual had just hit the press? Yeah, a rock and a hard place. A fitting picture of where Harper's at. By the way...how long must he have posed there for the fearless Canadian Press photographer to get the shot? And with the presumably unshielded photographer, Tom Hanson, clearly in front of him to take the shot and exposed to harm all the while? Anything for a picture of our fearless leader, boys!

The Harper p.r. junket replete with such pictures reinforced the staged photo-oppery he and his staff value. Their elbowing out of the reporting media at key moments on the trip, referenced in the article linked to, and their focus instead on the nifty pictures and outfits gives you a real window on the Harper media strategy. That they think Canadians will buy. That's the real insult of this.

Looking forward to many more lovely photos...