the blog quebecois

I don't think Stephen Harper gets due credit for his wit, which is dry and deadly accurate and funny in a way that contrasts very well with the blustery bonhomie of certain politicians (who shall not be named).

When Belinda Stronach defected to the Liberals, one reason she gave was that Harper didn't understand the "complexity" of Canada. Harper quipped that he hadn't noticed that "complexity was Belinda's strong suit."

Like the old saying goes, never bring a pinheaded dilettante to a knife fight.

So I had Mike Duffy's show on, and he played a clip of today's debate in the House of Commons with NDP bore-vivant Pat Martin nattering on about -- what else? -- David Emerson. It went something like "Blah blah blah blah Canadians outraged blah blah blah seducing Emerson."

Canadian Press picks it up from there:

Harper got off the best one-liner of the day when he made a self-mocking joke about his cold persona after being accused of seducing Emerson.

"I don't think I've ever been accused of seducing anyone, even my wife," he said, glancing up into the gallery opposite at Laureen and the Harper children, Ben and Rachel.

"I see there's some agreement in the gallery," the prime minister added when the roars of laughter had died down.

You would think that the CBC -- if only to ingratiate itself with the new boss, who is going to be around a lot longer than the CBC hopes -- would have found the room to include the 10-second clip in The National tonight. But no. That might interfere with its predetermined narrative of Stephen Harper as a soulless, right-wing robot.

Maybe I'm being too harsh. The CBC, after all, has brought us beloved comic icons like Rick Mercer and the Royal Canadian Air Farce, so it could be that it just doesn't understand humor.