Harper and Ignatieff Sitting In a Tree ...

The Liberals and Conservatives actually agree on the post-2011 Afghan mission. Officially, at least.

Yesterday the National Post’s Jonathan Kay condemned the “pundit class” for covering “the crucial issue of our troops’ presence in (Afghanistan) as if it were just another partisan football being tossed around Ottawa for our amusement,” suggesting instead that they applaud the fact that our two main parties actually agree on something. Unfortunately, asking political commentators not to cover the political implications of the Afghan extension is like asking Ricky Martin not to dance to spicy Latin music: it’s just what they do.

Some editorialists seem to have taken Kay’s column to heart however, and today his Post colleague John Ivison praises the “unprecedented spirit of cooperation” that has seen the Liberal leadership endorse the Conservative plan to extend the Afghan mission. Ivison writes that Harper’s willingness to work with his rivals “suggests the prime minister is not the one-dimensional pantomime villain his opponents make him out to be.” Does this mean the NDP will have to stop hissing every time he enters the House of Commons?

The Ottawa Citizen is also pleased with the bipartisanship afoot, and observes, “This might be a moment for the adversarial system that is the House of Commons to work -- gasp -- constructively, for the fires of debate to forge a strategy that's better than anything the government might have developed on its own.” The Citizen does add however that the Conservatives’ decision to keep everyone in the dark about the plan until days before it will be committed to at a NATO conference in Lisbon, has stifled debate somewhat.

So, harmony reigns on Parliament Hill, but not so much in the Liberal caucus. The Globe and Mail’s Jane Taber reports that today at a Liberal caucus meeting Michael Ignatieff was confronted by “furious MPs” who were livid that not only did he endorse the extension before knowing its details, but isn’t even demanding it be debated in Parliament. Ignatieff tried to muzzle dissenting MPs, telling them not to discuss the issue with media. That appears to have worked for about half an hour, as some one in the meeting spoke to Taber shortly after.