Hey, the media loves Dion -- again

Remember how when Stephane Dion was first elected Liberal leader the national media was fawning all over him?

He was the bespectacled, intellectual with the dog named Kyoto who would surely lead the Liberals back to power.

Then about one week later, after Dion revealed himself to be a political Edsel, the same national media began running stories along the lines of "How in the heck did this clown ever win the leadership"?

Well, now we have gone full circle: the media has once again fallen head over heels in love with Dion.

Susan Riley of the Ottawa Citizen, for instance has a column today about Dion's proposed carbon tax which is simply dripping with adulation for the man.

Here's some samples:

*"He (Dion) looked, at last, like a winner with a winning idea."

* "Dion is a different Liberal: more decisive than Paul Martin, greener than Jean Chrétien ever was."

* "The details of his plan matter, but Dion's ambition, tone and conviction are irreproachable -- and may prove more attractive than his rivals predict."

From reading this you would figure Dion is one part Al Gore, one part Martin Luther King and one part Jesus Christ.

Of course, aside from the fact that Riley is clearly angling for a job with the Liberal communications department, this sort of coverage reveals how the media loves the idea of a horse race.

With an election in the offing, it's in their interest to build up the Liberal brand name as this will make for a more interesting campaign.

This new carbon tax is the perfect excuse to get that operation in motion.

The fact, of course, is that Dion's plan is neither all that brave or all that innovative.

After declaring himself Mr. Green for the past two years Dion really had no choice but to implement some sort of eco-scheme.

In short, the Stephane Dion of today is the same Stephane Dion of a week ago: a weak, ineffectual, boring leader.