Mike Duffy, King-maker

As Machiavelli said, he who breaks the King is the new King-maker.

Puffy Duffy has finally got the clout he always aspired to. He has undone the most powerful man in Ottawa, Nigel Wright.

It's interesting how this story is being spun. Mike pleaded with Nigel,...  pleaded! What would become of his family if he suddenly died, etc.  Finally, to stop the whining and save the Canadian taxpayers a few bucks, Nigel pulled out his chequebook and solved Mike's problems with the Senate audit committee.

Mike Duffy was among the upper echelon of Canadian journalists for twenty or thirty years. Those guys don't make hedge-fund salaries but during that era they did OK. He's been in the Senate since '08, where they do OK too.

He's on the speaker's circuit where he makes up to $5,000 per appearance.

And we are to believe that this guy can't scare up 90 thou?

Bullshit!

This $90,000 personal cheque wasn't philanthropy on the part of Nigel Wright.

It was a shake-down!

And let's keep it in perspective. Mike got to know the Senate and its inhabitants back in the day, when enforcement of arcane accounting rules was unheard of. His Senate dreams come true and whoa, all of a sudden the trough has a meter on it?

Damn!

Frankly, I think there are other scandals that could benefit from some of this bright light and hot heat that Duffy's been getting.

Just as a for instance, it would seem that Arthur Porter, the charlatan who wormed his way into the confidence of Stephen Harper and was subsequently made the top civilian at CSIS, is a lot more newsworthy than Pam Wallin or Mike Duffy.