Lies finally catching up with Tories

The months of lies and half-truths are starting to catch up with the Harper Conservatives. It would appear that the media reaction to environment minister Baird's description of gloom and doom over the Kyoto Protocol is at best skeptical. The Canadian Press is reporting that few people are buying what Baird is selling. So why has the great Tory Spin Machine been unable to get people to believe that Kyoto will ruin the economy?

It comes down to credibility. The Tories went into office denying that global warming even existed, let alone there's a human component to the phenomenon. Their road to Damascus conversion aside, Baird's statements simply make it look like the Conservatives are trying to avoid fixing a problem they don't believe exist. Add to the mix the fact that Stephen Harper and his merry band of Tories have been playing fast and loose with the truth and it is no surprise that people are starting to become skeptical. Also given that it's well known that the Conservatives don't give a whit about the environment since there's no money to be made by their oil industry backers in protecting it, and Baird's statements just look self serving.

The problem, of course, is that the Big Lie only really works if you haven't been caught lying for the past 12 months. Someone should have told Harper that he needed to bring out the Big Lie at the beginning of the term, not after months of spewing credibility destroying vitriol. If even the media has caught on, it's likely that most voters have caught on to the fact that the Tories have been lying for months. It has likely gotten so bad for Harper and his government that even if they tell the truth, people are going to think twice. This is not good news for a man who's desperate for a majority.

So what's Harper and his government to do? Well they have to start rebuilding their credibility and fast. This means no more flip-flopping, fulfilling some of their election promises and most importantly quit telling easily falsified lies. If the Tory credibility takes much more of a hit, they'll start losing some of that 36% core support they've had since the last election. There's already Albertans tearing up their Conservative party cards in frustration and that can't be a good sign.