Is anyone else getting a little annoyed by the attack strategy we’ve seen on an almost monthly basis this year that people’s political opponents are “helping the separatists”. We first saw this back during non-confidence-mania when the Liberal talking points were that Stephen Harper was in bed with the separatists to bring down the Liberals. The implication was that Harper should put aside his political ambition and disgust in a government perceived to be corrupt and adrift because the BQ would do well in an election at the Liberals’ expense.

Then, in the most bizarre political claim of the year, Stephen Harper claimed that the gay marriage law lacked legitimacy because it was sailing through with the support of the Bloc. This statement, more than his cowboy costume, is what has convinced me Stephen Harper is going to have a very difficult time ever becoming Prime Minister of Canada.

And now, Andy Savoy has jumped on the bandwagon. Savoy claims that Bernard Lord “played into the hands of the separatists” by having the nerve to ask Michaelle Jean to “clear the air” about her separatist and FLQ connections. It’s unclear as to whether or not Savoy feels that Jean’s statement “played into the hands of the separatists” or whether Paul Martin letting/urging her to make this statement to clear the air “played into the hands of the separatists”.

I’ve been as critical of the separatist cause in Quebec as anyone but it’s ridiculous to suggest that you can’t question the government because it might help the separatists. That bears an eerie similarity to the Republican Party’s masterful use of the “you’re with us, or you’re with the terrorists” line over the past few years.