Stop Applying Marketing-Think To Government, It's Disgusting.

CBC, with some analysis on Harper's expected cabinet shuffle provides this quote from former Mulroney Chief of Staff David McLaughlin:

"There's a staleness about some of the ministry and some of the cabinet and how they're communicating with Canadians; the look and feel of it. So there's a chance to really show some new faces and say: 'There's still life in this government yet. We're looking ahead, look at this new blood.'"

I hate this kind of soulless marketing when applied to government.  This is how we, a free people govern ourselves in a system that took centuries of struggle to get to the point where the common person has some real say. It's insipid that we allow these consultants to talk about our government like they're marketing a product without hissing at them and throwing rotting fruit (metaphorically of course, throwing actual fruit is illegal).

The epitome of this was Bush's Chief of Staff explaining that the push for the Iraq war began in September 2002 instead of August because "you don't launch a new product in August."

I know politicians, especially the shadier ones like the current government will still do this sort of crass commercialization of politics but it should be a shameful thing done in secret, not something their allies brag openly about. 

Yeah, the government is allowing big oil to destroy the biosphere, wasting billions on a lemon of a fighter jet and makes the Lannisters look like ethical paragons whenever they're caught doing anything improper, but here, we stuck a "New and Improved!" sticker on the label and came up with a new jingle!  All's well!




We should be talking about a policy shuffle first, and if doing that requires some personnel to move around, fine.  That we still fixate on the personalities first is a sign how far the rot goes.