If you were, um, ‘unimpressed with his work’ before, you now have another opportunity to marvel at a fresh round of cluelessness from Maxime Bernier – both in terms of the situation in Afghanistan and the Canadian public’s appetite for ‘doofus-ness’ from their elected officials – during a tour of Afganhistan with Bev Oda. The Ministers, both newly minted in their portfolios, probably had return tickets, alas.

On the bright side, I have newfound respect, even admiration, for the Globe’s Graeme Smith’s talent for understated, withering satire:

Visits by politicians to the front lines have served mostly to give them media exposure; Sunday’s tour by the Conservative cabinet ministers included at least 13 photo opportunities. During a trip to a forward base, Ms. Oda stood in front of a concrete building scarred by shrapnel from Taliban mortars and offered a box of chocolate treats to the soldiers.

“Thank you for your work,” she said, “and little cakes for you.”

Update: From the sublime to the ridiculous: “Liberal Defence critic Denis Coderre arrived in Afghanistan on Monday to hear from Canadian troops on Canada’s role in the conflict.” Yes, that’s exactly why he’s there.