The Senators strike back...

On most days, the tone of debate or discussion in the Senate of Canada can be described as sedate, sleepy (at times literally), or leisurely.

A Chamber given to supposed thoughtful discussion on the bills and issues delivered to their desks from their compatriots of the House of Commons.

This week however, the Senate is taking on some of the trappings of Animal House, a wild fraternity with no borders, no guidelines and a fair amount of shocking revelations that may shake the entire campus on Parliament Hill.
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Tuesday, Senator Mike Duffy outlined his case to his fellow Senators, offering up a string of allegations that paint events in the Prime Minister's Office (and with the PM for that matter)  as possible plot lines that might be helpful to Netflix and their House of Cards script writing for season two.

Duffy's recollections and observations have of course sent Ottawa into somewhat of a meltdown mode, the Senate, now a nuclear reactor that would seem to be losing it's cooling water quite quickly.

Reviews of the Senator from Prince Edward Island's (well sometime resident we guess) revelations and missile strikes directed at the PMO can be found below.

A most fascinating collection of commentary and reporting that serve to highlight the sense of the moment in the second chamber.

National Post-- Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau turn up as Senate debates suspeding them
National Post-- Harper's presidential guard finally ticked off one too many loyal Tories
National Post-- Duffy and his co-accused fail to go along quietly, much to the chagrin of the PMO
National Post-- Just the three of us: Mike Duffy tells Senate that Stephen Harper told him to repay expenses
National Post-- Duffy's lawyer didn't pull his client out of the muck, but he certainly dragged the Tories into it

Globe and Mail-- Duffy's quest for revenge: A threat to the government
Globe and Mail-- Duffy says PM ordered him to repay expenses at meeting with Wright
Globe and Mail--  Duffy, Harper and the expenses: Who knew what when?

Toronto Star-- Stephen Harper could have avoided Mike Duffy woes by obeying the law
Toronto Star-- Harper should come clean on Senate spending scandal
Toronto Star-- Duffy claims cover-up by PMO

Toronto Sun-- Duffy says he is victim of extortion by PMO
Toronto Sun-- Mike Duffy a victim of political with hunt: lawyer

CBC-- Mike Duffy Senate scandal 'directly implicates' PM, Mulcair says 
CBC-- Mike Duffy claims Harper told him to repay expense money
CBC-- The Mike Duffy-Stephen Harper credibility war

The Tyee-- Mike Duffy Implicates PMO in Expense Scandal

Two things that stand out after all of this, beyond the stench and unfalterring optics of this latest controversy.

One, that the Prime Minister's Office, always thought of as a micro managing operation, clearly now suffers from the weight of all that control, and certainly it and the Prime Minister for that matter, have not been cast in the most flattering of light.

As for the Senate, a forum that hasn't resonated with Canadians in a long, long time, it  once again has been laid bare for what it is, a parking spot for political appointees, water carriers who sometimes bite back when their existence is threatened.

The latest of high dudgeon over the move to remove the three Conservative Senators at the centre of the  latest tempest, serves to remind us of one omni-present theme from Parliament Hill.  Whether it be the chambers of the Senate and Commons, or all the committees, commissions and such, after a while, all it seem tend to take on a sense of entitlement.

The focus of service to the nation seems very, very lost in all the per diems, housing allowances and the juggling of expenses, items of self reward, that seem to take up a lot of the efforts of those in Ottawa.

The Senate scandal is but a barometer of how the public believes the wind blows in the nation's capital.

The unfortunate thing for those of outside of the club, is that for all their theatrical outrage, none of those that represent us seem willing to tackle the many issues that scream out for attention.