You know how Rebel Media is just balls-to-the-wall, open, in your face, right wing nut jobbery?

Mr. O'Toole's CD is the founder of the PROUD group who publish Post Millennial - the outlet Scheer did a promotional ad for in his fuck-you-Canada farewell speech.

This PROUD group is what happens when a bunch of so-con, rabidly ambitious guys from the Bay St. adjacent Toronto hub of eastern elite conservatism decide they need something that says the same stuff as Rebel Media, only appears more temperate.

They need the same message but a less aggressive format. They need to trigger the same fears, but subtly. They need to dress the part so that educated suburban cons would be fooled or felt there was enough cover to act fooled.

So they put a tuxedo on Rebel Media and made PROUD.

When Scheer rolled into the Opposition Leader's seat, he dragged what I used to tell O'Toole (we used to spar on Twitter) was The Rebel Media Gang™ and I was very angry about it. He once seemed to acknowledged that had been a mistake by Scheer.

And now O'Toole's dragged the Proud Gang™ with him. They're just a cleaned up and painted over Rebel Media with nicer fonts and a more clever marketing department.

This is the confluence of politics and free press and it's one of the most dangerous things a democracy can face.

If Erin O'Toole learned anything from Scheer it was to hide your ugly better, not to be less ugly.

Scheer's speech and O'Toole's win should be seen as a single event and treated like the dangerous, critical problem it actually is.

Yes, I think I'm done ranting for today. Apologies to folks who aren't, you know, vaguely insane.