The Globe and Mail reports today the following startling news:

The Conservatives plan to air a negative television ad, warning that Paul Martin's Liberals are preparing to unleash a negative campaign, as the Tories aim to forestall attacks against their own leader...They have been "preconditioning" reporters by repeatedly warning of Liberal plans to attack the Conservatives, in the hopes that Canadians will perceive attack ads as negative and reject them. The unusual pre-emptive strike is itself a negative ad called "They will go negative," which begins airing on television this weekend. It charges that a Liberal government mired in corruption scandals will turn its campaign to ugly attacks. It features a dark, black-and-white photo of a grimacing Mr. Martin, while a voice says: "When you've been in power for 12 long years, when your party has been named in a judicial investigation into corruption, when scandals continue to engulf your government, what message can you possibly take to the people of Canada?"

So let's get this straight. The Tories think if they advertize about the ugliness of Liberal advertising plans and do so in an ugly way...then it is the Liberals fault. Brilliant. I'd never see through that. But who care? There is a gap between New Years Eve partying and the national TV gawk that will happen with the winter Olympics that needs filling and it might as well be as entertainingly orchestrated as a night of WWE wrasslin'. Get ugly. What is going to happen - maybe someone will say someone has the head of a boiled dog? Oops, already done... Maybe someone will insinuate that the government was involved in something really serious like insider trading! Been there already - jeesh.

What are people worried about? Let the ponies run I say and lets see the really bad photoshopping and amateurish video editing begin.