Polemic? Check. Paradox? Check.

"Simms makes Oram look foolish", writes Peter at P&P.

Like that's hard to do.

Oram called in to dump all over NDP leader Lorraine Micheals for being critical of Health Minister Wisemen and suggesting the government has been sitting on reports and not acting. For some reason he criticized Micheals for doing her job and talked about her desire for an additional $18,000 for staff as being extravagant because the NDP has only one seat in the House of Assembly. So when the opposition does its job the Government, or at least one of its ministers throws out the threat of not supporting providing the money needed to offer opposition. I have to say it was not a classy move on Oram’s part. Petty, mean and intimidating. The Premier should put him on a leash.

Maybe the Premier should put his designated Attack Poodle on a leash.

But then who's going to put the Big Frother himself on his own leash? As Rob Antle reports in today's Telegram (d'après NTV):

Premier Danny Williams is attacking NDP Leader Lorraine Michael over her request to keep a salary stipend provided to the leader of a third party in the House of Assembly.

...

“Lorraine Michael is out calling on us to do this and do that, and saying she’ll be annoyed with government if we don’t get this done,” the premier told The Telegram late Friday.

“By way of interest, you should know this — Lorraine Michael now has a request in to the management committee (at the House of Assembly) for a raise. So here is the champion of the people out there, who’s calling on the government to do this and do that, and now, after all the heat over MHA salaries … has come back and looked for a special raise as leader of the New Democratic Party.”