Touchy, touchy (II)

A quick reminder that, a few weeks ago, Jerome Kennedy, Minister of Whatever Jerome Kennedy is Minister of, reminded the sad-sack provincial legislature:

I do not think I need to remind the member opposite that communications personnel in government are not political staff; they are members of the public service. They are not involved in political events such as fundraisers, and they are not involved in political speeches.

Public servants are politically neutral and non-partisan.

As per the Billy Hickey Rule, government communications staff are public servants.

Politically neutral, non-partisan, public servants.

You can stop laughing now.

On Thursday, Susan Sullivan, who is rapidly revealing herself to be among the most viciously partisan members of an utterly talentless provincial cabinet, issued yet another press release, via her devoted, politically neutral, non-partisan public servant, Scott Barfoot, which took a pointed and partisan swipe at an individual opposition MHA.

This was the eighth such partisan jibe issued by a politically neutral, non-partisan public servant for the month of May, and the twenty-fifth so far this calendar year.

May is the fifth month of the year. In all of 2012, there were "just" 31 partisan snot-o-grams issued by politically neutral, non-partisan public servants against named opposition MHAs, named opposition parties, or the opposition in general. And 2012 was the all-time record year for such hair-trigger defensive partisan buffoonery.

Why, you'd almost think the crumbling, talentless, directionless Progressive Conservative government of lame-duck Premier Kathy Dunderdale was worried about something.

Or something.

For the record, the year-over-year tally of partisan snot-o-grams, current for 2013 to the end of May, now stands as shown in this chart: