The unbearable lightness of being Jeffrey Simpson is clearly not easy.  Poor Jeffrey is torn between two powerful attractions – self absorption in his perfect, reasonable mind and loyalty to his tribe, the elite and privileged of Canada.

Such is the problem that Simpson faces in dealing with Michael Ignatieff.  But it is not as hard as it might seem.  Ignatieff and Simpson share most fundamental beliefs and assumptions.  Both see power as the natural property of superior thinkers and actors who constitute a natural elite.  Both look down on those who do not qualify for membership in the elite.  And both know they belong on the basis of superior merit.

If asked neither would acknowledge this or let themselves think about it very much.  As public intellectuals they feel comfortable in their assumed natural superiority.  But both see fundamental questioning of basic liberal values as unfathomable.

The source of these attitudes has something to do with an assumption about privilege.     Some people are special, and that is just the way it is.  Anyone who does not belong to this group or have the qualities to be part of it but who aspire to power or status in society is essentially a poseur and illegitimate.  So comfortable are Ignatieff and Simpson in their assumptions about belonging to the elite that they do not have to actually set out standards and criteria for belonging.  They know those who fail to meet the standards when they see them.

Everything that either says or writes must be interpreted in this light.   Neither can fathom populist grass roots politicians on the right or left.  Those who identify with the beliefs of ordinary folks that challenge the beliefs of the elite are inherently suspect.  For all the talk of living in a postmodern world, they are unwavering modernists, believing in realism, progress and improvement on the basis of enlightened principles, objective knowledge, objectivity and liberal values.  Good government policy flows from these ways of seeing the world and will be reliably pursued so long as power is preserved and nurtured by the elite and any difference resolved through elite accommodation.

As much as Simpson is supposed to be and sees himself as the objective journalist par excellence, he is essentially joined at the hip with Ignatieff in pursuit of a common project.  They may disagree on particulars at times but that is all quite acceptable so long as it is left for the elites to resolve.  In other words, leave our public problems to them and those who have what it takes to be part of the natural elite.

They share views about the real problems in Canada and who is responsible for them.  Included on the list are westerners who believe there is a unique and legitimate western perspective.  And separatists and Quebec nationalists who see separatism as a legitimate option.  And right wing conservatives who won’t accept the liberal consensus and left wing radicals who insist that class and privilege are both a reality and a problem.  Include deficit spenders on the list.  And those who fail to understand the national – which is most often the Ontario – view on the hard issues.  And those who seek a coalition (unless it be a “natural’ one made up of right thinking Liberals and Conservatives – a dream team to the elites of Canada and – something Simpson has actually suggested).  And leaders like Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton.  Especially leaders like them.  Neither can fathom or tolerate such people and what they say and believe.

Ignatieff has no doubts about his superior claim to govern.  He and a select few in the Liberal Party are the only legitimate claimants to power and responsibility.  Simpson smugly occupies his assumed position of national sage and keeper of the truth under the protective wing of the only legitimate national voice – the Globe and Mail.  Together the Liberal Party and the Globe and Mail, national guardians of elite values and ideas, watch over us and protect us from popular excess and populist mayhem.

Given his almost unbearable belief in his own reasonableness, one might think that Simpson and the Globe would oppose the holding of an unnecessary election, that they would support parliament working as it is supposed to do including forming coalitions, and that they would be contemptuous of self seeking politicians disregarding the clear wishes of the democratic majority.   But Simpson has no problem taking the other view, since none of these correspond with how the elite see things.  None of these advance the interests of Ignatieff, the golden hope for the restoration of the natural elite to power.

Anomalies in the natural order of things are barely bearable and thus must be vigorously opposed.  And this means that ultimately the natural governing party must be restored to power.

Foregoing an unnecessary election in an effort to make Parliament work runs counter to the interests of the admirable Ignatieff and the natural governing party.  It is also a view embraced by the untrustworthy Duceppe and the suspect Jack Layton.  Layton is a favorite whipping boy of Simpson’s.  NDP positions, coming as they do from outside the natural elite, are all suspect.  So in his column on Tuesday  Simpson comes down hard on Layton, who is the only leader listening to the people and struggling to make Parliament work.  Unfortunately Layton and the NDP just don’t belong.  They are unacceptable in a coalition and their actions are repugnant even if they manage to avoid an unnecessary and pointless election.  The elites know.  Contradict them at your peril.

Or perhaps, even better, recognize Simpson’s writings for what they are.  He too has an agenda.  In truth, his agenda is just that of another special interest, representing the hopes of a frustrated and disempowered liberal anglo elite desperate for the restoration.  And who fear it mght be slipping away.