Chantal Hébert notes today that Paul Martin looked a bit like the pimply young kid at the old boys convention on his recent tour of Europe, trying to make headway with certain European leaders who may, just last year, have been laughing at the Paul Martin jokes their buddy Jean Chretien told them over dinner.

What’s worse, our leader allowing himself to be ridiculed behind his back while he tries in vain to define himself on the world stage, or a world leadership comprised of the Bush doctrine on one side of us, and a petulant bunch of back-stabbing jerks on the other.