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UPDATED: Oh, Liberals: Did you learn nothing from the puffin incident?

Before we get to Orders of the Day, let's take a brief moment to do a double take and roll our collective eyes at what appears to be have been a serious lapse in judgement over at Liberal.ca headquarters. Sometimes last week, someone -- oh, let's call it an overzealous web designer -- chose to include this astonishingly tasteless submission in an online gallery of Stephen Harper-themed photo manips as part of a Copenhagen-themed contest, which solicited supporters to send in images all the various places and moments in history in which the prime minister would rather find himself than at this week's climate change conference. 

PnP viewers may recall that I actually mentioned the Liberals' photoshop challenge during last week's Bloggerheads, and pointed out that, while some of the entries were clearly all in good fun, there was always the risk that it could backfire if any of them could be seen as an unfair attack on the prime minister as a person. Of course, at the time, I was thinking more of something along the lines of this entry, and not, you know, pasting the prime minister's face into the infamous Ruby-Oswald photo -- as Oswald, even -- because really, who could possibly have predicted that something like that would make it through even the most cursory moderation process? Lesson learned. As far as the reaction, from what I've been reading in the blogs and on twitter, not even Liberal supporters are defending this one. Probably because it's pretty much indefensible. Seriously, y'all, what were you thinking? 

Oh, and if you're looking for the original photo on the Liberal site, don't bother -- it disappeared shortly after it started making the rounds in the blogosphere, and is now gone from the Google cache as well, although you can still see the now empty spot where it used to be, apparently courtesy of "Richard" from "Ottawa". As yet, there has been no official response from the party, although really, it's hard to imagine that they won't eventually apologize. There is precedent, after all. 

UPDATE: And we have that apology after all, courtesy of "The Web Team" over at Liberal.ca: 

A note to all viewers:
 
We thank all participants in this photo challenge who have submitted their entries for consideration.  Our intent was to engage Canadians concerned about the Prime Minister's reluctance to attend the climate change conference in Copenhagen.
 
The photos here are created by visitors to our website, and do not always reflect the views of the Liberal Party of Canada.  Though we continue to screen submissions before posting, we have removed certain images that may have been offensive to some viewers.  
 
We apologize for any offence these images may have caused, and continue to strive to present a progressive and dynamic web experience for our site visitors.
 
Sincerely,
The Web Team

AFTERTHOUGHTDATE: As pointed out by Commenter Beachcomber, this particular web offence would seem to merit a more direct apology -- as in, one directed at the prime minister, personally, from the Liberal leader than an update to the webpage. Also, comparing the kerfuffle to "Attila the Hun complaining about the Romans' table manners," as A Senior Liberal Official did this morning, according to the Globe's Jane Taber? Not really helping sell the sincerity. 

AN UNNAMED BUT SENIOR LIBERAL WEIGHS IN: Courtesy of Colleague Barton, here's the latest statement on That Hastily Disappeared Photoshop Picture, credited to a Senior Liberal Official: 

The photo contest is a humorous way of pointing out Harper's reluctance to attend the climate change meeting in Copenhagen. It's important to keep in mind that the pictures are created by visitors to our website, and do not reflect the views of the LPC or of the OLO.

Though the pictures are screened before posting, this one slipped through the cracks and was removed quickly. It should never have been posted as it is clearly off-limits and offensive.

The apologies of the web team are now posted at the top of the photo contest page.

Note that, although it does explicitly acknowledge that the image in question was "clearly off-limits and offensive," it doesn't actually include an apology, but simply points out that "the apologies of the web team" have been posted.

Tags: blackberry jungle, fotoshop follies