Furious Gordon...

One responses of the leftish blogs to the McBride affair was a tu quoque – how can the Tories (and Guido) complain about these smears, they asked, when there is a consistent meme on the right that Gordon Brown is bonkers?  Superficially this is quite a compelling argument – to describe a political opponent as being mad is, almost by definition, a smear.  And yet, and yet…

The strain shows, say current and former Brown aides: Among other things, it has inflamed a temper that has always been the subject of gallows humour among those who work with him, they say.

The prime minister, 58, has hurled pens and even a stapler at aides, according to one; he says he once saw the leader of Britain’s 61 million people shove a laser printer off a desk in a rage. Another aide was warned to watch out for “flying Nokias” when he joined Brown’s team.

One staffer says a colleague developed a technique called a “news sandwich” -- first telling the prime minister about a recent piece of good coverage before delivering bad news, and then moving quickly to tell him about something good coming soon.

Coupled with that peculiar video, in which Brown gurned and grimaced and grinned and rocked himself in strange ways, it adds to the impression of a Prime Minister who is, well, a bit weird.  Is that a smear?