Hypothesis: Stephen Harper is such a big meanie, he's making everyone else crabby, including Babble contributors. Corollary: This is his explicit intention, or at least a pleasant but unexpected byproduct.
At the start of the NHL season, my friends and I were laughing because some Toronto-area broadcaster made a reference to the "undefeated Leafs", when their record was 1-0.
Could it be that some babblers are laughing at polling threads about the NDP for similar reasons?