The Liberal Party may not be formally electing their next leader till April of 2013, but providing you got wind of Justin's announcement-to-announce last Wednesday, you've already heard the only story that matters. Feel free to take the next seven months off. The Rafiki-lifting-baby-Simba-over-Pride-Rock narrative is so strong at this point, in fact, that even the Trudeau-bashers seem bored and resigned. They can whine, but it's a whine of irritation, not impact.

It's taken weeks -- no, years -- of frustrated waiting, but the other day anxious Canadians finally got an answer: he's in. Lefties have been swooning and right-wingers have been fuming, but the young dude with the famous name and rock-star reputation is now officially set for the long-haul. Now if only we knew what he actually believed. We're talking, of course, about Omar Khadr.

Long story short, Canadian editorial pages have devoted a lot more column space to American affairs than our own as of late. But I mean, given the choice between covering a ferocious battle between two men vying for leadership of the free world and a vague conspiracy theory that some guy named Gary Ritz may have not done enough to monitor Albertan beef processing -- well, what would you choose?

Q: What race has won the most Nobel Peace Prizes? If you guessed "Democrats," you'd be close, but the correct answer is "non-humans." Funky, eh? But don't think this trend of handing peace prizes to things without hands has gone unnoticed by our pals in the Canadian press! Speaking of the Nobel Peace Prize, you know who's probably not gonna win a Nobel Peace Prize? Pastor Terry Jones, that's who!

I'm not sure if mankind has yet devised a unit of measurement large enough to quantify the volume of editorials about the life, times, and future of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty that have flooded the Canadian press in the aftermath of his unexpected Monday resignation. It's almost enough to make one pine for the pine for the cautious restraint of Justinmania.

It's now been two weeks since the tragic, allegedly bullying-induced suicide of B.C. teenager Amanda Todd first made headlines around the world, but if the steady output of Canadian editorial pages is any indication, there's still much to say. It's hard to deny the sheer poetic justice in the volume of sympathy and thoughtfulness born from the aftermath of an episode of such overbearing nihilism and cruelty. Not that some haven't gone too far, of course.

Well, the final American presidential debate is over and the Canadian reviews are in! And talk about an overwhelming consensus -- when it comes to Obama versus Romney, practically every Canuck pundit seems to agree that yes, this is something I want to talk about for several days instead of writing a column about Dwight Duncan or whatever. Look, I'm just gonna come out and say it, says Postmedia darling Michael Den Tandt, "the entire recent cycle of U.S. public politics including the Republican and Democratic conventions, have been a tour de force" -- especially when compared to the boring political shlock offered by this snorefest with igloos we call a country.

A couple months ago, the China National Offshore Oil Coporation announced that it would like to purchase Calgary oil firm Nexen. And the speculation began. If you're praying for a quick end to all this China intrigue, rest assured, you're not alone. But at least it keeps our minds off what's fast becoming one of the more depressing trends in Canadain politics: how the sudden resignation of Premier McGuinty seems to have triggered a mass exodus of his party's senior braintrust.