If I had a grand for every time I've heard MPP Ted McMeekin say it's important to point directions, not fingers, I could afford to fund my own public investigation into C. difficile.

I groaned aloud the other day when McMeekin, Hamilton's voice in the McGuinty cabinet, trotted out that moth-eaten piece of folk wisdom yet again.

This time, pathetically, it was in defence of just-bounced Health Minister George Smitherman and his mishandling of concerns about the superbug linked to the deaths of at least 264 hospital patients in Ontario.

We'll deal with Smitherman's bum's rush in a moment.

First, let's take note that when McMeekin (Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale) was elected in 2000, he vowed he'd never be a trained seal for the Liberals.

For the most part, he has lived up to that promise, particularly when his party was in opposition.

Now that he's in cabinet, well ...

Power doesn't necessarily corrupt. Sometimes it just co-opts.

Back to Furious George.

An enamoured Toronto media is bending over backwards to position Smitherman's removal from the health portfolio to energy and infrastructure as a promotion.

Maybe they've been sipping too much Queen's Park Kool-Aid.

True, Smitherman certainly hasn't been demoted.

But there's every reason to believe he was yanked in order to contain the political damage he has caused.

Anyone who has been paying attention to the gathering heat over C. diff must realize Smitherman was suddenly shuffled out of health because he was rapidly becoming a political liability to Premier Dalton McGuinty.

Pressure on the McGuinty government to call an inquiry, largely led by The Spectator's kick-butt coverage of the C. diff debacle, has been gathering momentum for weeks in the legislature.

It became a full-blown albatross when Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin slammed the government's lack of response, in essence suggesting the Liberals may be more concerned about covering up embarrassing facts than getting to the bottom of 264 deaths.

Unless the Liberals do something, they'll take that accusation with them into the next election.

Since Smitherman is the pugnacious face of Liberal stonewalling, it made perfect sense to send him packing on the eve of the legislature's long summer recess.

Besides, C. diff is hardly Smitherman's first botch-up on the health file.

He demonstrated appalling insensitivity and bad judgment when he offered to test drive an adult diaper in response to concerns that staff shortages in nursing homes create bathroom problems for seniors.

And Smitherman threw provincial home-care providers into confusion when he impulsively stopped the request for proposal bidding process for all nursing contracts at Ontario's 14 Community Care Access Centres.

That was in January. Thanks to George, the process for awarding new contracts is still in limbo.

The really strange thing is, Smitherman halted the very process he himself had endorsed after a comprehensive review of the home-care system by Elinor Caplan, a review Smitherman ordered.

Not exactly a steady fellow.

Smitherman has basically swapped portfolios with David Caplan, a doubly interesting move because he's the son of the aforementioned Elinor Caplan, a former Liberal health minister in the Peterson government.

You don't have to be a tea reader to see a pattern here.

I suspect the Toronto media overlooked it simply because C. diff hasn't become an issue in Toronto hospitals. If it were, they'd be baying for blood instead of kissing Smitherman's behind, diapered or not.

At the very least, a new health minister will allow McGuinty to recalibrate his stance on C. diff. However the Liberals choose to frame or name it, whether they want to investigate C. diff in particular or superbugs in general, they're now free to do so without losing face.

Andrew Dreschel's commentary appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. adreschel@thespec.com 905-526-3495