Man, the Blogosphere Just Wrecks All the Mayor's Great Ideas

(The above title is a pun. Keep looking at it until you figure it out.)

Here's a question: what demographic (loosely-defined) is the most likely to support a new NHL-calibre arena in Edmonton funded at least partially by the taxpayer?

You can be forgiven for answering "Oilers fans". One would think, after all, that they'd look at the government-supported arts and cultural industries and think "why aren't any of these tax dollars doing to support entertainment enterprises that I support?"

However, that's not actually the case. In fact, the most vociferous opposition to the use of tax dollars or other municipal participation in the construction of a new arena is eminating from the self-dubbed "oilogosphere". Andy Grabia, recently retired from (but still posting on) The Battle of Alberta has been writing on the subject with the fervour of a man possessed, with other members of the oilogosphere chiming in as well.

With Stephen Mandel already on the record as saying that taxpayers will have to bear part of the cost, it will be interesting to see whether this flares up as an issue in what's looking very much like a sleepy election.