If Macleans has laid off the fact-checkers that helped to keep the magazine on the top of the reporting pile, they might want to reconsider and get them back on the job pronto.
Among the dubious - in some cases laughable - claims:
- that Danny Williams is likely the only Premier of the province to suffer a lower quality of life as Premier;
- that Williams' personal popularity has gone up since he lost a deal on Hebron in April;
- an unquestioning repetion of Williams' ludicrous claim that Hebron meant $10 billion to the federal government. It meant at least that much to Williams but nothing even close to that to the federal government;
- that Williams came out on top during his Larry King Live appearance with the Maccartney's over the seal hunt. Even some of his staunchest supporters have come to udnerstand the poor boy got snookered into the appearance and then got screwed at every turn by a show that was skewed to Heather and Paul; and
- that brinksmanship with Paul Martin "allowed Williams to drag Newfoundland from the edge of bankruptcy". High oil prices did that, not Danny Williams. Macleans' business reporters might want to take a look at Williams spend-happy government to get a more accurate take on this one.
It would almost make one believe that Williams negotiated on-going flatulent coverage from Macleans as part of his deal to sell Cable Atlantic to Ted Rogers. Rogers owns Macleans..
Oh well, since Williams has started to blacklist local reporters who ask him tough but fair questions, the poor guy will have to take the ego-stroking he apparently craves wherever he can get it.
"We're lovers and we're fighters," Williams says. "Newfoundlanders and Labradorians like to be loved."L'etat c'est moi, indeed.