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20 January 2007

The People's Paper for Leader Worship

Bad enough that the editor of a weekly paper in the province once a week pens a mash-note to Danny based on nothing other than his school boy hero-crush on The Leader.

They used to be the "But Danny, I adore you, why do you hate me, why won't you speak to me?" love-rent teenager kinda drivel. Lately - now that Danny will advertise in the paper and grant interviews - it's back to the public orations in honour of The Leader Who Gloriously Slayed the Mighty Ottawa Beast and Who Will Now Smite the Oil Bastards And Anyone Else Who Would Dare Oppress His Loyal Supplicants.

It's the sort of stuff you used to see pumped out by second-rate lute pickers. They'd chase after some knight, knocking off ditties to tell the local peasants and pissants how splendiferous their local demigod supposedly was. They did it all in hopes the leige lord might deign to give the lowly minstrels a meal, a mug of warm beer and a place sleep out of the elements.

Expect the upstart weekly to be up and starting a province-wide collection to build a gold statute to The Leader in front of their offices on Water Street. Pensioners and little children can send in their nickels. The rest can cough up big for the monument.

The only potential design problem will be to see who goes up The Leader's backside, and how far. Competition for the spot is at a state not seen even in Joe Smallwood's day. Heck some are even heading back out into the parking lot so they can get a good run at embedding themselves.

Perhaps they'll the potentate route and just design the statute with an oversized pair of cheeks, set at eye level. All the more area for osculating.

Or maybe like worshippers at some shrine in wherever-a-stan, the serfs can dutifully kiss the cheek as they go about their daily work. There you stroke the lingham for blessing. Here you'd buss the tukus to demonstrate loyalty and devotion.

All that is bad enough, but now the Telegram is starting in on the public fellation, as well.

Credit where credit is due. A needle poke when appropriate as well.

But puhleese: "It’s a tribute to Williams that his Conservatives are still doing so well in this province — and that they’ve managed to stick, for the most part, to their election agenda in the process."

No serving politician deserves that kind of derriere-smooch, especially since it simply isn't true.

The Telly has been doing such a fine job of getting its editorial chops back. This paean to the prem is a marked setback.

Did the boys in layout print Bill Rowe's column in the wrong spot?

Is this another editorial ordered up from the corner office?

It just makes you shrug in despair of thoughtful commentary in what once upon a time used to be a bastion of contrariness.