Sunday, October 2, 2011

THE TRUTH ABOUT TORONTO LIFE



HOW TO STAB A LEADER IN THE FRONT

It is a remarkable cover. Toronto Life's October edition promised us The Truth About Tim Hudak.
That headline could have been written by Dalton McGuinty in between his unconvincing rhetoric that his Grits really haven't raised taxes again....and again....and again.
If you listen to the premier, you might think he's against taxes period.
Turns out from the cover story that the Conservative leader has worked hard during his lifetime in politics and his only crime seems to be that he isn't accepted by the self-styled intelligentsia who read Toronto Life.
 Oh yes, he actually married a woman who knows all about politics from right inside a premier's office. The crime here is that Deb was running the office for  Mike Harris who actually did try to save money.
Actually the Toronto Life cover should read: "The truth about Toronto Life. It made the right friends in the new Family Compact that tries to run Toronto, hired the right editor and stabbed any opposition to politically correct issues. The magazine's plot to rule the city."
I have admired Robert Fulford since he was a Toronto Star reporter who was more able and agreeable when we met on assignments than their usual rabble. And Sarah Fulford certainly is a competent writer, demonstrating in her October letter that she knows how to screw a mayor as she dubbed him a "little unhinged."
Among his crazy stunts, she says, is his refusal to attend Pride. The downtowners, gays and lefties who keep harping on that don't realize that Rob Ford reflected the majority view of Toronto who think testicles are best viewed in private and would prefer their nudity at the cottage than on the main street.
Of course Sarah Fulford has something going for her beyond competence.  She has the right last name, and with the readers that Toronto Life is trying to keep, names are very very important, even better than the average IQ to which most Rosedalians aspire.
My son Mark, who lives in China, takes Toronto Life as a fast way to catch up on his visit to his home city that he loves. That's the only reason I had a copy, with the sly picture of Hudak. (That picture must have warmed the hearts of the Liberal insiders who will now worship Toronto Life.
I remember when Toronto Life was born and featured a article by Hartley Steward, then a kid editor, later a publisher of several Suns, and always a great writer. I got an irate call from the Tely publisher, Big John Bassett, who controlled the Leafs when they were winning, the Argos when they were winning, and CFTO when it was promising.
Bassett asked if it was true that Steward worked at the Telegram. I said yes. He wanted him fired. I said that under Guild regs, Steward could write for non-competing media. Bassett insisted. He asked if Steward was any good. Yes, I said, he has a real future. "I hope he tells you to go fuck yourself," the publisher bellowed as he hung up.
A nervous Steward wanted to know what he should do after I relayed Bassett's dictum. I told him to ignore what I had said.
I think the voters should do the same with anything Toronto Life has to say about the Tories, Hudak and Ford.  The problem with the silent majority is that too often they don't write letters when the story doesn't match the sneaky headline.
But they're still out there in numbers that would make advertisers drool.








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