...are all anyone is talking about right now. The Globe and Mail's excerpts are certainly, well, scintillating. My favourite tidbit:
Mr. Mulroney claims that then-British-prime-minister Margaret Thatcher once showed then-U.S.-president Ronald Reagan a copy of The Globe and Mail to show "what Brian has to put up with. Look at this disgrace. This is Canadian journalism. Look at this disgraceful, putrid newspaper."
Mulroney's own comments, especially about Joe Clark, Maureen McTeer and especially Trudeau are pretty much spot on. There is nothing particularly offensive about them, other than the crass language he used. But everyone has talked in that way at some point in their lives. And is it really a surprise that a former Prime Minister has a giant-sized ego? Come on!
A story out tonight quotes Mulroney as saying he feels "betrayed" and "devastated" by the book, but that he was "reckless" in speaking with Newman and that he doesn't challenge the authenticity of the comments. According to the story Mulroney didn't always know he was being taped and was supposed have "sneak peak" at the book before publication.
The lesson here for politicians is simple: don't ever agree to be taped! It has blown up in the faces of the only two I know who've done it, Mulroney and Richard Nixon. It's a dumb move.
UPDATE: Clips of the Newman tapes are now online. Pretty neat stuff. They also appear to confirm the old suspicion that Mulroney deliberately lowered his voice when speaking in public. His voice seems more high-pitched here.
# posted by Adam Daifallah : 8:14 PM
