New record time set

The last few days have seen new heights in petty political lows between Premier Williams and Prime Minister Harper over Harper's nickel tour of great NL disaster areas.

And so when you see something like this in the national media, you have to wonder what is going on: the Globe and Mail today reported that Canada's premiers have decided they're not going to discuss equalization payments when they gather for their annual gabfest this week in Moncton.

It goes on to note that:

Newfoundland's Danny Williams, whose 12 months as chairman of the Council of the Federation began with the collapse of equalization talks, is one of those who see a new era. "There's a mood in that room to move to a higher level and not to be seen as a group of premiers that come together to bash the federal government," he said.

Peace has broken out overnight, it seems.

But that was written yesterday and a lot can happen in politics in a day.

VOCM today reports that the federal-provincial wars are as hot as ever in reporting:

Williams Not in Tory Corner
August 7, 2007

Premier Danny Williams isn't budging from his position that people should vote 'Anybody But Conservative' in the next federal election. Williams says he wished Judy Foote well while visiting the south coast over the weekend. Foote won the Liberal nomination last week in the federal riding of Random-Burin-St. George's.

That seems to be a new time record in political shifts - from war to peace and back to war again in 24 hours. How did that happen? A short list of possible answers:

• Premier Williams tells one story to national media ("I'm a good guy") and another to local media ("The feds are evil").
• The local reporter misquoted.
• The national reporter misquoted.
• Premier Williams is an erratic unstable mercurial personality.

I wonder which one it is?