I already said I don't care if editorial was force feeding Mackie plot ideas because Mackie's basic writing skills were non-existent.
Look at Peter David. The man had absolutely no control over the direction of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, but he still managed to make good stories out of forced plots--because he's a good writer. Mackie, on the other hand, was given bad plots and did nothing to improve them with his own skill--because he's a bad writer. Maybe he does a good job on Ghost Rider, but he did an awful job on Spider-Man and did nothing to make lemonade out of the lemons he was given.