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 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

WWDCD?

by Aaron Wherry on Monday, November 22, 2010 3:35pm - 48 Comments

Don Cherry imparts his wisdom on the Vaughan by-election.

“There are not enough words to describe how much respect I have for Julian Fantino,” the bombastic and sartorially outlandish Hockey Night in Canada commentator writes.. “He is honest, brave and always there for the ordinary guy. A class act and someone who will never let you down. He tells it like it is.”

There is more fawning analysis from Mr. Cherry, a former coach – but you get the idea. The endorsement was provided to The Globe by the Conservative Party.

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  • Ted

    Well, that should be the last straw for any intelligent person who was considering a vote for Fantino.

    • sourstud

      Ya, because Canadians just HATE Don Cherry!

  • gottabesaid

    WWDCD? Why, he'd do the same thing Jesus would do! Vote Conservative!

    Silly question.

    • Amateur Hour

      If you buy into the the JC stuff (what's attributed to him), he'd probably support the party with the best policies for alleviating suffering and poverty, bridge-building between enemies, non-violent solutions to conflicts and that was the most sympathetic to those most wretched amongst us.

      JC: Not a Conservative.

      • Sigh

        Why does JC hate our troops?

      • gottabesaid

        Yeah, like JC votes NDP.

      • sourstud

        No doubt that Mohammad would be the Conservative, what with the war-mongering, hatred of homophobia, sexism, and general disdain for liberal freedoms.

        • John.K

          Hatred of homophobia would be homophilia wouldn't it?

          • sourstud

            Hehe, indeed. My bad.

  • http://dougsamu.wordpress.com dougrogers

    Yaaaay! Idiot thugs endorsing idiot thugs!

    • Ernie Seedhouse

      Reading what you wrote I can only conclude that you are an idiot thug yourself.

  • DBM

    Beauty!

    But now I want to know who Ron MacLean is endorsing!?

    I heard Colin Campbell had described at least one candidate as a 'little fake artist'.

    • sourstud

      Ron wouldn't endorse. He'd be at the ballot boxes ensuring a fair vote.

  • psiclone

    nice catch – can't think of a more powerful endorsement – drives harper haters to fits of fury :) – always makes my day

    • gottabesaid

      Yeah… Don Cherry backing a Conservative is the shock of a lifetime. Didn't see that coming at all. About as shocking as Cherry saying that Bobby Orr is the greatest hockey player of all time.

      A more powerful endorsement would be one from somebody who isn't traditionally conservative, IMHO.

      • Halo_Override

        Or who has a clue.

      • CAPS

        Except that Bobby Orr is the greatest hockey player of all time!

        Gretzky is some artist who just happened to pick hockey as his medium. Orr was a hockey player.

    • sourstud

      Exactly. It pretty much guarantees Fantino will win that election. You need look no further than all the personal attacks against Cherry here to see that the Liberals are very very very worried.

  • Anon 001

    Polls that bad in Vaughn for Fantino?

    • sourstud

      Ha! Most likely he'll win a landslide.

  • Ralph

    Talk about jumping the shark.

    Voter ID #s for Fantino must be pretty low.

  • Alex

    He was a good police chief in London and if Don says he's a good guy then he's probably a good guy.

    • John D

      That makes a mind-blowing amount of sense

      • burlivespipe

        Obviously played without a helmet too often.

        • sourstud

          Who? Ken Dryden?

  • tobyornotoby

    I think it's great to see public figures exercising their charter rights to air their poltical opinions, and that "So you Think you can Govern" or maybe "Stars on the Stump" would draw big reality TV audiences.

    I'd love to see Cherry go head to head with Margaret Atwood or maybe he could debate Mendelsson Joe. That would be worth watching a few commercials to see.

    • Gary

      "I'd love to see Cherry go head to head with Margaret Atwood"

      Don would leave his usual Right Defence position and land a cross-check to the teeth. Then it would be up to Wherry, the Left wing enforcer to to counter, and after sniveling to the refs, Cherry receives a 2 minute minor for Goaltender Interference. Fans everywhere will cheer enthusiastically with the sight of left wing blood!

    • evenflow

      Hell, I would like to see him go head to head with an apple.

      I think the apple would come out on top for the simple reason it wouldn't say anything and thats gotta be a whole lot better than anything coming out of DC's mouth.

      • MostlyCivil

        Not to mention he'd just draw a too many voters on the ice penalty…

        Too soon?

  • tedbetts

    I've now heard more from Don Cherry about why Julian Fantino should be elected in Vaughan than I have heard from Julian Fantino about why he should be elected anywhere.

    • SamDavies

      Sadly – It is a formula for success.

  • JamesP

    Is Cherry angling for a Senate appointment?

    And doesn't he work for a crown corporation? I mean, if Peter Mansbridge made an endorsement would it be considered crossing the line?

    • Jenn_

      Whatever do you mean? We all know that everyone who works for CBC is a left-wing extremist. Cherry must have just been joking. Or more likely, the left-wing media probably misrepresented what he said so that it would reflect poorly on the Conservatives.

      • Blue

        Sarcasm will only work when there is some sense of truth to what you write. To even imagine that the Conservative political leaning of a tired old hockey analyst might somehow mean that the national poliltics of the CBC is not full of Anti-Conservative media is ludicrous, or I could just write of your comment as a bit of sarcasm that didn`t work—-kind of like that alien post of Wherry`s.

        • Jenn_

          Okay, fair enough.

          But can I get some points for trying?

          • Blue

            Because you have such good humour, I just went to that thumby thing which I always avoid and gave you an upper.
            By the way how did you manage to give me 3 thumb-downs ?———–just kiddin

  • LdKitchenersOwn

    In the Venn diagram in my head, every single person who falls into the "would take Don Cherry's advice on who to vote for" slice of the pie is ALREADY IN the "Will vote for Julian Fantino" slice of the pie. Does anyone really believe that there's a single person in Canada who isn't already voting for Fantino who'd be convinced to do so by Don Cherry?

  • E_B_

    "He is honest, brave and always there for the ordinary guy."

    Unless the ordinary guy lives in Caledonia…

  • Amateur Hour

    Or Toronto.

  • CAPS

    What's funny on this point is that Cherry is also a fan of Blatch (and vice versa). In fact I would bet that Cherry is more favourable to Blatch's take on events in Caledonia than anything Fantino is selling.

    Grape's support of Fantino is also an example of one of his biggest strengths and greatest weaknesses. He is loyal to a fault to those he likes . If Dale Hunter plasters Pierre Turgeon into the boards while he is celbrating a playoff goal, then, right or wrong (and obviously he was wrong) Don Cherry supports Dale Hunter.

    When it comes to hockey I actually agree with about 98% of what he has to say. Politics? Let's < 0%.

  • MostlyCivil

    Or wants a word with him prior to the election…

  • sourstud

    What exactly about Don Cherry do you not respect? His patriotism? His undying support for the Canadian Forces? His distinguished career? All that he does for communities across Canada?

    Or is it just that his political views differ from your own?

  • Jenn_

    I quite like Don Cherry. But I like Ron Maclean more. Cherry knows hockey, and he knows how to dress for maximum impact. But politics–not so much. Remember the wonderful discussion the two had about joining the U.S. in the Iraq invasion? I know some people complained about having that air as part of a hockey game, but I thought it was fantastic to have it air as part of a hockey game (because, Canadians watch hockey games, not political shows). Anyway, that told me much about what topics to listen to Don Cherry on, and when to ignore anything he has to say.

  • brooster2

    IMO, he's a bombastic loudmouth and a xenophobic homer. I change the channel rather than listen to his boorish rants.

  • sourstud

    Hehe. So you ignore those who you disagree with? How open minded of you.

  • sourstud

    All of those things might be true, and they're certainly good reasons for you to not watch. But I don't think that should detract from his successful career in hockey and unabashed patriotism and love of country.

  • Jenn_

    Well, of course I do. He's just some guy just as I'm just some girl. My opinion is every bit as relevant as his if we're not talking hockey or fashion sense. So, I disagree with him and am free to ignore his opinion–just as I am quite sure he'd ignore mine if he ever knew what it was.

  • brooster2

    The fact that CBC gives him a pulpit from which to pronounce on all things hockey doesn't make him an authority on political or international affairs. He should stick to what (he thinks) he knows. His opinion on Fantino means nothing.

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