Foul Ball

Imagine the following scenario - it may sound a little far-fetched, but bear with me:

The NHL has resumed play, and with the new salary cap looking to make the Toronto Maple Leafs (even more) profitable no matter how bad the team does, the team's value has skyrocketed and the pension fund owners are looking to sell while the selling's good.

There are a couple of rival bidders for the team. One is being led by a former friend of Pierre Trudeau who helped put together the National Energy Program and who remains a key fundraiser for the Liberal party.

The other group includes Don Cherry, (flush from sales of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em 32 and the latest round of sub commercials), as a minor partner.

Now, imagine that the honourable Stephen Owen, Liberal minister for sport, comes out and says that, given Cherry's outspoken nature and conservative views on many issues, really it would be better for everyone if Cherry wasn't allowed to own an NHL team and that the NHL shouldn't look for any favours from the government if they let Cherry become an owner.

I'm guessing people might not take this too well.

So what's the point of me bringing up this absurdly unlikely hypothetical? Because if you live in the U.S. it's not absurdity - it's reality.

The excellent baseball blog, 'Yard Work', gives one of the Republican lawmakers in question a chance to explain himself, which he does with surprising candour.

I bring this up for three reasons. One, because it's just so nuts I had to say something and two, to help show why any signs of Canada becoming more like the U.S. make me nervous and three, to help show why I tend to be distrustful of right wing parties which claim to favour a small non-interfering government.

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Note: thanks to Spearin for the links.