John Tory insults my Alma Mater

[ollie]

Way to lose my vote John!!

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i can't believe the fuss this joke got.

[ollie]

I just think it's funny in an "old dude tries to relate to the kids with an inappropriate joke" kind of way. He never had my vote in the first place.

[phishtaper]

OMG, wow. sure, its a "joke", but really. grab a brain John.

I got a call last night from his campaign office. They asked my opinion on a lot of things, but their questions were so biased they will be analytically useless. "Do you agree that the Liberals have been useless and have no agenda?", "Dalton McGuinty broke his promiss about eliminating coal powered energy by 2007. Do you agree that Dalton McGuinty broke his promiss?" ... huh? you tell me he broke his promiss then ask me if he broke his promiss? Why not just ask, "Dalton is a big pooh pooh head. Do you think Dalton is a pooh pooh head?"

Funny, i always thot the Tories had their act together when it came to the science of politics. I guess not.

look for surge in tory support throughout september, and then a last week melt down and reelection of the grits when people see thru Tory's amateur sideshow.

[ollie]

I'm so sick of attack ad campaigns. I don't need anyone to tell me that McGuinty is an idiot.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Wait a minute - McGuinty's an idiot?!

I'm dying to see how the debate between McGuinty and Tory around private-school funding unfolds. Tory's got the Grenville example now to account for, while McGuinty and his family have been 100% immersed in the Separate School system, and can hardly make a case for the virtues of secular public schools.

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Today Tory also said he has no problem with creationism being taught in religion classes as an 'alternate theory.'

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Aie aie aie....

I think even Christian conservatives in the US are starting to get cynical about politicians pandering to them so much.

I see the Conservatives are already into damage-control -

From the National Post

John Tory on creationism, the theory of evolution and why ducks have wings

James Cowan reports from the John Tory campaign:

It should be said that Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory is usually a thoughtful, articulate guy. But this week, the man has had nothing but a mouthful of foot. First, he referred to the University of Ottawa as the “University of Zero.†Another stumble came today, during an event to promote Mr. Tory’s promise to extend public funding to faith-based schools. A radio reporter asked whether schools would be allowed to teach creationism. Mr. Tory responded: “The Christian-based school would have to teach the Ontario curriculum, which of course has a different explanation. It’s still called the theory of evolution, but they teach evolution in the Ontario curriculum, but they could also mention to children the fact that there are other theories out there that are part of some Christian beliefs.â€

What Mr. Tory did not say was whether evolution would be taught as part of science class or religious studies -- which is, we submit, a pretty important distinction. So important that late this afternoon, the Conservative campaign issued the following press release:

JOHN TORY 2007 CAMPAIGN

STATEMENT OF CLARIFICATION

(Toronto, ON) – In an interview with reporters earlier today, John Tory was asked whether ‘creationism’ could be taught in faith-based schools, if they wished to receive funding under his proposed policy.

POINTS OF CLARIFICATION:

1.) The Ontario curriculum does not allow for creationism (or any other religious theory) to be taught in science classes in Ontario’s public schools.

2.) Mr. Tory clearly stated that any school to be included in the proposal must teach the Ontario curriculum.

3.) Mr. Tory’s proposal would allow creationism to be discussed only as part of religious studies programming, as is now the practice in Ontario’s publicly-funded Catholic schools.

[phishtaper]

Just prior to the 1985 election, Conservative Premier Bill Davis rammed thru funding for Catholic school boards. It backfired, and the PCs who were expected to win handily were barely elected with a small minority government. John Tory was Davis' legislative secretary.

It completely baffles me that Tory seems to be repeating the same fatal mistake that ended the Big Blue monopoly in Ontario politics 20 years ago. Desparation, I guess.

I actually has a great deal of respect for the man. He always struck me a straight shooter. But now, he seems to have lost his mind.

[SmoothedShredder]

John Tory is a dink. And so is Mcguinty. Good luck over the next decade Ontario.