We live in the age of the professional victim. They actively seek out things to fuel their need for outrage. It started simple enough, just look for offensive things, claim victim status and share your outrage. Then it moved on to being outraged on behalf of others. This is apparent ever Columbus Day and Thanksgiving in the US where white professional victims are outraged on behalf of others. That wasn't enough for them, so they moved on to retroactive outrage. Primary & secondary schools are removing curriculum that references historical figures in our nation's history that did bad things. Instead of pointing out the good with the bad, they want them erased from history. They are renaming buildings & roads, tearing down statues and removing references to them in our history & social studies books.

I agree with Cherry on this. Every few months, a massive caravan of immigrants makes the trek up to our southern border in the US. Many, if not most of them are waiving their native flags as they make the trek. They tell us they are coming here because things are so bad & dangerous in their countries, so why not waive the flag of the country you demand to be a citizen of? Our schools have to teach them in their native languages and schools all over America have banned wearing patriotic apparel, so as not to offend those who aren't Americans. That used to be just schools in far left states like California, but even in Michigan, there are districts where it is against school rule to wear any clothing that combines red, white and blue. Hell, Nike made a ton of shoes with the Betsy Ross flag on it, Kap was offended saying it was racist and Nike decided to destroy their huge inventory of them. They were too stupid to Google Betsy Ross, who was a Quaker, abolitionist and actively supported the underground railroad. Because she lived in a time of slavery, Kap was retroactively outraged and demanded references to her be removed.

What is happening in the UK, Germany, France and Scandinavia is coming rapidly to the US and Canada. Canada is much further along than the US with their limits on speech since free speech is ingrained in our Constitution, but like the other countries mentioned, citizens will face prison time for saying or writing anything negative against "protected" groups. In Europe, you can be arrested for simply hitting the like button on a post that may contain negative topics related to either immigration or Islam. It won't be long at all when saying "you people" will get you arrested. It's the world professional victims demand, and it's coming soon.

I knew you banned me for having a different opinion than you


Interesting business model..

HA, the triggered comment was my assessment of your comment, not my status, i'm a pretty unflappable guy. i'm not sure i see the necessity of my military resume to the thread, but if you're suggesting only veterans can feel strongly about the sacrifices made of other veterans, I believe you're absolutely dead wrong. i've lived many years in both the US and Canada. i've watched as both countries have struggled with their identity for over a decade now. In my humble opinion, both countries see divisiveness grow when some group of people puts their feelings ahead of facts. Once the argument is made, groups begin to rally, facts get fuzzy, logic and fairness go out the window. it's an impossible measure to live up to. no one was (and never should be) promised they wouldn't encounter a situation that couldn't be seen as offensive. It's subjective, what is offensive to me may be perfectly acceptable to you, and vice versa. Trying to live with the freedom of expressing your opinions/feelings without ever offending someone else is simply an impossible standard to set. We shouldn't try. But we should always try to maintain civil discourse, it is imperative to a polite society that we can all enjoy.
- rugape

You've said nothing I disagree with here, but I don't quite grasp your point against what I said earlier. The one thing I would disagree with is you saying "we shouldn't try." That is fundamentally wrong and historically dangerous. Just be kind and in your own word, civil to others.

Lot of ''recent'' white immigrants in Canada, heck Montreal has become the island of the French, because work is hard to find in France.
- Alexzanki

Of course there are, but let's be honest. How many people look around Toronto or Mississauga (where Grapes would be) and see white people and immediately think they must be recent immigrants because they're not wearing a poppy?

Clearly though more Canadians disagree with you as Trudeau is still the PM. And please, if Scheer had ever been invited to a party and had worn a black face costume 18 years ago, people like you would not be howling like you are now.

Working for a private company. Cherry doesn’t have the luxury of belching out his rascist rants anymore. Again I think you are a minority of Canadians who think it is cool to refer to immigrant Canadians as “you people”. He is a dinosaur who should have been put out to pasture 20 years ago.
- habsp

Fixed.

And I doubt anybody doubts Don's commitment to veterans. And I praise him for his Don Cherry Pet Rescue Foundation (because I like animals way more than humans). Now he has an extra 5 minutes per week he can focus on those initiatives. I think we're all better off. Especially our furry friends.

Maybe some people need to hit pause and do some research on how many immigrants have joined our military and fought for our country as a way to say thank you to Canada. Because I have a feeling if half of these internet rednecks championing some out of touch dinosaur on the merits of wearing a poppy knew the answer to that... There wouldn't be much discussion.

he did nothing wrong but voice his opinion.
- daryl stanley

So when Nazi skinheads and the KKK have rallies to voice their opinions, that's ok too?

Only in Canada do we hold a sports commentator more accountable than our own Prime Minister.
- Pacificgem

Oh FFS that was 20 years ago, get over it.

And the people complaining about a private company finally sacking Cherry, a misogynist racist, wouldn’t know a poppy if they tripped over it.

Of course there are, but let's be honest. How many people look around Toronto or Mississauga (where Grapes would be) and see white people and immediately think they must be recent immigrants because they're not wearing a poppy?
- Tonybere

that's alot of implying on what someone is implying, before you go ballistic, I defended Don yesterday and i am second generation immigrant. I understand he was trying to get people to donate for veterans because it's well documented (left or right ) that he is heavily involved in veteran affairs. This is why his firing is somewhat murky and all this could of been averted with some good PR, apology and explanation included

Maybe some people need to hit pause and do some research on how many immigrants have joined our military and fought for our country as a way to say thank you to Canada. Because I have a feeling if half of these internet rednecks championing some out of touch dinosaur on the merits of wearing a poppy knew the answer to that... There wouldn't be much discussion.
- joel878

Please then, enlighten on how many exactly....

If you will notice, I deleted that comment. I read some more of your posts and realized I was unfair in saying that to you. So, my apologies.
I would ask though, why you made the comment that I should leave because I feel that people are blind to Cherry's racism simply because he's a celebrity? Isn't that just what you were saying is wrong here?
- Tonybere

I have the memory of a goldfish lol i have no idea what comment i read or how i interpreted it lol

You've said nothing I disagree with here, but I don't quite grasp your point against what I said earlier. The one thing I would disagree with is you saying "we shouldn't try." That is fundamentally wrong and historically dangerous. Just be kind and in your own word, civil to others.
- Copper n Blue

That's fair, so allow me to clarify. By no means should my comment be construed to suggest I believe people should be making commentary for the purpose of offending someone. That's just rude and obnoxious and totally uncalled for; but I shouldn't be afraid to say something like "i support frattlesnorts" knowing some people hate frattlesnorts and be crucified for having a different opinion. My support should be equally viewed/consumed as the hate/opposition to the subject matter. Each person's feelings on the matter will greatly depend on their perspective. It's the crucifixion I don't accept. thanks for your civility.

We live in the age of the professional victim. They actively seek out things to fuel their need for outrage. It started simple enough, just look for offensive things, claim victim status and share your outrage. Then it moved on to being outraged on behalf of others. This is apparent ever Columbus Day and Thanksgiving in the US where white professional victims are outraged on behalf of others. That wasn't enough for them, so they moved on to retroactive outrage. Primary & secondary schools are removing curriculum that references historical figures in our nation's history that did bad things. Instead of pointing out the good with the bad, they want them erased from history. They are renaming buildings & roads, tearing down statues and removing references to them in our history & social studies books.

I agree with Cherry on this. Every few months, a massive caravan of immigrants makes the trek up to our southern border in the US. Many, if not most of them are waiving their native flags as they make the trek. They tell us they are coming here because things are so bad & dangerous in their countries, so why not waive the flag of the country you demand to be a citizen of? Our schools have to teach them in their native languages and schools all over America have banned wearing patriotic apparel, so as not to offend those who aren't Americans. That used to be just schools in far left states like California, but even in Michigan, there are districts where it is against school rule to wear any clothing that combines red, white and blue. Hell, Nike made a ton of shoes with the Betsy Ross flag on it, Kap was offended saying it was racist and Nike decided to destroy their huge inventory of them. They were too stupid to Google Betsy Ross, who was a Quaker, abolitionist and actively supported the underground railroad. Because she lived in a time of slavery, Kap was retroactively outraged and demanded references to her be removed.

What is happening in the UK, Germany, France and Scandinavia is coming rapidly to the US and Canada. Canada is much further along than the US with their limits on speech since free speech is ingrained in our Constitution, but like the other countries mentioned, citizens will face prison time for saying or writing anything negative against "protected" groups. In Europe, you can be arrested for simply hitting the like button on a post that may contain negative topics related to either immigration or Islam. It won't be long at all when saying "you people" will get you arrested. It's the world professional victims demand, and it's coming soon.
- bluelineenforcer

I think you have either

1) graduated from Trump University
2) or you drink too much Trump koolaid

You may not know this, but I have a policy with my writers to not write about politics on Hockeybuzz.

Really? (Looking at Tanner)

So when Nazi skinheads and the KKK have rallies to voice their opinions, that's ok too?
- aantny88

I don't think his comments reach that level.

But in a free society, provided they're not using those rallies to promote and plan actual violence, yes those examples are OK in the sense they're allowed.

That's the problem with free speech, defending it when everyone agrees with you is easy, it's when they don't that it gets hard.

That way the tyranny of the mob doesn't win out.

If he just said "you people need to buy poppies" he would've been fine because he isn't targeting anybody directly.

"you people" is not derogatory or specific.

"you people, who come to our country" is very much specific and refers to immigrants. But still not yet derogatory...but the rest of his rant was bad. Fireable bad for sure.

If he just said "you people need to buy poppies" he would've been fine because he isn't targeting anybody directly.

"you people" is not derogatory or specific.

"you people, who come to our country" is very much specific and refers to immigrants. But still not yet derogatory...but the rest of his rant was bad. Fireable bad for sure.
- Njuice

It reminds me of Howard Cossel. Though, the word he used he actually used for his grandchildren and kids as a term of endearment. But that's not how people took it....

This was actually worse, because everyone took it EXACTLY as he meant it.

That's fair, so allow me to clarify. By no means should my comment be construed to suggest I believe people should be making commentary for the purpose of offending someone. That's just rude and obnoxious and totally uncalled for; but I shouldn't be afraid to say something like "i support frattlesnorts" knowing some people hate frattlesnorts and be crucified for having a different opinion. My support should be equally viewed/consumed as the hate/opposition to the subject matter. Each person's feelings on the matter will greatly depend on their perspective. It's the crucifixion I don't accept. thanks for your civility.
- rugape

Right back at you with the civility. Your analogy here is valid, but not pertaining to this incident. That's not what happened. He got fired because he said something stupid and refused to appogise and doubled down claiming he said nothing wrong.

I've wasted far to much time on a topic that I really don't care about. I haven't been able to follow Cherry's broken trains of thought for 10+ years.

I never said Americans were against immigrants. You can find that in every American city.
- Eklund

Nah, everybody loves their pets, your government even builds nice big cages for them!!!

So when Nazi skinheads and the KKK have rallies to voice their opinions, that's ok too?
- aantny88

Are their opinions garbage? Yep. But they have their marches from time to time, and they're allowed to do that. Is it good? No, but it's a right they have, yep.

I don't think his comments reach that level.

But in a free society, provided they're not using those rallies to promote and plan actual violence, yes those examples are OK in the sense they're allowed.

That's the problem with free speech, defending it when everyone agrees with you is easy, it's when they don't that it gets hard.

That way the tyranny of the mob doesn't win out.
- gcomella34

But let's be clear about something. While every one of those people is entitled to march, their employers are also entitled to terminating their employment for it.

I never said Americans were against immigrants. You can find that in every American city.
- Eklund

I'm against any immigrant that wears turtlenecks. I won't stomach them in hockey, and I certainly won't stomach them in my immigration policy. You let one in, and the next thing you know you have an entire nation of Alexie Yashins running around.

Are their opinions garbage? Yep. But they have their marches from time to time, and they're allowed to do that. Is it good? No, but it's a right they have, yep.
- prock

And it is a companies right to decide what they want reflected on their brand. Can you straight up tell me you want people to publicly know a KKK member works for a company you own?

EDIT: I see you addressed this before I posted

And it is a companies right to decide what they want reflected on their brand. Can you straight up tell me you want people to publicly know a KKK member works for a company you own?

EDIT: I see you addressed this before I posted
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

yeah, many here don't seem to understand where your right to freedom of speech is protected or not. You're welcome to say what you want (within reason - you can't incite a riot for example). That doesn't mean there can't be repercussions.

EDIT - and there are obviously limits to being able to fire someone because you don't like how they represent your brand as well. For example, you cant' up and decide you don't like women or black people represent your brand, and fire them all because they're women or black.

But let's be clear about something. While every one of those people is entitled to march, their employers are also entitled to terminating their employment for it.
- prock

Entitled yes, but just like the people marching, should they?


That's where I struggle. Because then it's just a matter of redefining what "hate" is.

Societies have a funny way of being wishy washy on definitions of right and wrong, that's why as I age, I'm a little more tolerant of bad behavior that is distasteful but not directly hurtful to another.