Federal Liberals are born on third base, or at least second. It’s truly extraordinary how much and how many Canadians want to like them, no matter what they do, even if it’s the opposite of what they said they’d do or even of what they did yesterday. I imagine Canadian popular musicians vote monolithically NDP, assuming they live here and vote. But there was Joni Mitchell at the Juno Awards on Sunday night in Hamilton, Ont., pumping Carney’s tires outrageously: “This man is a blessing. You guys are so fortunate,” she told the crowd. It reminds me of the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie falling tragically in love with Justin Trudeau. Shouldn’t rock stars be better than average at spotting complete phoneys?