Rob Ford Crack Scandal: 16 amusing, baffling and touching reactions from notables that you need to read

—Toronto chief of police, Bill Blair, adding a rare personal touch to his explosive press conference yesterday

“Rob Ford is a great mayor, I support him. I think he’s doing a wonderful job, and I know the people of Toronto are very happy with the way he’s running the city.” —Conservative MP for Brampton-Springdale Parm Gill, who apparently doesn’t have access to the internet or any other media

“Did you hear the mayor’s excuse? He said it was medical crack for his crackoma.” —Jay Leno, making us wish Jon Stewart had covered this story

“We’ve all had friends who get into trouble...What real friends would do is pick up the phone and tell the mayor to go and get some help.” —Dr. Carolyn Bennett, Liberal MP for Saint Paul, takes the human angle

“Clearly the prime minister and the minister of finance have been on the record being very close to the mayor of Toronto...We’ve been raising questions in the House of Commons about the judgment of this government and the leadership of the Conservatives.” —Andrew Cash, NDP MP for Davenport, trying to make this about the federal Tories

“The police have either ignored or overlooked all the evidence against Ford.... [I] never seen such a botched investigation.” —Clayton Ruby, Toronto celebrattorny extraordinaire, goes after Bill Blair and the Toronto Police

“There’s nothing that we can do at this point. The province has no power to remove anybody...A conviction is the next step for any action by the province.” —Ontario municipal affairs minister Linda Jeffrey explains why Rob Ford will likely stay in power for a while

“I have absolutely nothing to apologize for about the way I covered Ford in the last year. I called it the way I saw it and will continue to do so. That said, he’s lost my trust and should either take a leave, or resign from the job entirely. I wish he had been honest.” —Sue-Ann Levy of the Toronto Sun, starting her Christmas wish list both way too early and way too late

“I’m not going to weigh in to an area where I just don’t know what the issues are going to be...It’s for the police to deal with. I really don’t have a comment on what has been released today. I don’t know what has been released...It’s up to the justice system to deal with these issues...If there are police matters, then it’s up to the police to deal with them. We don’t direct the police...There are rules in place about who can be in public office and who cannot. We’re going to let this play out. This is not something I’m going to weigh in to.” —Mealymouthed Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne saying so much, and yet nothing at all

“Only the man, not the politician, can possibly be exhumed from this wreckage.” —Rosie DiManno, popular columnist at the Toronto Star, closes today’s vitriolic column with a touch of humanity

“He should be thinking about the best interests of Toronto. I’m leaving that up to Mayor Ford to decide what that is.” —Councillor Paula Fletcher, master of the obvious

“How do you know what you do, exactly? There’s cameras everywhere. You’re telling me he that goes around videoing himself smoking crack? Get a life! Smarten up!" —“Ian” from Etobicoke, who just might be Rob Ford with a fake name, calls into Bill Carroll’s show on AM640

“It’s a good day for the city of Toronto despite this bitter period of deception we’ve been through. And it’s a good day for journalism.” —John Cruickshank, publisher of the Toronto Star, in a victory-lap style column this morning

PHOTO CREDITS: Bennett: Robert Thivierge/Wikipedia; Cash: parl.gc.ca; Cruickshank: Toronto Star; Doug Ford: City of Toronto; Leno: Lee Stranahan/Flickr; Levy: Toronto Sun; Jefferey: Liberal Party of Canada; Gill: Prime Minister’s Office; Fletcher: City of Toronto; Blair: Toronto Police; Rob Ford: Christopher Drost; DiManno: Toronto Star; Ruby: CityNews; Wynne: Canada Film Centre