Interesting article that interviews members of "Ford Nation". It's an older article, done before the recent round of controversy. In essence, it states that many equated Ford with Layton, in that they see both as fighters for the little guy.
Here's a later article giving a perspective on current events.
As an suggestion to the above suggestion that Wynne was looking for all parties support - Conservative & NDP, and seen as good colaboration. It was suggested that Wynne was actually purposefully trying to wedge the Hudak conservatives. Sad really in this state of crisis that Wynne would use this political disaster in Toronto to score political points.
There's a reason why The Star pulled the article. It contains actionable statements. For the same reason, I'm unpublish ing your post tt.
Will I get a demerit for my offence Rebecca?
They seem to have changed their minds. Is it against the rules to link (not copy) it again?
I do hope he still gets a driver though. I don't want any innocent Torontonians killed!
I do hope he still gets a driver though.
How about a bicycle? Rob Ford to pay CCM!
"Iceberg Vodka distances itself from Rob Ford: Police link Ford and friend to empty flask"
The above title is the latest example of everyone disowning Rob Ford. The Toronto Argonauts have asked him not to wear their jersey as he a couple of days ago to a Toronto council meeting and they also said they do not want him to attend the CFL Eastern Final on Sunday. The Toronto Santa Claus parade has announced it does not want him to attend. The Toronto School Board has banned all trips to City Hall to see how muncipal politics does not work. And now even Iceberg Vodka is getting into the act.
A police photo linking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to an empty flask of Iceberg Vodka has gotten the attention of its Newfoundland distillers. ...
On Friday, Iceberg Vodka issued a statement in response to Ford's admission that, "I might have had some drinks and driven."
"Iceberg Vodka wholeheartedly believes that if you drink, don't drive. Driving under the influence of alcohol is unacceptable and inexcusablebehavior. We thank Canadians from coast to coast who enjoy our products responsibly."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/iceberg-vodka-distan...
I almost never agree with Andrew Coyne's assessment of anything, but when it comes to Rob Ford I have found the exception.
And hovering over all are the mayor's many connections to figures whose taste for criminality is a matter of public record, from the boyhood friends who, like the mayor never seem to have left boyhood - their only fixed address seemingly their parents' basements, their hobbies a mixture of illicit substances and beating up their parents - to the gang members whose company he has kept on at least one occasion, and with whom he may have smoked the odd bit of crack.An amazing number of the mayor's acquaintances seem to end up either dead, wounded, on drugs or in jail. And of these several seem to have taken an interest in the famous cellphone video of the mayor smoking crack. Of the three alleged gang members in that almost-as-famous photo taken outside the house where the video was shot, one was murdered, some days after his phone - which may have had the video on it - was stolen; a second was shot, but survived; the third is in jail.
The man who tried to shop the video around is also in jail, where he was stabbed by inmates. The house itself was invaded some days after the video's existence was first reported, its inhabitants - again, friends from the mayor's boyhood - attacked by a man armed with an instrument variously reported as a steel pipe or an expandable baton, who accosted them by name and demanded to know where the video was. Meanwhile, the mayor's driver and closest confidant, Sandro Lisi - you will remember him from the police surveillance reports of him and the mayor surreptitiously exchanging suspicious packages in public places - is charged with extortion, apparently in connection with attempts to retrieve the video.
At the very least, the revelation that the mayor who advocated a get tough policy with gangs and a zero-tolerance policy on drugs was himself involved with both gangs and drugs would strike some as hypocritical. But it raises much more troubling questions, not least for the police: When you are in the midst of a yearlong investigation of drug gangs, it is unhelpful to discover the mayor is one of the people you have to keep under surveillance. It may be that the police's reluctance to pursue matters further with the mayor is explained by that larger inquiry. Who knows? Maybe the mayor was working under cover.
And yet - there Ford sits, immovably: disgraced, largely powerless, but still the mayor. Is that his fault? The city's? Or is it the fault of those who put him there in the first place, and sustained him through the long train wreck that followed: the staff who failed to report his misdeeds; the commentators who excused them; the partisans who ignored them. Disasters on the Ford scale, we are taught, do not just happen, and while the mayor's endless supply of lies, manipulativeness and sheer chutzpah have helped to preserve him in office until now, he could not have done it alone.
And of all his enablers, the most culpable are the strategists, the ones who fashioned his image as the defender of the little guy, the suburban strivers, against the downtown elites, with their degrees and their symphonies - the ones who turned a bundle of inchoate resentments into Ford Nation. Sound familiar? It is the same condescending populism, the same aggressively dumb, harshly divisive message that has become the playbook for the right generally in this country, in all its contempt for learning, its disdain for facts, its disrespect of convention and debasing of standards. They can try to run away from him now, but they made this monster, and they will own him for years to come.
Get help? He's had plenty.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Ford+Enablers+Strategists/9174246/story...
There's a reason why The Star pulled the article. It contains actionable statements. For the same reason, I'm unpublish ing your post tt.
Rebecca they didn't 'pull' the article because of actionable statements. It was pulled because it appeared a day early.
The article alleging domestic abuse in the Ford household is back online and in today's print version of the Toronto Star. Again it was pulled because it appeared a day early, NOT because of actionable statements.
I'm not going to post the link back up. But for those who want to read the article alleging domestic abuse in the Ford household, go pick-up today's Toronto Star (Nov 16, 2013) or go to thestar.com and search for the article entitled "Rob Ford's true victims may be those closest to him"
If that article is good enough for the Toronto Star, it should be good enough at Rabble.ca
There's a reason why The Star pulled the article. It contains actionable statements. For the same reason, I'm unpublish ing your post tt.Rebecca they didn't 'pull' the article because of actionable statements. It was pulled because it appeared a day early.
The article alleging domestic abuse in the Ford household is back online and in today's print version of the Toronto Star. Again it was pulled because it appeared a day early, NOT because of actionable statements.
I'm not going to post the link back up. But for those who want to read the article alleging domestic abuse in the Ford household, go pick-up today's Toronto Star (Nov 16, 2013) or go to thestar.com and search for the article entitled "Rob Ford's true victims may be those closest to him"
If that article is good enough for the Toronto Star, it should be good enough at Rabble.ca
Rubbish. I've read both versions. The original was pulled because Torstar published the column citing a police report without also stating that the allegations made against Renata Ford had not been proven in a court of law. The reported column has been edited to reflect the "unproven allegations" and to correct a misleading statement about the nature of Mrs. Ford's injuries on the night in question. The column was edited to avoid legal action by the Fords.
Were rabble.ca be sued by the Fords, or anyone else, it would financially collapse and promptly cease to exist. Please post more responsibly in the future.
ETA: if you'd hosted libel and slander workshops for alternative news orgs, as I have, you would have seen the issue with the initial column right away.
Fair enough Rebecca. In the future I'll post more responsibily. I noticed you reposted my original post. Shouldn't you take it down as this is the original column, before it was edited by Torstar?
Must be a glitch, because I didn't republish it. Gone again. Thanks for the heads up.
JD Roberts interviews Ford.
ETA: Says he's staying, regardless of what council does, and will run in the next election. Here's a video of people cheering him at the Grey Cup game.
Wonder why Ford hasn't offered to temporarily step aside in exchange for his brother being made acting mayor?
Does he not trust Doug to give him the job back?
CP24 tweeted "Mayor Rob Ford's lawyer says he has no instructions to try and file an injunction against Monday's council meeting." So, seems tomorrow's council meeting will go as planned. Should be interesting.
The Fords (Doug and Rob) declared that he's not right-wing, and in fact is very supportive of Obama, on CNN. I suspect this is not a coincidence. I think right-wingers in the States have told him they wish to use his clown status as a way to undermine Obama, also feeling that it will simultaneously help with a lot of his supporters up here (IE, as a regular guy not particularly aligned with anyone.) Or, maybe, I'm giving him far too much credit, assuming there's a plan behind his odd declarations.
Reminder, when linking to an article, do not cut and paste the entire article, use the "quote" function, and give credit to the writer. Thanks.
The Fords have been issuing a call to Ford Nation to rise up against this "coup d'etat" (that being today's vote on removing Ford's remaining powers and making him basically mayor in name only).
Reminder, when linking to an article, do not cut and paste the entire article, use the "quote" function, and give credit to the writer. Thanks.
OK will do Rebecca.
Law-and-order Conservatives offer only hugs for Rob Ford: Tim Harper
Conservatives love to tout their zero drug tolerance and love of Canadian values, unless those values are being trashed by one of their own.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/11/18/lawandorder_conservatives_...
btw Ford just said he wants an election NOW! But refuses to resign so a by-election for Mayor can take place!
Our chief magistrate.
I was just about to post that link. Ford very clearly knocks McConnell over while attempting to charge at a third party. Yikes.
Apparently, the chamber has been cleared, and several uniformed officers are on their way. To arrest Ford? One can hope...
I don't have the link..I'm sure someone will provide one soon but this fucking clown (AKA Mayor of Toronto) was on FOX claiming he wants to becom Prime Minister and trashing Trudeau for being a 'pothead'
This guy is a bigger idiot than Harper..Never thought that would be possible...Good job,Toronto.
Here is the report from CBC
http://video.ca.msn.com/watch/video/rob-fords-international-moves/16a73c...
And this prick has the nerve to blame 'rich elitists'...R U fucking kidding me?
Rob Ford hires 'dean' of municipal law for council fight
He’s a man who gets brought in to clean things up.
George Rust-D’Eye, the veteran lawyer retained by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford this week, has spent his career, spanning four decades, in municipal law.
He’s often hired by municipalities to act as an integrity commissioner or independent investigator, probing allegations of harassment in Brantford, enforcing a council code of conduct in Mississauga, leading an investigation into a contentious land deal in Oshawa.
He’s represented “colourful” heavy weights such as former mayor Mel Lastman and long-time councillor Howard Moscoe, who retired in 2010.
“I tend to get involved in the hot municipal issues wherever they are. And I enjoy that,” said Rust-D’Eye, 69....
Rust-D’Eye has written numerous books and manuals on the legislation that will be central to any legal battle over council cutting Ford’s power.
http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/15/rob_ford_hires_dean_of_...
I was chatting with a friend last night whose job involves much contact with politicos and has considered running himself. He was saying that the Fords hired Mr. Rust-D'Eye as a preemptive maneuver, basically getting the best lawyer for themselves. I remarked how the Fords, for all their bellicose incompetence, have a talent for sussing out excellent legal help. My friend replied, "Ah, money."
Is it possible for the Fords to have an outside group form a super PAC and use that money for his campaign?
We might be blitzed with robo-calls, but in an election he can't use his family fortune. But he can have other family members form a super PAC and use that moeny for his campaign. Which is a round about way of using his own money (millions) to win the election.
Is it possible for the Fords to have an outside group form a super PAC and use that money for his campaign?
We might be blitzed with robo-calls, but in an election he can't use his family fortune. But he can have other family members form a super PAC and use that moeny for his campaign. Which is a round about way of using his own money (millions) to win the election.
I would imagine so, politicians do it all the time. The rules governing campaign spending have loopholes aplenty.
Rob Ford hires 'dean' of municipal law for council fight
I was chatting with a friend last night whose job involves much contact with politicos and has considered running himself. He was saying that the Fords hired Mr. Rust-D'Eye as a preemptive maneuver, basically getting the best lawyer for themselves. I remarked how the Fords, for all their bellicose incompetence, have a talent for sussing out excellent legal help. My friend replied, "Ah, money."
Yeah, I could see some of the effect of this in the meetings when these votes took place (Friday and Monday). Ford was asking some pointed questions, generally about whether the issues/concerns were ever onsite and professional or personal and offsite, and whether there had been issues with job completion or not. He also emphasized the duties of the job and how a reduced staff and a reduced budget would not allow him to complete these duties (IE, the number of constituent enquiries via the phone or email). The counter-argument was his duties were being reduced (w/ some transfered over to the deputy mayor) and it was deemed he would have sufficient resources to meet the demands that were currently left to him. Ford's questions though did not focus on any of the duties that were being transfered to the deputy mayor. So, it will be interesting to see what happens. Council was initially going to make far more severe cuts in his budget, but didn't (likely anticipating a legal challenge on this basis).
Kathleen Wynne has also announced that any meetings about Toronto will happen between her Government and Norm Kelly, not Rob Ford.
Is Norm Kelly still a card-carrying Liberal?
That "drink-driving" pantomime is a kick in the teeth and genitals to anyone who has lost a friend or family member (including the furry kind) to a drunk driver. Absolutely disgusting. Rob, don't you realize you could have killed someone's kid? How would you feel if it had been one of your kids?
God, he is at least 3 times as big as that council member...
That "drink-driving" pantomime is a kick in the teeth and genitals to anyone who has lost a friend or family member (including the furry kind) to a drunk driver. Absolutely disgusting. Rob, don't you realize you could have killed someone's kid? How would you feel if it had been one of your kids?
God, he is at least 3 times as big as that council member...
He could have killed his own children.
Fords off the air again after one episode
I'm not sure this was from that episode(btw, doesn't the term "episode" imply something in the realm of fiction?)but the U.S. "clip show" THE SOUP showed Ezra Levant doing an "everybody else does it" rant that even managed to reference Jack Layton's massage appointment(something that had nothing in common with Ford's bad habits, and a despicable choice for Levant to reference given both Layton's innocence in the event and the fact of Layton's tragic death). I hadn't really seen Levant in action prior to that, now I fully understand why you folks despise that scumbag. Jeez!
The term "episode" doesn't imply fiction, merely that something has multiple parts. All series, factual, comedy and drama, have episodes.
All series, factual, comedy and drama, have episodes.
I had an episode earlier today - but I'm back now to my usual witty self.
MNN: Totalitarian Tiptoe
http://mohawknationnews.com/blog/2013/11/18/totalitarian-tiptoe/
"Many of us see through the window dressing and the lies. Beware. Something is coming down the pipe."
After all this Rob Ford approval rating is still in the 40% range! At 42% down two points.
This is still a higher approval rating than Obama!
Obama had better get cracking.
Modest proposal: Affordable Crack Act? With online ordering, rushed to your door!
*
That "drink-driving" pantomime is a kick in the teeth and genitals to anyone who has lost a friend or family member (including the furry kind) to a drunk driver. Absolutely disgusting. Rob, don't you realize you could have killed someone's kid? How would you feel if it had been one of your kids?
God, he is at least 3 times as big as that council member...
He could have killed his own children.
+infinity.
It's out! The true biography of Rob Ford's life: Rob Ford the Movie starring Chris Farley.
Thanks for the heads up about the Cheri DiNovo posts. This Ford Nation troll has been banned. Hopefully it's not the first of many.
Who is the Ford Nation troll?
Pretty well the rest of the ITO, likely including the wiretaps, will be released on December 6 at 4:30 PM. link
That journalist looks like a cat who has jumped on the dining room table and eaten some chicken in cream.
