Rob Ford: The Mirror...er...Cracked...

It's all over the twiterverse.

No worries, RW. Such is the nature of breaking news. I remember a lot of cross-posting when I broke to Rabble the story of Belinda Stronach's floor-crossing.

Well, on the bright side, we can put to rest some of the stupid stereotypes that often seem to go together with using cocaine and/or smoking crack, such as 'people who do it must be very skinny wretches with lip and finger burns'.  Not so.  Like all drugs (IE, alcohol) some people get wildly addicted to the point of losing the capability to manage, and some people can have a glass of wine or a bong of the pipe, and still continue to function fine.  Granted, it's debatable whether Ford is actually "functioning fine", but, well.... oh, I think you know what I mean.

Joey Ramone wrote:

If the left rely on bringing right-wing politicians down through personal "scandals" instead of presenting voters with a clear, consistent and principled platform, they'll lose, and they deserve to lose.

But for the most part the Left has only been a spectator to this.  You make it sound like left wingers should be propping up the Mayor so he can be defeated the right way. 

Personally I think you take what you get.  I also think that establishing a level of expectations for public office only work in favor of getting people more engaged in politics and political discussion.

I wonder if Joey Ramone is Rob Ford. After he called in to a Toronto radio show and pretended to be someone else, you can never be too sure.

The issue isn't the substance abuse per se. It is the fact that he is a sexist, homophobic and racist bully that makes his mayorship so apalling. I admit that I am deeply  offended by the description of him pushing a staff person into the wall,  throwing things at people,  beating up his wife,  screaming at people, partying with gun toting thugs while celebrating racist and homophobic slurs.But his apprach to cutting social services, public cultural funding, moving to privatize anything that is not nailed down and trying to limit the City to pot holes and street lights is frightenening.

It's ironic that one of the multitude of reasons Smitherman lost was his admission to earlier drug use. In terms of defeating  Ford it is important to remember that his supporters are a combination of people who voted for him and those voted against Smitherman.  Toronto is a deeply segregated city where people live north of Lawrence receive  pitiful access to municipal services; including the TTC. The daily experience of living in North Etobicoke and Scarborough, dependent on the TTC that is always crowded and late is exhausting. In both these areas significant numbers of the working poor deeply resent people on welfare. They also deeplyresent the  residends of the cultured, urban core of the city who receive better access to  municipally funded programs.  A working poor family in  Scarborough is effectively excluded from participating in anything at harborfront or Nuit Blanche and offen cannot afford to take their children to the Zoo. There is no free access to High Park Zoo or Riverdle farm in scarborough.

The quality of public schools is shockingly different between neighborhoods. In Bloor West  Humberfront Hight school  has media studies, Greek and Latin, and the fantastic art program. These programs are not offered in most Scarbrough high schools. The resentment of the differential life experience in this dramatically segregated city is not unreasonable.   support for Ford is a combination of   ideologically right wing homophobic  social conservatives and pissed off  working  poor residents of the  former suburbs.   progressive forces will not makes  significant progress in Toronto  unless  we do actual work in the suburbs to listen to and support those communities.

After his admission, Ford still insists he is not stepping down or taking a leave of office.

"I feel like I got 1,000 pounds off my back," Ford told the Toronto Sun. "I felt I had to say it. It is what is. I feel two inches high right now but I needed to deal with it. I am not going to quit or take a leave."

"I am not an addict or an alcoholic. I have work to do and I am moving on. The way I see it now, this is over."

He said he believes he knows what's on the video Toronto Police recovered early last week.

"I think I know what's on the video and I know it's not pretty," he said. "Did I smoke something? Probably. It's ugly. "

"I am not a crackhead or junkie."

Ford also commented on the chief of police gala.

"If they want me there I will be there. I won't go if they don't. I support the police," he said.

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/11/05/i-feel-like-i-got-1000-pounds-off-m...

A new forum research poll shows in a five-candidate match-up, Chow would get around 32% of those polled, followed by Ford (26%), Tory (25%), Stintz (10%) and Soknacki (2%).

I'm guessing either a leave of absence or abdicating the mayor's job.  What else could it be?  Unless he's having a rematch against Hulk Hogan.

For those outside toronto the school in Bloor west is Humberside and the residents in Scarborough and North Etobicoke are overwhelmingly poorer people of Colour

To Mark Alfred, I believe that the lack of support for progressive politics in the suburbs is at least in part "on us" ie progressive activist who rarely go north of Lawrence.  we rarely go there, we rarely listen to community voices in those neighborhoods and we  rarely championed even the most obvious of municipally related public harms  effecting those neighborhoods.  some of us do work on the over policing of black youth (not me) and some of us sign additions to support the Afrocentric school but almost whole we are absent from most of the community organizing in these areas.  There are some very committed and courageous activists living in these neighborhoods, most of us do not know them. OCAP Has done very good work in these  neighborhoods  but most of the politically organized progressive community lives in the core of Toronto and rarely ventures north.

So according to the latest, Ford was smokin' crack "about a year ago" - in other words, 2 years after he'd been elected Mayor - in "one" of his "drunken stupors" (his words!!!!). But even so, he "doesn't do drugs." At what point did our local government turn into an episode of the Jerry Springer Show?

Anyway. Re: Ford's next (supposed) Big Announcement:

Maybe it is another apology like the one he did last Sunday.

You mean another "apology." Come to think of it, what is the techical term for a patently fake and insincere non-apology apology? A not-pology? Faux-pology? Fake-pology?

It's hard to know what's going to happen next since he's obviously refusing to step aside. Presumably, if he knows what's on the 2nd tape the police supposedly have in their possession, he decided it was better to make this particular confession now instead of waiting for the next shoe to drop. Which means whatever's on the 2nd video must be nasty as hell. Oh, joy.  Honestly, for all the entertainment value in watching the rotten bastard self-destruct, it's gotten to the point where I just want him to go away.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mayor-rob-ford-yes-i-have-smoked-c...

Live stream happening.  Mayor expected at 4PM. 

mark_alfred wrote:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mayor-rob-ford-yes-i-have-smoked-c...

Live stream happening.  Mayor expected at 4PM. 

Man, I'm getting dizzy just watching the media throng (such maggots).  Hopefully Ford starts his announcement soon.  Seems the mob of media are about to trample each other.

ETA:  about 4:20.  Mayor expected in 2 minutes.

Awesome.  The past is the past, but I'm here now and you're stuck with me for another year.  Wow. 

How many times can he apologize?

Time for us all to slip into a drunken stupor.

Well, looks as if council is going to learn to work together.  Seems most are determined to limit the Mayor's role, and more or less proceed without him.  That's good.

Seems too that Wynne, when asked about it, stated there was nothing she could do, but repeatedly stated the ball is in the police's court.  It almost came across as a directive.  I expect some serious discussion btw the cops and Lisi, to reveal what his motivation was behind trying to extort the video, to occur.  Also, it's likely the phone taps will be released to the public.

Ironically, the good news in this is that Ford still polls reasonably well.  This indicates that he is well loved by a sizable core.  However, if he is ousted, they likely wouldn't bother showing up to the polls for the replacement conservative choice.  And if Ford makes it to the next poll, more traditional Conservatives (those outside of populist Ford Nation) would no longer support Ford.  So, Ford is basically clearing the path for a lefty like Olivia to be elected mayor next time.

terrytowel wrote:

Maybe it is another apology like the one he did last Sunday.

I gotta hand it to you, you were correct.

This kind of got overshadowed today ...

http://m.vice.com/en_ca/read/rob-fords-office-hired-a-hacker-to-destroy-...

[i] In late July, an anonymous source approached VICE with claims that he had been hired by Amin Massoudi, the communications director for troubled Toronto mayor Rob Ford, to hack into a website.More specifically, the source—who for matters of simplicity will be referred to as “the hacker” from here on out—said he was asked by Amin to crack the password of a private online directory that allegedly contained a digital copy of the now infamous footage of Mayor Ford smoking a substance out of a crack pipe[/i].

[i]... "He said if this can be done, he'll match Gawker's plus 10% to you so there's no temptation of pulling a fast one."[/i]

Now I'm getting confused ... what's the legality of a city staffer offering $220,000 to a hacker to destroy a videofile ... on Ford's behalf?

Found it!  http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=4f0e6eb1-8982-4383-8130-9cb18f...

I don't give a shit what happens to Ford, or whether he seeks help. He is a bully who has harmed many people (a friend in Toronto is a union activist there, his bullying is causing at least as much harm to her health). He wants me and my friends dead (see infamous "cyclists" videos). Why should a "law-and-order" bully in power be shielded from arrest?

Well, it is obvious Olivia would make a better mayor. My cat would make a better mayor. Hell, my Jade tree would make a better mayor.

Calgary could we borrow your mayor for a few months?

Thank you Ontario for making Alberta look like a bastion of enlightenment again. .

"Clown prince"

[i][b]Folks,” he promised, “I have nothing left to hide.

”For a guy with little recollection of his own behaviour,[/b] with media lawyers winning a round the same day in the court fight to release to the public the blacked-out parts of the massive search warrant that last week detailed the five-month-long Toronto Police surveillance of Mr. Ford’s friend and sometime driver, Sandro Lisi, and the mayor himself, that was a profoundly risky pledge. [/i]

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=fullcomment.nationalpost.co...