Post your predictions here as to how long His Royal Arrogance will survive in office, now that the Toronto fuzz has the tape.
(And, did it strike anybody else that, when he spoke to the press yesterday, Ford, for the first time ever in public, looked like a beaten man? that all the thuggish confidence was gone?)
Hopefully he goes to rehab, then runs in the next election, where he will get destroyed politically once and for all.
Toronto Board of Trade has released a statement urging the Mayor to resign.
Toronto Region Board of Trade believes that under current circumstancesit is in the best interests of the City of Toronto for Mayor Ford to take a leave of absence until the situation is resolved. The Mayor of the city must put Toronto first.
Putting Toronto first means the Mayor must be able to effectively address our city’s key priorities such a sattracting investment, jobs and talent from around the world. He must be the city’s marketer-in-chief. Putting Toronto first means leading development of the transportation we desperately need to reduce gridlock.
Putting Toronto first means overseeing daily operations ensuring Toronto’s $11-billion annual budgetis properly managed. These annual budget deliberations are about to begin.
We believe the current situation must be a distraction for the Mayor and therefore it is not possible to put Toronto first. It is our view that Mayor Ford cannot effectively fulfill these duties and others while this cloud hangs over him and the city. We understand this matter must be very troubling to the Mayor and urge him to resolve it as quickly as possible.
Hopefully he goes to rehab, then runs in the next election, where he will get destroyed politically once and for all.
Well, yeah, you would hope that even this guy can admit he needs help and get the help he needs.
It's even worth pondering if this moment of humbling might possibly cause Ford to develop a little bit of common humanity, and to see others with problems and needs as something other than vermin to exterminate. That may be asking too much, but a person can dream.
It's an open question, though, as to whether the larger forces that back Ford's agenda will let him stay on if he looks even somewhat vulnerable at the polls. After all, even Margaret Thatcher was deposed by her party when it looked like she was doomed to lead them to defeat.
My only hope is that the rest of city council truly ignores the fool now and reconsiders the LRT, saving the city a billion dollars and providing Scarborough with seven rather than three stops (that will serve people more effectively). I say this because I suspect that Ford isn't going to leave. So, I hope the rest of council finds the integrity to start ignoring this imbecile and governing properly in the best interests of the citizens of Toronto. Mayor or not, he's only one voice (and vote) on council.
He must be the city’s marketer-in-chief.
And I thought that BC was the winner in wacky Canadian politics. Rob Ford and, by definition, Toronto, takes the cake. What an embarrassment this guy is for Canada - representing Canada`s largest city. A guy like Ford wouldn`t even get elected for any office in BC fer chrise sakes. Ford is all that I am now hearing about from my local circles in terms of laffs. And it`s also all over CNN.
If it looks like a Ford, walks like a Ford, and quacks like a Ford - it`s a Ford! 
My only hope is that the rest of city council truly ignores the fool now and reconsiders the LRT, saving the city a billion dollars and providing Scarborough with seven rather than three stops (that will serve people more effectively).
Having no knowledge of the Toronto subway v. lrt debate but then also seeing today`s Forum Research poll regarding same showing a 38% - 37% marginal preference of lrt over subway (both options), I believe that this issue is also marginal compared to the national embarrassment that Ford is projecting as the head of Toronto. Really!!!!
The Toronto Star is reporting that the latest 'intervention' at Ford's mothers house changed nothing in Ford's mind. He has no intention of resigning or stepping down. And it is business as usual, as Ford thinks this will just blow over.
The new line of attack from the Ford brothers will be on Bill Blair's credibility.
The Star also reports Ford poll number have gone up
According to a poll taken Thursday night by Forum Research, the poll found that 44 per cent of voters approve of the job Rob Ford is doing as mayor, while an Oct. 28 poll found that just 39 per cent approved.
The Star also reports Ford poll number have gone up
So let's look at this poll: 44% approve of the job he is doing. The same poll says 60% want him to resign........
Okay I want to call it: as I type this, Dept. Mayor is chez Ford, delivering a letter of recommendation to Hizzoner. Ford will be gone before Monday.
you know what i find weird...people out here are starting to feel sorry for him and think TO cops should produce the video or leave him alone!!!!! i find it disconcerting the empathy they're feeling towards him too.
you know what i find weird...people out here are starting to feel sorry for him and think TO cops should produce the video or leave him alone!!!!!
That is the Toronto Sun's line now. Joe Wormington is now saying this was a set-up, a conspiracy by the cops.
The Ford machine is now targeting Bill Blair as the one who is behind this, questioning HIS truthfulness, than the mayor's.
Meanwhile the Mayor just wants to brush this under the rug, go about hs business and pretend nothing ever happened.
There is nothing anyone can do to get him to leave!
An addict cannot get help until they admit they have a problem. That is Ford's problem. He is in such denial, and refuses to admit he has a problem. So nothing will change. All the yelling about him leaving will not convince Ford to leave.
Yes, but even without the booze, crack and other drugs, and extreme food binges, he'd still be a nasty jerk.
A thin Ford like the old fascist Henry?
I heard on the radio that council recommended he either resign or take a leave of absence, and the Deputy Mayor will be having a meeting with him this afternoon to let him know this. I'm guessing Ford's answer will be no. So, I'm guessing he'll still be there on Monday.
The Toronto Star is reporting that the latest 'intervention' at Ford's mothers house changed nothing in Ford's mind. He has no intention of resigning or stepping down. And it is business as usual, as Ford thinks this will just blow over.
The new line of attack from the Ford brothers will be on Bil Blair's credibility.
The Star also reports Ford poll number have gone up
According to a poll taken Thursday night by Forum Research, the poll found that 44 per cent of voters approve of the job Rob Ford is doing as mayor, while an Oct. 28 poll found that just 39 per cent approved.
Fascinating. It would be good if the video was released, but it really shouldn't have to be. In fact, the mere reporting of it by three journalists last May (including two reputable ones from the Star) should have sufficed. Now that there has been forensic recovery and analysis of the video by experts and the existence was confirmed by police, it also should not be necessary to see it. I mean, does Joe and Jane Schmo, or me, or you, really need to confirm this further? Of course not. And the pages of evidence released that he's been cavorting with criminals known to associate with drug dealing and gun running and violent crimes such as extortion and possibly murder....and people still feel they need to see this video to make up their minds? Yeesh. I suspect he'd still poll 40% even if the video was out.
I suppose it makes sense. If you hate public services and government in general, then the person to find for mayor would be the most moronic Quasimodo ever who'd scream "sanctuary for taxpayers" while preventing any sort of intelligible governance. For these voters, the video would likely be seen as evidence that they chose the correct Quasimodo.
The Star's also reporting that Ford showed up at City Hall on St. Patrick's Day of last year while very obviously hammered out of his skull. His status as an extremely public drunk seems pretty undeniable now, which would make you think his hardcore supporters would feel a certain embarrassment in continuing to flock to the man's defense. But I have no doubt they're up to it. Our Democratic friends across the border have a saying: IOIYAR, i.e. "It's Okay if You're A Republican." As we've seen, the John Bircher/Tea Party hard core fascist types have absolutely no shame whatsoever in defending their own against charges that they'd want to physically tear their opponents limb-from limb over. So it's Evil Incarnate if, say, Bill Clinton is a drug using draft dodger. But if you accurately level the same accusation against, oh, Newt Gingrich? Or George W. Bush? Or Rush Limbaugh? Then you're the evil one. This type of mindset has zero difficulty in fervently adhering to such a double standard; indeed, it's as natural and instinctive as breathing to them. "Hypocrisy" really is too mild a word for it.
A more interesting question is how on earth did someone as stupid and crude and obviously transparent as Rob Ford manage to secure these people's allegiance? Nobody would accuse Mayor Cartman of being the brightest bulb in the box...But y'know, slyness and intelligence aren't the same thing. Ford has a low-born animal cunning that's served him fairly well up 'til now, and a demagogue's instinctive grasp on how to successfully pander to his audience. The fact that he's a rich pig makes him an appealing fantasy figure to these people. Since that's what they'd wish for themselves, they don't disapprove, and since Ford is willing to stroke their egos by pandering to them, they think he's one of them. So, this is tribalism of the most brutish kind at work, and in all honesty, I don't think Ford is faking the know-nothingism or the ignorant-and-proud-of-it qualities he exudes like a bad stench. Any more than he's faking the meanness or the cultural resentments, the small-mindedness or anti-intellectualism or homophobia. In every way that counts (to their thinking), he is one of them. So attack him, and you attack them. A lot of them are fed up and understandably frustrated at Buisness As Usual politics, and when somebody like Ford comes along, an obviously uncultured bumpkin, when you set aside the issue of his wealth, he doesn't seem like one of them thar fancypants political types, one 'a them ell-ee-tists.
And, of course, many in his base are nothing more than stupid and mean, and more than a few of them genuinely appreciate schoolyard bully types in the political world...as long as they're not the ones being bullied, natch.
They have really redefined "élite" as people who are at least somewhat educated and cultivated, whatever our actual socio-economic status.
Coderre isn't quite as gross as Ford, but he appeals to some of the same loutish instincts.
you know what i find weird...people out here are starting to feel sorry for him
Some of that is the usual hypocrisy of the right as elucidated by Junkyard Dog in post #12. But also it's the compassion of people who (accurately) see a deeply troubled man in denial about his drug and alcohol abuse.
I can almost feel sorry for him. Remember his failed weight loss challenge during which he gained weight and was photographed at KFC, etc? That was brother Doug's idea. So his staunchest defender and closest family member also deliberately sets him up for public humiliation. Nice family he grew up in.
CP24 just caught up to Rob Ford on his way to meeting Norm Kelly. Ford was all smiles and yet again said he is not resigning, no matter what people say or do.
quizzical wrote:you know what i find weird...people out here are starting to feel sorry for himSome of that is the usual hypocrisy of the right as elucidated by Junkyard Dog in post #12.
the people who surprised me were the 60-70's crowd and definitely not conservatives in voting patterns. if lawn signs are things to go by!
But also it's the compassion of people who (accurately) see a deeply troubled man in denial about his drug and alcohol abuse.I can almost feel sorry for him. Remember his failed weight loss challenge during which he gained weight and was photographed at KFC, etc? That was brother Doug's idea. So his staunchest defender and closest family member also deliberately sets him up for public humiliation. Nice family he grew up in.
ya, i recognize the denial and the worry for his health. i worry more for his kids.....and nice family they are for putting the kids through this!!!!!!! ya'd think the grandmother would think about protecting them. i know my mom would.......
I was chatting with a former RoFo supporter yesterday, who has backed away from a previous vociferous defense of the mayor, but did express indignation at the press on hizzoner's front lawn, questioning him about his crack use in front of his kids. So I said, if he doesn't want the reporters on the front lawn, he needs to not be a rich and famous guy who smokes crack in front of people with cell phone cameras.
He reminds me of my patients, except my patients are in and out of jail because of their substance use. Therein my sympathy begins and ends.
Nope, I remember this: http://bikingtoronto.com/blog/2007/03/dead-cyclists-always-at-fault-says...
“I can’t support bike lanes. Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks. My heart bleeds when someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.”-Rob Ford, Toronto City Councilor
http://bikingtoronto.com/blog/2007/03/dead-cyclists-always-at-fault-says...
Roads, even in Toronto, were NOT built for cars: http://bikingtoronto.blogspot.ca/2007/01/bikingtoronto-photo-of-day_17.html
To say nothing of older cities such as Montréal, Québec, Halifax... Not to mention old world cities in Asia and Europe...
I don't give a crap whether he lives or dies, and his demise would make me no sadder than that of the Golden Dawn Neo-Nazis rubbed out in Greece recently. A friend of mine killed himself not long ago via chain smoking and binge drinking. But this friend never did such evil to anyone, except himself of course.
i come from the primary position he and his type of person are socio-paths. i have no sympathy. well.....only for the children who obviously have a group of adults around them concerned only for themselves and the "power" they've got and not how this will impact the kids.
my People's believed the desire not to share with all and live in a happy and equal society meant you were suffering from mental illness and needed to be apart from the collective less you taint others with your disease.
1)Is there any provision under which the city council can suspend or remove Ford from office?
2)Any chance of Maclean's issuing an apology for all of the months they spent(including some of their most recent issues)sneering at those who raised the issue of Ford's susbstance abuse problems and making snide insinuations that the crack footage didn't even exist?
(yes, I think I know the answer to #2, but couldn't help asking...)
Four uncomfortable truths about the Ford crack scandal
1. The violence against racialized people has been overlooked
The outrage directed at Ford centres around the morality associated with his use of drugs and his inability to own up to it publicly. Certainly, these are important issues. This is especially true considering that Ford has been very public in attacking poor people and programs directed at people who are or may become involved in drugs or petty crimes.
What has been completely underemphasized however is the fact that one young man, Anthony Smith, is dead, one other shot and another thrown from a sixth-story balcony in another part of the country. All three of these youth were directly associated with the video.
.....
2. Ford compromised the interests of a section of the rich to get richer
Toronto is the centre of finance capital in Canada, and also continues to be one of the centres for infrastructure and condo development in North America.
These interest groups represent billions of dollars and as such want politicians who will lower their costs, but more importantly who will also be effective in managing public affairs so as to ensure their accumulation goes unimpeded. These interests stand to make far more money from their developments and contracts than they do from reduced fees and taxes.
...
Take for example the waterfront. Ford and his brother Doug challenged the proposal to create a tourist attraction in the Port Lands that included a Ferris Wheel, football stadium and mono-rail. This went against the plan being developed by the government agency to create housing, park and employment uses on this land, including a potential $6.8-billion in sales from 12,000 new residential units. While the Ford’s plan may have made one group of capitalists happy, it certainly went against the interests of the housing developers who stand to make billions from those sales.
....
Put plainly, Ford has been a liability to many monied interests in this City. This is obviously made worse by the scandal and the instability that it presents for those who just want the City to function so that they can continue to profit. This is the real power behind government in this City, and perhaps they had enough of Ford’s antics. If Ford had been more prudent, more careful, maybe he wouldn’t be where he is right now – with all the corporate media and the police head lined up against him.
....
3. Ford numerous scandals reveal a huge double standard and more importantly, that the people are not in control of government
Ford literally got away with any and everything, even when he was caught and even when it was illegal.
In the first year of the cell phone driving law being passed, 46 000 tickets where given out with fines ranging from $150-500. This law is supposed to protect people from distracted drivers. Ford was caught on his phone and in one instance, reading a report, while driving. Unlike those thousands of people, Ford was not given a ticket. This was one of many clear examples of the double standards that exists between how law is applied to the powerful and how it is applied to us regular folk.
....
4. Cuts didn’t start with Ford, and they won’t end him
Again, only time will tell if Ford is on his way out, but some of the basics of his political message and approach will remain.
Importantly, it has to be acknowledged that aspects of Ford’s agenda began with previous administrations, including that of David Miller. After all, it was Miller’s administration that increased the number of Police, proposed community recreation fee hikes, implemented TTC fare hikes among other things. Austerity and neoliberalism in Toronto didn’t start with Ford.
Ford carried these policies to their next logical step, combining user-fee increases with service cuts (which have included cuts to programs for youth and seniors, to TTC and much more proposed). Ford justified these by the rallying call around keeping taxes low, a call which resonated among a large number of people who are beginning to feel the crunch of the global economic recession while also seeing corruption, dysfunction and entitlement among all levels of government.
Ford’s message resonated because it tapped into a growing disenchantment among the people that politicians are not trustworthy and disconnected, that the political structure is broken and that things are getting worse and something needs to be done. His friendly, personal approach reinforced his image as the anti-politician, who didn’t want to work in the same way as the other politicians. This allowed Ford to channel the general frustration and resentment of the public, instead of trying to tell people that everything is fine. Oddly enough, many didn’t notice that he, as a rich, dishonest politician himself, was channeling that frustration against the people themselves, especially the most vulnerable.
Ford’s opponents, including NDP- and Liberal- affiliated councillors and unions, have not been able to challenge Ford’s message as of yet, partially because they do not acknowledge that people’s growing frustrations are justified. Moreover, many of them do not want to rock the boat, and would rather paint the solution as simply one of changing the person in charge.
It is now reported that Ford will make an "announcement" on his radio show at 1:00 pm today.
Given what has slipped out so far I expect him to go on the offensive, attack Blair, claim a huge conspiracy against him, and confirm he will stay on and run for re-election. He is demanding the video be released because he know that the police are constrained from releasing it before Lisi goes to trial which may well be after the next election. He thinks he can buy at least a year this way.
The Forum poll, which just cannot be accurate, will also encourage him.
His lawyer, whom I know and is otherwise a sensible guy, has suggested that Ford was smoking tobacco on the video!!!!!!!
On top of all this, I am told by reporter friends that there may be even stranger revelations coming.
Last week Ford delicately said that the next election will be a "bloodbath." For once I think he is being truthful.
Thanks, Maysie, for that perspective! Reyes moves through all the leader bullshit and gives us a bang-on class and race-based analysis. Yes, we point out the hypocrasy of those in power caught in their own "moral" contradictions, but let's not fool ourselves into thinking that that alone will bring about meaningful change. I'm having a wierd hybrid Nietzsche-Trotsky moment here.
"The bourgeoisie, which far surpasses the proletariat in the completeness and irreconcilability of its class consciousness, is vitally interested in imposing its moral philosophy upon the exploited masses. It is exactly for this purpose that the concrete norms of the bourgeois catechism are concealed under moral abstractions patronized by religion, philosophy, or that hybrid which is called “common sense”. The appeal to abstract norms is not a disinterested philosophic mistake but a necessary element in the mechanics of class deception." (From Their Morals and Ours)
"...the judgment "good" did not originate with those to whom "goodness" was shown! Rather it was "the good" themselves, that is to say, the noble, powerful, high-stationed and high-minded, who felt and established themselves and their actions as good, that is, of the first rank, in contradistinction to all the low, low-minded, common and plebian..." (From On the Genealogy of Morality)
The Ford machine is now targeting Bill Blair as the one who is behind this, questioning HIS truthfulness, than the mayor's.
Blair was a fool for making that statement about being disappointed. All he did was give Ford supporters the ammunition they needed to target him, and the Mayor a valid reason for demanding his resignation.
Even if he didn't specify what he was disappointed in, it's not his job as a cop to spin stuff like that. Odd, because not too long ago he was bending over backwards to NOT make any interpretation of what might be going on, so he should know better.
That poll in which the headline - ford numbers move up is actually incorrect and here's the reason why. How popular is Rob Ford
On November 2 Forum Research released another poll taken just after the dramatic news about the Ford video on Thursday. That poll is now being reported, for example, by CBC as "Ford Approval goes up despite video scandal". This is simply not an accurate portrayal of the state of public opinion.
snipForum's own headline on its release is closer to the facts in saying "Ford's approvals unaffected by controversy". However, the same poll also stated that a huge majority (a margin of 60 to 36 per cent) say he should resign. This fact is further down in the CBC story but deserves equal emphasis. What looks like some degree of confidence really isn't.
snip
ONE MORE COMMENT: the poll that gave us reports on Ford's approval rating that caused the media to say it was "going up" was taken on Halloween. That is not a good night to conduct a public opinion poll. I also noticed some of the internal crosstabs don't make sense. For example, Ford had more support among younger respondents, less among older, which is completely inconsistent with earlier surveys. This particular poll should be discounted.
Good to read the whole posting at the blog.
terrytowel wrote:The Ford machine is now targeting Bill Blair as the one who is behind this, questioning HIS truthfulness, than the mayor's.
Blair was a fool for making that statement about being disappointed. All he did was give Ford supporters the ammunition they needed to target him, and the Mayor a valid reason for demanding his resignation.
Even if he didn't specify what he was disappointed in, it's not his job as a cop to spin stuff like that. Odd, because not too long ago he was bending over backwards to NOT make any interpretation of what might be going on, so he should know better.
Good points, Jan. I had my doubts about that poll because of the contradictory findings, like Ford's approval ratings going up by 5% to 44% but at the same time 60% wanted him to step down (though maybe that's because, to his supporters, he gives 110%.)
And yeah; older people like Ford. My dad, in his late 70s, says guys his age all like Ford.
Blair was a fool for making that statement about being disappointed.
I'm not so sure, Winston. Sure, the police have to be like Switzerland when it comes to public opining on complex matters, but I don't think expressing his disapproval of an unambiguously harmful and illegal activity affects public perception of his neutrality.
Ford was just on the radio and said he is NOT leaving. And there is nothing anyone can say or do to get him to leave.
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