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Politics Rob Ford: What's the final act?

Discussion in 'Tilted Philosophy, Politics, and Economics' started by Tully Mars, Nov 6, 2013.

  1. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    In case someone has been living in a cave under a rock somewhere Toronto's mayor has been having to deal with a couple of issues. Smoking crack may be the least of his problems, but he's admitted to that fact. I'm interested in how people see this ending, myself I think he'll be in the obituaries by the end of next year. But posts detailing day by day, blow by blow news is welcome here as well.

    Here's a link with some news in case anyone hasn't been paying attention-

    Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admits he smoked crack cocaine, wants to see video - your reaction


    So let the crazy be posted and known.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2013
  2. ASU2003

    ASU2003 Very Tilted

    Location:
    Where ever I roam
    • Like Like x 1
  3. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    Their pocketbooks.
    Appeasing angry suburbanite conservatives by promising to cut their taxes via "ending the gravy train." Full stop. Submit. That was his platform in a nutshell. He wasn't looking to run a city with demands and needs; he was looking to run a city like a business whereby the taxpayers are more like shareholders upset about balancing the books (to turn a profit?). It made sense to vote for him if you had a libertarian and/or individualist view of how a city should be run. It's a dangerous type of political change for a city like Toronto which has many challenges and expectations (i.e., a city of millions, not some town of less than 250,000).

    This is worse than it looks on the surface. This isn't just a guy on crack. He's "on crack" figuratively too, if that make any sense. (We don't actually know just how much crack this guy does. His poison of choice seems to be booze—lots of booze.)

    The "one incident" of doing crack is the tip of the iceberg. Not only is he an ass, but he has yet to actually accomplish what he was voted in to do despite reciting a script stating that that's what he's doing.

    I could go on, but there is plenty of time for that in this thread.

    He's far worse than our last joke of a mayor (Mel Lastman—we used to laugh about him, but now the joke's on us).

    He's an international disgrace tarnishing Toronto's reputation, but there is very little that may actually stick to him legally. It appears that it's up to Toronto City Council and possibly even the Ontario provincial government to do something about removing him from power through proper channels.

    [I do recommend perusing the above links to get a snapshot picture of the situation.]
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2013
    • Like Like x 1
  4. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    Hey DC elected Marion Barry three times before he got caught smoking crack and one time after the served time for it. But this ford guy doesn't seem to have the political savvy of Barry.
     
  5. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
  6. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    I found this an interesting read-
    BBC News - Why is Toronto Mayor Rob Ford still popular?

    This stood out a little-


    --- merged: Nov 6, 2013 at 9:46 AM ---
    This was interesting to me as well-

    Other wacky world mayors

    • Stephane Gendron (Huntingdon, Quebec), who also hosts a radio show, bragged about running over kittens with his car
    • Arturas Zuokas (Vilnius, Lithuania), an avid cyclist, ran over a luxury car with a tank to make a point about parking violations
    • Jon Gnarr (Reykjavik, Iceland) The pink-suited former actor campaigned on a platform of free towels at swimming pools and a polar bear for the city zoo
    • Boris Johnson (London) is as instantly recognisable for his floppy blonde mop of uncombed hair as for his grandiloquent wit - and sometimes gaffes
    • Luigi de Magistris (Naples, Italy) lambasted media in a late-night Twitter rant, complaining he had received no publicity for cleaning up the city
    • Stubbs the cat (Talkeetna, Alaska) A four-legged feline who has been city leader for 15 years
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 13, 2013
  7. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    Yeah, that's yet another layer to Rob Ford's mayoralty. He's the epitome of knee-jerk conservative populism. Americans should be familiar with this kind of thing. It's driven by anti-intellectualism, anti-socialism, anti-liberalism, anti-taxation, anti-unionism, etc. Toronto is traditionally a left-leaning city. So this Rob Ford phenomenon grates rather jarringly on many of us Torontonians. I think this is to the extent that a lot of outsiders don't understand.

    Outside of Toronto, municipal politics in Canada ranges from centre-left to right-wing. Toronto itself tends to strongly vote Liberal on all levels, with stronger leanings toward the NDP (centre-left social democracy) downtown. Rob Ford's populism essentially pits the conservative outer fringes of suburbia against the denizens of downtown (Old City of Toronto). Much of this is a result of amalgamation to the Mega City, which was foisted upon Toronto by an ass (another one) of a premier of Ontario, despite most people opposing it in a referendum.

    Ford stands in for an image of municipal governance much like the Tea Party Republicans stand for federal governance. What they don't get is how the math actually works. What they don't understand is the role of government in a broader sense.

    What makes Rob Ford dangerous is that he will maintain his popularity so long as people believe he's "ending the gravy train" and reigning in the city's expenses whilst keeping taxes low or even cutting them. Consider this: Ford approval rating almost unchanged after apology | CP24.com

    So long as he isn't in prison for whatever, he could very well be reelected next year. He already started his reelection campaign a while ago.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2013
    • Like Like x 2
  8. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    I read or heard on the news this morning his latest poll numbers actually went up after he admitted to he crack use. From the clips I saw he made it sound as if "yeah, I smoked a little crack while on a bender but it's not like I do it daily." Now I don't have any RL experience with crack or crack users. Where I worked it was mostly meth and near the end heroin. Both of which just destroy individuals and families. I've known men who had very well paying jobs at mills or in the timber/fishing industry who went from family man with a nice house, two kids, decent vehicles, boats RV's etc... to living in a POS car alone in a matter of months due to drug use. It was obvious, esp. with the meth users as their faces looked like they aged 20 years in a few months and their teeth would fall out. The heroin folks blend in better from what I've seen but the behavior is nearly the same. I suppose it's completely possible to be a social crack user but I'm not sure how likely.
     
  9. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    If I recall, the numbers went up a few points (i.e., substantially) when the Toronto police chief announced to the media that they had in possession the crack tape "as described" by the media who claimed to have seen it.

    After he admitted to smoking crack, after his apology, it was a matter of the numbers holding steady. What has gone up is the number of people who want him to resign (3 out of 5 of those polled).

    This was a common argument for those who doubted the tape existed. They pointed to Ford's obvious weight issue and suggested that he doesn't look like a crack user.

    Okay, so maybe he "tried it"; maybe he's just new to it. But there still exists a lot of really odd activity between him and a known drug dealer: 12 highlights from Thursday's dramatic Rob Ford revelations - The Globe and Mail

    It's no secret that Ford has substance abuse problems. Most thought it was limited to alcohol. Now we know he's used crack at least once (and had lied about it for months).

    The questions have already been asked by multiple people multiple times: How bad is the problem? When will he seek help?

    Then there is the question of whether he is fit for office (both in relation to his abuse problems and his trustworthiness). This is the current question that I think will be answered in due time.
     
  10. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    Charlatan made this post over in over in Pointless Announcements-

    I used my mad mod skills to mess it up, hope I got it back to his original post. My intent was to copy and merge it to this thread.

    Have you heard any of these people assaulted or killed reports?
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2013
  11. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    This is what I alluded to when I say the crack is the tip of the iceberg.

    If you want a good overview of what's going on, the simplest way is to read through this, especially the more recent stuff within the past year: Updated List: 113 Things Toronto Mayor Rob Ford Has Done Besides Smoking Crack In A Video | Jeromie Williams Eats The Internet For Breakfast

    I linked to that in my above post when I called him an ass. :)
     
  12. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    I was kinda hoping the final act would be like that part in Robocop where Clarence frags Bob.
     
  13. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    I'd buy that for a dollar!
     
    • Like Like x 1
  14. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    Baraka: Google my current avatar for extra humor.
     
  15. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Very Tilted

    Location:
    Yucatan, Mexico
    That's rather hilarious from the link BG provided above.
     
  16. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
  17. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
    • Like Like x 1
  18. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    Mother of God.
     
  19. Baraka_Guru

    Baraka_Guru Möderätor Staff Member

    Location:
    Toronto
  20. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    I love politics.