Rob Ford Transgressions Thread

[Senator Clay Davis]

Rob Ford, Political Genius?

Ford has taken exactly such a leap in our understanding of scandal. He has taken a simple, ingenious plan for dealing with personal collapse in public office. Pretend it doesn't exist. On Friday, he was seen having his flu shot. On Monday, he sat out in the lobby signing bobblehead dolls. Today, as the city councillors each took two minutes to state how despicable they found him, he did paperwork at his desk. "I really f----ed up, that's it," he told the august body when it came time for him to speak. His methodology of defence is so simple as to be genius. All the crack smoking and, I guess, from the latest report the hookers were "in the past." Faulkner said that the past is not dead, that the past isn't even past, but for Ford everything that has happened is over. He has discovered an amazing semantic trick: everything that can be described is technically "the past." We all have a "past." Therefore he is like everybody else.

Let us examine recent scandals in the light of this new approach. How would Rob Ford have played the Eliot Spitzer scandal? Instead of humiliating his wife by bringing her out to apologize in front of the world, instead of bowing down to the powers that be, and lying low until he could begin his comeback, he should have defiantly said, "yes, I slept with a hooker. But that was in the past. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a state to run." Every time somebody brought up that he had paid for sex, he should just have pointed out that it happened in the past. Spitzer did the "classy" thing, the "responsible" thing by resigning. The result? Years later, he couldn't even get the job as comptroller. Ford will most likely be reelected in a year. Remember that his current 40% approval rating is now, at his low point. He has a year to raise it back up.

Rob Ford has not thought through what he's been doing, of course; he has stumbled on this new approach to scandal the way Marie Curie discovered radium. Call it intuition. Call it an accident. Call it whatever you like. He has understood, in some profound way, that the combination of deep cynicism about politics, the advent of reality television and a general sense of alienation from institutional life has made outright defiance a viable option. It's a whole new play: You just say "#### em" and keep on going. It actually seems to work. This discovery is a huge achievement for Ford. He should celebrate. He should throw himself a party. Just not like the ones that were in the past.

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/ro...litical-genius

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Video of Rob Ford making the "I have enough to eat home comment"

Should be obvious it is NSFW:
http://deadspin.com/rob-ford-denies-...ium=socialflow

Well, Mr. Ford. All I can say is "Welcome back to the Colbert Report, Daily Show and Jimmy Kimmel".

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Minnie

Doug's an enabler, I think, and I doubt he's been all that pushy about Rob doing much of anything. I think he makes almost as many excuses for his brother's behavior as Rob does and any time he's given some piss poor soundbite, it has all the strength of weak tea. I don't buy that he didn't know about the crack use. Besides, from all appearances, Rob doesn't really listen to him anyway.

I loved how Doug Ford said the police chief should resign because he has a "biased" (sic).

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

https://www.facebook.com/AlthiaRaj/p...45118712169445

That bolded part makes me laugh. The person actually said; "with someone who may have been a prostitute....", and then Ford goes ahead and outright names her.

If "Alana" is indeed the woman they were even talking about, and if she really isn't an escort; she should be the one angry at Ford for not just automatically assuming that was whom they meant, but also by mentioning her by name..

[Mazrim]

Is it even possible to sue someone who was providing information to police?

[Regulator75]

Bier Markt? This place sounds like the center of the universe for Hipsters.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Is it even possible to sue someone who was providing information to police?

Possible to sue? Probably. Possible to win the lawsuit? Not very likely.

With him threatening to sue his ex staffers, how does he even hire staffers? Who would want to work for him at this point?

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

robyndoolittle ‏@robyndoolittle 4m Councillor are turning their backs to Ford every time Ford speaks.

This makes the councillors look goofy. They have been pulled to the lowest denominator, and in that world Ford is king

[flylock shox]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

That bolded part makes me laugh. The person actually said; "with someone who may have been a prostitute....", and then Ford goes ahead and outright names her.

If "Alana" is indeed the woman they were even talking about, and if she really isn't an escort; she should be the one angry at Ford for not just automatically assuming that was whom they meant, but also by mentioning her by name..

I think her name came out in media reports from some of the unvetted documents yesterday. Still, I would think Ford's wife might not be too keen on him hanging out with Alana, even if she is just a friend: what was it about her behaviour with Ford that led people to the conclusion she might be a prostitute?

I actually find myself looking forward to reading the Star every morning now, just to see what wacky stuff is going on with Ford each day. I fully expect things to keep unraveling for at least another month.

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

For some reason the rest of the council doing that make me think less of them more than it makes me think less of Ford. I get it the guy is a bully and has brought some great shame to your city (to go along with the great publicity)... but you are a politician, act with some level of decorum.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Lost in Rob's love of cunnilingus was him coping to drinking and driving

“I might have had some drinks and driven which is absolutely wrong,”

I think Council is going to try and keep hammering him and making a mockery until he resigns, but its obvious Rob has no shame and such an approach could ultimately backfire.

[Peanut]

How old are his kids?! I can't even imagine the kind of comments they must be getting at school, on their Facebook (if not already deleted), etc. Rob Ford is obviously a debacle for the city as a whole but I'm really starting to feel badly for his wife and kids at this point. What a nightmare.

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Peanut

How old are his kids?! I can't even imagine the kind of comments they must be getting at school, on their Facebook (if not already deleted), etc. Rob Ford is obviously a debacle for the city as a whole but I'm really starting to feel badly for his wife and kids at this point. What a nightmare.

Resigning for the good of his family is yet another reason why he should voluntarily step down, but you know he won't. In Ford's mind, he genuinely views himself as the victim in all of this. Why won't those left-wing kooks at the Toronto Star just leave him alone and let him move forward with his agenda to save taxpayers' money?

[MissTeeks]

[You Need a Thneed]

Toronto Argonauts ‏@TorontoArgos 16m
Toronto Argonauts Statement: It's well-known that the Mayor is a big fan and supporter of the game of football.

The Toronto Argonauts organization is not in a position to comment on the manner of dress of public officials.

The situation with respect to the Mayor and his leadership is unseemly at best. These latest remarks, while wearing our team's jersey,

are particularly disappointing given our organization's work in the community to help youth deal with issues of bullying prevention.

We hope for the benefit of the wonderful citizens of Toronto and this great city that this situation is resolved expeditiously.

(Rob Ford is wearing an Argos jersey in council today)

[Senator Clay Davis]

That statement is incredible. Seems like many in Toronto are trying to ostracize the mayor, hopefully at some point he takes the hint and at least steps down and goes to rehab.

[MissTeeks]

This sounds like a great idea!

Bruce Arthur‏@bruce_arthur4m

Sun TV? More like FUN TV RT @Britt_A: Rob and Doug Ford are getting a TV show on Sun Television.

[killer_carlson]

LOL

Wow. I hope it's a call in show.

[Senator Clay Davis]

[MissTeeks]

He just had another press conference apologizing for the comments made in the one this morning:

660News‏@660News7m
Mayor Ford apologizes for "graphic remarks" this morning. #TOPoli

Bruce Arthur‏@bruce_arthur6m
His poor wife is beside him as he apologizes for graphic language.

660News‏@660News6m
Ford: "I have tried to move forward. This has proved to be almost impossible." #TOPoli

660News‏@660News6m
Ford: "These allegations are 100 per cent lies." #TOPoli

Andrew Coyne‏@acoyne6m
“I”m receiving support from a team of health care professionals. I’m taking responsiblity.”

colin horgan‏@cfhorgan5m
"Respect my family's privacy" Ford says, hours after going into graphic detail about what he does with his wife at home. So.

robyndoolittle‏@robyndoolittle4m
The mayor and his wife just pushed through a crowd of reporters in his office. They could have gone through the door he usually uses.