Rob Ford's Toronto

[tiffer24]

In the international news, the real story always seems to be the fact that a Mayor like Ford still has the support of some of the people. That's the main thing that's making Toronto look ridiculous.

We went from being Toronto, the Good to Toronto, the Dumb and Ignorant. In the coming weeks and months, that image will be re-enforced on national news broadcasts around the world as Ford stubbornly continues his political death spiral. Kudos to us!

 

[newearthling]

In the international news, the real story always seems to be the fact that a Mayor like Ford still has the support of some of the people. That's the main thing that's making Toronto look ridiculous.

I was going to say that W Bush was still supported even though he blatantly lied and led the US into a terrible war.
But then I realized I was comparing Toronto--a city that prides itself on being smart and progressive--to the US led by someone whose IQ was lower than the coldest night in Kapuskasing.

 

[OSS 117]

I hate this guy (not personally) and everything he represents ... rash / quick to judge / no sense of logic / over simplifies everything ... honestly I have this issue with the general population but he embodies ignorance far beyond anyone I know personally ...



Having said all that; All the comments about ruining our reputation seem silly to me; Why would the MTA not meet with the TTC, that doesn't make any sense ... I think this is simply a case of the left wing media wanting this to look really bad ... which I don't like at all ...

To me the worst part is; I would think if any slightly educated person were to watch just about ANY of the city counsel meetings about a subject of interest, watch Ford, watch the lack of any common sense ... this on its own should be enough for everyone to hate him, even ignoring every other issue in the spotlight today.

It might be mostly a lack of interest in inviting a representative of a city that's proven it has no idea what to do about it's own transit issues to a symposium about transit issues.

 

[taal]

It might be mostly a lack of interest in inviting a representative of a city that's proven it has no idea what to do about it's own transit issues to a symposium about transit issues.

Now that of course makes a lot more sense ; - )

 

[rm20010]

I was going to say that W Bush was still supported even though he blatantly lied and led the US into a terrible war.
But then I realized I was comparing Toronto--a city that prides itself on being smart and progressive--to the US led by someone whose IQ was lower than the coldest night in Kapuskasing.

It's the apathy and shifting city demographics that kills. The priorities of immigrant families don't center around politics, or at least what's going on in the local level. I get the sense, though don't nail me for this, that it seems immigrants would only care about what (political) crisis kicks off "back home" than where they're living at right now.

Personal anecdote: my parents are both immigrants. I'm a native Scarberian. My mom disapproves of Ford, saying she knew "from the start" that his character was terrible and she definitely won't vote for him next time around. But she's quite apathetic to Canadian politics. She'd confer with me as to what candidates to vote for prior to an election. On the other hand, in her native Taiwan she was quite incensed at a political scandal from last decade that saw the ouster of their president. Not surprisingly, I didn't care much about that. She'd always say relax, it's just politics when I'm raging at the TV for whatever stupidity comes out of Ford's mouth.

My dad, on the other hand, would've voted for Ford but missed the deadline - he came in with rage on the night of the vote, saying how he hated that damn VRT. Just yesterday, he pretty much gave me the full blown Ford Nation spiel: the "liberal" Chief and the "liberal" Star versus the "conservative" Ford, saying how the Liberals squandered money on ORNGE/e-health/gas plants, the garbage strike under Miller (didn't mention how Miller was standing up to the unions which provoked that strike!) and while mentioning absoulutely zilch about how bad Ford's character is to boot, reaffirmed he will once again vote for Ford next year. But of course saying I was free to vote for whoever I liked. Still had to grit my teeth through that.

I feel strongly about what's going on in Toronto as it has been my city since day one. But while I welcome all sorts of people coming in from all parts of the planet, especially in university life, the realization I've came to accept is that simply... people just don't care too much about good governance unless it was dear to their heart. Especially if it isn't their real home.

Indeed, it's making Toronto look like total idiots to the rest of the world... but maybe, if the world can see that there's still a growing silent majority waiting to boot his ass to the curb next year, that could change?

 

[newearthling]

It's the apathy and shifting city demographics that kills. The priorities of immigrant families don't center around politics, or at least what's going on in the local level. I get the sense, though don't nail me for this, that it seems immigrants would only care about what (political) crisis kicks off "back home" than where they're living at right now.

Personal anecdote: my parents are both immigrants. I'm a native Scarberian. My mom disapproves of Ford, saying she knew "from the start" that his character was terrible and she definitely won't vote for him next time around. But she's quite apathetic to Canadian politics. She'd confer with me as to what candidates to vote for prior to an election. On the other hand, in her native Taiwan she was quite incensed at a political scandal from last decade that saw the ouster of their president. Not surprisingly, I didn't care much about that. She'd always say relax, it's just politics when I'm raging at the TV for whatever stupidity comes out of Ford's mouth.

My dad, on the other hand, would've voted for Ford but missed the deadline - he came in with rage on the night of the vote, saying how he hated that damn VRT. Just yesterday, he pretty much gave me the full blown Ford Nation spiel: the "liberal" Chief and the "liberal" Star versus the "conservative" Ford, saying how the Liberals squandered money on ORNGE/e-health/gas plants, the garbage strike under Miller (didn't mention how Miller was standing up to the unions which provoked that strike!) and while mentioning absoulutely zilch about how bad Ford's character is to boot, reaffirmed he will once again vote for Ford next year. But of course saying I was free to vote for whoever I liked. Still had to grit my teeth through that.

I feel strongly about what's going on in Toronto as it has been my city since day one. But while I welcome all sorts of people coming in from all parts of the planet, especially in university life, the realization I've came to accept is that simply... people just don't care too much about good governance unless it was dear to their heart. Especially if it isn't their real home.

Indeed, it's making Toronto look like total idiots to the rest of the world... but maybe, if the world can see that there's still a growing silent majority waiting to boot his ass to the curb next year, that could change?

I understand where you are coming from, even if I don't completely agree.
My parents are both immigrants as well. My dad is real reader and has always read 3 or 4 daily newspapers. He has kept up with all levels of politics., but always votes Liberal. My mom on the other hand, cares more about the votes on Dancing with the Stars or American Idol etc,. The last time she voted, she chose the Green party because she thought the environment needed to be addressed.
I think cultural values do play a part. But individual personality is also huge.
I am sure people who don't consider Toronto their 'real' home will either leave or start to care, when traffic/transit gets absolutely unworkable.

 

[rm20010]

I understand where you are coming from, even if I don't completely agree.
My parents are both immigrants as well. My dad is real reader and has always read 3 or 4 daily newspapers. He has kept up with all levels of municipal politics., but always votes Liberal. My mom on the other hand, cares more about the votes on Dancing with the Stars or American Idol etc,. The last time she voted, she chose the Green party because she thought the environment needed to be addressed.
I think cultural values do play a part. But individual personality is also huge.
I am sure people who don't consider Toronto their 'real' home will either leave or start to care, when traffic/transit gets absolutely unworkable.

Ah yes, you brought up a good point. Where they get their information from has a large impact on how their views turn out to be, and which I forgot to mention in my post. I believe my dad's views may have to do with the fact that he's always in his vehicle listening to news from the radio, or music. Talk radio being Ford friendly... well, draw your conclusions from there. He's into news, but the news sources are either radio or news broadcasts from the Chinese channel. We don't get newspapers apart from the free Saturday Star issues and they don't use computers like I do.

They definitely consider Toronto as home, being here for more than two decades. But since we're out here in Scarborough, I guess it's just another example of the suburban mentality kicking in - large area to live in, drive everywhere, don't care about public transit, who cares that there's financial mismanagement at City Hall, why the hell am I paying more for my grocery shopping, etc. Suburbanities pretty much have accepted that the Don Valley Parking Lot is given that name for a reason and the 401 is a shithole, but can't really be arsed to find real solutions to fix the status quo since it's not as hot of a topic to them.

 

[Peepers]

Ford fighting for survival

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/11/03/ford-fighting-for-survival

Oops! Now what?

It looks like those trying to take out Mayor Rob Ford swung and missed.

On Thursday, Chief Bill Blair showed what he can do. Ford responded on Sunday.

The chief said there is an alleged crack video and expressed his disappointment. Ford took to the Newstalk 1010 airwaves to say he isn’t quitting and challenged Blair to “release the video.”

The war is on.

Police spent five months on their investigation and have not laid any charges against the mayor so far.

Was the use of police surveillance to show such things as urinating on a tree, and drinking in parking lots, a proper priority when there are dozens of unsolved homicides?

Ford’s lawyer Dennis Morris said he wonders the cost. Ford says if he had done something illegal he believes he would have been charged.

Perhaps, in the fullness of time, the success or failure of the surveillance will become clear. As of right now, there’s innuendo but no tangible evidence of drug use or serious crimes.

 

[khris]

In the international news, the real story always seems to be the fact that a Mayor like Ford still has the support of some of the people. That's the main thing that's making Toronto look ridiculous.

I had to delete someone from my Facebook today because they said they would vote for him again. I just can't be friends with someone who could possibly support someone like this.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I had to delete someone from my Facebook today because they said they would vote for him again. I just can't be friends with someone who could possibly support someone like this.

I've got two of those. Through civil debate and those nasty things called facts (including links) I've brought one person over from the dark side, I'm still working on the other! If we can all bring a few friends over, we can make a difference.

CNN's "Early Morning" lead with the Rob Ford story at 5am. The female anchor concluded the piece by saying "Toronto is a great city, they deserve a Mayor who can properly lead" (I'm paraphrasing, but it was very close to that). This will now be another week of late night comedy hosts doing bits on Ford, and Toronto.

I'm DYING to see the next round of polling tomorrow or Tuesday, without question the previous poll was flawed. I just refuse to believe that he bounced up 5% in popularity. I suspect that his apology tour on the AM radio circuit yesterday will keep him in about the same territory as the previous poll.

 

[SFO]

I do not understand why Ford is calling on the police to release the tape. Does he actually believe its not him, perhaps because he does not remember (alcohol and drugs will do that). He really sounds like he is sure he will be proven innocent (the video will not be of him). I am really puzzled with his plea. Or its because he knows the police cannot release it and the trail will happen in 2014 and he probably thinks after the election where he will be elected so he is not concerned.

I'm pretty sure the strategy is just to get in front of the story and begin the work of discrediting the tape. It would be a lot easier to sell the narrative that "we don't know what he was smoking" now, as opposed to if the tape came out later in court, in the context of a mountain of other damning evidence, Lisi's testimony, Siad's, etc. They have a window of opportunity now to undermine the crack angle. It won't stay open long.

 

[Lansdude]

I'm pretty sure the strategy is just to get in front of the story and begin the work of discrediting the tape. It would be a lot easier to sell the narrative that "we don't know what he was smoking" now, as opposed to if the tape came out later in court, in the context of a mountain of other damning evidence, Lisi's testimony, Siad's, etc. They have a window of opportunity now to undermine the crack angle. It won't stay open long.

Yes, like his "before the courts" excuse I think he's playing off the ignorance of his supporters by implying that Blair won't release it because it doesn't justify his comments. People will interpret Blair's inaction on the matter as dishonesty and not as a state dictated by legal constraints. The Ford bros are good at implanting misinformation in their dimwitted supporters heads.

 

[downradio]

I'm pretty sure the strategy is just to get in front of the story and begin the work of discrediting the tape. It would be a lot easier to sell the narrative that "we don't know what he was smoking" now, as opposed to if the tape came out later in court, in the context of a mountain of other damning evidence, Lisi's testimony, Siad's, etc. They have a window of opportunity now to undermine the crack angle. It won't stay open long.

I see this a bit differently. He's calling for the release of the tape because he wants to look like he's trying to be transparent about it. I'm sure his base will respect him for saying he wants the tape released (and will in turn once again doubt its authenticity) - and will start to question the police who will refuse to release it under legal grounds. Meanwhile, Lissi's lawyer (who you can bet is hired and/or is being paid by the Fords) will do everything he can to block the tape from being released and will probably try to make it inadmissible as evidence. So Ford will look like he's done what he can to TRY to get the tape released but in reality, will be trying to bury it through legal tricks and manoeuvres. There's no other explanation.

 

[old boy]

I had to delete someone from my Facebook today because they said they would vote for him again. I just can't be friends with someone who could possibly support someone like this.

The Ford achievement has created this " you're either with us or you're against us " mentality. If you can no longer speak to someone because they show some sympathy for the lout, then he and his ilk have won. Get used to the brave and depraved new world of black and white. There are a lot of people still on the margin, thinking the media should stop hounding the mayor, and this becomes the salient issue. Don't ignore this group just because they don't key on the issues that got Ford to this point in the first place.

 

[r937]

So Ford will look like he's done what he can to TRY to get the tape released but in reality, will be trying to bury it through legal tricks and manoeuvres. There's no other explanation.

i can think of another... he's an idiot