I'm not quite as resolute as Honest Ed has a posse and EagleEye in their condemnation of Ford the person. That doesn't mean that I, or anyone else who feels a smidge of sympathy for him is adopting a weak view of what Ford has become, but I do recognize that alcoholism is a terrible condition (I dislike the word "disease"). Ford is self-medicating big time and I have to ask myself why he does that? What pain is he trying to squash?
Feeling sympathy for someone as a broken person doesn't suggest that he should be treated lightly for all he does. For drinking and driving alone, he should be in prison. He's a danger to others. He makes horrible decisions and he deflects blame. These are not admirable qualities. But, I think he has spent a lifetime trying to measure up in a hyper-ambitious family. He's a normal dolt of a man with average intelligence (not to be confused with an "everyman") who, if he wasn't constantly trying to live up to the expectations of his over-achieving father and his hyper-competitive brothers; the closest of these being a belligerent bully, might have just lived out his life as a husband and father in suburbia without much fanfare. His passion is clearly football - not academics or politics but when he began to receive accolades from grateful constituents for helping them out, I believe it fired up his deep-rooted need to be accepted. Why does Ford think his job is to respond personally to public complaints? Anyone who aspires to be the top dog in a profession doesn't do it so they can handle the tasks which can be delegated to employees. They do it because they don't have to do those things. yet there he is, still calling constituents who complain about potholes and burned out street lights. He clearly craves adulation and he has convinced himself that people who stop him for selfies are friends, not foes. He hasn't enough self-awareness to know the difference. That too is very sad.
As for his dishonesty. I think that was years in the making. When someone you look up to does not approve of who you are, lying is the go-to response. Why tell the truth if it always met with scorn?
I don't think Ford is a big-time drug dealer. I think he's a customer who might deal a little to support his habit independent of his trust fund. The fact that he has gone to his office to drink alone is very telling. It's probable that his wife and children have had enough of his drunkenness and have told him not to drink at home. He becomes bold and agitated when the drinks and tends to act out the things he wishes were true about himself - propositioning women, pretending he's a tough guy, being the Mayor. He's living in the shadows which is a lonely place to be. The fact that he is a pudgy-pasty-white guy who knows jamaican slang is also indicative of someone who is trying to fit even if he has to pound a square peg in a round hole. Nobody finds that sad? He gets a receptive audience at city housing and at nightclubs that young people frequent so he shows up to these places as often as he can to maintain the fantasy. Again - very very sad.
Further I'm willing to bet that both Doug and Randy are the real criminals in that family. The Globe and mail story of Doug's hash dealing days and the multiple arrests for Randy and a family criminal lawyer on retainer certainly suggests a long history of trouble in that family. Sister Kathy seems to be most like Rob, both under-achievers, both drug addicts, attracted to and trusting of nefarious characters, but if his father is a traditional man of his generation, he did not expect much for the daughter beyond marriage and kids and instead concentrated his ambitions on his three sons. Kathy gets a pass, Rob must succeed.
Don't get me wrong. I think Ford is a pathetic human being who has not cared much about what he's done to others. I despise the fact that he does not learn the job he is paid to do. He's whiny, spoiled, dishonest, arrogant and entitled but I don't think he started out in life that way and I don't think he likes himself. Unlike Doug who seems quite proud of who he is, Rob carries a glint of shame in his eyes. There are still hints of his little Robbie Ford personality under that boorish surface and the people who like him are able to see it. They see a kinder man than the one his detractors do. They see a man who's loyal to his friends, not a rat. They recognise in him something that's familiar and they all say the same thing "I can't help it but I kind of like the guy". He's broken. He's near rock bottom. And he appeals to people who feel like life is one big struggle. People are more intuitive than we would like to believe and they see something good in Rob and will ignore the rest so long as they are convinced he is redeemable.
I would hate to be a fly on the wall in the Ford home when he was growing up. I'll betcha dollars to donuts he was one lonely, bullied and mistreated kid and most of his bravado today is nothing more than a protection mechanism. And despite the fact that I want this man and his goon squad out of office, I will feel a little sympathy when he loses the election. His reaction could be heartbreaking and I worry that it might be the end of him.
