This, all the way. The more I watch this shitshow play out, the more I'm convinced that "shitshow" is the whole point in the Ford camp. My guess is they realized it was well and truly over at some point shortly before the p-word incident. Of all the ANYTHING he could have said in that moment, I refuse to believe that he lost his head and said "pussy" on live TV out of frustration or whatever. This is a guy who's been in a media pressure cooker for months... and if you watch the footage, it just slid out. He wasn't sputtering. It was intentional.
And since then the antics have seemed more than antics but a calculated move to maximize the "outrageous" factor and make him look like an out-of-control badass who plays by his own rules. Today his security pre-emptively started filming before he and Doug picked a fight with the entire public gallery. If you watch the slowed-down footage of him and McConnell, seems to me that he makes a big show of plowing into her, but then holds onto her and actually lays her down somewhat gently.
Point is, all this looks like very cheap WWF-inspired political theatre, and nothing I saw in Friday's or Monday's meetings made Ford look remotely interested in saving his own skin. My guess is that this is the Fords' new direction: forget about the reality of city council, keep working their brand and the infamy angle, keep getting U.S. airtime, see if it's leading anywhere promising.
