Rob Ford's Toronto

[jml]

Sounds staged. Rob ford isn't the victim. He didn't have to take her to work. He knew you were there.

They were actually leaving late when Rob showed up. I find it unlikely Ford would have brought his kids all the way down to the office a little after 6 to stage some minor thing, especially since the protesters were already supposed to be gone.

 

[PinkLucy]

Sounds staged. Rob ford isn't the victim. He didn't have to take her to work. He knew you were there.

I agree. He wanted you to "think of the children", and it seems to have worked.

 

[EagleEye]

They were actually leaving late when Rob showed up. I find it unlikely Ford would have brought his kids all the way down to the office a little after 6 to stage some minor thing, especially since the protesters were already supposed to be gone.

The first tweet went out at 6:06 so I don't think they were late since they planned to be there till 6. But it's funny, no matter what Ford does, everyone questions him because he's proven to be such a liar on so many levels.

 

[eyewonder]

I also don't believe he would say those words impulsively.

 

[jml]

I guess I just find it difficult to believe Rob Ford cares enough about the opinions of a couple of protesters to arrange to walk by with his children at a time when they're supposed to be leaving anyway.

 

[betty183]

Ford has always been 'you can say what you want.' Presumably to his advantage since he says so much objectionable stuff. He often falls back on 'it's my opinion, I can say what I want.' In person-to-person arguments, he takes the 'agree to disagree' approach. I would argue this is a part of how he gets people on his side in person. He usually doesn't come across as unreasonable, and it's that side that supporters see/witness. So his aggressive yelling stuff is then construed as not the real him, just the media version of him.

Example:
"At one point, the bartender dropped in on Ford's table because a political discussion between the mayor and a customer looked to be 'getting heated.' But when the bartender offered to intervene, Ford politely declined, saying it was okay for people to have differences of opinion, and engaged in a mutual high-five with the person with whom he'd been arguing."

http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=196612

 

[Kat_YYZ]

Sounds staged. Rob ford isn't the victim. He didn't have to take her to work. He knew you were there.

I agree. He wanted you to "think of the children", and it seems to have worked.

you guys are too much! He's not a caricature cartoon villain. He can have a "human moment," doesn't mean he's not a terrible person.

I bet his answer comes from being told the same thing himself at various times. Maybe Ford wanted some protesters ejected but a campaign manager (Kouvalis) or Towhey or some other more level-headed person explained to him that "it's democracy" and he can't market himself as a populist if he tries to stifle or rough up protesters.

 

[betty183]

I think a lot of immigrants aren't particularly ideological. They care about basic things: lower taxes, but also better services that they rely on. Polls have shown that immigrants place high value on health care and education. For many, those services are the main reason they chose to move to Canada.

Are all you people white or something?!

 

[jml]

I think the Fords are best understood through the conceptual prism of a schoolyard bully. When they're together they seem to egg each other on into being worse than either of them is just on their own. They also have that schoolyard bully sense of when to practice their cruelty so the teachers don't notice.

 

[JWBF]

I'm poor as a church mouse.

That's why I think they used the statement that the media was like a group of cats staring at the mouse hole.

Are all you people white or something?!

Does someone have to be white to make comments about the demographics of immigrants? or to be bigoted? or a racist? (I am not apologizing or condoning Silence&Motion statements)

 

[jml]

A picture of Rob Ford at Rustic Bakery just showed up on Twitter, not sure when it was taken. Just seemed interesting, what with the conversation many pages back about bakeries and the mafia and everything.

 

[Jude]

"They."

Who?

Does someone have to be white to make comments about the demographics of immigrants?
- One has to be thoughtful, balanced, and self-critical, if one wishes to be respected. There is no need for sweeping statements about culture(s) that one has no/limited connection to - without any effort to support those statements with data.

or to be bigoted?
- No.

or a racist?
- Yes, obviously. Here, in Canada: yes. Or do you not understand how racism works?

 

[MetroMan]

In this CityTV video, Cynthia Mulligan asks people on the street who they'll support. I'm in utter disbelief that there are still people supporting Ford. What exactly do they support? I used to think the Toronto Sun was responsible but they've been negative towards Ford for months now. Behind my frustration there's also a genuine curiosity to talk to these people. I wonder how they can justify this lies, bigoted views, law breaking, embarrassing behaviour and general inability to deliver on his promises. I'd probably end up pulling all my hair out, but I'd love to sit one on one with these people to pick their brains.

Still, despite the idiots who still support him, the anti-Ford contingent is highly motivated to volunteer and to vote. I can't say I see the same motivation from Ford Nation as we did during the 2010 election. People were angry then and they wanted Miller's era over. Now the other side is angry. It's going to be sometimes maddening watching this election but I'm hopeful that in the end, we're going to witness a very satisfying end to Rob Ford's political career.

 

[JWBF]

"They."

Who?

Does someone have to be white to make comments about the demographics of immigrants?
- One has to be thoughtful, balanced, and self-critical, if one wishes to be respected. There is no need for sweeping statements about culture(s) that one has no/limited connection to - without any effort to support those statements with data.

or to be bigoted?
- No.

or a racist?
- Yes, obviously. Here, in Canada: yes. Or do you not understand how racism works?

Actually, no, you don't have to be white to be racist. I fully understand how racism works, and Wikipedia explains it well:

Racism is actions, practices or beliefs, or social or political systems that consider different races to be ranked as inherently superior or inferior to each other, based on presumed shared inheritable traits, abilities, or qualities. It may also hold that members of different races should be treated differently.[1][2][3] While most conceptualizations of racism include the notion of "race based discrimination", the exact definition is controversial both because there is little scholarly agreement about the meaning of the concept "race", and because there is also little agreement about what does and does not constitute discrimination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racist

And I think this the last of this divergence, we should return to the topic at hand and not give in to distraction.

 

[evvabeing]

EVB: Answering this question in two words used frequently by a buddy of mine: HELL NO!!!

LI MIKE

i thought that too, at first, but especially if you focus on the bad stuff, they are like the kennedys... although more the un-kennedys, as Great Expectations: The Troubled Lives of Political Families puts it. that book mentions drug overdoses, excessive drinking, murder / manslaughter... actually here a couple of worthy screenshots from the book.

from page 8...

from page 121 (sorry for the size of this, i can't seem to get it larger)...

it does sound familiar, doesn't it?