Rob Ford's Toronto

[Cooper]

Rob ford returns a months old call to fill a pothole today. Are these usually done by marked city trucks? Or toronto city signs on a contractor truck at least?

http://www.reddit.com/r/toronto/comments/2fojhk/so_rob_ford_just_stopped_by_to_fill_the_pothole/

I wonder what would have happened if the guy said, "Thanks for the assist, Rob, but keep the magnets. I don't support you."

 

[YPQ]

Had an overdue visit with my Mom today. She is 69, very liberal and a pretty good judge of character IMO. Now, neither of us live in Toronto, are eligible to vote there or have any tangible investment in the upcoming election. As we're talking, RoFo's mumbling face appears on the TV and she comes out with "poor old Rob. Ya know he's a good mayor and a good guy who's had a rough ride."

I calmly explained that no, he has been an incredibly bad mayor and is an offensive, terrible human being. We decided to leave it like that and not get into it but wow. It served as kind of a reminder of this guy's weird, inexplicible power of persuasion over otherwise reasonable people.

I just don't know sometimes.

 

[JWBF]

They won't. They won't see it as a legitimate loss. They'll cry about vote fixing. They're already crying about how ALL of the media is conspiring to make John Tory look good (didn't know newsrooms in Toronto were so anti-competitive).

The election will be stolen in their eyes. I just hope they have the brains to eventually shut up about it and realize that their stupid initial trust in Rob Ford was misplaced, and that their own cognitive dissonance reduction is what caused them to keep holding onto to a sinking, burning, radioactive ship.

Hope however, is a waking dream.

Agreed. I predict a naked Robbie holding out in his office, but then again I'm an optimist at times.

 

[pud99]

Ford in the USA, Ford in the USA....

There is a lot of misinformation and/or urban myth on this thread about Ford's ability to enter the US.

For amusement, I have looked into the US law on this subject in some depth.

His options are:

1. Try to enter and be admitted. This would require that he luck onto a border agent who knows nothing about his admission of cocaine use and misses the record of his voluntary withdrawal at Chicago. This scenario is very unlikely.

2. Try to enter, run into a border agent who sees the record of his voluntary withdrawal, and once again be offered the option of voluntary withdrawal. This scenario is very unlikely.

3. Try to enter, run into a border agent who sees the record of his voluntary withdrawal and be subjected to a hearing on his ability to enter. This scenario is very likely if he does not have a waiver, and it is very likely that he would lose at such a hearing, with the result that he would be deported.

4. Apply for a waiver. It is very likely that he would get one , especially (but not only) if he was still a public official with a potential need to attend an official event, when he applied, because he did not admit to repeated, continuing use of cocaine and his criminal record is limited to the DUI in Floriida that caused no injury.

 

[JWBF]

Did anybody here go to the Jesus In The City Parade? Right at the beginning of the parade, they had a big sign saying THANK YOU MAYOR ROB FORD. Praising Ford at the start of a religious parade? If that doesn't beat all. It had me laughing.

What brings a person closer to Jesus, than smoking crack? I'm not sure if Jesus would approve of letting your friends shtup your wife?

Dogmatists are all ways looking for their savior/martyr.

 

[Videodrome]

Totally. The saddest moment for me was seeing a Globe reporter ask Eddie Izzard about Rob Ford. Like... we look so pathetic, like we're so excited that we have this crazy mayor who celebrities might know about.

I want a boring mayor!

Had an overdue visit with my Mom today. She is 69, very liberal and a pretty good judge of character IMO. Now, neither of us live in Toronto, are eligible to vote there or have any tangible investment in the upcoming election. As we're talking, RoFo's mumbling face appears on the TV and she comes out with "poor old Rob. Ya know he's a good mayor and a good guy who's had a rough ride."

I calmly explained that no, he has been an incredibly bad mayor and is an offensive, terrible human being. We decided to leave it like that and not get into it but wow. It served as kind of a reminder of this guy's weird, inexplicible power of persuasion over otherwise reasonable people.

I just don't know sometimes.

I recall someone posting that some people campaigned for Wynne and the Liberals, but when that was finished, were on team Ford.

Outsiders also seem to like him a lot more because they never had to deal with him.

 

[JWBF]

If he was arrested for even the most serious of charges, Ford Nayshun would back him 100% A third video? Forget about it.

They would vote for him if he died.

That's why Robbie is right, he is the greatest challenge he has, and every time he proves his immorality or elitist actions is made public it effects his voting base.

Robbie prides himself on being the victim, and if he gets elected he will have no where to hide, he won't be the victim anymore, and voters will see themselves as the victim.

 

[zang]

I have hoped for this after every single scandal and it never happens. In fact, a lot of them seem much more steadfast in their support for him now than ever. In January after the Steak Queen video came out, Hate the War on Ford even posted a whole thing about how if that sort of behaviour continued, it would be an impediment to continuing to support him. After months more of that behaviour, they now no longer even acknowledge it.

I think Doug's comment that people would support Ford even if he were booked for murder seems more and more relevant.

If you'd told Ford Nation in 2010 that the guy they were about to vote in consorted with criminals, supported gun running gangs, spent less than 20 hours at work per week, abused his powers of office, use his city-paid staff for numerous personal reasons, would give his brother's drug dealer partner a 130k/year job, pissed away nearly $100m in cancelled contracts and smoked crack cocaine, they'd never have voted for him (even if as I believe, many voted because he justified their ignorant values).

We're where we are because with every new scandal, it's only slightly worse than the previous one. If cognitive dissonance grows gradually enough and with enough personal investment, you can get people to support the most outrageous things, and at each step they become more and more a believer.

The socio-psychological aspect of cognitive dissonance (and it's reduction) is incredibly fascinating, and incredibly disheartening.

 

[Videodrome]

I think it can get a lot worse for him in the next several weeks. Well, at least I hope it does and he gets demolished on October 27.

 

[CalgarianExOntarian]

This guy could roast babies on live tv and eat them from a clamshell and Ford Nation would remain unaffected. There is literally nothing the guy could do that would significantly alter his level of support. Seriously. Nothing.

How about this: Rob, come election night, scoops up 8 or 9% of the vote, is thouroughly humiliated, trounced and bounced, goes on a wicked 8-ball double hooker bender in his office, chains himself to his desk and refuses to leave, not realizing that he still has several weeks to serve.

Not really that far-fetched, all things considered.

Ha. Very good bitter and accurate rant that turned fabulous at the very end. I can see kindly people pushing food to him using an extremely long stick, at the same time gently trying, to no avail, to explain that nobody will cut the chains until his term is really up sometime in November.

 

[animatronic]

If you'd told Ford Nation in 2010 that the guy they were about to vote in consorted with criminals, supported gun running gangs, spent less than 20 hours at work per week, abused his powers of office, use his city-paid staff for numerous personal reasons, would give his brother's drug dealer partner a 130k/year job, pissed away nearly $100m in cancelled contracts and smoked crack cocaine, they'd never have voted for him (even if as I believe, many voted because he justified their ignorant values).

We're where we are because with every new scandal, it's only slightly worse than the previous one. If cognitive dissonance grows gradually enough and with enough personal investment, you can get people to support the most outrageous things, and at each step they become more and more a believer.

The socio-psychological aspect of cognitive dissonance (and it's reduction) is incredibly fascinating, and incredibly disheartening.

eHealth.

 

[LNahid2000]

Did anybody here go to the Jesus In The City Parade? Right at the beginning of the parade, they had a big sign saying THANK YOU MAYOR ROB FORD. Praising Ford at the start of a religious parade? If that doesn't beat all. It had me laughing.

What brings a person closer to Jesus, than smoking crack? I'm not sure if Jesus would approve of letting your friends shtup your wife?

I didn't go to the parade, but this was the result of Rob Ford helping to approve the parade after it was cancelled.

 

[sublime]

By request of dforthandbview:

 

[Videodrome]

Ha. Very good bitter and accurate rant that turned fabulous at the very end. I can see kindly people pushing food to him using an extremely long stick, at the same time gently trying, to no avail, to explain that nobody will cut the chains until his term is really up sometime in November.

It will be very interesting to see what happens when he loses the election. I wouldn't be surprised if he couldn't piece together a concession speech without taking shots at the person who won (and the voters). It also wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that with nothing to lose, he forgets about his sobriety and does what he wants.

 

[typezed]

If you'd told Ford Nation in 2010 that the guy they were about to vote in consorted with criminals, supported gun running gangs, spent less than 20 hours at work per week, abused his powers of office, use his city-paid staff for numerous personal reasons, would give his brother's drug dealer partner a 130k/year job, pissed away nearly $100m in cancelled contracts and smoked crack cocaine, they'd never have voted for him.

No one now in 2014 is really telling voters about these failings. Not the media, not other candidates. We can tick off the whole list, but then people here analyse one photo to the next to judge how pink his face is and what that must mean for his health. These details have probably been lost in the noise and the comedy for less attentive voters.