Rob Ford's Toronto

[casita]

Suggest. Call. 311.

Oh, pud!

 

[pud99]

Oh, oh.

 

[hper]

Empathy, sympathy, decency. Whatever you call it, Kurt Vonnegut summed it up best (again):

"There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind."

-God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

Could apply either to or for R. Ford. Who knows at this point?

 

[evvabeing]

Someone's gotta take out the garbage at CH (preferably not GFL).

Rob shouldn't be running for any public office right now, full stop. His list of health issues is longer than Schindler's. He had a great opportunity to make a graceful exit. What we're seeing now is anything but.

speaking of that... this article is from a few days ago, yet doesn't contain any new information...

New Garbage Collector Coming to Etobicoke

http://www.newstalk1010.com/news/2014/06/11/new-garbage-collector-coming-to-etobicoke

 

[pud99]

Oh, pud!

 

[pud99]

 

[sweetlou]

Bingo - empathy, at the end of the day, makes the person feeling it feels better. It doesn't do an iota for the subject (unless you're interacting directly with him).

AoD

Ditto all that hogwash about prayer. If I'm dying, don't bother praying. Just do something meaningful and bring me chocolate.

 

[TJ O'Pootertoot]

View attachment 33521

Oh, oh.

At least we know she didn't plagiarize her column from John Lorinc, who said kind of the opposite.

(Personally, I think he has zero chance and it requires huge levels of delusion and/or lack of faith in humanity to believe otherwise. Doug might not have Rob's addiction baggage but he also doesn't have his moronic 'loveability,' and he also has an abrasive manner and dead-eyed stare that won't play well in debates [to say nothing of in office!]. I'm also assuming, what with the hash dealing, there's some more skeletons in closet that will come out soon but time will tell.)

 

[pud99]

 

[L23]

Ditto all that hogwash about prayer. If I'm dying, don't bother praying. Just do something meaningful and bring me chocolate.

Now we're talking!

And casita, please stop worrying about impending doom - chances are you'll live for decades yet, so worrying about it will only make you feel anxious for no real reason. Be happy right now for the good things in your life, and leave worries for possible futures until they occur.

 

[Oriana]

I've had the sympathy/compassion convo on FB many times this week. I would never wish sickness or death on anyone, however feeling sympathy is a tough call when it comes to Ford. I still feel that sympathy is deserved, earned, what have you. Ford hasn't earned my sympathy. Compassion is a different story, I would feel compassion for someone very sick, no matter who, but with Ford it's definitely measured.

It seems to me, looking at Rob's history, that he has a clear pattern of self-sabotage. I kept waiting for something to hit during the campaign that would cause him to fail. He's that guy that likes to blow himself up beyond what he really is, to thrive off his ego for the sake of others, and to lack integrity and character traits that make someone a true leader that deserves respect. I didn't expect it to come in the form of illness.

ETA: I had to retract some part of this: I ddn't mean to say that anyone that gets sick deserves it.

 

[pud99]

Now we're talking!

And casita, please stop worrying about impending doom - chances are you'll live for decades yet, so worrying about it will only make you feel anxious for no real reason. Be happy right now for the good things in your life, and leave worries for possible futures until they occur.

Non-impending doom - now that's another matter. Be wowwied, be vewy, vewy wowwied.

 

[kaboi]

Well put. That's exactly how I feel.

Edit: the fact that he struggles with addiction doesn't factor into my lack of sympathy. Addiction is a disease, just like cancer. It's his contempt for, and ill will towards - indeed, his apparent hatred of - so many factions of the population that makes it hard for me to feel sympathy for him.

For me it's all of that plus one more crucial thing: the amount of power and influence he's had the opportunity to exercise in service of his hatred of so many people in Toronto.

He isn't just some small town curmudgeon yelling ineffectually at the neighbourhood kids to "get off his lawn" and bitching about his taxes; he's a looming, influential figure who has had a detrimental impact on all of our lives. From cancelling Transit City and delaying effective, affordable transit for years to come, to voting against community programs that help marginalized groups - including the 'thugs' he think should just suffer in jail, to delaying the implementation of bike lanes and declaring a war on the car, you name it, Ford has put his ignominious stamp on it. We are all worse for it, our city is worse for it.

I have no sympathy for him. And while I certainly don't wish cancer or death on him, I can't pretend I wouldn't be relieved to see his outsized influence on this city come to an end.

 

[pud99]

 

[EagleEye]

Is anyone listening to Warmington on 1010? Post here if you are. I'm not.