Rob Ford's Toronto

[PinkLucy]

I suspect that Doug already knows what will be announced, and (it seems to me) that is likely to be that Robbie has cancer but he has some chance of his treatment (chemo, whatever) being successful - therefore, an obvious scenario runs: The best thing to help Robbie beat this (the morale is the best medicine cliche) is for Doug to get out there and make sure that the City remains in the hands of the Fords (does not slip back into the chaos and bankrupty of the Miller years - remember that?), and so we should vote for Doug for the same reason that we should clap for Tinkerbelle.

Hey, leave Tinkerbell out of this. She could be a b*tch, but she did have a sparkly heart beneath it all.

With a normal person/family, I would give the benefit of the doubt that they are all just reeling from the devastating news. However, this is the Fords, and all bets are off. They will spin the facts whichever way suits their interests, no matter what. And that's what's really sad about the whole thing. And it's also what makes me find it difficult to find an iota of sympathy for them -- that, and they don't have an iota of sympathy for anyone.

 

[FraudNation]

Beware sympathizers... The following scenario might be too mean, too soon, but:

1) RoFo goes on permanent vacation before election
2) DoFoJr runs a fantastically inept camping, gets single digits
3) Mutey Stirpe trounced for hall monitor
4) Bam! TDot FoFam free for four years

Dare to dream at your own peril.

 

[pud99]

BTW: A reminder re GBS's pig wrestling quip - Not on this thread, but it was invoked by John Barber of the G&M in connection with his having called Robbie a fat fuck during a scrum. (Robbie's face tells one everything one needs to know about the truth of the statement that he has the maturity of a not too bright 8-year old.) [ETA: You can see exactly the same 8-year old's face in the video of Robbie watching Doug shout at people in the public gallery during the day that Robbie bulldozed Pam McConnell.]

[video=youtube;mg1dudkX2iE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg1dudkX2iE[/video]

 

[the lemur]

Again, Bobby Sands. Martyr magnetism. And besides, he/his camp could always claim it was an "outside job", i.e. elites and "haters" badgering him and badgering him until he got cancer and died.

Something I've been wondering about: I wonder how many of these Ford-defender types who like using the word "hater" happen to be themselves abuse victims; and moreover, by those in some position of "authority"--which *could* have a way of turning them off anything logical, because they associate it with their being abused. If so, it'd be tragic, really; at least if they weren't so venally stupid--unless, yes, you guessed it, the venal stupidity was in part triggered by the abuse...

The difference is that Sands became a martyr in the course of being elected; Ford is already elected but to his supporters he's a martyr merely for being questioned and criticized because hey, logical deductions are so unfair! And of course if he dies he'll be a martyr because the media and the elites did it to him.

 

[StatGeek]

Exclusive Breaking news. Rob Ford CT scan of his chest below

 

[John_Dee]

That's about where I am. I don't actively wish him any harm, and I'm not going to cheer if he dies, but I'm not going to be crying either. He's a hate-filled person, and the municipal landscape will be a brighter place when he is no longer a part of it.

Well said. There's a very real and significant difference between not caring if someone is ill and actively wishing death upon that person. After all the shit Ford and his thug family have pulled, why are we being urged to start sobbing over him now? Especially given his own documented comments about the deaths of people he openly and proudly loathed?

There's an element of white-washing here that I really do not appreciate. Ford's an extremely nasty piece of work, and suddenly getting deathly sick - if indeed that's what's happening - doesn't change that. I have about as much sympathy or compassion for him as he's demonstrated towards those whose deaths he's gloated over: None.

 

[tiffer24]

Folks, people in Toronto do not want to put Rob's health at risk during this delicate time in his recovery. The only way for Rob to survive this devastating illness is if he knows that his brother will be elected mayor in October. Keep Rob alive. Vote Doug.

 

[VTB]

BTW: A reminder re GBS's pig wrestling quip - Not on this thread, but it was invoked by John Barber of the G&M in connection with his having called Robbie a fat fuck during a scrum. (Robbie's face tells one everything one needs to know about the truth of the statement that he has the maturity of a not too bright 8-year old.) [ETA: You can see exactly the same 8-year old's face in the video of Robbie watching Doug shout at people in the public gallery during the day the Robbie bulldozed Pam McConnell.)

[video=youtube;mg1dudkX2iE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg1dudkX2iE[/video]

You need to add Mammo to this list.

 

[pud99]

With a normal person/family, I would give the benefit of the doubt that they are all just reeling from the devastating news. However, this is the Fords, and all bets are off. They will spin the facts whichever way suits their interests, no matter what. And that's what's really sad about the whole thing. And it's also what makes me find it difficult to find an iota of sympathy for them -- that, and they don't have an iota of sympathy for anyone.

Yep - this articulates well the theme that MetroMan tweeted last night.

 

[sweetlou]

Some background for Doug to consider before threatening the chaos and bankruptcy of the Miller years. http://www.citythatworks.ca/2014/09/can-we-talk-about-budget.html?m=1

Meanwhile if today's 5 p.m. brief announcement does indeed contain dire news, at what point does Rob actually step down as mayor and hand the reins over to Norm Kelly. Who decides if he's too sick (either due to illness or treatment) to continue?

 

[Admiral Beez]

Arrested 65%
Dead 30%
Unscathed 5%

Time to update these odds...

 

[SFO]

Meanwhile if today's 5 p.m. brief announcement does indeed contain dire news, at what point does Rob actually step down as mayor and hand the reins over to Norm Kelly. Who decides if he's too sick (either due to illness or treatment) to continue?

I suspect that will only happen if someone forces it to, and who's going to come out and insist on it? Rob will hang on to "being Mayor" under any circumstances. Others will defend it by saying he was only MINO anyway. He will finish his term.

I keep going over and over this in my mind, and it makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills or something: if the news is dire, if the entire city knows he is very sick and will be down for a long time if not out altogether, then why is he even allowed to run for office??? It's like... fraud, or something. I just can't make myself understand why this is OK.

 

[Videodrome]

Daniel Dale ‏@ddale8 46s
Depending on what is said at the 5 p.m. health update on Rob Ford, the 6 p.m. Tory-Chow debate may not proceed as planned.

The Ford's win again.

 

[PinkLucy]

I keep going over and over this in my mind, and it makes me feel like I'm taking crazy pills or something: if the news is dire, if the entire city knows he is very sick and will be down for a long time if not out altogether, then why is he even allowed to run for office??? It's like... fraud, or something. I just can't make myself understand why this is OK.

It's not OK. It really isn't.

 

[guitarchitect]

Yep - this articulates well the theme that MetroMan tweeted last night.

View attachment 33559

this makes me wonder if there isn't some stipulation in the books that changes the parameters of an election if a Mayor is terminally ill or is incapacitated in some other way. the municipal elections act has a clause around when a candidate dies between the end of nominations and the close of the poll, but that's all I could find...