Rob Ford's Toronto

[Grimace]

I'm trying to understand the suggestion that there might be a "good" or "flattering" picture of Rob Ford.

I'm glad to see that someone got him a clean shirt at some point in the evening.

 

[Lenser]

Look carefully. It's just an over-exposed picture; the wet stain is still there.

But I like your joke all the same, Grimace.

 

[Lenser]

What I really want to know is who all these mugging and grinning folks are, pictured standing next to Rob Ford. What were they thinking? One of the gals looks like Tina Fey... who knew.

 

[Lansdude]

So Ford looks like he might be lit up, definitely not semi-conscious like in the Thomson photo. But still, given the unflattering nature of our control group of (we assume) sober photos, it's very hard to tell. Inconclusive. And what's with the blue shirt?

 

[MegaMax]

Well, I dug a bit. And here are more photos from the same night, in the order I came across them:

So Ford looks like he might be lit up, definitely not semi-conscious like in the Thomson photo. But still, given the unflattering nature of our control group of (we assume) sober photos, it's very hard to tell. Inconclusive. And what's with the blue shirt?

The guy posing with Rob Ford is Chris Drew, a Liberal wannabe politician who seems to be everywhere in downtown politics. What is he doing there? And what is this guy - who was also sure to get his photo taken blocking the Jarvis bike lane removals - doing smiling with Ford?

 

[nfitz]

Here's another

 

[Electrify]

Doing some thinking on this, I've come to a few conclusions:

First, as the Cult of Ford moves on to defend him from his next social faux pas, history will write itself. In this case, here we have a woman accusing a man who is very likely drunk/high making a claim of inappropriate touching. A man who not only has a history of acting inappropriately while under the influence, but also a history of lying about said actions. It might be a he-said, she-said situation, but people will make their own conclusions based on personal history.

Which leads me to my second conclusion: IF she did make this up, it was absolutely brilliant! It creates some seriously bad optics for Ford, at least in the long term, over an offence that is not only difficult to prove but also relatively minor "bad boy" in nature. As I said earlier, I'm not condoning sexual assault, but a drunken ass grab is in a whole different league than forcible rape. The only folly was that it wasn't closer to an election.

 

[Electrify]

Yeah, he's totally sober in these pics...

 

[W. K. Lis]

Rob Ford does not use Coke. Pepsi maybe, but not Coke. Okay, maybe Diet Coke, or Diet Pepsi. But not Coke.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Now, where did I put my Ginger Ale?

 

[adma]

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categori...of-john-turner/a-very-tactile-politician.html

 

[nfitz]

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categori...of-john-turner/a-very-tactile-politician.html

There's certainly similarities ... but I thought Turner was an alcoholic, rather than a crackhead. Though I haven't really read much about it since the 1980s.

 

[cdr108]

i think i saw an interview on citynews with this guy and he agreed with Thomson that Frod was acting weird

Well, I dug a bit. And here are more photos from the same night, in the order I came across them:

 

[Admiral Beez]

Have we suspended the forum guidelines today? Why is such extremely offensive language being allowed here today?

Since when was being called a drama queen considered extremely offensive? Heck, I'm sure I've been called it many a time when I made a big emotional production of a matter of seemingly little importance to my audience.

 

[ChesterCopperpot]

Did he change shirts during the night or what?

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Here's the deal. You go to a party, you have a couple of drinks, and if people are shooting pix with their phone, chances are excellent you too might be caught in an awkward moment where you, unfortunately, appear to be drunk, oafish, sneering or leering or just plain off.

It might be fun to draw false conclusions about what Rob Ford may or may not have been on, but a single photo of a single instant is hardly substantial.

Bull. 'Having a couple' might cause you to look stupid or awkward in the wrong shot, but Ford was supposed to have drank nothing but water and supposedly stood in the corner greeting folks and having pix taken with them. And Towhey and the Sun can't find a better picture??? Can't find a pic of him chatting with a nice young couple, all smiles? They didn't have their own cameraman doing PR shots?

All these pix make him look horrible. Wow, Towhey needed to get him out of there. Yikes.