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Rob Ford's Toronto

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requiem said:
I forgot about this story...wild. Of course his acolytes would just dismiss the addiction without even questioning the cozy relationship between Muzik and the Fords.
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Yes. It's really a prime example of how Ford's addictions made him vulnerable to conflicts of interest. Clearly, the owner of Muzik knew Ford's proclivities and was aware that if he could provide a safe haven for Ford to indulge his appetites he could use that service as leverage to extract favours from the city. It was in its own way as scandalous as criminals using Ford's addiction to extort favours from him and blackmail him. It was a problem throughout his entire mayoralty and yet his fans seem utterly unconcerned by it. Just as they were unconcerned that by buying drugs from street gangs - and there's evidence that he regularly made very large purchases even when he was under scrutiny from the police - he was in effect helping underwrite their criminal activities, including gun smuggling. I would often say to Ford supporters, 'What if a 10-year-old gets caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout and it turns out the gun that killed her was smuggled into Toronto by a gang that Mayor Ford does business with? How would it look if on the day it happened Ford showed up to stand beside the chief of police in your neighbourhood to denounce gun violence and reassure the public that police were in control, when a) he had business dealings with the gang that put the gun in the hands of the criminal who pulled the trigger? ... and b) if the mayor himself is under scrutiny by the police force led by the man who's standing beside him? All I would get back is a blank stare. It has always astounded me that there are people out there who simply don't care about this stuff because he saved them 60 bucks by rolling back the car tax or that he showed up on their street to make sure a pothole was filled. It's as if the broader society and the values, morals and ethics that inform it simply either don't exist or don't matter to these people.
 
wombat said:
Yes. It's really a prime example of how Ford's addictions made him vulnerable to conflicts of interest.
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Brilliant post. His own actions harmed the very communities he claimed to help. Buying drugs doesn't only hurt the person doing them. He was the top civic figure, under a microscope, and he just didn't give a damn.

Anyone remember that on the morning of the Project Traveler raid, a woman yelled out, on camera, something like "this is Rob Ford's fault" or "this is because of Rob Ford"...something like that? We do know that the police started investigating Ford because of what they heard when they wiretapped the gangs. I can only imagine how much the public doesn't know...what gang members knew, what people in those raided buildings knew...it's so insane. And Ford got off scot-free. Baffling.
 
Jimmi T said:
Ya, I think it had a lot to do with the fact that he loved people's reactions and the praise he'd received when he's show up at their houses.
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This is it exactly. He loved having his gigantic ass kissed, and that's all there is to it, really. The immediate gratification he'd receive whenever he showed up to play Daddy Warbucks in person was as much of an addiction to him as crack. There was a story linked to quite a few pages back in this forum - from Vice.com, I think - that examined this aspect of Rofo's behavior, and it was pretty damned creepy to read how he'd get off play acting like he was Marlon Brando in the Godfather, "helping" the little people...but only if they paid proper homage to him first, of course. Ford's idea of being councillor/mayor had nothing to do with civic duty or serving the public; it was all about him.

requiem said:
Brilliant post. His own actions harmed the very communities he claimed to help. Buying drugs doesn't only hurt the person doing them. He was the top civic figure, under a microscope, and he just didn't give a damn.

Anyone remember that on the morning of the Project Traveler raid, a woman yelled out, on camera, something like "this is Rob Ford's fault" or "this is because of Rob Ford"...something like that? We do know that the police started investigating Ford because of what they heard when they wiretapped the gangs. I can only imagine how much the public doesn't know...what gang members knew, what people in those raided buildings knew...it's so insane. And Ford got off scot-free. Baffling.
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As I've said several times, here, this is due to brute tribalism, nothing more: (1.) They saw themselves in him, (2.) they openly approved of his bullying and bigotry, (3.) and they lived vicariously through him. The rotten fucker got away with all sorts of crap they've love to be able to pull themselves. And he pissed off the lib-tards big-time. In these grim times, that's probably enough for the mindset inclined to worship at the altar of someone like Ford. Many of his fans are every bit as stupid and mean as he was, and - just to complicate matters - they do have some legitimate complaints. It's beyond fucked up.
 
Yes, he always struck me as the sad, unpopular, not very smart fat kid who really wanted to be liked. Being able to hand out money, asked for selfies all the time...just fed into his issues. He really made himself vulnerable to manipulation, blackmail and violence.
 
wombat said:
Yes. It's really a prime example of how Ford's addictions made him vulnerable to conflicts of interest. Clearly, the owner of Muzik knew Ford's proclivities and was aware that if he could provide a safe haven for Ford to indulge his appetites he could use that service as leverage to extract favours from the city. It was in its own way as scandalous as criminals using Ford's addiction to extort favours from him and blackmail him. It was a problem throughout his entire mayoralty and yet his fans seem utterly unconcerned by it. Just as they were unconcerned that by buying drugs from street gangs - and there's evidence that he regularly made very large purchases even when he was under scrutiny from the police - he was in effect helping underwrite their criminal activities, including gun smuggling. I would often say to Ford supporters, 'What if a 10-year-old gets caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout and it turns out the gun that killed her was smuggled into Toronto by a gang that Mayor Ford does business with? How would it look if on the day it happened Ford showed up to stand beside the chief of police in your neighbourhood to denounce gun violence and reassure the public that police were in control, when a) he had business dealings with the gang that put the gun in the hands of the criminal who pulled the trigger? ... and b) if the mayor himself is under scrutiny by the police force led by the man who's standing beside him? All I would get back is a blank stare. It has always astounded me that there are people out there who simply don't care about this stuff because he saved them 60 bucks by rolling back the car tax or that he showed up on their street to make sure a pothole was filled. It's as if the broader society and the values, morals and ethics that inform it simply either don't exist or don't matter to these people.
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Don't forget Muzik gave Ford all of the free food and booze for Ford Fest.
 
Good Christ on a Stick! Didjas see that Outpouring of Grief from the Folks of the Gee Tea Eh?
(BTW, were there any EPA problems with a cremation?)

With all the Trumpism south of the border, this here notion of the Nation ain't leaving us soon. Let's see how Doug tries to get a leg up/leg over/whatever.

If there's one thing I'll miss about the big galoot is the summer of 2014 at Greenestone, the Country Pumpkin, Sandro in camo gear sneaking through the Muskoka bush to reload the mayor. Crikey, even the Escalade had it's own Twitter account!

BTW, nice to see Casita dropped in. Peace & beads.

So who wants to burn one and snap a cap at Dougie Senior Park? Fred G says he's in.
 
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Videodrome said:
Hudak has a radio show now. Note that Tory went from PC leader to radio host to mayor.
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What's next? The Money Show with Ernie Eves?

I noticed in many of the Ford Nationals' glowing reviews of Saint Rob that they equated his returning calls about potholes, garbage, whatever, as his way of really caring about them. I heard more than a few soundbites of "Rob returned my call and got that sewer cleared of leaves. He really cared about Scarborough when others didn't".

We know that he was only following his interpretation of Dad's Customer Service Mantra of always answering the customers' calls and harvesting phone numbers for the next camping event but it seems to me that a lot of these "folks" seemed to be like Rob: having someone call them back and appear to care about them made them feel good. That was probably a big part of the attraction. I saw a former co-worker on CP2Ford crying about Rob because he "really worked for the little people". Obviously it struck a chord with a lot of people who felt they needed to feel valued. After the funeral I saw an older couple on the subway wiping their eyes and saying what an experience it was. I wonder how many potholes he got filled on their street.

Despite all the horrible behaviour and contempt for the job of being mayor, all these people remembered was that he appeared to care about them. I'm sure none of this new to readers here but it came to mind after hearing people say why they were mourning him so emotionally.

Hey Lamport, save one for Marie Curtis.
 
requiem said:
I forgot about this story...wild. Of course his acolytes would just dismiss the addiction without even questioning the cozy relationship between Muzik and the Fords.
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"owner Zlatko Starkovski has told staff at the club that “Rob Ford is our best customer. His money is no good here.”"
 
AlbertHWagstaff said:
We know that he was only following his interpretation of Dad's Customer Service Mantra of always answering the customers' calls and harvesting phone numbers for the next camping event but it seems to me that a lot of these "folks" seemed to be like Rob: having someone call them back and appear to care about them made them feel good. That was probably a big part of the attraction.
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I don't think this has been posted yet. It's an excellent new piece by Keenan at The Star:

"It has been widely remarked that Ford’s political program was derailed by his addiction scandals. But this is not true. The addiction scandals were the biggest explosion of his years in office, but they came after — long after — the train of his administration had sped off the tracks, crashed, and lay in a smoldering, unfixable heap.

Polls taken months before we ever heard a whisper of the crack video showed him convincingly losing a re-election bid against a variety of imagined contenders. Toronto had rejected Ford’s politics long before they came to know the man’s personal demons."

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_ha...tml?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
 
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