Rob Ford's Toronto

[evvabeing]

looking for rob fords sound bites?

http://www.robfordsoundboard.com/

 

[John_Dee]

That was hard to watch. But it makes it apparent that somebody needs to give Ford a taste of his own medicine - he needs to be forcefully, articulately and repeatedly, shut down. Enough of this this soft spoken measured words bullshit - ripping right back at him and accusing him of the things of which he is guilty - not asking him, but putting him on the spot and heavily chastising him and shaming him.

Exactly. The only language creatures like the Fords understand is pushback. Keep letting them get away with this crap, and they'll keep doing it. They'll also keep pushing the envelope, making every additional such episode that much worse. It's in their interest to do so.

My patience is fast running out with City Council. I know this situation is unprecedented in its way (here in Toronto at least), but, uh, we do live right next door to a country where this sort of thug behavior in politics is common place. It's as if the people on Council have never heard of Rush Limbaugh, or Bill O'Reilly, or Chris Christie...or any of the numerous other such political bullies, thugs and street fighters that infest US politics like a bad rash. There's no shortage of the brutes, and this kind of politics isn't entirely unknown here, either, as any glance at the Toronto Sun over the past 30 years will tell you. And yet, confronted with the Fords, Council repeatedly react like Little Red Riding Hood meeting the Big Bad Wolf for the first time. It's ridiculous. And unforgivable in its sheer, hand-wringing ineptitude. These are professional, career politicians. They should have some idea of how to handle a crude, moronic bully like Rob Ford, for Chrissakes.

This exchange with Ford and Stintz is an excellent case in point: I have little enough sympathy for Stintz as is. She pretty much blew all my goodwill during the Scarborough subway debacle; instead of doing her duty, and trying to alert the public to Ford's lies and demagogy, she stupidly assumed any voters supporting Ford's mountain of bullshit were hers' for the taking, and so she started parroting Ford after initially opposing the subway. As John Lorinc put it in his excellent piece about the issue in Spacing Toronto:

What matters is that the public will perceive Ford to have been the author of a subway deal worth almost $3 billion. Stintz can tweet and correct and debate the mayor until she’s blue in the face. But he will easily deflect the dutiful fact-checking in the press and from his rivals. And truth be told, he can justifiably lay claim to his boast because he, unlike Stintz, never waivered in his commitment to subways, subways, subways. And so it was that Mr. Gravy Fighter brought home the bacon.

The above is exactly right, and the way Stintz stupidly, arrogantly presumed Ford's base of resentful rubes would be interested in a more 'reasonable' version of Ford's agenda by supporting her was breath-taking in its sheer foolishness. Of course Ford's Neanderthal fanbase didn't want a "reasonable" conservative aping Ford's bull-in-a-china-shop agenda; they want him. How could Stintz not know that? And that was months ago. We are now less than a year away from another election, and Fatso's been inhabiting the Mayor's office for years now. At this stage in the game, Stintz should be expecting this behavior from him. It shouldn't be a surprise. She should be prepared for it. Why is she continuing to be caught flat-footed by the repulsive oaf?

 

[atodaso]

I hadn't heard of him until now, but it appears Scahill is alive ...

Yes thanks for pointing that out - I was confusing him with Michael Hastings.

 

[atodaso]

@ John_Dee

Hell yeah!

 

[tiffer24]

Unfortunately our comatose council seems to be back in session after an all too brief display of backbone in November. At what point are councillors willing to stand up for what they believe in and bring back a little dignity and self-respect to council chambers? Just looking dumbfounded and counting down the clock until the October election is not going to work.

 

[EagleEye]

It must be really stressful for anyone that works at City Hall, not just for people who have to watch the constant shit-shows at council. I can't stand working in atmospheres like that where there is always tension.

 

[casita]

That was hard to watch. But it makes it apparent that somebody needs to give Ford a taste of his own medicine - he needs to be forcefully, articulately and repeatedly, shut down. Enough of this this soft spoken measured words bullshit - ripping right back at him and accusing him of the things of which he is guilty - not asking him, but putting him on the spot and heavily chastising him and shaming him.

Something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQD4dzVkwk

 

[Johnny Au]

I really fear that one day, Toronto City Council would be like Taiwanese parliamentary debates.

 

[JWBF]

I really fear that one day, Toronto City Council would be like Taiwanese parliamentary debates.

Ford has already physically attacked another councilor.

 

[notshocking]

The only one who seems to really be able to respond with the right amount of condescending contempt is Gordon Perks, who can barely disguise the fact that he thinks Ford is unworthy of his attention. Oh for someone truly whip smart and articulate to put these trollish buffoons in their place!
You know, someone who isn't uh, Canadian:

[video=youtube;VWkZOUiw_mU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWkZOUiw_mU[/video]

One for the ages

Uh, no. Lickspittle Galloway's sycophantic behaviour toward Saddam Hussein makes our grossest Fords and Mammolittis look like decent human beings.

Nonetheless, I'm hopeful that the real rhetorical artillery will be wheeled out when this election campaign gets properly into gear. The Fords have been giving prospective opponents an embarrassment of material for the last few years (and before that, indeed), and their own race to the dirty politics bottom actually gives some cover to candidates that might otherwise have been shy or reluctant to stoop to their level.

One thing we have seen is the fatigue that sets in when outrage follows outrage faster than the public can really process. I have little doubt that there are things known and points to be scored that his opponents would much prefer to sit on for now rather than waste them in premature use.

This is going to be an interesting year.

 

[CanadianNational]

Everyone has hick fatigue. Really, the whole city is exhausted. Ford's non-stop dumping of lies, outrages, morbid dealings and cynical attacks - are people accepting it because they don't care, think and have accepted it one way or another, or is it because they're simply exhausted and won't spend any more energy getting worked up over it all any more? I'm betting on the second.
Aside from a few gaggle of miscreants and obsessives, there's no solid support. I don't believe the polls. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised if the percentile of support shown was just the crack base pressing the 'yes!, at last' button for a change, and old folks hard of hearing, landliners raddled by alumium thinking they're getting a rebate on that truck from '42, curmudgeons, wingnuts, the morbidly curious, the gaming furious, and those who have crumpled to strip-mall denial.

But seriously - a candidate will win who:
-a) will bring up hard questions - the questions that deal in hard sharp facts - and pin ford with them until he's evsicerated or squeals the truth. No compromise or distraction
Someone who is not afraid to dig up and expose any of the filth and rot of the Fords that's useful, anytime - and degrade, break and destroy them with it. And never relent or concede.This takes a fighter. For those who worry that it might be impolite - well, if you get the right leader, it will be polite, and then some.

-b) who stays on a purely factual ground, non-partisan. Facts anyone can look up. Some of them will be harder and more hidden than any one paper would print, because of a wider context than papers or soundbites would have room for. Close focus and wide range - to give facts a proper context and show how stupid and small the Fords are. Small historically, mentally and in everything else compared to the amazing legacy built up for us by the people who lived here before us.
It's going to have to be a cold, alert and iron-gloved campaign of real judgement against a spoiled, addicted quisling dipshit, who's into dangerous neglect and widespread abuse of what matters, at the expense of his lies. From Ford's disassociative home-made election craps to his narcissistic showboating about his own 'superhuman' strength, imperviousness to consequence, and his own triumphantly-willed recovery, only the truth - hard, cold and irrefutable - will get people out from under this steaming, tangled toxic heap of bullshit we're smothering under.

-c) Someone who loves the city. Someone who finds it beauty in what it is, and believes it deserves more. Someone who wants to intelligently keep broadening it's legacy - as well as it's hyper-civilized nature as a created, technological haven of safety, culture and thought. Someone who is in it with the people, and interested in their visions for it. A pragmatic visionary and proud urbanite.

-e) Someone who knows Toronto has been complicit in where it's at now, that it is in confusion, and has degraded itself. Someone who has a better plan for city-wide success that will engage all corners of the city to their benefit, restore and rebuild our self-worth, bring back confidence to the business community and international deals, dispel suspicion and hysterical confusion, and reconnect professionally, internationally. A leader who can, basically, do a good job while being popularly understood.

-g)Who works for all, not for some. Who adds, not subtracts. Who loves peace, order and good government - and who'd like to see more dance floors, attends city parades and marvels, and might consider doing a kind of cleaning ceremony on the council chamber when they get in, with a special world-esteemed guest star or two.
One who shuns ideology - the ghostly idea without flesh, but loves people's ideas. One that brings people together for human solutions unique to here and now. Who sees government as an honourable and ultimately uplifting helper of the citizenry, for and by the citizenry. Who likes people. A good egg. In short, A natural politician

This seems pretty far-out now, but it's basically just Vancouver or Calgary with a few unique Toronto concerns.

 

[tiffer24]

So well said, CanadianNational. It's important to hold onto a little positivity that this city will be stronger after this debacle.

 

[adma]

Actually, to go way back to this thing...

What I'm curious about is how does a well educated person get so badly informed? He does not watch Sun TV or read the Toronto Sun. He does not listen to talk radio. In fact he does not watch or listen to any English language media. All the media he watches, hears and reads is Chinese. He hates Olivia Chow and David Miller yet he does not know why but he tells me, everybody at his Chinese church, hates them too. Was he brainwashed at church? How does somebody who watches no English media get these views and so badly informed about the issues? Are there Chinese right wing media outlets spewing Ford's toxic views and misinformation?

Though more downtown- than Scarborough-centric, it dawned on me that UT's had a primo example of the conservative-Chinese-media-centric, Chow/Miller-hating perspective in its midst: the immortal kkgg, through his various incarnations.

Somehow, it's also useful to view such characters as the sort who'd regard Ai Weiwei as an overrated Western lackey.

 

[basic]

another favourite in november was: "actions speak louder than words"

and they always use: folks, disgusting, and ridiculous

It was actually "actions speaks louder than words".

And hearing Doug Ford say "Folks" is like hearing nails on a chalkboard.

 

[basic]

Can anyone here explain a bit more about Lisi's pre-trial today?

I understand that it will be behind closed doors, between the judge, crown and defense. Will it be done by the end of the day? Will we have any idea of how he is pleading, will it go to trial, and did he take a plea bargain?