Rob Ford's Toronto

[the lemur]

How much of an impact would the Towhey book have on Rob possibly trying to become mayor again? This is assuming that ranked ballots and the COI case don't hamper his dream.

It depends on how damning the book is when it comes to Ford's behaviour and personality. If the selling point of another mayoral campaign is that he's clean and sober and cancer-free and ready to come back and finish the job he was supposedly doing before, he might appeal to voters. But Towhey got to see him really up close - moreso than Doolittle did and with a more critical eye than SAL, no doubt - and if the book reveals that other things are really wrong with him, maybe not.

I just wish we didn't have to rely on someone as mercenary and solipsistic as Towhey to get that picture.

 

[riffraff]

Mine was a glib, low information guess. I don't know Etobicoke at all. Thanks lemur!

 

[riffraff]

It depends on how damning the book is when it comes to Ford's behaviour and personality. If the selling point of another mayoral campaign is that he's clean and sober and cancer-free and ready to come back and finish the job he was supposedly doing before, he might appeal to voters. But Towhey got to see him really up close - moreso than Doolittle did and with a more critical eye than SAL, no doubt - and if the book reveals that other things are really wrong with him, maybe not.

I just wish we didn't have to rely on someone as mercenary and solipsistic as Towhey to get that picture.

Gee, that's a lot of "ifs". Would FordNation go for him if he cleaned up, and stayed tumour free? He's been pretty quiet and subdued compared to full-blown Rob. Without the wild and crazy there really isn't much "substance" to him and Tory is delivering much the same platform without all the ruckus.

 

[Bob But Not Doug]

It depends on how damning the book is when it comes to Ford's behaviour and personality. If the selling point of another mayoral campaign is that he's clean and sober and cancer-free and ready to come back and finish the job he was supposedly doing before, he might appeal to voters. But Towhey got to see him really up close - moreso than Doolittle did and with a more critical eye than SAL, no doubt - and if the book reveals that other things are really wrong with him, maybe not.

I just wish we didn't have to rely on someone as mercenary and solipsistic as Towhey to get that picture.

If Towhey wasn't mercenary and solipsistic, he wouldn't have gotten close enough to Ford to see him really up close like that.

 

[John_Dee]

It depends on how damning the book is when it comes to Ford's behaviour and personality. If the selling point of another mayoral campaign is that he's clean and sober and cancer-free and ready to come back and finish the job he was supposedly doing before, he might appeal to voters. But Towhey got to see him really up close - moreso than Doolittle did and with a more critical eye than SAL, no doubt - and if the book reveals that other things are really wrong with him, maybe not.

The excerpts so far have been pretty horrific. I read the one about the Garrison Ball just this morning, and Towhey, to give him what credit he deserves, provides the sort of eye-popping account that only an insider in Slob's toxic life could have gotten a look at. Ford really comes off as a vile creep. If there's more material like that, especially stuff we haven't heard about before: Yikes.

 

[evvabeing]

http://iconosquare.com/p/1101482935837219343_2237223797

 

[evvabeing]

http://iconosquare.com/p/1101509660776527148_14099028

 

[JWBF]

In Rob's case it certainly seems to be that "it takes a village to raise a child".

IMO, at least in this case, "It takes one child to raze a village."

 

[evvabeing]

What you didn't know about Rob Ford: Five excerpts from city councillor's new book

3. His wife helped him come up with his infamous “enough to eat at home” remark

Ford shocked Torontonians and late-night TV hosts alike when he said, on live television, the he hadn’t told a female staffer that he wanted to perform oral sex on her because he has “more than enough to eat at home.” Filion quotes Ford’s wife, Renata, telling a Ford staffer she helped plan for him to say it.

Excerpt from book: “We talked about this last night. It was funny. Why couldn’t they see that? It’s none of their business what our sex lives are like.”

4. His brother, Randy, allegedly bit someone’s nose almost completely off while in a PCP-fuelled rage

Filion interviewed a man, identified only as Glen, who recounts the story of a drinking and drug party in 1981, hosted by Rob’s siblings Randy and Kathy. He alleges Randy brought PCP and a fight broke out, during which Randy and his friend attacked Glen with metal pipes. The worst came, when Randy got Glen on the ground and caught Glen’s nose in his teeth.

Excerpt from book: “And he bit right through until his teeth actually touched, and just the tip was hanging there.” Glen remembers it being a slow bite, as if Randy might be savouring the moment.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2015/10/22/excerpts-from-city-councillors-book-on-rob-ford.html

 

[evvabeing]

Q&A with Coun. John Filion who penned a Rob Ford book

Q: He and his brother [Doug who served one term on Toronto council] tried to promote that everyman, populist image, but of course there are a lot of things about them that are not average. They come from a wealthy family; they have political power. Rob’s issues became extreme to the point of being beyond having a few beers with your friends. But they seem to have managed to find a balance between that reality and still looking like just regular guys. Why do you think that is?

People saw what they wanted to see. The type of people who supported the Fords — and I went to several Ford events and met them — it really is a certain type. There’s one chapter in the book called “Partisan Brains” that kind of explains them or describes them. But generally speaking, the true-blue Ford supporters are not at all analytical. They don’t look for contradictions in behaviour. They see things the way they want to see them and just look at Doug — or especially Rob — and say, “That’s my guy. I’m on his team. I support what he does.” And if he behaves badly they’ll just explain it away like “Well, doesn’t everybody have a drink?” They’ll just downplay drunken behaviour and turn it into having a drink or two.

Q: Rob didn’t speak to you for the book, is that correct?

He didn’t give me an interview. We speak a lot and some of that is in the book, and I had to figure out which of that was fair to put in and which wasn’t fair to put in.

Q: Have you discussed the book itself with him to any degree?

Yeah, to the extent that he wants to. In addition to trying to interview him I offered to read him parts of the book so he could understand what I was trying to write and give me his reaction. I offered to give him a copy of the book and he’s like “No, that’s okay buddy, I wouldn’t read it. That’s all right.”

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dai...n-filion-who-penned-a-rob-ford-172845431.html

 

[evvabeing]

London mayor says he was 'kept away' from Rob Ford during last Toronto visit

“Last time I went to Toronto, for some reason, I was kept away from the mayor, the then-mayor of Toronto,” Johnson said of Ford, whose controversial mayoral term often made international headlines.

Johnson, who has had his own share of controversy, said Ford “seemed to be a good guy … a guy after my own heart.”

To which a smiling Tory replied, “No sir. No, no, no.”

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/london-ma...-rob-ford-during-last-toronto-visit-1.2623469

 

[the lemur]

If Towhey wasn't mercenary and solipsistic, he wouldn't have gotten close enough to Ford to see him really up close like that.

Towhey got close because he believed he could help Ford realize his vision for the city (whatever that actually was). The mercenary part lies in stuff like holding off on calling 911 during a domestic disturbance so he could compile as much info as possible to put in a tell-all book later.

 

[Jimmi T]

Ya, the tone of Ford's Twitter account has noticeably changed lately. It's like they put some dumb, snarky guy in charge of it.

 

[adma]

Agaion--maybe Graeme. Paid out of RoFo's own pocket, of course Not an "official" City Hall employee? Eff them...

 

[Lucinda]

John Filon is going to be interviewed on The Current, on CBC Radio One (99.1FM in Toronto), in about 20 minutes or so.