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Rob Ford's Toronto

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First Toronto Sun cover I like:


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AlvinofDiaspar said:
MetroMan:

Personally, I think the video doesn't even really matter anymore - his silence pretty much spells out all that one needs to know from the public perspective.

AoD
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I see your point but I think that it is needed for closure. Ford will not last a year and a half with this hanging over his head so we don't need the video to end his political career. Yet, Rob Ford has been able to maintain an air of persecution against him despite the facts. He's been able to "plausibly" deny the most serious claims against him as a Toronto Star conspiracy. It has divided the city. Toronto needs to see this video to close the book on Rob Ford for good.
 
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AlvinofDiaspar said:
MetroMan:

Personally, I think the video doesn't even really matter anymore - his silence pretty much spells out all that one needs to know from the public perspective.

AoD
Click to expand...

Nah, there are lots of people who will believe that the allegations are false, just another persecution attempt, because they were never proven. It'll help Ford's Everyman/Underdog image, and might even get him re-elected in 2014. Seeing the video might sway these voters (assuming the video matches the descriptions).
 
TOperson:

Perhaps, but I have a feeling the video won't convince his die hard supporters one way or another. In any case, the important thing isn't to convince that group (because you probably can't) - but to have a public show of force in the strength of the opposition against his rule as mayor. He can dismiss a video - he can't dismiss a large crowd in NPS demanding his resignation. Remember historically the intransigent is always afraid of angry crowds more than anything else.

AoD
 
If Ford doesnt step down, there are more than the required 3/4 support to enact temporary rules stripping the mayor of all his powers and appointing an interim head. Another strategy would be to ask the Province for an emergency to the City of Toronto Act enabling impeachment by 3/4 support of council.

Whatever scenario plays out, Ford is done as Mayor. I'll be surprised to see him still there in a few weeks. His only shot at keeping his job was creating reasonable doubt. In the court of public opinion, he's missed his chance for that.
 
MetroMan:

I doubt the province will get involved - the optics of Kathleen Wynne's government doing anything to Ford just doesn't look good at all, nor am I that sure the council have the authority to "strip him" his powers other than frustrate his agenda (which he isn't likely to have in this state) at every turn.

AoD
 
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AlvinofDiaspar said:
MetroMan:

I doubt the province will get involved - the optics of Kathleen Wynne's government doing anything to Ford just doesn't look good at all.

AoD
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Well, assuming that the video does get released and the reviews are correct, letting an incompetent crackhead cling to power on a technicality isn't particularly good optics either. Giving Toronto--either council or the populace at large--recall powers might, in time, look like a pretty sensible and magnanimous gesture as a way out of this mess. The vestiges of Ford Nation might be upset but they wouldn't be voting for Wynne anyway.

But I think our Mayor will be resigning or taking a long "health" vacation before it can come to that.
 
What is very interesting here is the very massive game of chicken going on.

There either is or isn't a video....it either does or does not depict the Mayor smoking something from a pipe (that something, we are told is easily concludable as crack).

There seem to be 4 people who know for sure (the 3 reporters and Rob Ford).......no one seems to be blinking here. It is interesting to observe.
 
PinkLucy said:
Don't forget whoever shot the video and was in the room.
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i was gonna count them but I was really focusing on the people who have a real "integrity stake" in this. Thinking about it I should leave the gawker guy out too because, at least locally, I don't think he has much at stake.

I guess what I was saying was that at the end of this (IMO) - assuming the video surfaces - someone loses their job. If the vid is as "advertised" then it is Rob Ford if it is not its the two star journos.....and yet no one blinks.
 
Gotcha.

The video takers/makers have a stake which is apparently their safety. I'm not sure that they have an "integrity stake" though :). If the fund doesn't reach the full $200K, will they blink and sell it anyway or will they walk?

I don't think the Star reporters would lose their job over this. From all accounts, they have been extremely careful throughout and have maintained their integrity. I can't see them getting fired, but hey, stranger things have happened (like pretty much the entire Rob Ford as Mayor saga ...)
 
PinkLucy said:
Gotcha.

The video takers/makers have a stake which is apparently their safety. I'm not sure that they have an "integrity stake" though :). If the fund doesn't reach the full $200K, will they blink and sell it anyway or will they walk?
Click to expand...

If the fund does not reach $200k the money gets returned to the donours.

PinkLucy said:
I don't think the Star reporters would lose their job over this. From all accounts, they have been extremely careful throughout and have maintained their integrity. I can't see them getting fired, but hey, stranger things have happened (like pretty much the entire Rob Ford as Mayor saga ...)
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While they have been careful in the writing of words to protect the Star from lawsuit (and I suspect that was the work of the editors/stars/lawyers) they have been clear in the accusation that they saw a clear video of Rob Ford smoking from a crack pipe.....if that video surfaces and supports the allegation Rob Ford loses his job....surely if it turns out that, either, the existance or content of the video is not what they told their employer it was...they have to go too? No? The Star has run with this story soley on their "word" of what they have seen....if that turns out to be not true (regardless of the legalese in how it was written) why would an employer keep them on?

Like I said, interesting game of chicken with no one blinking and the only way it passes without job loss is if the video never surfaces and it turns into a "he said she said".
 
Despite the bickering over scoops and exclusives, it's just as well that two separate media outlets have seen and reported on the video. It makes the whole thing more credible. I believe there is a video that matches the descriptions, and that the only real questions are: Is it really Rob Ford in them? Is it really crack?
 
TOareaFan said:
While they have been careful in the writing of words to protect the Star from lawsuit (and I suspect that was the work of the editors/stars/lawyers) they have been clear in the accusation that they saw a clear video of Rob Ford smoking from a crack pipe.....if that video surfaces and supports the allegation Rob Ford loses his job....surely if it turns out that, either, the existance or content of the video is not what they told their employer it was...they have to go too? No? The Star has run with this story soley on their "word" of what they have seen....if that turns out to be not true (regardless of the legalese in how it was written) why would an employer keep them on?
Click to expand...

Thing is, it's extremely unlikely that both Star reporters made it all up, and were in cahoots with Gawker to make the story more convincing. (The reporters certainly weren't getting along in this CBC news clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmElwoVY0WU)

Either way, these reporters have produced MAJOR click-bait, so their jobs are probably fairly secure for the time being.
 
I know that the money can be returned to the donors, but I'm wondering if the sellers of the video would take a lower amount or will they hold out? I bet Gawker could bargain with them. After all, wouldn't they rather have, say, $150k, than nothing?

And re the reporters, what TOperson said above. Not only has the Star been clear in what it said, but they grilled those reporters separately to make sure they weren't making it up. It seems very clear that the reporters believe they saw a real video, etc. If the video never turns up or is proven to be fake, I don't think they'll get fired because they were reporting on what they believed to be true, they weren't making stuff up.
 
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