Rob Ford's Toronto

[guitarchitect]

Feed what? Skepticism about e veracity of 1 organization with an agenda of ultimate oportunism and a other with a clearly defined hatred towards the mayor?

All I've seen thus far is a photo op of the mayor with some purportedly unsavory characters. Who knows how far Gawker & the Star stretched the truth of what transpired in this instance? Not me or any of you.

I agree the Mayor needs to address these issues with full candor. I hope to hear his response soon and then make a judgment. Til then you guys are nothing but a mean spirited lynch mob.

CN Tower, I think you're grasping at straws.

If we proceed based on credibility, Doolittle and Donovan have no track record of deceit. There is no reason to believe that they are fabricating anything. Ford, however, has a track record of being less-than-forthcoming with the truth, and has a batting average of 1.000 when it comes to denying things that later turned out to be true.

If we proceed based on action, Ford is not acting like a man who is innocent. His lawyers would not advise him to stay quiet in this manner if there wasn't something that he needs to protect himself against. He has vehemently denied transgressions that pale in comparison to this one.

If we proceed based on history, there have been many reports over the years about Rob Ford and his substance/alcohol abuse issues. Even without the hard evidence that now allegedly exists, there are many anecdotes from many circles (inner and outer) about what he has done in the past and what others have counselled him to do (namely: get help).

It's hardly a case of a paper being "opportunistic" or us being a "lynch mob" - it's more than Rob Ford's chickens are coming home to roost, and we're enjoying the spectacle of it. As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't deserve to be given benefit of the doubt. With his history, he needs to substantiate his claims of innocence with unimpeachable evidence in the same way that the media has always needed to give him unimpeachable evidence before he will admit to something.

 

[Torontovibe]

Til then you guys are nothing but a mean spirited lynch mob.

Don't you love it, Conservatives, calling other people mean. lol (as if Ford wasn't a heartless, mean prick himself) Nobody takes more pleasure in tearing people down than Ford, so if you live by the sword, you die by that same sword. He deserves his fate.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

It really isn't a "Conservative" issue - it is the unfitness of an individual like him to lead regardless of where on the political spectrum they stand. A leftie having such a record should just as rightly be condemned.

Oh another logical conrundrum for you - why would someone who profess to be a straight shooter or otherwise proclaim themselves of telling things as it is be anything but at this moment? And why would supporters who proclaims themselves as preferring that trait in their electoral choice all of a sudden be willing to put up with this deviation?

AoD

 

[TOperson]

Re: this whole lynch mob/persecution angle, what should the reporters have done instead? Refused to watch the video? Discreetly let the mayor's office know that this video was being shopped around, giving them a chance to deal with it quietly before the public found out? Say nothing to anyone and hope the whole thing goes away?

What were their options, really, given what they do for a living?

 

[Torontovibe]

It's hilariously tragic how betrayed Ford Nation feels by the mayor's actions. They are in complete and total denial. Their little hearts will be totally shattered if it turns out Rob was indeed doing crack.

I don't think that's the case. It seems like much of Ford Nation just dosen't care if he smoked crack or not. They support his agenda and that's all that seems to matter. They will keep making excuses for him because things like ethics and professional behaviour are meaningless to them. Frankly, they'd rather save 50 dollars in taxes. In the end, that's all that matters. Even if the video appears, Ford Nation will find some way to justify it or just state that what he does in his off time, is nobody's business. That's what I'm reading now, on many internet sites.

 

[TonyV]

Globe and Mail, editorial --

Globe and Mail editorial today:

Toronto is Ready to Give Up on Mayor Ford

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford may not have quit on the city, but the city has quit on him. He is thus a mayor largely in title. The real power in the office is the mayor’s ability to influence and lead, but Mr. Ford’s credibility is gone, in light of his week-long refusal to address the allegations that he was seen in a video using crack cocaine.

It is an extraordinary situation – a mayor who has lost the public’s confidence, while the public and its elected representatives have no power in law to remove him or force him to respond in full to the allegations. But the city is not without leadership, and the mayor’s handpicked executive committee showed leadership by drafting a letter to him (still not public as of this writing) on Friday morning using its powers of moral suasion to urge him to make a clear public statement.

This was not an act of disloyalty to the mayor. Far from it. It was meant to protect the interests of the city, and to get some sense through to a mayor who had fired his chief of staff a day earlier (a voice of reason, gone). The letter can only serve Mr. Ford’s interests, too.

Encouragingly, Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday, a member of that executive who has always shown strong loyalty to the mayor, stepped to the fore. He stood in front of the assembled news media, which was itself a positive sign that people responsible for making the city work have not gone into hiding. In his low-key, gentlemanly way, and without implying that he has any inside knowledge about the allegations facing Mr. Ford, he said that the city will continue to function, that it does not depend on one man. He said Mr. Ford should speak to the public. “I don’t like the City of Toronto being shown in this light but it is what it is. We have to continue on and do our best. I think somebody has to say something on behalf of the administration.â€

Mr. Ford has in some sense abdicated, but the executive committee’s willingness to confront him is a sign that the city is not bereft of leadership.

 

[guitarchitect]

Guys, did you see this article? The Toronto Star clearly hates the horse slaughter industry and is so biased against tainted-meat providers it is sickening. Those providers are law-abiding, taxpaying citizens that are just trying to make a living in an industry where it's impossible to sell your horse if it isn't clean as a whistle. So what if there's a bit of chemical that makes it unfit for human consumption?

It's obvious The Red Star cares more about doing digging up dirt and finding problems to "protect people" and report on things that are in the "public interest" than it does about toeing the line, turning a blind eye, and leaving people alone to do whatever they want. "undercover" reporting, how unfair and sneaky is that! This pinko leftie reporting is sickening! Have they SEEN the horses injected with these drugs? Have they even TASTED the meat that is supposedly "unfit" for human consumption??

 

[guitarchitect]

I don't think that's the case. It seems like much of Ford Nation just dosen't care if he smoked crack or not. They support his agenda and that's all that seems to matter. They will keep making excuses for him because things like ethics and professional behaviour are meaningless to them. Frankly, they'd rather save 50 dollars in taxes. In the end, that's all that matters. Even if the video appears, Ford Nation will find some way to justify it or just state that what he does in his off time, is nobody's business. That's what I'm reading now, on many internet sites.

I wish I was in the straw business, I'd be making a killing on the graspable ones.

 

[Adjei]

We are becoming the laughingstock of the entire world. Rob Ford has done enough damage to our reputation and needs to go. We need a leader and not someone who is here to cause divisions in the city.

 

[JWBF]

Guys, did you see this article? The Toronto Star clearly hates the horse slaughter industry and is so biased against tainted-meat providers it is sickening. Those providers are law-abiding, taxpaying citizens that are just trying to make a living in an industry where it's impossible to sell your horse if it isn't clean as a whistle. So what if there's a bit of chemical that makes it unfit for human consumption?

It's obvious The Red Star cares more about doing digging up dirt and finding problems to "protect people" and report on things that are in the "public interest" than it does about toeing the line, turning a blind eye, and leaving people alone to do whatever they want. "undercover" reporting, how unfair and sneaky is that! This pinko leftie reporting is sickening! Have they SEEN the horses injected with these drugs? Have they even TASTED the meat that is supposedly "unfit" for human consumption??

Uh-huh, off your meds are you?

 

[SP!RE]

Uh-huh, off your meds are you?

I realize any thread relating to politics can cause tensions between forumers, but is making a joke about mental illness / psychological medication really necessary? Seems in very bad taste to me.

Also I don't get all the left vs. right rhetoric from some forumers. Rob Ford being an idiot and quite likely a drug abuser isn't a matter of Left vs. Right. I wouldn't tolerate his behaviour if he was a left-leaning politician the same as I don't tolerate it given his right-wing stance.

 

[guitarchitect]

Uh-huh, off your meds are you?

You saw the (rolleyes) at the end, right? It was meant as a sarcastic jab at the people who think the Rob Ford scandal is The Star's baseless vendetta against Good Guy Rob Ford. IE, if the video isn't unimpeachable truth (you just know they're going to claim it's doctored once it comes out) then obviously it's the Star going after the poor man and all of this is just proof that they are going after him.

The larger comment (which will fly over the head of Ford apologists) is that The Star doesn't need a vendetta/agenda in order to report on something that is in the public's interest. They are journalists, and if something shitty is going down (like the whitewashing of shitty horse meat), they will do what is necessary - whether it is undercover reporters or sending two reporters into a crack den - to report on what they see for the benefit of the public. They don't need to be scheming against horse-slaughterers, for example, to make a cover story that says "What the fuck are these horse slaughterers doing?"

 

[guitarchitect]

Also I don't get all the left vs. right rhetoric from some forumers. Rob Ford being an idiot and quite likely a drug abuser isn't a matter of Left vs. Right. I wouldn't tolerate his behaviour if he was a left-leaning politician the same as I don't tolerate it given his right-wing stance.

I was trying to channel a Toronto Sun commenter... they love to say "The Red Star" and paint everything left/right.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Actually the real tragedy, RC8, is your complete and utter ignorance. I'm not part of any nation other than Canada and condemn all of the mayor's misdoings. I don't however rush to convict him as a drug addict without suitable proof. I've seen nothing of the sort.

As far as Gawker, they are agnostic to the politics but instead pray to the god of Holy Page Views. The more attention they can generate the more eye balls on Gawker.com and the more ad dollars to the owners. If the story fizzles or goes unconfirmed, well I guess they really really thought it was legit right? Who could blame them?

What more proof do you want? We have a photo with Ford getting cozy with gang members. We have 3 reporters from 2 news sources who've seen the video and independently same to the exact same conclusion. We have a mayor who has yet to deny the allegations. And who is also hiding from Torontonians, the complete opposite of what an innocent man would do. We have a Chief of a Staff who was fired by Ford for saying he should go to rehab. We know allot of Ford's history with drug and alochol abuse. And finally, we have multiple individuals who for years have insisted that Ford has a crack addiction. What more evidence do you need? Any reasonable person would conclude that the man has serious drug issues.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

ok the video is fake or it is an actor pretending to be ford. Why doesn't he come out and proclaim his innocence? Why was his chief of staff fired in the middle of this scandal? This is not something you expect from someone innocent.

because the guy is guilty!