Personally, I don't care what politicians do in their down time. As long as he doesn't have an addiction that seriously effects the performance of his job, I really could care less if he smokes crack on occasion. Many politicians are involved with hard drugs or even suffer from addictions - its just that most of them are more clever than Ford at covering their tracks.
UGH. This "I don't care if he smokes crack" argument drives me CRAZY.
You, and everyone else, should care.
1) Crack cocaine is an incredibly powerful stimulant. This guy, given his weight problem and very very likely hypertension issue (show me one picture where his face isn't as red as a baboon's ass) is one random hit on a crack pipe away from being a bloated corpse. If you care about his job as mayor and believe he is doing it well, then you should care if he's putting his life in danger every time he uses crack. PERIOD. END OF STORY.
2) "smokes crack on occasion" - not exactly easy to do, it's one of the most addictive drugs on the planet. Susceptibility to addiction is different for every person of course, some people can use 'on occasion' without becoming addicts, but certainly not everyone. And I would bet that Ford has an addictive personality (he's clearly addicted to overeating). If Ford is (or becomes) an addict, you don't think it would effect his job performance? His thought process, attention to detail, reasoning abilities? I've known addicts before and some of these people were literally out of their minds when they were using regularly. As it is, he's basically already a no-show mayor given that his whereabouts are only accounted for about 50% of the time.
3) Doing hard drugs will inevitably eventually put the user in the position where he/she is interacting with sketchy/shady/criminal elements. We've already seen this to be true with Ford, given the picture, video, wiretaps, and numerous other situations related to projects Traveler and Brazen 2. Do you really think it's no big deal if he ends up beholden to a criminal element? Do you really think it's not a big deal if the MAYOR of your city puts himself in a position where he can be extorted or influenced by criminals? What if that element has ties to organized crime/construction industry/garbage industry/corruption in the police force/prostitution, etc, etc. Do you want your mayor in a position of weakness when dealing with these institutions?
4) The bottom line is that crack cocaine possession is illegal. So if you don't mind that the mayor is using it, then you either think 1) it should be legal, or 2) you think that the mayor should not be held to the rule of law. So where do you draw the line on what illegal activities are acceptable for the mayor's office? Is it ok for him to take bribes too? Participate in prostitution? Is it OK for your mayor to send out goons to physically intimidate people he doesn't like? Which laws apply to him and which don't? Just wondering...
