Rob Ford's Toronto

[Huge Seagull]

The Fords definitely do want the video out there sooner rather than later. One possible reason for this: in order to taint the jury pool for any possible future criminal trial. If the public sees the video, folks hear chatter about it, and form an opinion about Robbie's guilt, wouldn't that make it harder to get an unbiased jury? Something I read once that stuck with me.

 

[the lemur]

An addition to the "Cab drivers support the Fords" meme:

I was in a cab today, and the driver was complaining about the streetcars. He then mentioned that he supported Rob Ford, and boy was it on! I wasn't in the best listening kind of mood, so our discussion wasn't all that friendly.

Anyway, what killed me was the Greek (not Italian!) cabbie then said: "All politicians lie. At least, with Rob Ford, he is like a baby and you can tell when he is lying."
So basically, he said RF is an imbecile, and better the imbecile you know, than one you don't!

What kind of culture do we live in?

I need to print out the Ford Lies list and hand it out to all cabbies.

We live in a culture in which people repeat illogical garbage to themselves to reinforce their own hunch-based reasoning and have not the slightest inclination to be analytical, it seems.

If that cabbie thinks Ford's lying is somehow okay because it's obvious, he needs to ask himself whether it's also okay for Ford to lie constantly and whether it's really that obvious when you think about some of the lies that weren't immediately apparent and which surfaced later (ACC obnoxiousness, drink-throwing incident, failure to 'remember' DUI charge, etc.).

(Rant/aside: I have little sympathy for the taxi industry and its licensing/regulatory issues when most drivers don't have the cognitive skills to apply some logic to driving, never mind political analysis. As in having to tell the driver 'You need to get out of the curb lane, no matter how comfy it seems, because it is FULL OF PARKED CARS UP AHEAD'.)

 

[Soop]

We live in a culture in which people repeat illogical garbage to themselves to reinforce their own hunch-based reasoning and have not the slightest inclination to be analytical, it seems.

Funny, Tweet of God said something similar yesterday (it's satire).

God ‏@TheTweetOfGod 12h
Overwhelming inarguable scientific evidence is no match for a guy who "just knows".

 

[the lemur]

The Fords definitely do want the video out there sooner rather than later. One possible reason for this: in order to taint the jury pool for any possible future criminal trial. If the public sees the video, folks hear chatter about it, and form an opinion about Robbie's guilt, wouldn't that make it harder to get an unbiased jury? Something I read once that stuck with me.

I'm sure they'd want that, but a) it's not really likely to be released before any trial, right? and b) it's hard to get an unbiased jury anyway, but not impossible.

Also, is it possible for criminal trials in Ontario to be conducted without a jury?

 

[the lemur]

Funny, Tweet of God said something similar yesterday (it's satire).

God ‏@TheTweetOfGod 12h
Overwhelming inarguable scientific evidence is no match for a guy who "just knows".

Heh. The funny thing about people like that (we're all guilty of it to some extent, some of the time) is that when you confront them with the fact-based inaccuracy of one of their statements, they resort to 'Well, all I know is [further conjecture-based opinion]' as if that resolves anything.

 

[DeathSilver]

There's no way that a video which is part of an active criminal case would be released as "evidence" in what amounts to a disciplinary inquiry. Give your heads a shake.

True. But it will be used by the Ford to reinforce the idea that the video is a hoax.

 

[the lemur]

What is next? Rob Ford complaining that Apple is a leftist conspiracy, just because Apple has access to Lisi's iPhone history, Apple probably probably having access to the crack video, and that a large number of university students have MacBook Pros (a good number of which are progressively-minded)?

Rob Ford can call me a commie all he wants, just because I typed this post using my 15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

I notice a slight correlation between preferred operating system and political views.

What do you think an acceptable OS would be for right-wingers/conservatives?

The only time I've ever seen a correlation it involved someone who saw MS Word as an overbearing nanny-state type of platform and who insisted on being able to do things with plain text, no windows, command lines instead of point-and-click. But that was a bit of a fanatical aberration.

 

[Forty Fs]

Also, is it possible for criminal trials in Ontario to be conducted without a jury?

Yes.

 

[the lemur]

True. But it will be used by the Ford to reinforce the idea that the video is a hoax.

So the Fords will call for the video to be released in the interests of 'fairness', and then when it is explained to them that it can't be disclosed outside of legal proceedings, they'll suggest the video either doesn't exist or is a fake?

Is that even still a talking point for Ford Nation? That there's no actual video?

I think if the Fords start making noise about getting the video out into the open, they'll need to be reminded of the whole 'it's before the courts' argument. They have to be bluffing.

 

[dforthandbview]

I think the Ford's complaint re: Blair has less to do with the crack video (they know it won't come out just because they want it to) but more to do with the fact, as someone stated earlier, that the police board member in question is an advisor to John Tory. He enters the race and the complaint is filed soon after. It's electioneering.

 

[Crazy]

Is that even still a talking point for Ford Nation? That there's no actual video?

Yes, there are Ford supporters who say this (more than a few commenting on Sun articles):

"I haven't seen the video, have you? No? Then how do you know it exists?"

That sort of thing.

Apparently they think Ford was "bluffed" into admitting the crack smoking.

 

[tiffer24]

Our not-so-tiny and not-so-perfect mayor on the Today Show.

reporterdonpeat 10:47am via HootSuite
"You know what Matt, maybe you're perfect but I'm not" Mayor Rob Ford to Matt Lauer today.

 

[jml]

Yes, there are Ford supporters who say this (more than a few commenting on Sun articles):

"I haven't seen the video, have you? No? Then how do you know it exists?"

That sort of thing.

Apparently they think Ford was "bluffed" into admitting the crack smoking.

Neil Flagg is the most prominent proponent of this, I think.

 

[Jado]

Anyone else notice that Joe Warmington has pulled back quite a bit on his pro-Ford invective lately? He seems to have slipped into athlete/celebrity worship mode. Wonder what's up with that - he was going at Ford haters pretty hard not that long ago. Did someone shut him up, or did he finally realize he couldn't live with himself as "that guy" anymore?

 

[tiffer24]

It's time for a few more of those pesky illegal drug questions from reporters again.

BenSpurr 11:03am via Twitter for iPhone
It's likely that reporters will ask Ford why he refused to tell the Today Show that he hadn't done drugs since November.