really? in what way? do tell.
In what way is going to a rub-and-tug worse than smoking crack? I'm surprised anyone would disagree with me on this.
A lot of the women at illicit massage parlors, particularly Asian women (as there likely would have been in the Shiatsu massage parlor in Chinatown Layton was found in), are sex slaves or victims of human trafficking. Human trafficking is a huge problem with Asian escorts and other immigrants - a lot of these women are poor, destitute immigrants with no resources or support and are essentially forced into the sex trade. These aren't self-employed high-end escorts (who are more likely to be sex workers of their own volition). If anybody even so much as denies this or accuses me of being a social conservative prude, I will link all the statistics here.
For the record, I don't really care about Layton being found in a rub-and-tug, but I'm just saying that its easily worse than smoking crack and was basically brushed aside by the media. Not to mention that he clearly was being tugged off, and the media went along with the whole "smear campaign" angle.
...and ford saved the city BILLIONS and is hand digging a subway to Scarborough.....it's true if you repeat it enough.
So...you're denying that Layton was found in a rub-and-tug? Something he himself admitted. Something which there is tangible proof of in the form of an officer's notes. From now on, please don't accuse any Ford supporters of being ignorant of the facts or delusional.
There's some strange circular logic here. Almost Fordian. The people, you seem to be saying, would have reached the conclusion that Ford is unfit if no media outlets had reported on any of the instances where Ford was clearly acting in ways improper for a mayor.
I don't think there's anything circular about my logic. There are plenty of justified criticisms of Ford, but the media has overstepped their ethical boundaries in going after him, which is why the justified criticisms don't stick. There's nothing circular or even that complex about that logic, and my own anecdotal experience with the Ford haters in my life backs this up. Most of my family and friends both dislike Ford and do not trust the Toronto Star when it comes to Ford. And lest my anecdotal experience is questioned again, at least one poll has produced the same results...
there are more people who distrust the Star than there are Ford supporters.
Sorry mate, but I don't know why you're repeating these things.
I'm repeating these things because, as of yet, nobody has adequately countered any of them.
A while back, I posted a list (off the top of my head) of all the Star's most egregious ethical violations, questionable reporting and just downright unwarranted attacks on the Mayor. A few people responded to me while simultaneously avoiding actually acknowledging anything I said. One person quibbled with whether or not the Star ever published more than one "TMZ-style video" (this was a bit pedantic IMO, but I suppose they were technically correct). Only one person actually went through and responded to all my points.
The Star definitely has crossed the line in going after Ford. I don't feel like going through the whole list again, but in particular, one of the worst things the Star did (beyond refusing to print a retraction or apology for a story that was proven false) was actually attempt to mislead the public by publishing a three-to-four-week-old poll on the front of the GTA section. The headline, lede and first couple paragraphs all gave the impression that this was a new poll and that Ford's popularity was dwindling, and it was only somewhere in the fourth paragraph or later on that they specified how old the polling numbers were. In my opinion, it is completely inexcusable for any newspaper to attempt to mislead the public.
The reason why Ford still has his support is that his scandals, as you've pointed out, are not monetary in nature- they impact only the intangibles (i.e. offended sense of morality, city reputation). Ford's strength lies in his 'honest' everyman nature and his supposed strengths with monetary issues. The waste that Ford has created isn't explict or solely pinned on him (police wages are related to the city, the TTC sunk costs are related to council) and even those won't have as strong an impact.
I agree with this...to a degree. That's certainly a factor, but personal scandals often do effect other politicians too.