[JWBF]

In a way, socialism is as selfish as anything else, because the idea is that if you make sure that the people are at least well-fed and clothed, they won't go all French revolution on your ass...

That's over analyzing things a bit, and mixing absolutism with socialism.

Actually the massive growth in the wealth of the 1% and rising inequality in developed countries has nothing to do with exploitation of the lower and middle classes...

Actually, by taking away someones job you leave them more vulnerable to the shrinking job market. People need to pay their bills, and either will go on welfare, putting a strain taxpayers, taking jobs at lower salaries and having double income households. Those of the "middle class" or "lower class" are most effected by higher taxes, and especially if they have to make allowances for child care, and the stresses involved. I would call exploitative.

Good luck with that.

The Harris visigoths were bad enough ("Hey, you know what would really rub their noses in it? Let's make a car dealer minister of transportation! *Hearty Guffaws all 'round* Wait, wait, I'm not finished. Let's make Snobelen minister of education. He's a high school dropout!" *All vikings raise goblets in raucous cheer*). And Harris and Co. get every lick of blame they deserve for the sorry state of our current municipal malaise. But Hudak is a true believer of all of it. He'd be 7-fold worse. Lord help us all if Ontarians hand him the reins. This city will suffer even more mightily.

Please don't disparage Visigoths.

 

[Greg Banks]

I don't trust the rest of Ontario not to screw us over...

Guess what, ROO looks at Toronto and says the same thing, paticularly after the "Toronto Tax" the Regions paid for what 10+ years to subsidize Toronto's social housing and the gimme, gimme attitude of the Ford administration while all the while keeping Toronto's property tax increase to what he, MDG and FDG considered a minimum....

 

[Honest Ed has a posse]

Actually, AFAIK Hudak's been a pretty good, savvy constituency politician--and apparently, he was quite congenial w/his onetime political-opposite neighbour, Peter Kormos, to the point where he "learned lessons" to that constituency-politics end. Unfortunately, such localized savvy didn't translate well to the provincial-leadership sphere.

And re the "family man" thing: one thing that hasn't been raised is that Tim Hudak is half of a "power couple" (Deb Hutton being one of Mike Harris's senior advisors)--in fact, one of the falser-note aspects of his 2011 campaign is that in how it tried to apply a "happy homemaker" veneer onto Deb...

Yeah, trying to portray Deb Hutton as June Cleaver isn't going to play to anyone paying attention. She is forever associated with being one of the chief members, as FRANK used to call them, of "the Duffer's gang of evil little shits".

 

[r937]

Guess what, ROO ... MDG and FDG

not to pick on you, because acronyms seem to be rampant in this thread, but are you all on phones or something and want to minimize keystrokes or thumb pushes or whatever they're called?

please, spell that stuff out

 

[aghost]

Reports on twitter that Rob's at the Rivoli right now for a SXSW Send Off Fundraiser of some kind. Wonder if he'll behave tonight.

 

[soimelk]

Reports on twitter that Rob's at the Rivoli right now for a SXSW Send Off Fundraiser of some kind. Wonder if he'll behave tonight.

I've seen infants with more musical intuition and skill than what is happening here. http://instagram.com/p/kvZzFkxcLv/

 

[sno man]

Reports on twitter that Rob's at the Rivoli right now for a SXSW Send Off Fundraiser of some kind. Wonder if he'll behave tonight.

He will there. He will also leave in time to light up Instagram elsewhere before last call. And probably be at Realsports for puck drop.

 

[basic]

His driver is with him, so if anything is up it won't be until much later.

 

[Greg Banks]

not to pick on you, because acronyms seem to be rampant in this thread, but are you all on phones or something and want to minimize keystrokes or thumb pushes or whatever they're called?

please, spell that stuff out

Rest of Ontario....Michael DelGrande....Frank DiGiorgio

 

[W. K. Lis]

im missing something. why 'oops'?

The oops is he wanted to show his support for the Ukrainians. Then the Ukrainian parliament voted to kick the Ukrainian president out of office. Remember back in November/December?

 

[sno man]

and as if on cue... http://instagram.com/p/kvZoRcDY7m/#

Daniel Dale ‏@ddale8 12m

Rob Ford is at a hip-hop event. He walked in to Pusha. This man is tweeting. "@SlavaP: hahaha tonight is awesome http://Instagram.com/p/kvZoRcDY7m/ ”

 

[jml]

His official Twitter is talking about this appearance, so I'm thinking it's more a strategic, misguided "try-to-look-mayoral" thing than "hour in the bathroom, emerge speaking gibberish" thing. Though one can always turn into the other...

 

[Kat_YYZ]

and as if on cue... http://instagram.com/p/kvZoRcDY7m/#

Daniel Dale ‏@ddale8 12m

Rob Ford is at a hip-hop event. He walked in to Pusha. This man is tweeting. "@SlavaP: hahaha tonight is awesome http://Instagram.com/p/kvZoRcDY7m/ â€

wow. Am I romanticizing my youth, or wasn't there a time that a mayor like Ford would not have been welcomed by the people at the Rivoli? we keep wishing he'd go some place where people would boo him or at least not cheer and clap. where is that place? even the "elites" at the Theatre Centre gala in January posed for pics with him.

 

[kbdid]

Well, just got back from a charity event at which Chow made a (brief) appearance. It was a trivia night in support of a homeless drop in. One of the questions featured Ford's antics (i.e. what did Ford say when he got booted from the ACC - answer was "...Commie Bastards"; the poor MC had to go thru a very blue list of options, all Ford quotes). Anyhow, very low key...and I learned that Lastman is older than both Grapes and Lloyd Robertson. Also learned that at various points in time, Toronto mayors shot someone, tarred and feathered an opponent, and pilfered 350,000. Long tradition I guess....

 

[jml]

wow. Am I romanticizing my youth, or wasn't there a time that a mayor like Ford would not have been welcomed by the people at the Rivoli? we keep wishing he'd go some place where people would boo him or at least not cheer and clap. where is that place? even the "elites" at the Theatre Centre gala in January posed for pics with him.

My suspicion is that people get selfies next to Rob Ford the way they get selfies next to any lame tourist attraction. It's not a tacit declaration of approval, it's just "Look, I was standing next to a famous thing."

But the way it enables him is disheartening. I'm convinced he starts drinking against all sanity when out in public because he's being to some degree egged on by all these people. It's like the loser at the high school keg party who doesn't realize the cool kids are being condescending when they start chanting for him to chug.