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MetromanTO @twiiter
 
I'm sure RF has had a somewhat messed up life and that has lead to his issues. But really, my anger is not with Rob Ford per se, but with the system that allows Rob Ford to thrive. Are there really zero consequences for someone just because they have been voted into the mayor's seat? Fundamentally, I want RoFo to be held to the same standards that the rest of us are at our jobs - be accountable for his time, be professional, read the stupid handbook, etc. He is not held to any sort of account and that is where my anger with this whole situation stems from. The way he flippantly admits that he "probably" has driven drunk and acts like it's no big deal feels like a slap in the face to all of us who take our responsibility to be conscientious citizens seriously. And the fact that no one seems to really care about these transgressions is utterly confounding. The fact that, at this point, something as dramatic as an arrest is basically our only hope of any sort of smack-down or consequence coming to Ford, despite all the egregious things he has done, to me just shows that there are some major issues within the system that need to be, but won't be, addressed.
 
Soop said:
I was just commenting to my spouse that if there was one good thing about Ford, it was that it got us more interested and engaged in municipal politics. I previously only followed it by what was reported in the news. Did a bit of research and voted in elections, but that was about it. Of course, that was more than most of my co-workers, but I'm glad I have learned so much in the last couple of years.
Click to expand...

That's kind of what Ivor Tossell's book, The Gift of Ford, is all about:
http://www.randomhouse.ca/books/223019/the-gift-of-ford-by-ivor-tossell

Things have gotten much crazier since that was published too.

-Vic
 
ROFO would have had zero chance of getting the top job during the Metro era.

It's entirely possible "Crazy Town" may re-elect him, which, I believe, is the definition of insanity.
 
casita said:
ROFO would have had zero chance of getting the top job during the Metro era.

It's entirely possible "Crazy Town" may re-elect him, which, I believe, is the definition of insanity.
Click to expand...

I put ZERO faith in these Forum Polls, I would like to see Nate Silver's group over at http://fivethirtyeight.com/ do a proper poll. He's the guy that called the last 2 US elections spot on.
 
Nope - not the Mope, just a mope.


While I'm popping my head above ground for a moment, I bought this domain a couple of weeks ago and recently parked an image I nicked from this forum on it: www.robfordformayor2014.ca
If anyone has the interest and talent to do something more fun with the site, I am open...

M
 
Soop said:
I was just commenting to my spouse that if there was one good thing about Ford, it was that it got us more interested and engaged in municipal politics.
Click to expand...
And yet the best we can come up with to challenge Ford is long-time loser John Tory, and Olivia Chow, fighting off 23-year-old accusations of living off taxpayers. And no sign of any concentrated effort to remove noxious councilors (Georgio, Shiner, Nunziata, for example).
 
casita said:
There's some Taser happy cops out there.

I've put "folks" in Strait-jackets ( correct spelling BTW ). I don't think Rob would fit in one.
Click to expand...

Etymological aside: "strait" is indeed the correct spelling. In much the same was as the Strait of Gibraltar is a confined area from a shipping perspective, a strait-jacket is intended to confine the wearer.

As English is such a wonderfully rich and inconsistent language, consider also "the straight and narrow" (not something Ford is likely to know much about); in turn, that could well be derived from religious literature (specifically, the Book of Matthew in the Bible): "Matthew 7:14: strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life" (or so we are told).

"Straight as an arrow", of course, is different. That refers to the "not bendy" meaning of the word "straight", since a crooked arrow won't fly true. Could I have picked a different word other than "crooked" there? Sure, but why would I, when Ford used "straight as an arrow" to describe Lisi?

Don't they have extra-large strait jackets for the fuller-figured gentleman? I can't imagine that obesity makes one less likely to become violently agitated during a mental health crisis...?

...and back to the thread.
 
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themarc said:
"...Olivia Chow at 32.25% and Rob Ford cleaning up at 35.1%.
...with a margin of error plus or minus 3%."

Terribly poor editorial analysis on this...
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Sarah Thomson launched her mayoral bid with a horse drawn carriage and a poem. She doesn't stand a fighting chance. The anti-Ford vote (or at least those in the know) will likely never go her way after her shameless self-promotional post implying that she had the crack video, when really it was her singing a song about transit or something.
 
For my own sanity as a pedantic theatre and special events guy, I'm going to post this here before we get into debate season:

Podium - a small riser on which the conductor or maestro stands.
Lectern - what you really meant to ask for...
 
typezed said:
And yet the best we can come up with to challenge Ford is long-time loser John Tory, and Olivia Chow, fighting off 23-year-old accusations of living off taxpayers. And no sign of any concentrated effort to remove noxious councilors (Georgio, Shiner, Nunziata, for example).
Click to expand...

A few points:
  • Tory is a perennial loser & glad-hander who oversaw the decline & fall of one of the largest US cable companies, sure, but what's wrong with Chow, exactly? We've debunked the co-op stuff ad nauseam in this thread.
  • Mammoliti has an apparently worthy challenger for his Ward 7 seat in the shape of Keegan Henry-Mathieu, amongst others.
  • Shiner hasn't registered as a candidate for Ward 24 yet (according to the City elections website). Dan Fox seems to be running a serious campaign to replace him.
  • Depressingly, you are absolutely correct that, to-date, no-one has registered in Ward 11 to challenge Nunziata, whose near-total uselessness as Speaker has been one of the primary enabling factors of the current disastrous state of Council. It may surprise you to learn that a quarter of a century ago, Nunziata used to be quite courageous and had principles, but clearly those days are long gone.

Edit: I know this is veering into Election territory. I'll try to bear that in mind when posting in this thread, honest!
 
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DD13 said:
Sarah Thomson launched her mayoral bid with a horse drawn carriage and a poem. She doesn't stand a fighting chance. The anti-Ford vote (or at least those in the know) will likely never go her way after her shameless self-promotional post implying that she had the crack video, when really it was her singing a song about transit or something.
Click to expand...

There's also the matter of her offering public sympathy for Ford for how the media "marginalises" him - of course, that was also tied into some Thomson-brand self-promotion ("Hey, the media marginalises my candidacy, just like the current Mayor").

...and she repeated the totally false Chow co-op smear as fact, but then deleted the offending tweet without offering any apology once enough people called her out on it.

...and she was calling on Tory to run for Mayor last summer, so why isn't she supporting him now? What changed?

etc.

Edit: uh-oh, this is the Ford thread, but this post probably belongs in the 2014 Mayoral Election thread, even if it was a reply to someone else's post. I'll keep this stuff over there as much as possible.
 
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DufferinMallrat said:
I'm sure RF has had a somewhat messed up life and that has lead to his issues. But really, my anger is not with Rob Ford per se, but with the system that allows Rob Ford to thrive. Are there really zero consequences for someone just because they have been voted into the mayor's seat? Fundamentally, I want RoFo to be held to the same standards that the rest of us are at our jobs - be accountable for his time, be professional, read the stupid handbook, etc. He is not held to any sort of account and that is where my anger with this whole situation stems from. The way he flippantly admits that he "probably" has driven drunk and acts like it's no big deal feels like a slap in the face to all of us who take our responsibility to be conscientious citizens seriously. And the fact that no one seems to really care about these transgressions is utterly confounding. The fact that, at this point, something as dramatic as an arrest is basically our only hope of any sort of smack-down or consequence coming to Ford, despite all the egregious things he has done, to me just shows that there are some major issues within the system that need to be, but won't be, addressed.
Click to expand...

Worth repeating.
 
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