[Tewder]

I'm definitely not impressed by Ford's behaviour over this. It's one thing to have your own personal feelings but he is the mayor and needs to be bigger. Not to mention his lack of sensitivity towards a minority is troubling indeed.

 

[RapidTransit]

There's nothing wrong with Ford not attending Pride. Most people don't want him there anyways. I'm not sure why someone like Ford would put himself in danger by attending Pride.

 

[doug]

I'm not sure why someone like Ford would put himself in danger by attending Pride.

What's the big old fat guy scared of? Gays? That's the definition of homophobic.

 

[Tulse]

I'm not sure why someone like Ford would put himself in danger by attending Pride.

"In danger"? Seriously?

 

[Tewder]

There's nothing wrong with Ford not attending Pride. Most people don't want him there anyways. I'm not sure why someone like Ford would put himself in danger by attending Pride.

If by not attending Pride you mean the parade I would agree with you. If you mean he gets a pass on the entire week-long celebration I think you're as misguided as he... and that's putting it nicely.

The whole gay thing notwithstanding his ignorant and obstinate stance is a disservice to the entire city when you consider the economics involved. His duty as mayor is to hold his nose, slap a smile on his fat face and get his ass out to a couple of events.

 

[sungs]

Well they're calling for a mix of sun and rain into the weekend, so rainbows may play a part in Ford's weekend afterall.

 

[Torontovibe]

There's nothing wrong with Ford not attending Pride. Most people don't want him there anyways. I'm not sure why someone like Ford would put himself in danger by attending Pride.

What kind of bull-shit is that? Get real and stop the stupidity.

 

[mig174]

the justifications for not attending pride are idiotic. He would be in danger? I sometimes wonder how the people who say these things have made it this far in life.

 

[adma]

He would be in danger?

Yes, he could be--and a lot of this is a fine mess of his own making. He's positioned himself in such a way relative to Pride that, at this rate, it's hard not to discount the possibility of him being the target of assassination or some such attack on his person. Really. It isn't that he's paranoid about, uh, "faggots" because they're "faggots" (something which can be overcome, cf. Mel Lastman, 1997); he's paranoid that some of them may be out for his scalp. Not his penis. His scalp. And not because they're "faggots". Because they're angry. And as for Ford, he isn't a Trudeau at St Jean Baptiste in 1968, that's for sure.

Mel Lastman wasn't toxic. Rob Ford is. If you think Ford doing the parade is all going to be pleasant sailing, happy happy, joy joy, hiya mayor and all that, you've got another think coming. Even if there isn't an attempt on his life, expect the likelihood of ugly.

That said, I'm not discouraging him from going. But whatever happens...I'm fatalistic about it.

 

[Tulse]

He's positioned himself in such a way relative to Pride that, at this rate, it's hard not to discount the possibility of him being the target of assassination or some such attack on his person.

"Assassination"? "Assassination"?!?!? Really?

Really.

No, really?

That is just absurd hyperbole, of the kind that politics, especially city politics, just doesn't need.

Would Ford get a friendly greeting at the parade? Perhaps not. But it is ridiculous (and bordering on offensive) to suggest that someone would try to kill him simply because he originally said he wouldn't show.

 

[Justin10000]

Gay Assassin.... Black tights, booty shorts, and fitted sweater for the outfit? lol.

 

[adma]

"Assassination"? "Assassination"?!?!? Really?



No, really?

That is just absurd hyperbole, of the kind that politics, especially city politics, just doesn't need.

Would Ford get a friendly greeting at the parade? Perhaps not. But it is ridiculous (and bordering on offensive) to suggest that someone would try to kill him simply because he originally said he wouldn't show.

Except that when it comes to Rob Ford, there's more than "originally said he wouldn't show" operating here--it's also in the manner he's handled, well, practically *everything* regarding the issue and beyond. Maybe it's an alien, bordering-on-offensive concept to you (perhaps because you, like most of us, haven't witnessed a domestic political assassination first hand)--but it's no more "alien, bordering-on-offensive" than the notion of a Mayor Ford might have seemed to some a year ago. We're now in a Mayoral age where the surreally implausible is suddenly...possible. There's an ominous rumble out there that didn't even exist under Mayor Mel.

Maybe you're in denial under "just doesn't need" grounds, i.e. it ain't gonna happen because, in your estimation, Toronto and Toronto politics "just doesn't need" it...well, maybe, in some big psychic urban-catharsis way, should such an event happen, Toronto will have "needed" it.

Just like New York "needed" 9/11. Really. It did.

Which, in case the prospective assassin-or-whomever is reading this thread, may make me a backhanded Osama Bin Laden figure, since I'm the main one who's been seriously breaching the threat-on-Ford's-life prospect (and I was doing so even before he was elected)--well, if that's the case, big deal. Fate is fate.

 

[doug]

Yes, he could be--and a lot of this is a fine mess of his own making. He's positioned himself in such a way relative to Pride that, at this rate, it's hard not to discount the possibility of him being the target of assassination or some such attack on his person. Really. It isn't that he's paranoid about, uh, "faggots" because they're "faggots" (something which can be overcome, cf. Mel Lastman, 1997); he's paranoid that some of them may be out for his scalp. Not his penis. His scalp. And not because they're "faggots". Because they're angry. And as for Ford, he isn't a Trudeau at St Jean Baptiste in 1968, that's for sure.

Mel Lastman wasn't toxic. Rob Ford is. If you think Ford doing the parade is all going to be pleasant sailing, happy happy, joy joy, hiya mayor and all that, you've got another think coming. Even if there isn't an attempt on his life, expect the likelihood of ugly.

That said, I'm not discouraging him from going. But whatever happens...I'm fatalistic about it.

Straight people are hysterical.

 

[nfitz]

Even if there isn't an attempt on his life, expect the likelihood of ugly.

????

What???

Been watching too many B movies?

 

[Tulse]

Maybe it's an alien, bordering-on-offensive concept to you (perhaps because you, like most of us, haven't witnessed a domestic political assassination first hand)--but it's no more "alien, bordering-on-offensive" than the notion of a Mayor Ford might have seemed to some a year ago. We're now in a Mayoral age where the surreally implausible is suddenly...possible.

Seriously, I think you may need to adjust your meds.

There have been a total of three political assassinations in the entire history of Canada. Only two of those have been in the past century -- one was FLQ-related, and the other was part of the conscription issue during WWII.

The notion that someone in the gay community would murder the mayor because he initially refused to attend the Pride Parade is both insane and offensive to the gay community (who has far more of a sense of proportion than you seem to).