Ford: A real "cracker"?

[Tony]

The thing is, anybody who knew Ford's track record and performance as a City Councillor before becoming mayor, knew he was a walking talking disaster before day one.

It's really too bad that the electorate isn't forced to be more informed before being allowed to vote...

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by Tony

The thing is, anybody who knew Ford's track record and performance as a City Councillor before becoming mayor, knew he was a walking talking disaster before day one.

It's really too bad that the electorate isn't forced to be more informed before being allowed to vote...

Well, we certainly were expecting the hatred toward bikes, but crack smoking ? Recorded on a video ? With sub-stories about a murder ? I'm sure even well informed Torontonians didn't see these coming.

[eemy]

Perhaps we wouldn't have predicted crack, but his Fordship certainly had a history of substance abuse before becoming mayor.

[trueviking]

this whole thing is out of control...if someone comes up to me and says, i have a video of you smoking crack with two drug dealers....before they finish their sentence i reply no you don't....i don't wait a week, hide from everyone and then start denying it...the fact that he didnt shut it down within 10 seconds of it happening means he needs to leave....guilty or not, it shows plausibility and that is enough.

it should be so incredibly ridiculous that anyone would suggest it that he shouldn't even have to defend himself...the fact that he does is all i need to judge him.

he needs to step down.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

Perhaps we wouldn't have predicted crack, but his Fordship certainly had a history of substance abuse before becoming mayor.

exactly. Plus all the fine quotes he is attributed to. Then there's the absenteeism, the lack of participation etc.. etc..

[Policy Wonk]

Originally Posted by trueviking

this whole thing is out of control...if someone comes up to me and says, i have a video of you smoking crack with two drug dealers....before they finish their sentence i reply no you don't....i don't wait a week, hide from everyone and then start denying it...the fact that he didnt shut it down within 10 seconds of it happening means he needs to leave....guilty or not, it shows plausibility and that is enough.

Working on the assumption the video doesn't exist, is a forgery or simply never surfaces, I think it has played out pretty well for Ford. His opponents who went balls to the wall are foaming at the mouth while his supporters have had their angry white man persecution complex recharged.

Rob Ford is fighting a culture war, not trying to win over his opponents. He just has to be able to go back to the Knights of Columbus in Scarborough and say "See what we're up against?"

[trueviking]

really?...to me he hasnt been working on the assumption that the video doesnt exist....that is exactly my point....he came way too late to that party....if it didnt exist, he would have stood up two seconds after it was announced....instead of cowering from the media for a week, he would have taken every opportunity to say, show me this video, its ludicrous....he looked like a guy trying to formulate a strategy to respond....that has given reasonable plausibility to the legitimacy of the video.

he didnt react how a normal person would if it was not real....think how you would react if your employer came to you and said i have a video of you in that situation?...would you run and hide and a week later read a prepared statement?...no..you would lose it and shout from the rooftops that it isnt possible....you would demand to see the video.

maybe inside toronto it appears different, but from afar it seems nothing has played out well for him....even those who supported him cant possibly be rallying behind him, are they?...can anyone possibly believe that he is being unfairly persecuted?

[Allan83]

Originally Posted by niwell

Except no major media outlet is accusing Rob Ford of being a crackhead. They are saying that there is a video which shows someone who looks to be Rob Ford smoking what appears to be crack with people who are known drug dealers. There's a big difference between smoking crack and being a crackhead. While I believe he likely was smoking crack in the video, I highly doubt he is a crackhead - that is addicted to crack cocaine. It's no secret that he has enjoyed cocaine (or should I say I know people who have reported him ingesting something that appears to be cocaine on numerous occasions) but I wouldn't call him a cokehead either. Alcoholism is a strong possibility, and casual use of these stimulants tend to go hand in hand with being wasted.

And what exactly does a crackhead look like? Not everyone shares the stereotypical skinny down and out appearance. One of my family members has a severe crack addiction and if you met him on the street you would never know it. Looks in far better shape than 90% of the people out there and is well spoken and intelligent. Bursts of anger are common if you spend some time with this person - which is something Rob Ford displays as well. Based on personal experience I would say Rob Ford's behaviour is in-line who drink a lot and does stimulants. The media hasn't gone their though - that would be a flimsy accusation if printed in the paper.

For the sake of argument let’s say that no one is accusing him of being a crack addict. Why, then, would Ford be smoking crack with a crack dealer? Is the suggestion that these are his homies and this is what he does for fun on a Friday night? Doesn’t it make more sense to think that he had his picture taken with these guys because of some connection through football? And given that the drug dealers who produced the video were also trying to sell it for $200,000, doesn’t that suggest that maybe they weren’t just being good citizens when they showed it to the reporters? Could it possibly be that they had a motive to fake the video somehow, perhaps by altering or editing it to make it appear more damning, and drive up its value? Far be it from me to suggest that drug dealers could be capable of doing something dishonest for money, but someone less trusting than I might see that as a reasonable possibility.

[Allan83]

Originally Posted by Policy Wonk

Working on the assumption the video doesn't exist, is a forgery or simply never surfaces, I think it has played out pretty well for Ford. His opponents who went balls to the wall are foaming at the mouth while his supporters have had their angry white man persecution complex recharged.

Rob Ford is fighting a culture war, not trying to win over his opponents. He just has to be able to go back to the Knights of Columbus in Scarborough and say "See what we're up against?"

Bang on.

[Migs]

Originally Posted by Tony

The thing is, anybody who knew Ford's track record and performance as a City Councillor before becoming mayor, knew he was a walking talking disaster before day one.

It's really too bad that the electorate isn't forced to be more informed before being allowed to vote...

You call a $248M surplus a disaster? So when do we get to see this video that everyone convicted Ford on?

[Migs]

Originally Posted by trueviking

really?...to me he hasnt been working on the assumption that the video doesnt exist....that is exactly my point....he came way too late to that party....if it didnt exist, he would have stood up two seconds after it was announced....instead of cowering from the media for a week, he would have taken every opportunity to say, show me this video, its ludicrous....he looked like a guy trying to formulate a strategy to respond....that has given reasonable plausibility to the legitimacy of the video.

he didnt react how a normal person would if it was not real....think how you would react if your employer came to you and said i have a video of you in that situation?...would you run and hide and a week later read a prepared statement?...no..you would lose it and shout from the rooftops that it isnt possible....you would demand to see the video.

maybe inside toronto it appears different, but from afar it seems nothing has played out well for him....even those who supported him cant possibly be rallying behind him, are they?...can anyone possibly believe that he is being unfairly persecuted?

I disagree. I look at it as if Ford knew the video didnt exist so he just sat back and let his opponents hang themselves with it. Smart chess move.

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by Migs

You call a $248M surplus a disaster? So when do we get to see this video that everyone convicted Ford on?

The surplus is the smallest it's been in 4 years. It's also due to the land transfer tax (which Ford is opposed to) and increases to TTC ridership (which have nothing to do with Ford, but are related to the continued densification of the city).

The reality is that the city's books were in good shape before Ford and continue to be in good shape despite Ford's policies. His pre-election claims about the city's finances being in crisis were nothing but campaign slogans, and now that he's in power he's more than happy to take credit for where it's not due.

The man is a clown, whether or not he's been hitting the crack pipe.

[drew]

Originally Posted by Migs

I disagree. I look at it as if Ford knew the video didnt exist so he just sat back and let his opponents hang themselves with it. Smart chess move.

Ford probably doesn't know how to play checkers, let alone chess.

I think it's fairly obvious at this point, the first week after the story broke, Ford was busy tracking down the video. From the sounds of the latest news on that front, one can assume he found it.

[FrankieFlowerpot]

Originally Posted by Migs

You call a $248M surplus a disaster? So when do we get to see this video that everyone convicted Ford on?

Well the surplus is dropping every year

Figures per Matt Elliott - writer at Metro Canada:

2009: $359m
2010: $367m
2011: $292m
2012: $248m

[Migs]

Originally Posted by drew

Ford probably doesn't know how to play checkers, let alone chess.

I think it's fairly obvious at this point, the first week after the story broke, Ford was busy tracking down the video. From the sounds of the latest news on that front, one can assume he found it.

Tin foil hat much?

[Ramako]

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

Well the surplus is dropping every year

Figures per Matt Elliott - writer at Metro Canada:

2009: $359m
2010: $367m
2011: $292m
2012: $248m

Note that Rob became mayor December 1, 2010. The surplus was actually increasing before he came in.

[Migs]

Originally Posted by FrankieFlowerpot

Well the surplus is dropping every year

Figures per Matt Elliott - writer at Metro Canada:

2009: $359m
2010: $367m
2011: $292m
2012: $248m

Looks like it is declining at a much slower rate than the Provincial deficit. Still pretty good numbers be Ford considering the state of Ontario's economy.

[Tony]

Originally Posted by Migs

Looks like it is declining at a much slower rate than the Provincial deficit. Still pretty good numbers be Ford considering the state of Ontario's economy.

You REALLY have no idea what you're talking about do you?

[drew]

Originally Posted by Migs

Tin foil hat much?

Absolutely. Shiny side down, to keep the heat in, and my head toasty.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by Migs

Looks like it is declining at a much slower rate than the Provincial deficit. Still pretty good numbers be Ford considering the state of Ontario's economy.

Considering the economy collapsed in 2008, and it continue to increase under miller during the worst period of the economy, (2008-2009) I call bullcrap. All ford has done is keep Canada's lowest property taxes low, while complexity ignoring the needs of the city. The city is facing crumbling infrastructure and a huge lack of resources to deal with its growth. While torontos population increases by 20,000 people per year, ford insists on cutting spending, resulting on even worse services.