Rob Ford

[Nicolette Vaughn 294340]

Let's discuss...

 

Aside from his personal issues and the scandal that has ensued surrounding him now he has been stripped of most of his powers as Mayor, how well of a job do you think Rob Ford has done running the city of Toronto?

 

Do you think this has negatively affected Canada's reputation? Considering the Ford scandal has now hit international press, mainly the U.S coverage along with their late night talk shows. Figuratively speaking, he is a larger than life type public figure which explains why the U.S has such an interest in him.

 

Or do you think he is just a train wreck and has no business running the city strictly based on his personal behaviour and actions in the days leading up to him being stripped of his powers as Mayor?

 

I will admit he does have a way with the public wih making himself appear to be that 'average Joe' type which is sort of endearing and carries weight to a degree in getting elected. Unfortunately at this point, nothing will save him in his political career. Warning his colleaugues "that they just attacked Kuwait" is completely cocky in my opinion!

 

Do you think had he taken a different stance ( i.e. keeping his mouth shut and not creating drama and antics) things such as questioning his position as Mayor resulting in losing his powers would have been dealt with differently?

 

I find he does a very good job in defending his behaviour with "the best defense is a good offense" type strategy. And I thought the Mel Lastman scandal years ago with fathering illegitimate children was bad. lol.

 

Imo, one word and that is.... gongshow! LOL!

[conquistador 18487]

Personally i think it's a joke, how did this guy get elected in the first place.

 

He smoked crack and pictured with drug dealers, you are the mayor of a major city, he should be gone. And he lied about it too, i like the recent thing from him is - oh they didn't ask the right question and he would have told the truth - please, just he got caught and the video was found and took preemptive action.

 

But it's given some late night shows some fodder lol and they've been funny, but makes TO a bit of a joke, which is sad.

[Ice4fun 78396]

As I am not from Toronto I don't think i can comment on how good a job he has done as Mayor. My only comment would be that he appears to be a man out if control and I fear if he does not get help this could turn tragic. It is like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

 

I could care less if he has used drugs lots of us have as for him consorting with escorts....welll the fact that I am commenting on cerb should tell you how I feel about that. I am concerned if he drinks and drives.

 

He should seek help and get out of the public eye for a while...the longer thus goes on the worse it is for him.

[Kathryn Bardot 99339]

 

That about sums up my feelings towards his mayorship...

[qwertyaccount 15793]

I live and pay taxes in Toronto.

 

The "tax and spend" mantra was rampant and special interest groups ruled the roost.

 

Ford's fiscal polices are hard to knock.

 

His personal life, well that's a different matter. He does need to seek help and clean up his act.

 

The press loathes him, as do the city councillors -- they have since the day he was elected and have been on a continuous witch hunt to find fault with the man at every opportunity and publicise it as far and wide as possible.

 

If I was in his place, having to deal with the non-stop attacks and a council that enjoys voting for whatever Ford is against, I would probably be drunk half the time too.

 

You're right Nicolette, he should have kept his mouth shut -- every utterance the man has made has been examined with a microscope and anything with an inking of being improper was taken out of context and used as the "sound byte de jour".

 

As far as his job, if he was able to accomplish what he has dunk and on crack, let me know what kind he likes so I can send him a case.

 

Council, instead of stripping his powers and effectively giving them to themselves, should have called a snap election to allow the people in charge, the residents of Toronto, decide who they want running the show.

 

No publicity is bad publicity -- just ask Charlie Sheen, Drew Barrymore, Bill Clinton, etc.

 

Most no one thinks any different about Toronto than they did before, if they even knew Toronto existed. If anything, the attention is helping put Toronto on the map and will probably end up increasing tourism.

 

How do you think of Washington D.C., the capital of the United States? Their mayor, Marion Barry was videotaped smoking crack cocaine, arrested & jailed for 6 months in a federal prison. After his release he was elected to city council and then back to mayor.

[roamingguy 300291]

He is a buffoon and didn't have to be. And it hasn't helped his case at all. What he should have done from the outset was keep his mouth shut and show a little common sense (like staying away from crack dealers). If he had sought help for alcohol and drug abuse and came back he'd probably have the support of many people. People have a way of being supportive of someone who battles his demons, and it would have humanized Ford, instead of making him fodder for late night comedy

I don't know enough about municipal politics, but what should have happened if it could, is a munipal equivalent of a bi election...let the electorate speak. Those unelected to be Mayor did strip him of his authority. It may be legal, but is it right?

A quick rambling

RG

[Butterfly Kisses 2301]

My guess is Ford will take down more than a couple of municipal people who may have been along side him while doing some partying. You hang with the DEVIL and things can get hot.

 

Stories are bound to pop up from the Kuwait Devil. His war comment underlies the fact he has some dirt to throw around.

 

This could be a series worth watching!!!! And a Canadian Best Seller!

[Guest S*rca****sid]

I am from Toronto and have many friends that still live there. Love him or hate him, he was voted in on his policies and stuck to it (while he had the power). It's unfortunate that this has happened and he has only himself to blame.

I heard Rick Mercer's rant about the whole issue and I think he summed up the whole scandal quite fittingly.

Here it is.

[Guest realnicehat]

All of the good he has done has been negated by his recent behaviour. He may have had a chance to recover from the drug abuse and alcoholism but instead of helping himself he's just been increasingly ridiculous.

 

He's dug his hole and, sadly, I think the only advice he is taking these days is equivalent to this:

 

[CristyCurves 169032]

I feel bad for him, his kids and his wife. Everyone makes bad choices sometimes, the difference with him is he is a political figure and they're all pristine, lol, never should we expect them to fuck up, right? I'm really tired of people being publicly bashed in the news over and over when they do wrong. Why not instead, be understanding as to why some act out this way, forgive, help if it is needed and then move on. There are more important issues to deal with.

[Guest realnicehat]

My issue was never about him fucking up but how he responded.

 

It's hard to feel sorry for the guy when this is how he is behaving in current city council meetings:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgih7fW5YYQ#t=21

[Boomer 33202]

Sure he's a bit of a bad boy, but seems to me there are several things happening that are wrong.

 

Once the media become involved it becomes a race to compete for the next scoop, for the next news cycle and it becomes a circus that feeds on itself. After all, the Star has been on his case since he was elected, it's gotca politics. Ante up $5K and you've got another video to post.

 

The other thing is there don't seem to be clear guidelines and penalties for misbehavior that are in place for normal employment. e.g caught drinking you get suspended without pay for a week. So what happens is you get judged by other politicians whose motives may be selfish and self serving, so justice is not the primary concern. We saw that in the senate fiasco.

[mrgreen760 37785]

Per usual the first lie does some one in. Would have been so much better to meet it head on and not hope it would just go away. Admit it, do something about it and ask for forgiveness... folks eat that shit up.

 

The game has changed, there's no way Bill Clinton could have skated on the Lewinsky thing in this kind of media and social/media world. There's blood in the water and TMZ is circling.

 

Yet I have no doubt that if he were to be removed from office he'd be re-elected.

 

Peace

MG

[EmilyRushton 253346]

I still lived in Toronto when Rob Ford was running for Mayor, at the time he was the BEST candidate and I don't regret voting for him. Compared to almost all other Mayors - Ford has done what he promised and made people happy by saving money and getting the subway expanded.

 

However, his personal activities have brought on more unwanted attention and drama to his life. His situation is much like Tiger Woods, had he just owned up in the beginning none of this would have escalated like it has.

 

Rob Ford has been targeted by the media since he was elected and there are many in council who despise him (which does not help his cause). As much as his behaviour is unacceptable for someone of a public figure, I have to say that if he was not Mayor - would any of us really care? I was harassed by the media back in May while my situation was minor compared to this, I only know too well how the media can make one snap - almost instantly.(I also know how violating this feels)

 

I understand they want a story, but he has a job to do as someone the people elected and the people of Toronto should be the ones to decide if he deserves to be mayor or not.

 

People may complain about him, but like Ralph Klein back in the Alberta heyday he kept getting re-elected as much as everyone bitched about him(and he had his bag of poor public issues)

 

No one is perfect and while it is fine for us all to comment, everyone has skeletons in their closet and none of us want them to come out.

[cinelli 22184]

Ford may act badly but I don't think he is diverting millions of dollars of taxpayer money into his friend's pockets.

 

I bet lot of politicians are loving the media obsession with Ford. It takes all the heat off them. They can be as corrupt as they want and people think they are great compared to Ford.

[igab 5629]

This guy looks and acts like Chris Farley....and while Chris Farley was funny most of the time he was also a tragic character. Mayor Ford is out of control in his personal life and that is now spilling into his public life.

He needs to take time out for healing and treatment and then re-invent himself and make a come back.

[2Legit 250]

Regardless of everything else, I do hope he smartens up and looks after his health. The lifestyle he lives leads to very unpleasant events, way sooner than the expiry date.

[Guest a**4*]

What he did was stupid we all make stupid mistakes the media made it worst as always with the media.The people of Toronto voted for him they should be the ones deciding and not the councillors they are not the people what are they afraid of sounds like they have things to hide lets have the media focus on them and there should be an election

[Guest S*rca****sid]

He has now vowed to give up alcohol. I have to admit, he is entertaining to watch. Here he is seen running over a council woman, and SNL opened up their show on Saturday with a skit about him.

[WriteOn 3250]

Let's discuss...

 

 

Do you think this has negatively affected Canada's reputation?

 

 

Yes, yes, yes, I do think it has negatively affected Canada's reputation, internationally.

 

Rob Ford is a joke, I think he should fuck Kim Kardashian and make the biggest selling video of all time.

 

Additional Comments:

I still lived in Toronto when Rob Ford was running for Mayor, at the time he was the BEST candidate and I don't regret voting for him.

 

Not sure how you could watch his recent behaviour and still support him.

[EmilyRushton 253346]

Additional Comments:

 

 

Not sure how you could watch his recent behaviour and still support him.

 

Hmm, lets see here....Drunk or High he's still done his job 110% (saving money and helping benefit the taxpayers as well as expanding the TTC)

 

Lets compare him to a few other in the media political figures;

 

We have council man Snook in Saint John, who is a pervert, Pedophile and into child Porn and he still has a seat in council yet he's suspended with pay...Clearly this is way worse than a drunk and crack user, however I don't see the media harassing this guy day in and day out.(o wait probably as he is in a jail cell)

 

And in London, how can we forget the Mayor Fontana who use tax money to fund his sons wedding...Another A class representative who is still in office and getting paid....

 

And Rob Ford is such a horrible person compared to these too he's an angel, he's messed up hugely however people like him even after all of this (plus he's not scamming tax dollars or into children) so he's ok in my books.

[Kathryn Bardot 99339]

It's not the drug use, for me. It's the racism, the homophobia, the misappropriation of city resources for his own gain... http://jeromiewilliams.com/2013/11/03/updated-list-113-things-toronto-mayor-rob-ford-has-done-besides-smoking-crack-in-a-video/

[roamingguy 300291]

Really if he got himself professional help (you don't just try crack cocaine for the first time at age 44, especially factoring in his friend is a drug dealer) for substance abuse, came back and apologized he could salvage this. People at their core are still pretty forgiving

As for his family, any apologies are between Ford and them and a private matter.

Finally Ford needs to cut ties with the drug dealers/criminals. They aren't really his friends as he maintains, and if they are, they would understand his situation and be a friend to him by distancing themselves from him.

Doing that could go far to returning him to full Mayoral authority instead of making him the punch line in late night tv jokes

RG

[mrgreen760 37785]

It could still be Mel Lastman so there's that. I think all cities could use new, youngish and fresh faces like Naheed Nenshi of Calgary.

 

Here in Winnipeg the current Mayor and particularly City Councilors have stayed at the dance way too long. We have a chance to change it next fall.

 

The challenge is to attract good candidates and with the increased scrutiny hardly any one hasn't done something that would be exposed. My campaign slogan would be......Yes, I've done it all.....and more than once.

 

Peace

MG

[Frank Ricard 223]

It's not the drug use, for me. It's the racism, the homophobia, the misappropriation of city resources for his own gain... http://jeromiewilliams.com/2013/11/03/updated-list-113-things-toronto-mayor-rob-ford-has-done-besides-smoking-crack-in-a-video/

 

I wish "Ford Nation" would take the time to read that, but the sad reality is that, - like former supporters of George W. Bush in the USA - those that have made up their minds based on rhetoric and catchphrases don't want to be bothered with factual information.