Doug Ford's Toronto is nasty - National Post

[AdamH]

Couldn't have said it better myself
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/10/17/kelly-mcparland-doug-fords-toronto-is-nasty-angry-ill-tempered-and-numerous/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Ford supporters are dim witted and angry. The best line:

They’d happily endure four years of his angry, aggressive, bullying, shout-down-the-opponent approach, apparently because that’s also the way they feel about the world. They’re not bothered by the fact Rob Ford so alienated council that it stripped him of his most critical powers and would be no more likely to co-operate with his brother, all but ensuring years of stagnation and dysfunction.

Pretty much..

I actually think Rob Ford (and Doug Ford) serve a great purpose.. They continue to draw criticism towards poor spending practices at City Hall.. But that doesn't make either of them great leaders.. Most of their ideas are crap, and any good ideas they have never get through based on the fact that the rest of council refuses to work with them (based on them being total tactless assholes)..

 

[james t kirk]

It's the way that it goes.

Every person over the age of 18 gets 1 vote and that's it. There's a lot of people out there who have the "fuck you" attitude and would rather just burn the world down.

I was at a social event a while back and my former boss said that not everyone deserves to vote because they are too stupid to be entrusted with something so important (and this was actually with respect to Ford being Mayor come to think of it). I thought that notion of "not everyone deserves a vote" was highly prejudicial at the time. But I thought about it and yeah, I understand what he was saying. But it would be impossible to regulate, not to mention hugely discriminatory (just thinking about the American south), so at the end of the day, every person over 18 gets 1 vote is all we've got and that's it.

Jacques Perizeau once said that 40 percent of Quebecers were ardent federalists and 40% were ardent separatists and 20% didn't even know who the Prime Minister of Canada was and that was the 20% he had win over.

 

[SkyRider]

Sometimes you have to step on a few toes to get things done. Can't be Mr. Nice Guy all the time and buddy buddy to everybody. Doug Ford is right when he said that no endorsements from other councillors means he is not beholdden to anybody except the taxpayer.

 

[groggy]

Sometimes you have to step on a few toes to get things done. Can't be Mr. Nice Guy all the time and buddy buddy to everybody. Doug Ford is right when he said that no endorsements from other councillors means he is not beholdden to anybody except the taxpayer.

The Doug and Rob show tried that. They acted like entitled bullies and that worked for about 6 months.
After that they couldn't get anything passed on their own and everyone just abandoned that crazy crack ship.

 

[oldjones]

The Doug and Rob show tried that. They acted like entitled bullies and that worked for about 6 months.
After that they couldn't get anything passed on their own and everyone just abandoned that crazy crack ship.

Yup. If you don't win them over—see the Parizeau remark in #2—then they'll talk amongst themselves and turf you out, with bullets rather than ballots if need be. And even a guy who has no idea who or what a PM is can shoot one. That is the ultimate reason why some version of debate, discussion and democracy is the central tendency of every lasting government.

Guys who think it's all about winning are just revealing that they're losers wanting the other, and they'll take everyone who believes as they do into the pit with them.

 

[AdamH]

Doug Ford is right when he said that no endorsements from other councillors means he is not beholdden to anybody except the taxpayer.

That's pretty much the most pathetic attempt at making lemonade out of lemons that I've ever encountered..

I get that corporate endorsements probably aren't the best thing... But endorsements from councilors that will likely be returning to council??? You really want a mayor who doesn't have ANY support on council?? How do you expect him to get anything done? Especially when his "strategy" for building consensus revolves around yelling, bullying, name calling, and lying..

 

[happ]

The message I got from the article, "Even if the Fords lose they’ll still be out there, it’s a facet of Toronto, and the next mayor would do well to address whatever it is that makes them so hostile."

 

[explorerzip]

Attacking fellow councillors is bad enough, yet they decided to do the same thing to the public at city hall. Guess they forgot that "left wing pinkos" pay taxes too.

 

[basketcase]

Sometimes you have to step on a few toes to get things done. ....

Except Rob didn't get too much done. Contracted out garbage and a subway (planned) to nowhere. His big promise was tax cuts. How did that work out?

The comment would work for a boss but the Fords were just 2 of the votes on the council.

 

[explorerzip]

Sometimes you have to step on a few toes to get things done. Can't be Mr. Nice Guy all the time and buddy buddy to everybody. Doug Ford is right when he said that no endorsements from other councillors means he is not beholdden to anybody except the taxpayer.

They managed to basically get the whole council against them; Rob lost his powers because of it. I agree that you can't be everyone's buddy, but you should at least treat your allies properly. Ford does have a responsibility to taxpayers. Funny enough, that includes his fellow councillors, gays, and the left be they downtown elites or not.

 

[SkyRider]

"Even if the Fords lose they’ll still be out there, it’s a facet of Toronto, and the next mayor would do well to address whatever it is that makes them so hostile."

The Fords will still be out there and unconstrained by the niceties of elected office. They will be able to freely speak their mind.

BTW: Although she is much much cuter, is Robyn Doolittle the Linda Tripp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Tripp
of Toronto? One tried to bring down a president and the other tried to bring down a mayor by throwing mud.

 

[AdamH]

The Fords will still be out there and unconstrained by the niceties of elected office. They will be able to freely speak their mind.

BTW: Although she is much much cuter, is Robyn Doolittle the Linda Tripp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Tripp
of Toronto? One tried to bring down a president and the other tried to bring down a mayor by throwing mud.

Throwing mud??? The man was smoking crack cocaine with gangsters.. He wasn't diddling an intern.. I really feel bad for you if you figure this was a "smear campaign".. When the mayor of the continent's 4th largest city is caught smoking crack cocaine with gangsters it's NEWS.. Just because YOU agree with him POLITICALLY doesn't make it any less newsworthy..

 

[Butler1000]

The Fords will still be out there and unconstrained by the niceties of elected office. They will be able to freely speak their mind.

BTW: Although she is much much cuter, is Robyn Doolittle the Linda Tripp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Tripp
of Toronto? One tried to bring down a president and the other tried to bring down a mayor by throwing mud.

Rob will more than likely regain the Ward 2 seat so he will continue to be "constrained" by the rules. How effective he will be considering his illness has yet to be determined.

As for Doug he was looking forward to getting out(his words) and spending time in Chicago. From what I've seen reported Deco is hurting a bit. Chicago is is only now breaking even after some lean years and the other one they purchased in New Jersey is hurting and bleeding money. I expect him tto go back to running the company with only occasional forays back into the public eye over the next four years.

If Tory proves effective his first term expect him to run and win a second one. If Rob was smart he would change his tune a bit and spend the next eight years "in the wilderness" slowly regaining his political capital and reputation, while taking care of his health. I very real mea culpa at some point without an election on the line but far enough away would help too.

For now he is a pariah. And Doug is toast.