Ahhhh.... Rob Ford the crack fiend....
- Thread starter Jennifer_
- Start date
Ridiculous! This is a complete lie
the Star has been hounding Ford since long before the election.
The crackstarter campaign is now at $103k, with 6 days to go.
Ford has yet to say the video isn't real or that he didn't smoke crack.
The Daily Show clip is here:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/21/jon-stewart-mocks-eccentric-crack-smoking-toronto-mayor-rob-ford/
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/21/jon-stewart-mocks-eccentric-crack-smoking-toronto-mayor-rob-ford/
That is a very interesting question you pose, sister.
Normally, a public official, in this case the mayor of the most important city in Canada, usually is not someone like Rob Ford.
So what happened? This is the province where we had Bill Davis leading the way for ages, a golden era of politics. So what happened here in Toronto?
I think there are two or three reasons. I can only remember 2 right now.
First - tribalism.
Best example is the USA. In America, there are only two tribes. One is call the Republicans, the other is called the Democrats. No matter what happens, your own tribe must win. Tribalism is a force.
In Toronto, there are two tribes, "Downtown Elitist", and "Ford Nation". It does not matter what happens, your own side must win. Today in the National Post, Conrad Black wrote an article about Ford. He didn't like Ford it seemed, but he had advice how can Ford redeem himself. Black was kind of saying, "Ford, you're screwing up, but our tribe must win, so shape up."
George W Bush was an alcoholic, and rumoured drug user. Obama was a drug user. It did not matter if one or the other used drugs, what matters is your tribe must win. That's tribalism, that's Ford Nation. The "Downtown Elitist", same difference.
Second - Rob Ford The Cult of Personality.
The Cult of Personality is to rule by the force of personality. How can this apply in Ford's case?
Well, if we strip away at all his short comings, what we have in Rob Ford is basically a nice guy. A nice guy who helps people out. That's what I like about Ford, a nice guy who returns phone calls. He holds a family picnic where the whole neighbourhood is invited. And he helps disadvantaged kids play football.
This is the work of a nice guy. There are parts of "Ford Nation" that will never forget this because Ford helped them out, and it is imperative that their guy must win for the good of the tribe.
Conrad Black has his misgivings but rich man wants his tribe to win. The disadvantaged football playing families want their man Rob Ford and the tribe he leads to win.
So when the Downtown Elitist attack the supporters of Ford Nation as "useful idiots", that just inflames the tribal warfare.
And in tribal warfare, the most important rule is - your own tribe must win!
That is why Rob Ford will always remain popular in the hearts and minds of Ford Nation.
:biggrin1:
This is just right wing propaganda. That's how a hard core of Ford supporters see things, but very few others would see it that way. It is a classic conservative strategy to try and paint anyone who is not conservative as "elitist", but it has always been bullshit, and it is certainly bullshit here. Toronto is much more varied than that.
Is a Chinese immigrant who moves into downtown and opens up a little grocery store part of "Ford Nation"? Or are they an "elitist"?
This is a free country. They can vote for whoever they want to. They can be, whoever they want to be.
BTW, don't most attacks against Rob Ford originate from the left of center, or ... gulp ... the NDP?
Which side of the political spectrum is Flip-Flop Woman and Weasel Man on?
:eyebrows:
Maybe, but not how it voted for mayor the last time.
Why would it be any different the next time?
Drugs?
But fuji ... that's tribalism. That's what it is all about.
That's how you rally the troops, that's how you rally internal support.
Ford only has to do that. Deny that the crack smoking ever happened, and hope this goes away.
Or if he is guilty, admit guilty, pledge to clean himself up, then after a waiting period, run for mayor again.
Smitherman ran for mayor and he took drugs. Ford should be given the equal opportunity. That is democrazy.
He needs more than internal support to win the next election. "Ford Nation" only brings maybe 20% of the vote to the table. He has to work to get the rest, because in reality about 60% of the city isn't in either the "Ford Nation" tribe or the "Downtown Elitist" tribe. Ford Nation will show up and vote no matter what he does, I agree, but it's not enough to get elected.
He won last time because he leveraged all the people who were pissed off about the garbage strike and wanted someone to smack the union down. He has to find something like that, to reach out to a broader group, to win again--and that'll be hard as a crack addict.
Lately he hasn't been too good at connecting with voters--his casino scheme was deeply unpopular all over the city and went down in flames 40 votes to 4 at council.
The decision to commence or not to commence a libel suit is far more complicated than you make it out to be, especially where the media is concerned.
Actually the reporting on this issue has been carefully worded to avoid just such a suit, including giving the full context in which the video was viewed.
If your argument is "because no libel lawsuit has been launched yet, than the allegation must be true", that shows a pretty serious bias on your part.
Exactly!
Not to mention Gawker is an American site, which means Ford would have to travel back and forth to US to pursue his lawsuit. Also in America its much harder to sue for libel then it is here in Canada
What are you talking about, dont you know she has photos of Ford smoking crack?!
She's got the documents <insert witty Alex Jones comment>
I would say Ford's denials have been carefully crafted, except that the boor shows no craft with words or thought whatsoever, what they have been is vague.
The man has yet to deny that its him in the video and to deny that he smokes crack.
All he's done is to attack the messenger, not address the allegations directly.
That makes him appear guilty.
Lawsuits aren't generally filed the next day in case you weren't aware. Not saying the story isn't true but just that this is a poor criteria to decide validity within this time frame.
Who cares at this point if it's true or not (or if the video is real or not). Everyday he fails to address it he's allowing it to become a bigger and bigger deal. Actually I think the story is becoming less and less about whether or not he's a crack fiend and more about how he's avoiding addressing it.
In the last election, Ford's main opponent was George Smitherman, a man famous for his gross incompetence as deputy premier and health minister in the provincial government. Smitherman was damaged goods and should have known better than to run at all. Torontonians were also still pissed off about the lengthy garbage strike and Ford looked like the candidate most likely to punish the unions. Toronto wanted payback and Ford promised to deliver it.Maybe, but not how it voted for mayor the last time.
Why would it be any different the next time?
Drugs?
Every election is different and we don't know who will be running in the next one. With all the baggage Ford has accumulated, things will probably be very different next time round.
The respect for the taxpayer message really hit, especially to those lower income families in the outskirts of Etobicoke and Scarborough who are living paycheck to paycheck. I still think he'd win most of these voters, along with the 20-25% conservative voters in Toronto. Not saying he'd win another election but he'd have a fair share of the vote.
