This is all anyone wants to talk about it on Twitter. I find it amusing:
Two Toronto Star reporters have viewed the video three times. It appears to show (Toronto mayor Rob) Ford in a room, sitting in a chair, wearing a white shirt, top buttons open, inhaling from what appears to be a glass crack pipe. Ford is incoherent, trading jibes with an off-camera speaker who goads the clearly impaired Mayor by raising topics including Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and the Don Bosco high school football team Ford coaches.
“I’m f—–g right wing,” Ford mutters at one point. “Everyone expects me to be right-wing, I’m…,” and his voice trails off.
At another point he is heard calling Trudeau a “fag.” Later in the 90 second video he is asked about the football team and he appears to say (though he is mumbling, “they are just f—–g minorities.”
Update. Rob Ford is an interesting guy. These clips are good, but this is my favorite so far:
Minutes after Mayor Rob Ford arrived at a contentious community council meeting in Etobicoke on Tuesday evening, he bolted out of his seat, sprinted up an aisle, and left the building — to wander around the parking lot and slap “Rob Ford Mayor” fridge magnets on the doors of cars.
When a reporter told Ford that some people might find his behaviour strange, he retorted that some people find the reporter strange.
Suffern ACE
This event will produce some talking point development e-mails that I would actually be interested in reading.
Yatsuno
Comrade Mary alert!
BGinCHI
Canadians are people too.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
Shouldn’t this guy have been out on his ass already? What happened?
ruemara
I presume he will be running for office in South Carolina or Washington D.C. soon?
Odie Hugh Manatee
Now if only some of our winger politicians would do the same thing.
OK, I mean get caught at it.
Spaghetti Lee
‘Interesting’ is one way of putting it.
GregB
I followed the link and saw the bloke’s picture and thought to myself, did GOP operative Robert Allen of Florida change his name, dye his hair blonde and move to Canada?
Waiting for the wet-suit or diaper photos to hit the web any day now.
Trabb's Boy
Ford is pure, distilled essence of buffoon. I really don’t care what recreational drugs he uses, but at this point, I’d rather see him spend his time screaming and accusing others of frame-ups than spending time on his appalling agenda.
The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik
I’m serious here. Didn’t he get caught up in some scandal that actually ended with a court ruling booting his ass?
YellowJournalism
Okay, now this makes more sense:
mdblanche
@Trabb’s Boy: Is my impression that he’s Canada’s answer to Chris Christie correct?
MattR
Does Ford ask about the professional football contest on television last night?
Jerzy Russian
Wait—this is a real person?
Suffern ACE
@GregB: I missed that one.
See, he recognized the superior upper body strength of the policeman and decided his only recourse was oral sex. It’s a natural reaction.
Suffern ACE
@mdblanche: you know, to be fair to Christie, not all overweight loudmouths are created equal. I mean, the second story has Ford rushing into a meeting, staying a minute, then rushing outside to pepper the parking lot with magnets.
Do you see Christie doing that? RUSHING? Get real.
Comrade Mary
@Yatsuno: Heh. I’ve been glued to Twitter and some other fast-moving threads. This is the first chance I’ve had to catch my breath, get some tea and open a new tab.
Some backgrounders on Ford:
Wikipedia on “other” controversies
Torontoist: a history of formal complaints against Rob Ford
Really, I feel some pity for Ford (and his family). Crack isn’t a joke, and I hope he gets help.
NotMax
DougJ, a T-shirt you need to buy a dozen of.
(Unrelated to the post; have been patiently waiting for any DougJ appearance this evening.)
Yatsuno
@Comrade Mary: That graphic is awesome. I wonder how many palms he had to grease to get elected, though I recall you saying the Liberal opponent was a joke.
Comrade Mary
Even Nate Silver is joining in.
? Martin
Huh. Don Bosco High School is in Rosemead. Pretty far flung interests there in Toronto.
askew
@Trabb’s Boy:
I am not sure I’d call crack a recreational drug. Of course, I am amazed that anyone would be stupid enough to try crack after seeing how many lives it has ruined. I guess I am just an old fuddy duddy about drugs.
Comrade Mary
@? Martin: No, there’s a Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School in Etobicoke (northwest part of Toronto.)
Thor Heyerdahl
An ass born with a silver spoon, buffoon caricature of a mayor, one who has no idea let alone vision of sustainable multi-modal transport (his only chorus is “subways” out into the wilds of suburbia), he is the mayor due to a narcissistic left winger who wouldn’t step aside in the last election and caused a split in the vote and let Ford come up the middle for the win.
His minions talked about the “gravy train” at city hall, meanwhile the gravy train has grown leaps and bounds under Mr. Ford. An absolute disgrace to Toronto and I for one, cannot wait to gladly vote his fat ass out of office.
Why yes…I didn’t vote for him in the last election…how could you tell?
Narcissus
@Suffern ACE: I can think of worse reasons to blow somebody
Kevin
He’s my mayor…i’m so proud of the international coverage right now.
Just One More Canuck
@mdblanche: Ford makes Chris Christie look like Winston Churchill. Trabb’s Boy describes him perfectly
Lurking Canadian
@The Snarxist Formerly Known as Kryptik: Your memory is correct. A court decision that went against him included an order that he be fired from the mayoralty. If I remember correctly, a higher court overturned (or postponed, or something) the firing part.
Interrobang
Right now, I’m so glad I don’t live in Toronto. Rob Ford is more embarrassing than Mel Lastman, and I thought Mel Lastman was an utter disgrace. (Where’s Ed Mirvish when you need him? At least Ed Mirvish appeared to have a sense of humour!) Ford has been a disaster for Toronto, too, particularly in terms of transit.
Our current mayor here, Joe Fontana, the mafioso-wannabe who is only slightly-cut essence of buffoon, is embarrassing enough. Canada seems to be undergoing a plague of thoroughly corrupt, thoroughly buffoonish mayors right now. What that says about the municipal electorate I wouldn’t dare to guess, though.
Dave Ruddell
I sat down on the streetcar this morning, opened up my Star, read the headline and laughed. Out loud. It just doesn’t surprise me anymore; nothing that Ford does surprises me.
Svensker
Hey, a guy who thinks Lingerie Football is better for the city than libraries can’t be all bad.
DougJ
@NotMax:
I like it.
Dave Ruddell
All this and an earthquake too! We are a world class city!
kindness
It’s been 26 years since I stopped doing the powders. I can’t stand tweekers or junkies. Mind you, I still smoke the ganja but mostly using a vaporizor these days. I still eat hallucinogens on the rare occasion but not like I did in my youth (tough to find since Jerry died).
Drugs. What are you gonna do? I’m at the point where I think the best approach is to take the profit out of the black market. Make drugs available, even hard drugs. Make it so junkies can get their fix and go home, tweekers can tweek and won’t need to commit crimes to support their habits. Do it like they do it in Europe. Will it stop people from throwing away their lives? No. But prohabition isn’t working either in fact it is driving the profits.
Let us not forget that caffeine is a powerful drug most of us enjoy. Many of us also like the occasional dance with one alcoholic substance or other. Well, we really need to see them all in the same lines but with slightly differing impacts on our lives. Is this the answer for everyone? No, but it’s mine.
cb
If you just had the week that Toronto did, you’d be.smoking crack too.
Ugh.
If Bob & Doug McKenzie did a movie where they run for office in Toronto, that guy is EXACTLY the way they would have portrayed the Mayor. Just with more “eh’s” and “hoseheads.”
Ecks
Rob Ford is Newt Gingrich, except without the brains, charisma, ambition, sanity, or national profile.
Wally Ballou
@askew: Only a problem if you’re TEH BLAH, and thus a natural fuckup anyway, amirite?