Toronto Mayor Rob Ford the press conference to a whole new level:
Local authorities are trying to kick him out of the annual holiday parade, which is valid. But part of me really wants to see his float.
Also on today’s #TWiBRadio, #TeamBlackness wants to move to #TWiBNation 96122, Wagatwe Wanjuki weighs in on the University of Connecticut shaming student victims of violence, and we’re joined by listener and friend of the show Larime Taylor who discussed his graphic novel, A Voice in the Dark, that will be released Nov. 20.
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And this morning on #amTWiB, The Morning Crew discussed Toronto Mayor Rob Ford may be a crackhead but he refuses to leave office, minorities are more optimistic about how education will help their career, and piano music may make you cray.
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Elizabelle
Part of you wants to see his float.
That’s hilarious.
BGinCHI
This whole Ford thing must make Cole feel like a saint.
Even Charlie Sheen looks harmless now. Except for his acting.
Shana
“I have more than enough to eat at home”? His wife must be so proud.
Cervantes
Why on earth are we discussing Rob Ford?
(Same question I asked Josh Marshall a week ago, to no avail.)
max
Rob Ford 2014: The Crack and P***y Platform
Yes! VINDICATION! I always knew that someday a politician would be shouting out for HOOKERS AND CRACK!
Now if only we can get him to campaign on the HOOKERS AND CRACK platform, then we will have truly moved into a new age of uh, hrmm. Something.
max
[‘The Goat Age. No. The SPASTIC ERA! Yeah!’]
Aji
Erm . . . seriously, dude? Ewwwww . . . .
gogol's wife
@Cervantes:
Everyone loves the carnivalization of public life.
Aji
@Shana: Have we established that he actually has a wife? Just sayin’ . . . .
kc
He IS the float.
Patricia Kayden
@BGinCHI: Your last sentence was gold.
Patricia Kayden
@Aji: If you look carefully, you can see her in this video.
http://www.thestar.com/news/2013/11/14/mayor_rob_ford_pulls_wife_through_media.html
jl
@Aji:
” Have we established that he actually has a wife? ”
I don’t want to think about Rob Ford having a wife. Either she is a good fit with him, or she is not. Neither case seems healthy to think about.
Aji
@Patricia Kayden: I’ll take your word for it; my connection won’t load it. So is the appropriate reaction scorn or pity?
PsiFighter37
I suppose as a New Yorker, I can feel better about the whole Carlos Danger situation from a few months ago.
Faux News
@max: Well, if we had a Hookers & Blow/Crack party in the USA it would be a welcomed third party for our country. I think many of us would love to see H & B/C convention.
Roger Moore
@PsiFighter37:
Especially because you got the revelations in time to vote for somebody else. Always more fun to look back on the bullets you dodged than the disaster you’re dealing with.
MomSense
Is it wrong that I am just loving this?
Gin & Tonic
@Aji: There’s a photo of him with his wife “by his side” today here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/14/us-toronto-mayor-idUSBRE99U12820131114
Look at that photo and tell me you don’t just feel her unqualified support.
Baud
@Roger Moore:
Still thank my lucky stars we avoided John Edwards.
@MomSense:
No. Canada’s had it too easy for too long.
PsiFighter37
@Baud: I’m curious as to if Ford is actually thinking when he’s talking, if he’s high as shit when he’s talking, or what is going on.
I’m lovin’ it, whatever it is.
Mike with a Mic
Well… that whole Mayor “the bitch set me up” Barry fiasco doesn’t seem so bad right now.
MomSense
@Baud:
Are they an awesome country or what?! Universal health care and you can say pussy on tv!
Cervantes
@MomSense: No, I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s “wrong” — but I just don’t get it. As I said to the folks at TPM, just the opportunity cost alone tells me to think about something else.
And with that, I shall.
MomSense
Shoot, I am in moderation because I spelled out the p word. @Baud:
Ok, I’m going to try this again.
Are they an awesome country or what? They have universal health care and you can say p***y on tv.
ranchandsyrup
@PsiFighter37: Seeing Carlos Danger talk policy on Real Time made me sad that he makes poor choices otherwise.
Roger Moore
@MomSense:
You can say it on TV here. You just can’t use it on blogs.
Baud
@Roger Moore:
@MomSense:
pussy
casino
viagra
Aji
@Gin & Tonic: LMAO. I’m not sure it gets any more possible than that to convey “I’m not with that asshole” and “Asshole, don’t even think about touching me” than she does there.
MomSense
@Shana:
Now we know why she stays with him.
Baud
@MomSense:
@Roger Moore:
Yep. I just tried a few forbidden words and am now in moderation. Why is that the only part of WordPress that works well?
MomSense
@Roger Moore:
We’re going to have to take this up with Steve.
PsiFighter37
@ranchandsyrup: I don’t feel bad. He had no legislative record of accomplishment to speak of; he just said the right words about health care in the right manner. Look up his record of how he got elected to City Council and his foreign policy views, and I am happy to say that even if he didn’t take pictures of his dick, I wouldn’t vote for him based on his policy record and accomplishments.
Cassidy
Are we going to get a love letter from Cole to Ford, later? He does speak his mind.
ranchandsyrup
@PsiFighter37: I understand where you’re coming from. I was trying to convey that he did a good job on the topics they discussed on the show. I don’t doubt that I would disagree significantly with some of his positions. Maher and the panel got their shots in on him (well deserved shots) before he got to speak on the issues.
Baud
@Cassidy:
Maybe Ford should get a cat?
Roger Moore
@Baud:
Why would you wish that on a poor unsuspecting cat?
Cassidy
@Baud: Didn’t you watch the video? He already has enough pussy.
MomSense
@Roger Moore:
Especially since cats can do it for themselves.
Cassidy
@Baud: Didn’t you watch the video? He already has enough pu$$y.
Baud
@Cassidy:
So what you’re saying is that Ford and Cole are not really that much alike?
MomSense
My kids call him the honey badger of politicians and think his motto should be “govern hard party harder”
bemused
He has two young kids, 8 and 5. Poor kids He’s only about 43 years old and looks really rough. For his kids’ sake, I hope he really is getting treatment.
chopper
the best is his delivery in a canadian accent. it just sounds more awesome that way.
Just One More Canuck
@chopper: we don’t have accents, you do
KG
@Faux News: finally! A political party I can get behind
Rusty
He smokes crack and he eats it too?
KG
@Just One More Canuck: we both have accents, the Brits are the ones that don’t.
Baud
@Just One More Canuck:
You don’t sound Canadian.
Ripley
A combination: Porn.
rikyrah
White Privilege is international….
Ain’t no way
that no Black elected official – ANYWHERE – could get away with this nonsense.
Bitter and Deluded Lurker
This is just Toronto’s way of trying to one-up Montreal (whose mayor was arrested this summer). There may be more to come; the cops have video of one of Ford’s buddies (recently arrested on drug charges) slipping envelopes into Ford’s SUV while Ford is not in it.
Patricia Kayden
@Bitter and Deluded Lurker: I’m almost afraid to ask but what was Montreal’s mayor arrested for?
Mike with a Mic
@rikyrah:
We don’t know he’s gotten away with it yet, he could still go to jail. Then he could get elected back to office, like Barry! And then keep getting busted again but not going back to jail, like Barry!
LanceThruster
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,
with every crack pipe hit I light
And I’ll feel super, in a drunken stupor
ripping some fucker’s head off in a fight
Bitter and Deluded Lurker
@Patricia Kayden: Garden-variety corruption (I think from before he was mayor). His predecessor (Gérald Tremblay) also resigned amidst allegations of corruption, but I don’t think Tremblay was ever arrested.
Mike in NC
This guy makes Chris Christie look like an introvert.
Hal
@bemused:
Wow. He’s 43?! I thought Ford was mid to late 50’s. Whitney was right. Crack is whack. Also:
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/whatcha-thinkin-bout/photos/sort/favorites
David Koch
@Cervantes:
Who doesn’t love a Chris Farley movie?
LanceThruster
@Mike in NC:
Christie’s consumption of his drug of choice is pretty much out in the open. In fact, he’s loud and proud about his particular addiction.
Patricia Kayden
@Mike with a Mic: It’s funny that there are so many people who LOVE Barry — absolutely love him to the point where they will not listen to any criticisms of him. I have several friends like that and a Hubby. I guess Marion Barry did enough to please his constituents that even now many years after he stopped being their Mayor, they still defend him against “THE WHITE MAN” who tricked him into smoking crack and associating with a prostitute on camera.
Never liked the man but I didn’t grow up in DC.
Mike with a Mic
@Bitter and Deluded Lurker:
I’ve always noticed that when these sorts of shit shows start one should resign. If you get out quick enough the entire thing goes away and criminal/civil charges rarely happen. On the other hand if you sit around and get smart about it you tend to get brought in.
Mike with a Mic
@Patricia Kayden:
Barry turned the DC department of education into a crony office for his campaign supporters. IE he gave out high paying jobs that did where you did nothing if you supported him, these were all given to black supporters from the various wards. It screwed over the DC school system, and is why they always claim the solution is more money (so they can repeat the process), but it gained him a lot of loyalty. Plus he started a vicious racial crusade against Asians when they started moving here accusing them all of being prostitutes, dirty, drug dealers, and disease spreaders who were… taking jobs from nice clean black people. To the point of helping run Asian owned businesses out of town and letting the black community gobble them up cheap after. Plus he turned every attempt to clean up the schools into “white people taking jobs away from black people”.
It’s understandable, the man was civil rights leader, and he did take care of his constituents… he’s also a crook, a womanizer, a racist, and all sort of other things and the damage he did to his city has been permanent. He’s not their mayor now but he’s still elected to represent his ward over and over again. And he did give a lot of them phony baloney jobs… so what if he robbed kids of the education to do it, someone got paid!
Barry isn’t the only big city politician who operated like this. City politics are often crooked as all fucking hell and based off ethnic resentment in the various areas. The difference is Barry got caught on camera smoking crack and took his shit show national. Before that he was just another DC pol. Shit the current mayor was already under federal investigation before the election took place, IIRC he still is. It’s just not a national issue because his arrests are for chaining himself to stuff demanding money for DC… not smoking crack on hidden camera screaming “the bitch set me up”.
Ford’s in the same situation. Were it not for his smoking crack on camera, the world plus dog wouldn’t be hearing what sort of shit show Toronto actually is.
Shana
@Aji: One of the commenters over at Charlie Pierce’s place has a screen shot of the press conference with her in it. Let’s just say she doesn’t look particularly happy.
Shana
@Aji: One of the commenters over at Charlie Pierce’s place has a screen shot of the press conference with her in it. Let’s just say she doesn’t look particularly happy.
Aji
@Shana: Gin and Tonic posted the link upthread. No need for a caption on that one.
Keith P.
The bigger takeaway is that he didn’t demonstrate motor-boating for the press.
Patricia Kayden
@Mike with a Mic: Funny that you mentioned Barry giving people jobs because Hubby is always proud to say that the first job he ever got was under Barry’s youth job program. Great way to breed undying loyalty among the youth.
Alas, D.C.’s current Mayor (Gray) is a bit of a mess himself. Poor D.C.
Svensker
@Shana:
A couple years ago there were multiple calls to 911 from Ford’s home for “domestic dispute” — apparently he gets violent, too, the big charmer. She’s not gonna say anything, I’m sure, or go anywhere, because she knows about retribution. In the meantime, Rob’s mom says all he needs is to lose a little weight and have the mean old liberal media stop bothering him so much. The sister is an ex-druggie whose one-time drug dealer boyfriend got the shit beat out of him in prison. And the big brother used to be a dealer and now uses Little Brother to get power in the City — oh, and he wanted to take money from the city library budget and use it for something good like lingerie football. I wish I were kidding.
These people make Sarah Palin look like a model of educated gentility.
polyorchnid octopunch
@rikyrah: Oh, it remains to be seen whether he’s going to get away with it here. If he gets convicted of anything he’s out. Otherwise, well, we’ll get a real chance to judge the quality of Toronto’s character next fall when they have their next municipal election.
Given some of what’s been coming out, it’s entirely possible that that could happen between now and Toronto’s next election. The drinking and driving is going to be a serious serious problem for him; he’s going to have to be squeaky clean that way from here on in or there will be no mercy by the cops and courts, let alone the press.
Rob Ford and I are alike in a lot of ways; white suburban boys from Ontario (him Toronto, me Kingston) who came of age in the eighties. I know LOTS of people who are like him. I can say I get him, even though I think he’s a sodden buffoon who’s in way over his head, and a bullying buffoon to boot. The point being is there’s a lot of people in southern Ontario who are going to be thinking like Jon Stewart’s existential Joisey guy: “hey, c’mon, a little coke booze and hookers… what’s not to like about that?” However, when it comes to drinking and driving there’s a LOT of people who will not like that at all. Nothing wrong with a good party but don’t put other people at risk: if you can’t party with discipline don’t party at all.
In the meantime, I’m dying over here. Dying.
Seonachan
Here’s a picture of it:
Paul in KY
@rikyrah: Maybe in an African dictatorship, but outside that, no.