Here are a few excerpts from a day in the life of Rob Ford, still Mayor of Toronto, who I’m sure David Brooks would call Canada’s Thought Leader. Open thread.
Update: Since Rob does love a good apology, I realize it might not be clear just what he’s apologizing for. Just to be clear: this is not his apology for calling a Toronto Star reporter a pedophile. That’s a different apology.
schrodinger's cat
Actually I had never heard Canada mentioned in news as much before Rob Ford’s tenure as the mayor of Toronto. So he is good for something.
Wag
@schrodinger’s cat:
… or not.
Villago Delenda Est
Yes, Rob. You are sorry.
Very sorry.
Pathetic. Contemptible. Wretched.
Yup, you are sorry.
Now get the fuck off my lawn, asshole.
catclub
Calvin and Hobbes, the VERY SORRY SONG.
Joel
Who is that lady that dances with him? That’s what I want to know.
Petorado
Speaking of Bobo, he’s #4 on Pareene’s Hack List. Sadly, there are (at least) three people worse than him.
Redshift
The WaPo is reporting that Obenshain is going to concede the VA AG’s race today after losing ground in the recount!
Villago Delenda Est
It’s difficult to imagine that anyone in that room, for so much as a nanosecond, thinks that this asshat is sincerely apologizing.
It’s not in his nature.
Botsplainer
Canadian accents crack me up. “So soary”.
I just want him to say “I went out and about in a boat”.
Botsplainer
@Joel:
I’ll give him credit – the dude is seriously a good time.
Mark S.
Peggy Noonan is worried Obama might accidentally nuke Paris.
MrSnrub
Off-topic:
My sister and her husband have been living in Puerto Penasco, Mexico for the past couple of years. My dad and step-mom are visiting them. I got an email from my dad stating that they woke up in the middle of the night to helicopters and shooting. Apparently a drug cartel has hostages in a complex down the block from my sister.
I can’t find anything about it on the googlez. This is all quite surreal.
Villago Delenda Est
@Petorado:
Let’s see. Fred Hiatt, Chuckles the Toddler, and Ron Fournier?
That leaves David Gregory high and dry.
KG
@Mark S.: ten years ago, Republicans probably would have gotten behind nuking Paris, intentionally or not, since those cheese eating surrender monkeys wouldn’t support their war in the sandbox.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mark S.:
Thus reinforcing her status on the hack list.
KG
@Mark S.: ten years ago, the Republicans would have supported nuking Paris, intentionally or not, since those cheese eating surrender monkeys wouldn’t support their little adventure in the sandbox
Jane2
@Joel: That’s Frances Nunziata, the Speaker and Rob Ford supporter. Having said that, she does as good a job as anyone could at trying to keep the Ford bullies in check.
Villago Delenda Est
@KG:
Hey, give the French SOME credit. They didn’t declare war on us like they did to the last major power to launch an outright war of aggression.
KG
@Villago Delenda Est: I’m giving the French a ton of credit. I never really knew what to think of the Iraq War during the build up, in all honesty.
MattF
For the record, an actual apology has three parts. If you are apologizing for doing ‘X’, you say
1. “I did ‘X’.”
2. “‘X’ was wrong.”
3. “In order to acknowledge damage I have done and to reduce the possibility of doing ‘X’ again, I have done ‘Y’ and ‘Z’.”
Since it’s unheard of to insist on actual apologies, this stuff isn’t widely known, but just in case.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Do they hand out hallucinogens on the way into Council chambers in Toronto? It would explain a great deal in that video if they do.
Redshift
@Mark S.:
Not only that, she believes that the nuclear launch codes don’t just give the president access to launch control, but actually control where the missiles go. And is stupid enough to put it in writing.
BTW, did anyone else hear the story that for several decades, the nuclear launch code was “000000000”, because the Kennedy Administration wanted a code to restrict access, but the Pentagon didn’t want it because they thought it might slow down the response in a crisis? Suddenly the fact that Snowden was able to get NSA documents because they were keeping them in SharePoint doesn’t seem so surprising…
Mark S.
Isn’t it a little early to be projecting the seeds for a tournament that doesn’t start until March? They did show a little restraint:
Who’s going to be the 13th seed in the West? We’ll take a stab at it. We’re not insane at all.
Petorado
@Villago Delenda Est: I’ll give them all a four-way tie for first. Mara Liasson’s been working pretty darn hard for a spot on the list as well.
eemom
OT, big news in VA: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/obenshain-to-concede-virginia-attorney-generals-race-on-wednesday-in-richmond/2013/12/18/fe85a31c-67e7-11e3-8b5b-a77187b716a3_story.html
So much for that coup d’etat we were promised here last week.
KG
@Mark S.: ESPN does it in September, so no. At least in January, you’ve gotten through the non-conference schedule and may have some idea of how good the teams in non-power conferences are.
Villago Delenda Est
@Redshift:
“Please input password for TOP SECRET access to all NSA databases.”
“password”
“Thank you. Have a nice day!”
KG
@Villago Delenda Est: you’d think they’d at least require a number and special character, so it should be password1!
ETA: I’d also love to see the “Forgot Password?” protocols…
eemom
@Redshift:
oops.
Actually that’s funny — I knew it was too good to be true that I’d seen it before you. :)
Jane2
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Rob Ford notwithstanding, a reggae band was invited into the Chamber to perform as part of support for the local music industry. Perhaps Congress might benefit from such an action!
Villago Delenda Est
@KG:
I was thinking of making it “paSsw0rD!” but that’s a bit too cyberdudebro.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jane2:
There would be secret holds on anything other than a lamestream Nashville act.
cleek
15 minutes: expired
Comrade Mary
@Joel: That’s Frances Nunziata, Ward 11 councillor, speaker, and part-time elf.
Rob Ford is a terrible person and a worse mayor, but he’s a pretty good dancer.
Comrade Mary
@Jane2: Err, she could do a LOT better at keeping them in check. I saw someone call her Sister Mary Elephant, but SME actually got the class to shut up sometimes.
LanceThruster
Rob Ford is really SUPER!
Jane2
@Comrade Mary: I’ve never seen anything like those two before in any political chamber….too bad they couldn’t be evicted for good.
Origuy
@Redshift: That was only one of the codes required. It was the code for the locks on the missiles themselves, and was not installed until 1962.
ranchandsyrup
The new trailer for
American Psycho III, Kill the 47%Mitt! is awesome. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trailer-for-netflix-romney-doc-takes-you-inside-mitt-s-concessiondmsilev
@ranchandsyrup: My favorite bit is where he tried to iron the sleeve of a jacket….while wearing it.
Apparently, the manipulator extensions of his chassis had a pretty good thermal tolerance band.
ranchandsyrup
@dmsilev: Lulz re: thermal tolerance band. Why yes, I want a preznit that keeps touching the stove after he’s determined it is hot. Double down, Mittster.
WereBear
As it’s open thread, thought some might like my wild take on buying gifts:
The Art of Gifts
I use each chapter of Sun Tzu’s the Art of War to explain buying art gifts for your loved ones.
Please share! Tip your server! Don’t order the veal!
jl
The joke phrase ‘Worthwhile Canadian Initiative’ will never be the same again. Not sure whether the Rob Ford era will kill the joke, or make it hilarious.’
At least they don’t have nukes.
But then, Ford could have killed the incompetent crazy interpreter at the Mandela memorial simply by throwing himself on the guy. And there is never any questions at all about ‘ lines of traditionally assumed competence’ with Ford. Maybe Noonan would feel safer if Ford were U.S. President.
Toronto is so close to the U.S., and with Cruz, I’m sure he could find an angle to qualify. GOP needs to draft this guy for 2016. I eagerly await the Noonan columns.
jl
@ranchandsyrup:
” The new trailer for American Psycho III, Kill the 47% Mitt! is awesome. ”
Sounds like a sad, but mean, only subliminally self-aware, clown reality show. Not in a mood to watch it.
daverave
Looks to me like Robbie’s doin’ his just scored some more crack dance!
Dee Loralei
@WereBear: that was clever, and smart. Thanks!
PaulW
I am so so sorry for not being able to vote for Rob Ford’s opponent in the mayoral election. Although I have a good excuse of not being Canadian…
cmorenc
I can already see that “thought leader” is going to rapidly be established as among our favorite memes here at BJ.
WereBear
@Dee Loralei: SO appreciate it. Going out on a creative limb, so it means a lot to me that you enjoyed it!
Trollhattan
Rob Ford: Canada’s gift to every North American politician who’s in trouble of any sort. Time for Vitter to round up some hookers and underalls.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@Petorado:
Goddamn you, you made me go to Salon.
I feel dirty.