Author Topic: Schadenfreude in Toronto  (Read 5468 times)

GuitarStv

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Schadenfreude in Toronto
« on: November 05, 2013, 02:11:16 PM »
Looks like our great mayor has finally been outed as the crack smoking, drug/alcohol addict he has always been.

The man who said such great things as:
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What I compare bike lanes to is swimming with the sharks. Sooner or later you're going to get bitten... Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks, not for people on bikes. My heart bleeds for them when I hear someone gets killed, but it’s their own fault at the end of the day.

The man who declared a 'war on cars' and had attempted to remove bike lanes where ever possible.

The man who cancelled the fully funded and under construction Toronto transit plan to build lane separated LRTs all over the city in low density areas in favor of a three stop subway extension that will replace a 7 stop LRT that is currently running.

The man who tried to close libraries across the city before tremendous public backlash forced him to drop these plans.

The man who has spoken out against AIDS:
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"If you are not doing needles and you are not gay, you wouldn't get AIDS probably, that's bottom line...those are the facts."

The man who was banned from coaching football at any Toronto area high school because of the comments he made that without him the students would turn to a life of crime and selling drugs.  His good friend, a drug dealer, was often present for his after school coaching sessions.

The man who has been seen flipping off other drivers while reading and driving.  Who has stopped and yelled at street car drivers honking at him after he dangerously buzzes by their cars while passengers are getting off.

The man who used his mayoral power to get the street in front of his business paved to meet a company party/celebration.




I try not to be a dick to other people, but all I'm feeling now is . . . . Whooohooo!
« Last Edit: November 05, 2013, 02:14:37 PM by GuitarStv »

matchewed

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2013, 03:16:21 PM »
Is he being forced to resign yet? Any other politician probably would have at this point (then make another attempt to get into the game a year late *cough Carlos Danger cough*).

footenote

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2013, 03:28:59 PM »
"Drunken stupor" joins pantheon of political excuses:

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/11/quote-day-drunken-stupor-joins-pantheon-great-political-excuses

Next he'll be pulling out my favorite Matt Groening line: "Mistakes were made."

Kazimieras

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2013, 09:35:56 AM »
Is he being forced to resign yet? Any other politician probably would have at this point (then make another attempt to get into the game a year late *cough Carlos Danger cough*).
Sadly there is no legislation or laws in place that would prohibit him from retaining his position as major. So for now poor Toronto is stuck with them. A crack smoking major and a poor hockey team, I feel bad for Toronto ;)

grmagne

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2013, 12:12:20 PM »
Is he being forced to resign yet? Any other politician probably would have at this point (then make another attempt to get into the game a year late *cough Carlos Danger cough*).
Sadly there is no legislation or laws in place that would prohibit him from retaining his position as major. So for now poor Toronto is stuck with them. A crack smoking major and a poor hockey team, I feel bad for Toronto ;)

Poor hockey team?? Check the standings ;)

Rob Ford could have been a mustachian mayor, given his love of running a tight financial ship with minimal wastage. It's too bad he's so pro-car & anti-bicycle (and pro-crack).

Recon

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2013, 03:28:10 PM »
From the article...the true Mustachian mayor:

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Other wacky world mayors

Stephane Gendron (Huntingdon, Quebec), who also hosts a radio show, bragged about running over kittens with his car

Arturas Zuokas (Vilnius, Lithuania), an avid cyclist, ran over a luxury car with a tank to make a point about parking violations

Jon Gnarr (Reykjavik, Iceland) The pink-suited former actor campaigned on a platform of free towels at swimming pools and a polar bear for the city zoo

Boris Johnson (London) is as instantly recognisable for his floppy blonde mop of uncombed hair as for his grandiloquent wit - and sometimes gaffes

Luigi de Magistris (Naples, Italy) lambasted media in a late-night Twitter rant, complaining he had received no publicity for cleaning up the city

Stubbs the cat (Talkeetna, Alaska) A four-legged feline who has been city leader for 15 years

brewer12345

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2013, 07:26:48 PM »
Sounds like he is right up there with Marion Barry.  You know?  The DC mayor who was busted for smoking crack with a prostitute (and who is still on the DC city council)?

plainjane

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2013, 06:30:51 AM »
Rob Ford could have been a mustachian mayor, given his love of running a tight financial ship with minimal wastage. It's too bad he's so pro-car & anti-bicycle (and pro-crack).

I have often felt like his desire to run a tight financial ship often seemed to be a case of "not doing the stuff I don't like".  Frex, the subway he wants and pushed through is more expensive than the LRTs that had been planned. 

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/11/06/rob_ford_fact_checking_mayors_political_claims.html
"The city has passed two nearly-flat budgets, largely in spite of Ford, who has supported big ticket items like the Scarborough subway, and voted for last-minute budget hikes, like the $12 million added to the 2013 budget for firefighters last January."

And it isn't just the Star.  You can find similar articles in the Globe and National Post. (Granted mostly after public sentiment had shifted)
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/11/05/john-moore-rob-ford-never-was-rob-ford/

gimp

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2013, 11:34:39 AM »
From the article...the true Mustachian mayor:

Quote
Other wacky world mayors

Stephane Gendron (Huntingdon, Quebec), who also hosts a radio show, bragged about running over kittens with his car

Arturas Zuokas (Vilnius, Lithuania), an avid cyclist, ran over a luxury car with a tank to make a point about parking violations

Jon Gnarr (Reykjavik, Iceland) The pink-suited former actor campaigned on a platform of free towels at swimming pools and a polar bear for the city zoo

Boris Johnson (London) is as instantly recognisable for his floppy blonde mop of uncombed hair as for his grandiloquent wit - and sometimes gaffes

Luigi de Magistris (Naples, Italy) lambasted media in a late-night Twitter rant, complaining he had received no publicity for cleaning up the city

Stubbs the cat (Talkeetna, Alaska) A four-legged feline who has been city leader for 15 years

I think Stubbs is far more mustachian. Have you EVER heard of that particular mayor spending town funds poorly? Or buying anything wasteful? Of course not.

Jamesqf

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2013, 12:40:55 PM »
Actually, I think it's kind of sad.  I mean, the guy was apparently doing a piss-poor job as mayor, and most everyone was OK with that, but if he smokes a little crack, that's a major problem?  And if he was instead doing a really super job as mayor (better even than Stubbs!), the crack-smoking would still lose him the job?

GuitarStv

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2013, 01:23:53 PM »
Actually, I think it's kind of sad.  I mean, the guy was apparently doing a piss-poor job as mayor, and most everyone was OK with that, but if he smokes a little crack, that's a major problem?  And if he was instead doing a really super job as mayor (better even than Stubbs!), the crack-smoking would still lose him the job?

I've never liked the guy because of the piss-poor job he was doing as mayor.  Most people weren't OK with that.  City council has been regularly voting against anything Ford puts out in the last year or so . . .

Doing drugs opens a politician up to a world of problems, but the biggest one is the association with criminals.  Ford's close personal friend and driver was his drug dealer.  Ford was found paying the electric bill of his favorite crack house.  One of the drug dealers that Ford was photographed with was shot dead last year in a gang war, two of the other ones are in jail.  Judgment aside, this is a big security risk.  It opens any politician up to huge risks of blackmail, and likely requests from criminal connections.  There's also the silliness of being the man in charge of approving the police budget . . . when the police are actively investigating you and your friends.  Then there's the hypocrisy of the mayor being in charge of the cities anti-drug campaign.

It's sad that our mayor has created this situation for himself.  Everyone makes mistakes, no doubt.  Regularly being drunk in public, smoking crack, and associating with criminals shows very poor judgement though.  Being a mayor of the fourth largest city of North America requires someone with better judgement than that.

infogoon

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2013, 02:19:29 PM »
Judgment aside, this is a big security risk.  It opens any politician up to huge risks of blackmail, and likely requests from criminal connections. 

I'd love to see someone try to blackmail a guy who's constantly drunk in public and just admitted to smoking crack while in office.

"Yeah, well, I'll tell them about your overdue library books, too!*"


* This is an exaggeration. I don't think Mayor Ford is a big reader.

Jamesqf

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2013, 03:54:32 PM »
Doing drugs opens a politician up to a world of problems, but the biggest one is the association with criminals.

I dunno... Personally, I think it's a shame when a hard-working crook has to stoop to associating with politicians :-)

Gerard

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #13 on: November 09, 2013, 04:05:28 PM »
I actually don't have huge problems with his being a drug user... maybe because I come from Montreal, and we just vote for whichever thieving philanderer has public policies that we like.  But he goes on and on about being the guy who stands up for honest citizens (despite his drug shit) and working people (despite his huge family wealth and his opposition to things that help working people, like libraries that contain books) and balanced budgets (despite his and his brother's crazy-ass expensive schemes).

sleepyguy

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Re: Schadenfreude in Toronto
« Reply #14 on: November 09, 2013, 06:04:37 PM »
To be honest, this is so much media... they should have made a bigger deal with the Gas Plant move (Scandal) that cost tax payers $500 Million.

I could care less about Ford.