Monday morning questions

I'm so torn on this whole Rob Ford thing: I feel a great deal of sorrow about the whole mess. It's 'fashionable' to feel sorry about it, according to one of many columnists I read this weekend, as though honest upset is impossible. That same columnist said it appeared as though Ford's 'catty' comments on Thursday had been rehearsed and Ford was pretty pleased to have said them, at the time at least. I thought the same thing upon my first watching, but dismissed my impression because really, who would be proud of such an utterance in front of a phalanx of reporters? The answer is, no one who would use the words utterance or phalanx.

Therein lies the great divide: Rob Ford won in Toronto on the politics of division, pitting the car-driving suburbanites against the subway-taking downtowners. Tim's versus Starbucks, and he's a Tim's guy, just like you!

But -is- he just like you? Yeah, you have a few hangovers in your history and a few things you're not particularly proud of, but how many of your friends are in jail?

Sure, you have some stories on the wild side, but have you ever been in a house that police characterize as a crack den? How often?

Do you know anyone who has been shot in a drug deal? Killed in gang activity?

Did you get yourself into a drunken stupor this weekend and accidentally take a drag on a crack pipe that just happened to be available? Were you at the kind of party that has crack?

Did you have a few drinks and get behind the wheel?

Has your spouse ever called 911 with an allegation of spousal assault?

Have you been arrested in possession of pot? How about for DUI?

Were you ever asked by a major organization not to appear at a public event like a football game or parade?

No? Well, clearly you're one of the snooty downtowners, you snob.

Personally, I don't pick who I vote for based on whether I want to hang out with them or whether their exploits are more or less embarrassing than mine. I try to vote for the smartest person on the ticket because the job they're doing is a complex one. I vote for the candidate I think is honest, because I want honest people handling my tax dollars. When I fill out my ballot, I don't feel that attending the same high school automatically earns a candidate my vote. When possible, I pick the person who's the smartest, the most honest and here's one more thing: the kindest. Kind with my money, and also kind, as in thoughtful and, for want of a better term, good. If a potential representative seems smart but also mean, I hesitate.

Maybe I'm alone in this, but whether I could down a beer (or ten) with a candidate, or where they buy their coffee just never,ever comes into consideration.

The cat's out of the bag

Just when I thought it simply could not get any worse for Canadian politics, it gets a little worse each day, and that was months ago.

Did you see today's scrum at City Hall in Toronto? All of it? Unedited?

Well, if you're a voter in Toronto, you should.

So Proud I Think My Heart Might Burst

I was away on a cheapy sunshine holiday when last week's round of revelations came surrounding Rob Ford. We didn't turn our in-room television on until about day three, and there was good ole Toronto, front and centre on the BBC and CNN. It's been kind of funny the last few months, watching a loudmouth get his comeuppance, but watching Ford's humiliation was kind of squirm-inducing, actually. I was embarrassed to have lived in Toronto at one point, to see one of my favourite places turned into an international laughingstock.

During the trip, we made friends with a group of lovely people who had been to our resort more than a dozen times and who self-identified as members of Ford Nation. The admission from Ford that he had smoked crack was cracking their resolve to continue supporting him. One of the women said she was done with Ford although her husband remained unmoved. He was definitely buying into the 'Who among us hasn't sinned?' argument being put forward, sticking to his guns that it doesn't matter what Ford does on his off-hours since he's watching the cash and 'stopping the gravy train'.

I'd be interested to hear what Steve has to say today, with allegations in the newly-unredacted court documents that the 'gravy train' actually appears to have a fully furnished stop in Rob Ford's office. Ford is said to have given big raises (yes, in tax dollars) to staff members who stayed after the mass exodus in June. He's said to have sent workers to do chores at his house during work hours and also to have sent workers, during work hours, to the liquor store on his behalf. He's said to have been drunk at work and also to have brought prostitutes to his office.

Most of us have done things we're not proud of, and I think that's why Ford has sustained his support this long; people see a bit of themselves in him. However, I suspect most of Ford Nation has also had an abusive boss somewhere along the line, someone who has different expectations of their workers than of themselves, who asks for stuff he shouldn't and who bullies berates and bribes underlings.

I'm guessing that Ford is starting to look less like the colleague who has a few 'too many pops' once in a while and more like a mean, out-of-control boss unafraid to put his hand in the cookie jar. Then again, loyalty is a funny thing, and many of us can find ways to explain away even the worst behaviour in the people we have chosen to support.

Just look at Leafs Nation if you need an example.