Now, you might be thinking “but wait, you have no respect for the Ford Brothers.” And that is not precisely true. Rob Ford is excellent at constituent service, for example – he genuinely loves it and takes pride in it, it is quite possibly the best thing about a generally awful person. You can at least respect Rob Ford on that basis, and there are clearly other elements of the man that are respectable, which makes him such a tragic figure in so many respects.
But Doug Ford? (Who, for non-Torontonians, is Rob Ford’s older brother and who took over Rob’s seat on city council when Rob ran for Mayor.) Holy crap, fuck Doug Ford. He has, with this scandal, proven himself to be a truly worthless human being, on the basis of one sentence:
“Rob is telling me these stories are untrue, that these accusations are ridiculous and I believe him.”
Not “Rob doesn’t smoke crack.” Not “Rob would never do those things.” Not “there’s no tape, this is just crap.” Not even a “oh, fuck you.” Doug Ford just threw his own brother under the bus, because according to Doug Ford, Doug Ford is just an innocent bystander in all of this. If the Rob Ford crack video eventually does emerge (and it looks at this point fairly likely to do so) and Rob Ford is indeed smoking crack and calling Justin Trudeau a fag and all the rest of it, well, that’s not Doug’s fault, because Rob told him he doesn’t smoke crack and why wouldn’t you believe your brother?
I get that Doug Ford is in a difficult situation: when you are a politician, you can be loyal to the public or to your family in a situation like this. If Doug knows there is no video or doesn’t know if the video exists, his response should have been a simple “Rob doesn’t smoke crack.” If he does know about the video, then he has two choices: either stand with the city and say that Rob needs to stand down, or double down, stand by his brother and say “Rob doesn’t smoke crack.” And frankly, given that last option, I think most people would (eventually) forgive him, because this is the man’s brother. I’ve had judges tell me on numerous occasions that they discount testimony from family members of parties/accuseds because, well, they’re family and it’s to be expected that family sticks together. And they’re not going to go attacking those people for perjury. We’re supposed to be loyal to our families.
But, when the chips were down, Doug Ford made his choice: not to be loyal to the city or to his own brother, but instead to be loyal to Doug Ford. That is the amoral and craven act of a truly worthless human being – and one, frankly, that if Rob and Doug’s roles in this were reversed I think Rob Ford would not have chosen – and I think people need to remember this, because Doug Ford is going to do his damnedest not to go away and continue to be a blight on the political landscape. And conservatives in Ontario need to remember it more than liberals, because it is now quite obvious that Doug Ford does not give a shit about his fellow conservatives. If Doug Ford isn’t willing to go to the mattresses for his brother, then he’s certainly not going to do it for his fellow party members.
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Well said.
Doug has his eyes on the premiership, even if it means sabotaging Hudak to do so. Even if he doesn’t realize the Tories aren’t going to get in anytime soon anyway… but you’re right. The mouthy prick is going to be a blight on the political landscape for a long time to come.
Both of these two were bullies when they were kids. Unfortunately they never got the ass kicking they desperately needed. Might have turned them into halfway decent human beings.
What astounds me is the Ford supporters who still find this all acceptable.
And just when I think that smug, self-righteous, arrogant, lying douchebag of an MP that we voted out of office up here in Labrador was the biggest blight on Canadian politics, the Ford brothers make the news….
Please remember that there is also a distant third possibility: Doug does not want to endanger the salvation of his soul by false oath. The choice of perjury for his brother does not simply risk prison but hell, too, if you have a sufficiently medieval mindset.
He wouldn’t be risking prison by lying to the media.
Any respect left to lose? http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/globe-investigation-the-ford-familys-history-with-drug-dealing/article12153014/
Doug is a drug dealer, you know.
Aw, poor Doug. Now his drug-dealing past is getting all exposed thanks to his brother’s pathetic response to the crack allegations (note Ford didn’t say anything about the Trudeau and f— minorities comments he’s alleged to have said, probably because even he can’t say with a straight face that those things don’t sound like anything he would ever say). Someone should give Doug a hug. Not his brother, though — we know where he stands on the whole “hug a thug” issue.
Is it just me, or does Doug’s “I hate drugs! I won’t even take aspirin!” not sound like addict talk? Like a guy who maybe kicked his habit some time ago, and dares not contemplate falling off the wagon?
So admittedly this is an outsiders perspective but I’ve always gotten the idea from you and other Canadian political commentators that Rob Ford is an amiable boob, a well-meaning moron with a bit of a mean streak but not overtly cruel and/or calculating- kind of a fat Canadian Dubya– right down to the inheriting everything and not realizing his privilege. So I guess what I’m asking is, and I don’t want to stretch the analogy too far here- is Doug, Rob’s Cheney– the competent, cruel, bloodless guy behind the power?
That’s a fair comparison… Rob’s got a bumbling thing going on, foot in his mouth sort of problem. He does have an anger management problem, but between the two, Doug has a meaner side to him. Though he’s not competent or bright, like we could say about Cheney. Both of these two, in the end, are dimwits who are incapable of doing the job they were elected to.
ROB & DOUG FORD ARE BOTH FANTASTIC GUYS! NO ONE MAKING COMMENTS PERSONALLY KNOW THESE MEN. I THINK WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT IS THE STUPIDITY TO BELIEVE HOGWASH FROM A ZIONIST, HOMOSEXUAL INFESTED MEDIA!! THE BIBLE CLEARLY STATES HOMO IS WRONG, PERHAPS FORD HAS MORAL SCRUPLES?
Someone let Mammoliti on the Internet again…
ROB FORD IS A EXCELLENT CIVIL SERVANT WHO HAS PUT TORONTO IN THE GOOD FINANCIALLY SINCE TAKING THE HELM! TOO BAD THE MEDIA DOES NOT SPEND TIME DISCLOSING IMPORTANT MATTERS LIKE ISRAEL APARTHEID, WHERE THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT CHILDREN ARE SUFFERING…MAKE NO WONDER THE UN CONDEMNED CANADA!! GOD BLESS NOAM CHOMSKY…WHO CARES ABOUT ROB FORDS’ PERSONAL LIFE…AS A MAYOR HE “TAKES CARE OF BUSINESS”!
YOUR TROLLING IS BAD
AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD