Daily BrewMayor Rob Ford’s credibility questioned during U.S. media blitz
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has long been a punch line on late-night U.S. talk shows, but the latest chapters in the ongoing controversy into Ford’s drug and alcohol use and waning credibility now has the dreaded “mainstream media” standing up and taking notice.
With Toronto City Council voted on Monday to strip powers from Ford, the mayor and his brother, Coun. Doug Ford, have turned to the American market with their claims of righteousness.
And while the intention was to find fresh ground where they could spread the seeds of Ford Nation, it seems the book is already out on exactly who these men are.
From a behind-the-scenes exclusive on CNN and to a sit down interview on ABC’s Good Morning America to a full-on expose in the New York Times, the Fords have done their best to appear legitimate to the growing U.S. audience who have tuned into the train wreck in Toronto.
An article by the New York Times has garnered much of the attention, as it digs beneath the bullet points most reports stop at and exposes many of the sordid details frequently glossed over by many in the U.S. media corps.
The Times article, written by Jennifer Steinhauer and Ian Austen, begins:
The end did not come for Rob Ford, the mayor of this city, when he proclaimed his proclivity for oral sex on live television.
It did not come when the police confirmed that they had a video of him smoking crack, something he had repeatedly denied, nor when he showed up drunk at a local festival, careened equally plastered on a dance floor, or when the local Santa parade told him to please stay away.
It did not even come Monday, during a City Council meeting at which members voted to take away most of his budget and staff while he cantered around the chamber, heckling voters and knocking a City Council member to the floor.
It seems that Mr. Ford, absent a decision to quit, will remain at the helm of Canada’s largest and most affluent city at least until his term ends next year. He says he has far too many phone calls left to make.
The article goes on to note that, "the endurance of Mr. Ford, so rotund and erratic that he often appears on the brink of spontaneous explosion, has become nothing short of an obsession."
Other comments of note: Coun. Sarah Doucette told the newspaper that children in the High Park area now play a schoolyard game called, "Cops and Rob Ford." And Coun. John Filion considered betting Ford $1,000 to run for mayor in 2010, if only for the chance to see Ford leave council entirely. It is not clear whether that bet ever went through.
The article also explains Toronto's suburban/downtown divide quite well, our history with amalgamation and the relationship between Rob and Doug Ford, described as the real political power in the family.
More on Rob Ford:
A recap of Mayor Rob Ford’s new show on Sun News Network
Rick Mercer explains why some people still support Rob Ford
Ontario PC Leader says he would support provincial intervention in Rob Ford crisis
'You attacked Kuwait,' Mayor Rob Ford says as council strips away key powers
Full coverage: Rob Ford
Doug Ford's role as political powerhouse should help explain why he chaperoned his brother during the series of U.S. television appearances he has made lately.
Like this interview with Good Morning America's Matt Lauer. When Ford was asked during the interview whether he thinks he is actually fit to lead the city in the case of an emergency like a terror attack, considering his proclivity for drunken stupors, he said, "I’m very fortunate that that hasn’t happened but that could happen with anybody at any time. Say you had gone out drinking or you were drunk and say something had happened with your family.”
Another highlight from the interview is that Ford admitted he is not seeking treatment for drugs and alcohol. He has elsewhere hinted at seeing "professionals," but confirmed in this interview that those professionals are only working to address his weight.
That leads to another advancement that came to light during a U.S. interview. During a segment on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, Ford told correspondent Bill Weir that he "smoked some crack sometime."
This is a far cry from the vague admission that he smoked it once "probably in one of my drunken stupors" about two years ago.
That interview is worth watching in full. It appears to be intended as a tightly-controlled visit to Ford Nation, but ends with the mayor berating Weir and attacking his credibility.
Hello, U.S. audiences. Welcome to the disaster that is Toronto’s mayor.
