Look, Rob, now you’ve gone and made Jim Flaherty cry! ARE YOU HAPPY?!

Having just heard Doug Ford lashing out at the Chief of Police this morning (then discussing journalism law and ethics with a group of Ryerson students), demanding that the Chief be investigated for being in conflict of interest in making a statement about how he personally felt after seeing the crack video, I was about to let loose with a bunch of F-bombs and litany of lies-and-hypocrisy-exposing links. Seriously…conflict of interest?!

But then…

First came the news that a growing chorus on Council is finally getting in gear and making motions to effectively nullify the mayor’s and his deputy’s powers:

Second was the expected-but-still-shocking admission by Robbie: yes, he did smoke crack. Probably while heavily drunk, though surprisingly Robbie recalls both that it happened about a year ago and what the media were asking him in May of this year. The reason he didn’t answer media questions about his crack use honestly, says Ford, is not because he was lying but because they didn’t ask him the right questions. Apparently they just kept referring to alcohol.

Well, here we are. So should the cops now do as Robbie demanded a couple of days ago and arrest him? Will the Fords go down with some shred of decency, or will they go down as unabashed villains?

Many people are suggesting that Fordo’s apology on this past weekend’s RoFoDoFo Show installment didn’t go far enough. I agree, but I’m not so amorphous about it.

Sarah and I tuned in yesterday afternoon and we were surprised to hear what sounded like real remorse in Rob’s voice. If he was faking it, he did a great job. And I accept it — as far as it went — because Robbie was very specific about what he was apologizing for: being plastered at Taste of Danforth this year, and being even more off-the-hook at an earlier St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

More than once, Rob re-iterated that this is specifically what he was apologizing for — make no mistake.

So first off, thank you, Mayor Ford, for what I perceived as genuine contrition and a recognition that being publicly intoxicated is unseemly. Your Freudian but refreshingly honest slip that this “hopefully” won’t happen again was good to hear.  And you know what? Although I don’t recall going to the extent that you did, I admit to having some crazy fun party nights myself so I’m not going to be a dick and hold you to to what your brother calls “lily-white holier-than-thou” standards. It’s true, very few of us are innocent on that end.

I hope that a search through TCL’s archives will reveal that your partying or drug use were never really the issue, though you have to admit that some drugs really do affect the mind more than others, and as someone charged with the health and welfare of millions, I don’t think it’s unrealistic that such things should be considered while holding the office of Mayor.

The real issue  is that you have been and continue to tip-toe around your truthlessness.

Remember the last time people asked you about your drug use back when you were running for mayor?

[Ford] adamantly denied having been charged when first approached by the Sun.

“No to answer your question,” Ford said.

“I’m dead serious. When I say no, I mean never. No question. Now I’m getting offended. No means no.”

But after Ford was provided with details from a Florida state criminal history record obtained by the Sun, he admitted the incident.

“I completely forgot about it until you mentioned it right now,” he said.

I mean, that’s it in a nutshell. Someone challenges you with something, and your first response is to attack them. I’m sure it’d be physical if only it was legal. Often you resort to insults that both you and your brother hurl in equal measure. It’s not inaccurate to say that denial, anger, deflection, and many things un-mayorly — and moreover uncivil — are the product of your natural demeanour.

It isn’t until confronted with irrefutable proof that you finally admit to not being “perfect” and claim to show some contrition which ends up being false.

So in the end, you’re not sorry at all, your apology is a lie, and your original statement is a lie. Liar McLiarPants.

And don’t try to blame the drugs — they might make you feel invincible, carefree, etc., but there are no substances that I’m aware of that make you an incessant liar.

If you recognized these things, the voice acting you do on the air would be genuinely convincing — sounding like you’re sorry, and saying things that indicate the same would really be something.

Actually saying something would also be helpful, because currently you’ve got your brother on LeDrew’s program filling your void and suggesting that you were probably just taking an innocent hour-long stroll from your place to the infamous crack video location and just happened to be accosted by some friendly fellows with whom you posed for one of the “tens of thousands” of photos that you pose for every year.

Or, maybe the other explanation that Councillor Ford is putting forth is that you just happened to be driving in that neighbourhood (or were being driven), and simply popped out for an impromptu, sweatshirted photo op with a bunch of strangers, all of which incidentally happened in front of a famous crack house.

All of the substantiated evidence points to something more and something very obvious, yet here you are still not being terribly forthright. You won’t address anything until, once again, the evidence is too obvious and stark. And then you’ll probably chalk it up to yet another misunderstanding.

Only thing is, we’d all have to be awfully dumb to keep misunderstanding what you’re really doing, Mayor Ford.

Councillor James Pasternak summed up my sentiments pretty succinctly this morning — this should be “endgame” for the RoFoDoFo bros. Police chief Bill Blair was very reserved at this morning’s press conference, but even if details were scarce he confirmed and even elaborated on the Ford crack video — the “tape” is real, the cops have it, and there is more than one video connected to all of this:

Although he was in his rights to do so, Robbie flipped out at reporters who were (understandably) crowding him from the moment he stepped out his front door on this soggy, foggy Halloween morning.

This all stems from the highly redacted tome released by Justice Ian Nordheimer that went public today detailing all sorts of sordid scenarios and shady shenanigans, many involving Rob Ford. In fact, it appears that Ford and the video he claimed doesn’t exist were the prime targets of the police investigation.

Have a gander for yourself: http://www.torontocitylife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Ford_Court_Documents.pdf

To continued Ford supporters, the conspiracy against their main man now covers all the major media (news, TV, radio), the police force, scores of lawyers and the judiciary, the majority of Council, and about a million or so people (the “lefty” “elites”) who really aren’t terribly fond of Fordo.

The initial TV commentary that I overheard on CP24’s former Ford apologist Stephen LeDrew’s show as I was dashing out the door this morning involved quite a few doozies (Lisi meeting with Ford and hand-delivering a mysterious white bag directly to the mayor’s SUV, for example), and I think it’s safe to say that it would be extremely irresponsible for both Nordheimer and the cops to have both released, and commented on, this explosive news if there is no follow-up planned.

In the tumult, the claim that Ford operated his Ford Fest without a permit (Karen Stintz – The Agenda, October 21, 2013), kinda got lost. Presumably this was the same Ford Fest that rudely pushed a proper permit-holding event out of a Scarborough Park (the “conflicting” schedule would make sense if one party didn’t actually have a permit), an event at which Ford gave out free beer, which would of course be illegal without a permit regardless of which event it was done at, not to mention making a mockery of both the Municipal Election Act and the Council Code of Conduct, which Fordo openly flaunted just for good measure.

And then there’s all the other stuff Ford did over the past three years in office, not to mention the ongoing litany of broken campaign promises which, with today’s announcement that Ford is supporting yet another tax hike — this time for municipal garbage collection — makes for a staggering record. I would call such things mere failures if Ford didn’t publicly stand in direct opposition to his own promises and blusterous claims.

Yet without so much as a measly fine for all of their infractions, it’s understandable why the Ford brothers might believe that they’re untouchable. As I write this, Robbie’s holding a quick press conference outside of his office to remind everyone that he’s going to continue doing his job because, you know, nothing’s wrong…

Just when you thought that the deluge of crap around CETA had stopped, it turns out that the agreement may be stalled, if at least for a while. But for reasons more troubling than I could’ve ever imagined:

Canada is balking at the inclusion of language in a final text that would refer to the importance of affirming human rights and non-proliferation efforts. The EU insists that all major agreements it negotiates contain language that promotes human rights and fights the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction — and it doesn’t want to make an exception for Canada.

In case you didn’t catch that, Harper’s government is throwing a hissy fit because CETA has a few clauses about human rights and dignity, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other such bullshit. Thankfully, some sanity prevails here at home and heroes like Dick Cheney are safe to walk Canadian streets again. Yay!

We recently found out that the lengthy Union Station revitalization project is going to cost more than expected (with additional “future risks” looming).

But it wasn’t really that unexpected. Even back in 2009 when TCL was in its infancy and I hadn’t yet donned my politico cap I already knew that this would happen, as is the case with pretty much anything and everything government does (so, really, a no-brainer deduction there).

Ford did the usual — feign ignorance:

“Everything is on time, everything is on budget, until they run out of time and they run out of budget, and they come with their cap in hand,” said Mr. Ford. “We got to change something on preliminary planning, someone is dropping the ball. You just can’t ask for $80-million without someone dropping the ball.”

Yet others at City Hall assured us that no new taxes will be needed to make up for the $80 mill shortfall:

The staff report predicts that the city will be able to rake in more money than expected, mainly by hiking commercial rents in the retail area. That extra $98-million is more than enough to pay off the debt taken on for the additional costs, the report states. The city will, however, have to draw $20-million from reserves. The report recommends referring consideration of the new financial plan to the 2014 budget debate, and also asks for permission to amend certain contracts and retainers.

“It’s not going to cost taxpayers more money, which is the important thing,” said Councillor David Shiner, who chairs the government management committee. He noted that the rent revenue stream is expected to result in a $115-million contribution to a Union Station reserve fund once the debt is paid off, in 30 years.

Ah, the old we’ll-just-raise-the-rent-after-they’ve-moved-in routine — clever marketing! But, and I will gladly put this on the record again, it won’t turn out that way. More cost over-runs and “complications” are going to come, more “outraged” politicians will vow to “get to the bottom of things” without any real choice except to keep forking over the cash until the job is done, and so on.

We’ll see where we are in another four years, but I know where I’m placing my bets.

I’m sure this isn’t the first time I’ve mentioned how the state and its agencies are getting so bold with our basic, fundamental freedoms that to compare them to East Germany’s post-World-War-2 Stasi is in no way an exaggeration.

A constant, around-the-clock surveillance on all citizens, guilty or innocent, is taking place – that much is now well and publicly established fact. Granted, we don’t have the secret police disappearing people off the streets just yet, but both Harper (Bill S-7) and Obama (NDAA) have made sure that that kind of thing will be all nice and legal when they decide to roll it out. Or they just passed these laws for shits and giggles, maybe? Oh, I know, it’s just for the bad guys, right?

Thankfully, there’s a growing backlash in the United States:

And we’re seeing some fightback from the CCLA on the topic too. But government is just one tiny step away from business, and the same scummy lack of morals and ethics pervades both houses of rot and greed.

Just recently, Bell announced it would be sharing your data with third-parties to bring better-tailored advertising to your mobile phone. According to a contract which would otherwise be viewed as being produced in bad faith (but, you know, big money), Bell reserves the right to do whatever they want, whenever they want, as do most banks and other big business we are forced to deal with at a cost and by law — unless I haven’t heard and the Canadian government is using its own solely legal tender (cash) again?

Oh sure, you can opt-out of the ads, but only whenever they feel like getting to it. Oh, and they’re still gonna track you and share the data with whomever they please — just to be clear.

Rogers recently did something similar, albeit in an opt-in fashion. Funny thing is, if Rogers is the good guy, it really makes you wonder what kind of shit is going on behind the scenes at Bell. As you may recall, Rogers spent months fighting tooth and nail against having to tell the truth in their ads because they claimed it infringed on their freedom of speech.

Simultaneously, our governments are pulling the rugs out from under their citizens by clamping down on unbiased scientific information in exchange for government propaganda, which is almost 100% pro-business and pro-big-money, and increasingly just simply telling their subjects that they’re not entitled to any information or say on things like massive, global, secretive agreements and deals like CETA, which will directly affect most of them negatively for a very long time — importing dirt-cheap European labour while Canadians remain unemployed, higher drug costs (government “subsidies” come out of Canadians’ pockets as taxes, don’t forget), and I’m sure a few other surprises and gotchas too — not like anyone’s allowed to actually see the damned things. But we might get cheaper eau du toilette though!

Even the people who Harper claims that the fast-tracked CETA is supposed to help aren’t happy with it. Ain’t the first time he’s pulled this stunt either. But what does King Harper care?

He’s become so accustomed to getting his way that as he was busy throwing his appointed minions under the bus, he and his helper monkeys became enraged when most news stations refused to air his recent caucus speech because he demanded that only cameras be let in — NO ONE MAY ASK QUESTIONS!

But our benevolent government is throwing us lowly serfs one little bone among all this, they’re going to allow us  to look over results of drug safety analyses of Health Canada. Yeah! Now we’re allowed to see the information produced with the money that is seized from us in order to determine if something might kill us or not. Aren’t we lucky?! Of course, the previous reasoning was that they would be giving away business secrets with this information, which obviously trumps God himself.

Is it just me or is this shit starting to get real old?

On the RoFoDoFo Radio Show yesterday, the two brothers, maintaining that they’re not bullies in singling out and personally attacking Ainslie for his subway vote, included a little advice for their audience: the only two papers worth a spit in this town are the Toronto Sun and the National Post.

These two stalwarts are, as the brothers pointed out, not part of the Ontario Press Council that recently cleared the Star and the Globe on their Ford reporting. All the other papers are Star sympathizers and the Council is a kangaroo court.

Alright then, let’s have a gander at what the Sun and the Post say…

‘I am so f—— mad at you’: Rob Ford to Sun columnist

“It was not a robocall, but Ford live and furious.

“I am so f—— mad at you right now,” he screamed, berating me over the line.

When I told him “I don’t care,” he became even more enraged.

He said “I am so f—– -angry” several times as I stepped away from the dinner table to take the surprise call.

It seems he was upset about my Thursday column.

In it, I called him out for what I thought was an unfair lambasting of a city employee caught in a picture appearing to be asleep–particularly when he himself has been embroiled in many controversies.

He took offence.”

…

“”I don’t want to hear these excuses,” Ford said of the apparently snoozing worker at the Carmine Stefano Community Centre in Etobicoke. “Really? No proof or explanation? No compassion? No one is allowed to have a bad day? No second chances?

Do you want us to apply that same standard to you, Mr. Mayor?””

Thank you, Toronto Sun. And now, a recent editorial from the National Post…

Robyn Urback: Councillors acting like cellphone vigilantes? Now that’s embarrassing

“”Mayor Rob Ford, of course, took the bait, calling the [Mammolitied sleeping city employee] incident a “complete embarrassment” and “black eye on the city.” As if this is the municipal incident that will bring down the reputation of the city.

“We cannot tolerate this,” Ford said at City Hall, seizing the opportunity to talk about contracting out parks and recreation jobs. “I want people to show up to work and do their job. If they can’t do their job, there’s thousands of other people that are willing and able to do their job.”

The event is low-hanging fruit for Ford and his team, which continues to tout its now-weary refrain of “ending the gravy train.” An what better cargo sauce than an apparent city slacker?””

…

“But whether he [the city employee] was actually sleeping or just inspecting the carpet tweed doesn’t matter much to the question of Mammoliti and Ford’s lowly decorum. As elected city officials, they should have behaved better.”

A big thank you to both sources. I strongly encourage TCL readers to read the whole articles, they have much more excellent information than I could re-post here, and you may stumble onto additionally revealing content beyond the cherries I’ve picked.

An excerpt from a recent Cracked magazine:

Robbie talking to Norm Kelly during this year’s TIFF:

Robbie answering questions directly and honestly:

A clip that never gets old:

Honest signage:

On oldie-but-a-goodie:

An uncanny likeness:

…and another portrayal by artist Mike Geiger:

Finally, just so it’s not all the disturbingly laughable Rob Ford, a random street altercation on Spadina:

This, Scarberians, is the brilliant Rob Fod who you allowed to get a hold of your money in order to build his vision of “subways”. Based on the video above, that will probably consist of some species of affordable unicorn covered in some manner of budget-conscious fairy dust that delivers crack cocaine to your front door, all paid for with magical gypsy gold and children’s dreams (that’s tax / fee / rent paying children, of course). This is the guy you handed the decision process to, allowing him to waste and squander what is now approaching a hundred million dollars while repeatedly “explaining” (Ford speak for “lie”), about how he’s actually saving a billion “dollars”.

The best part is how, throughout the entire process, Rob Ford kept all of his promises. Like his constantly-“guaranteed” no tax hikes, or the fact that he has managed to do everything he said he would with no service cuts, just as he promised. And above all that, I admire how honest and forthright Rob Ford and his brother have been with everyone about everything.

Then I recall how this man has given all of Toronto a heartwarming 30-year gift, his carefree attitude to anything and everything else having to do with transit, and his ability to maximize the time and money spent on a project while minimizing its value, and I am left in utter awe and amazement.

Boy, Scarborough, you really done good!