Let’s be perfectly clear. The dude is a buffoon, a one man train wreck. He’s a magnet for controversy and has the self-discipline of a two year old being bribed with chocolate. Putting this guy officially in office again will be another 4 years of sheer lunacy.
Also, I don’t live in Toronto so I can’t technically vote for him. But if I could, I would. And there will be a lot of people come October 2014 who are able to cast a ballot for him and will.
It has nothing to do with his political beliefs or his policies. Toronto is no better off and no worse than before he took office. Ford’s done nothing remarkable to make me sit up and take notice and quite frankly, his conservative views are as scary as hell. His short sighted vision to cut taxes and take care of the little guy is honourable, but it comes across like a crafted message designed to garner a base. There’s nothing else there.
If you think all the drinking and drugs are behind him, you’re an idiot. Rob Ford has an addiction problem and the fact that he keeps denying anything is wrong proves it’s all very wrong. Exercising for a couple hours of day and getting reassuring nods from your enabling family and doctor is not going to cut it. Two, three, four months from now, he’ll slip as humans always do. Things will get tough, old habits will come roaring back and he’ll be on a bender, draining mickeys and looking to inhale whatever's available. The day he comes out and admits—Yes, I have an addiction problem. I’m working to get a handle on it. I’m going to AA. I’m doing a liver detox, writing in my journal and working to understand myself better—then I’ll believe he’s on the road towards putting his addictions behind him. You need to be able to take a good hard look at yourself to get to that place.
About voting for him — that’s simply the rebellious streak in me applauding his boneheaded efforts. Because no matter how hard the horrified media, the late night comics, Matt Lauer and his fellow city hall colleagues come down on him, Ford won’t listen and he won’t go. Any other reasonable person who buys into to society’s conventions would have caved to the embarrassment and pressure by now. Any rationale person in his position would have the dignity to step down, recognize they have failed the voters, brought disrepute to the position and see they lack the moral character to lead people. Every pressure tactic applied, every gamut that would have felled stronger people in the past, he has pushed aside and KEPT ON GOING. Who the fuck is this superman? He’s either the stupidest person I have ever laid eyes on or the very epitome of determination, bordering somewhere on genius status.
I need to find out, and for that reason, he’d get my vote. He gets my support just for having the moxie to buck the system. And I won’t be the only one thinking like this next year. Everyone loves an underdog and the way Ford is playing this out, whether calculated or not, he will be the underdog by the time the polls open. He’ll have thumbed his nose at the system and done what no one else would ever try to do—pretend all is fine and keep on truckin’.
Because he refuses to go away, a voting majority with a deep seated desire for destruction, to let the train barrel spectacularly off the tracks, will propel Ford back into office. Keep his addiction relapses hidden and he’ll be mayor once more. People have remarkably short memories. A few drinks, a little crack. Ah, screw what’s best for the city. We want to see just how far the man can take it. Could he possibly do what no one else has done before? Could he, out of bullheaded stupidity, beat the establishment and make it through to the other side where redemption may just lie?
The need to find out will win out. — Keir Overton
No comments:
Post a Comment