Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Rob Ford: The Man and His Foul Legacy



Although I despised Rob Ford with every bone in my body, I must admit I was sad to hear that he had died.

Because nobody can celebrate the death of a man who died so young from such a terrible disease like cancer.

And I feel sorry for his wife and two young children, and all the others who loved him.

But when I see how so many people are falling backwards to praise Ford, I feel that this must also be said. 



Rob Ford was the worst mayor Toronto has ever known. A crass, vulgar, bully bigot misogynist and Con thug, who did great harm to his city he professed to love.

No amount of lipstick can change that foul legacy. And nobody should forget who he really was. 

There is a difference of opinion on whether speaking ill of the dead is socially acceptable. Some argue that it’s awkward and inappropriate because the unfortunate person has, after all, died. Others wonder why the act of death ought to boost one’s image.

As you can see, I’m of the second school of thought. If one was appalled by Ford when he was alive, why try to buff up his image now that he’s dead?


It’s a pity to see anyone die young, especially if he has a family, but if the truth is told, Rob Ford was a sad, self-destructive man who was an embarrassment to his city and to his country.


For he did embarrass us all in the eyes of the world. And those who praise him so extravagantly are only insulting and hurting his many victims.

And should stare into their own souls and ask themselves this question:


And for defending the indefensible, hang their own heads in shame...



Still, in his squalid career Ford did manage to achieve two things worth mentioning:

One, he did help write Donald Trump's playbook.

As many a political decoder has noted, much of the political wizardry of The Donald today, in the United States, is right out of Ford’s playbook—both in terms of plank (the promises of gravy-train reduction), the populism, but also, most critically, the shamelessness and the truth-scrambling.

As Daniel Dale, the Toronto Star reporter who covered Ford and is now covering Trump, has pointed out. The similarities are impossible to ignore.

“The moment when I really felt it was when Trump said, ‘I could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and I wouldn’t lose any supporters,’ and I thought, where have I heard that before? It was almost verbatim the Doug Ford (Doug Ford’s brother and key defense-man) quote from 2010 about Rob Ford being able to strangle someone on the steps of City Hall and still win the election.”

So he was a useful warning to us about what can happen when leaders lose touch with the people they govern, and crass, vulgar demagogues are allowed to run wild.

But as for me, Ford's greatest achievement was helping to bring down his good buddy Stephen Harper...



For polls have since shown that this photo op with Ford in the dying days of the campaign, was for many Canadians the final straw.

And as I pointed out in this video I made at the time, was for the desperate Harper and his Cons the final nightmare...



Or the kiss of death.

And for that I will be eternally grateful.

For the two did deserve each other.....



So yes, as I said at the beginning, I am sorry Rob Ford died so young and so horribly.

I'm sorry for the man and his family.

But like Harper, his political legacy was a foul one. 

And should never be forgotten...

Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

'Nuff said....

Anonymous said...

My first thought when I read the news: 'I hope it was a long and painful.'

After reading many commentaries, including this one, my thoughts are the same.

I don't believe in hell, but if there is - I hope Ford is in a very special place there.

Anonymous said...

Heed the lesson people. I'm sure when he was a little boy under the age of 5, he was a wonderful little kid, but when you overindulge your children the way he was, this is the kind of person they grow up to be. Whenever I think of Rob Ford the image of Biff in back to the future comes to mind. Rich, entitled, bully, and not very smart.

The winter storm a few years ago that left tens of thousands without power for weeks is directly attributable to Ford cutting back much needed maintenance (tree-pruning) for the city of Toronto. The near total control of Toronto by condo developers with little regard for building communities and destroying vibrant neighbourhoods, is also one of his legacies.
He was the perfect neocon patsie for the monied interests just as surely as Harper was for the tar sands.
It's embarrassing to see the neocon corporate media tripping over themselves to canonize Ford as if he were some saint. I can only imagine what they would do if it were Harper instead.
Good grief! Put him in the ground and let's move on already!

Steve said...

One should not speak ill of the dead. Why not, seriously why do foul idiots born of privilage get a pass?

Anonymous said...

Ford isn't going to hell...... He is in heaven waiting his friend Harper to arrive...... I think self serving when alive, leaves a self serving legacy when dead!!!!! Time to roll one up and take a puff for Rob!!!!! Or lite up the pipe if you desire???????

Anonymous said...

Progressives, the class acts of humanity. Hey, I got some Layton jokes if your all game.

Anonymous said...

1. Learn to read/write correctly/proficiently in English you
rightwing, moronic, golemic dolt.
2. FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING FUCK!!!

Simon said...

hi anon...yes the long saga of Rob Ford is finally over. And I am glad that I won't have to write anything more about him. Although the Ford Nation is still out there, and with Doug Ford as its leader is still capable of causing trouble...

Simon said...

hi anon...well as much as I despised Ford, I don't like to see anyone suffer. So I hope he had a peaceful death. But I'm not going to let his death obscure his foul record. Nobody is perfect, I'm certainly not, and I am prepared to forgive people and do believe in the power of redemption. But tragically Ford never had a chance to redeem himself, so his record as a foul bully bigot will stick to him forever...

Simon said...

hi anon...I've never read anything about Ford's childhood, but I'm pretty sure he was a bully. And he was the worst mayor Toronto has ever known. Condo development in the area where I live has just about wiped out all the green space, in just a few years. He had absolutely no vision for the future, and the thought that Canada's largest city was in the hands of such a maniac, is something I still have trouble believing. So to see the media shedding crocodile tears over such a ghastly bully is absolutely disgusting..

Simon said...

hi Steve...I believe in trying to focus on the good a dead person did. Just like I do for the living. But I'm afraid that Ford was such a rotten human being that there is no good to be found. And we all should judged by what we do in life, so his legacy at least will get no mercy from me...

Simon said...

hi anon...I don't know in what spirit world Ford will end up, but his actions will haunt this city for a very long time...

Simon said...

hi anon...I have made no jokes about Ford. In fact I thought I made it very clear I feel sorry for the man and his family. So if you want jokes about the dead you will have to find them at The Rebel...

ExMTLer1642 said...

Some excellent counterpoints to the posthumous praise of RobFord:

http://www.haemorrhage-music.com/ford-eulogy

http://tvo.org/article/current-affairs/shared-values/andray-domise-the-rob-ford-legacy-that-many-refuse-to-confront

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ivortossell/rob-ford-the-honest-liar#.qceM11QNE

http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/feminist-current/2016/03/on-death-rob-ford-and-mourning-abusive-men



Anonymous said...

Brilliant reply Simon....... You always make my day....... Sometimes we agree....... Sometimes we disagree....... Obviously Anon 4:32pm needs to invest in a moral compass!!!!!! FS