Wednesday, June 06, 2018

Doug Ford and the Good Mr Bumble



He stands accused of withholding money from his brother's widow and children.

And of running the family business into the ground.

The same label factory he claims has given him the experience to run Canada's biggest economy.

And what Doug Ford had to say about that yesterday could only have satisfied the dumbest members of his so called Ford Nation.



For it sounded so hollow and so phony, it was like Oliver Twist's miserable Mr Bumble had suddenly turned into a nice guy. 

Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford is calling the lawsuit filed by his late brother Rob's widow "heartbreaking," and says claims he and his brother Randy have mismanaged finances at the Ford family companies are "false and without merit."

And Ford's claim that he is "heartbroken" is enough to make most decent people vomit.

Especially since the numbers don't seem to back up his story. 

The late mayor Rob Ford’s estate is valued at $1.1 million, according to documents filed in Toronto estates court in the last few months.

And, shedding further light on a claim by Ford’s widow, Renata, in an explosive lawsuit, her late husband’s estate documents show no indication there has been a detailed accounting of the late mayor’s financial affairs, or any payout to his beneficiaries, two years after his death.


But do seem to suggest that Dougie's claims that he is a Great Economist Leader are somewhat dodgy.



Suddenly, the fact Doug hasn’t provided a detailed economic platform, only vague numbers, suggests not that he won’t, but he can’t. He doesn’t know how. His constant marketing about small business, lower taxes and finding $6 billion in provincial wastage all look dodgy in that light.

Or at the very least extremely hypocritical.

People are fed up with politicians and their promises, Ford told Citytv in a disastrous 2016 interview about “blowing smoke where the sun don’t shine.” After they get into power, “You know what it’s all about? Filling their buddies’ pockets full of money, sole-sourced deals, giving contracts. It’s all about the money.”

And the lawsuit is as Chris Selley writes, a harbinger of chaos. 



As someone who lived through the Ford mess in Toronto, both as a journalist and a citizen, it’s not the specific allegations that concern me most. It’s knowing that our premier-in-waiting couldn’t even make it to election day without a mad personal sideshow setting up shop next to him, shooting up fireworks and blasting circus marches.

I envision a permanent protest camp on the lawn, endless drumming, people storming committee meetings, shirtless men hounding Ford in the streets, an annual rending of garments over the premier’s attendance or non-attendance at Pride, a constant war with the media — absolutely no end of distractions from the work of government.


At the best of times, Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives are a machine that produces chaos. With a Ford at the helm, in government, the sky’s the limit.


And that's where we stand with just one day to go before the people of Ontario go to the polls.

If you live in that province speak to your neighbours, friends, and fellow workers and convince them to vote. 

Warn them as I have to beware of Doug.



Ask them to put their province before their party to make sure every vote counts.

And if you live in the rest of Canada, pray we succeed.

For if Ford is elected, and the good Mr Bumble turns into Mr Hyde, first he will destroy Ontario.

And then along with other Cons, he will help destroy Canada...



30 comments:

Jackie Blue said...

"Able was I ere Cain slew Abel." Or something like that. Thug Fraud really is a Northern Trump. Trump quarreled with his late brother Fred Jr.'s family, and was so petty, mean and vindictive that he signed over the estate of his brother's disabled son (also named Freddie) to himself.

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/trumps-bitter-battle-nephew-ailing-baby-caught-middle-article-1.888562

That among other reasons is why I'm not the only one who refers to Trump as Ebenezer Stooge. In the story, Scrooge's nephew was called Freddie (not Huey, Dewey or Louie, that came much later) — the real Freddie is like a combination of him by name and poor little Tiny Tim. But in this case, Mr. "Stooge" didn't have a change of heart, because the chamber is as empty as the vacant attic upstairs.

Must we endure this era of Jerry Springer-style brawling family reunions in the halls of our political leadership? They're creepy and they're kooky, all right. People will say what they will about the royal Windsors, or the Kennedys, or the "Maple Kennedy" Trudeaus, but at least they have made a conscious effort to use their prestige to improve the lot of others less fortunate. They project class, while these 1980s-throwback gaudy "Dynasty" wannabes and modern-day trailer-park Kardashians like the Trumps, Fords, Palins, etc., are nothing but crass. Or should I say "Duck Dynasty" and a basket of dethpicables? Daffy Doug, like the tantrum-prone "Donald" before him, is like a combination of Scrooge and... "Baby Huey"!

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2c/Babyhuey.JPG

Ontario couldn't find a long-lost Property Brother to run as premier? Or reunite Bob & Doug McKenzie (fictional characters, I know, but at this point, why not), instead of opting for their own WWE "Sibling Rivalry" ticket and Bubba Ray Dudley?

Anonymous said...

Yes crybaby....Cons will destroy everything. Amazing how Lib shills can predict the future about what other politicians will do but can never come up with the winning lotto numbers.

Newsflash...Wynne has already fvcked the provinces financially with her out to lunch and cooked books.

Con, NDP, Green....ANYONE will be a change from the Libs. We can punt them in four years if necessary.

ABL

rumleyfips said...

I'm reminded of the time ol dead doug thought his kids were stealing money from him. He made them take a lie detector test. He must have known he had raised a den of thieves.

Anonymous said...

I can’t believe that with all the evidence that Ford is both incompetent and corrupt, that Ontario voters would still hand him a majority government. Ford supporters must be either crazy or absolute morons.

Anonymous said...

Sometimes a little creative destruction of the outdated parts of government institutions is not a bad thing but chaotic destruction for personal benefit is not one of them.
RT

e.a.f. said...

You can "punt" a government in 4 years but sometimes the citizens don't survive that 4 years. Just look south of the border. the increased racism has led to more death by cop for African Americans. Inability to obtain health care will kill more. Children's education, if not available to a competent standard, can not be recovered in a lot of cases. Kids learn to read at specific ages. later makes it so much harder.

we have seen governments destroy provinces very quickly. Look at what money laundering did to B.C. and our good old Christy Clark, former premier let it all happen. Didn't take long at all. her predecessor "gave away" the provincial railway to his bag man, that only took a few moments to sign the papers.

My suggestion to the voters of Ontario, if you don't like the Liberals, then vote Green or NDP but don't vote Con. You haven't seen anything yet if you do.

Anonymous said...

The irony is that the one misstep that people cite most of all--privatizing Hydro One--came from boilerplate conservative orthodoxy. In the conservative brain, private sector good, government bad. Yet this privatization has backfired (as any progressive could have told you at the time), and so the Ontario voters are going to take out their frustrations... by electing the party that privatizes things as a general rule?

It's one thing to just think that the current Liberal government is long in the tooth and needs to take seat to clear out the rot, but it's another to cite that particular complaint as motivation, then do something completely illogical.

And please, spare us the deficit scold routine. We all know it's just a convenient cudgel against any kind of government spending, particularly when revenues are so low and the world only halfway climbed out of the hole that was the 2008 Recession.

The reason that we can predict the future is actually quite simple: we can remember the past. Not only that, but we can back it up. See, in conservative history, Bob Rae was history's greatest monster, Mike Harris never existed and the Liberal Party were all but communists. But reality shows that Rae made substantial strides despite a similar recession, Mike Harris' policies screwed Toronto, screwed the education system, and worst of all indirectly led to the deaths of 7 and illness of dozens in Walkerton! If the Liberal Party has any sins, it's not doing enough to reverse the damage of the Harris years!

Ontario can't afford any more Tory malfeasance! Because I'll tell you this: those policies haven't changed.

Anonymous said...

"And what Doug Ford had to say about that yesterday could only have satisfied the dumbest members of his so called Ford Nation."

Don't kid yourself Simon; the non-explanation will satisfy all of Ford Nation and most of the Conservative party..........

Jackie Blue said...

Hey Simon, OT but I'd love to see your take on this gem:

In contentious phone call with Trudeau, Trump cites War of 1812 to defend "national security threat" justification for tariffs on Canada: "Didn't you guys burn down the White House?"

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/06/politics/war-of-1812-donald-trump-justin-trudeau-tariff/index.html

The Internet has run out of facepalm. It seems the bass-ackwards Yankee flip side to Je me souviens is "Those who are ignorant of history are destined to just make shit up as they go along." (Sincerest apologies to George Santayana.)

Anonymous said...

That pipe line sure went down the memory hole eh?

jrkrideau said...

Didn't you guys burn down the White House?"

Who says Trump does not pay attention to current events?

Anonymous said...

Wynne privatized H1, full stop. Harris' attempt was stopped by the courts, and Eves canceled his attempt.

Nice try.

jrkrideau said...

Just after I hit send I remembered Vladimir Putin's great line, It is hard to work with people who confuse Austria and Australia., though he was referring to G.W Bush at the time.

Oh well, on to Nambia.

Simon said...

Hi Jackie...I tried to steer clear of the Ford family as long as I could, but this latest scandal is too big to ignore. For even if Ford does win the election he will end up in court being shown to be a miserable liar over and over again. And yes, it does seem to be very similar to the way Trump treated his poor brother Fred and his family. I guess psychopathic bullies have no feelings, and it's always and only about them...

Simon said...

Hi anon@12:05 PM...I can understand your desire for change, the Ontario Liberals have been in power for a long time. But what I can't understand is why you would think that an ignorant lout like Doug Ford would be a reasonable alternative. For while it's true he could be replaced by the voters in four years time, the damage his ham
fisted policies could do to institutions like medicare at a time when it's struggling to cope with an aging population, could be devastating and take many years to repair...

Simon said...

hi rumleyfips...I've never heard that story but it's a classic. Gawd, if the Ford family gets the key to the treasury we're going to have to repeat those lie detector tests all over again. Not only will a Ford government be a national embarrassment, but I fear it's going to be very expensive....

Simon said...

Hi anon@12:14 PM...I also can't understand how a province like Ontario could elect a man as incompetent and corrupt as Doug Ford. But I tend to blame it on the morons in the Ford Nation, who although many of them are poor, are about to hand power to a millionaire who will do all he can to screw them. And the good news? They'll never make that mistake again. And after Ford the Cons won't rule Ontario for at least a generation...

Simon said...

hi RT...I agree, sometimes the system does need to be shaken up, and the Ontario Liberal Party definitely needed some time in the garage. But chaotic destruction a la Trump is definitely the last thing this province. When I moved to Ontario my friends in Montreal warned me I was going to die of boredom. But boredom looks good to me now... ;)

Simon said...

Hi e.a.f...As I said above, I agree with you completely. Once upon a time the Conservatives could take over from the Liberals or the NDP, and you could trust them not to go wild and not destroy our Canadian values just for the heck of it. But today when the Cons are in the orbit of Trump horrible things can happen, and the damage could take many many years to repair...

Anonymous said...

My prediction: Con's 60. NDP 48, Lib 15, Green 1. Probably wrong by a long way but we'd then have a grand coalition of ABC. Anyone but the Con's.

This poll has been proven correct 1 out of 20x with a margin of error 95%

Anonymous-A

jrkrideau said...

Oh dear, the US State Department is even better informed about history than Thumper.

https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2018/06/282957.htm
When you talk about Germany, we have a very strong relationship with the Government of Germany. Looking back in the history books, today is the 71st anniversary of the speech that announced the Marshall Plan. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the D-Day invasion. We obviously have a very long history with the Government of Germany, and we have a strong relationship with the government, and so we want to reaffirm the strength of our relationship with Germany.

Simon said...

hi anon@1:44...what you say could be true, sometimes I forget how brainwashed Cons, Ford Nation types and other Trumplings can be these days. Criticize their leaders for crimes committed in plain view, and they'll find a way to excuse them, by blaming the "Deep State." Those Trumplings may call themselves parties, but they act more like cults..

Simon said...

Hi Jackie...I'm already on the case. I put out a graphic on Twitter and will include it in my next post. It's an adaptation of an old painting on the war of 1812, where Justin Trudeau plays a patriot, Andrew Scheer plays a traitor, and Trump of course plays himself, or a maniac... ;)

Simon said...

hi jrkrideau...I have to give Putin some credit for that line, it's a good one. But as for Trump somebody get me a life boat, I need to get off North America in a hurry... ;)

Simon said...

hi anon@3:59 AM...this is the fourth time in four days that you keep suggesting that I am trying to bury the pipeline story. And I keep telling you the same thing: I will write something about it soon, but right now it's just not a priority. Not when Doug Ford could be about to wreck the province I'm living in. And not when Justin Trudeau is trying to save several hundred thousand jobs, from the madness of Trump.
BTW are you that little man with the tiny bald head and white beard who looks like a garden gnome, hates Trudeau with a homicidal passion, and is usually found with his lips firmly pressed to the massive behind of the Mound of Misogyny. Because if you are have I got a post for you. Stay tuned, I'm sure you won't be disappointed... ;)

Steve said...

There is no way the CONS have 39%. They may have the ridings, but I refuse to believe 29% would give anyone a blank cheque.

Simon said...

Hi Anonymous-A...I would sacrifice a whole Swiss Chalet chicken in your honour if that prediction turned out to be true. For I have always been an ABC person, and can live with any combination, and celebrate it, as long as the Cons are kept out of power. But it's going to depend on turnout, and all of us must call upon everyone we know and convince them to vote as if their lives depended on it. For in many cases they will...

Simon said...

Hi Steve...Well it seems that enough people in Ontario may be prepared to give the Ford Cons a blank cheque. For EKOS has just released its final poll with the Cons leading the NDP 39.1% to 35.1% which the polling company predicts will give them a majority. The darkness is upon us, and only a massive turnout can save us...

Steve said...

KHAAAAAAAN!!!

Anonymous said...

@anon 4:12PM So you clearly admit that the Tories tried the exact same thing. Like I said, conservative orthodoxy. Wynne's mistake was doing what the Tories all along have wanted.