A quote from outgoing Mayor David Miller, in the Toronto Star, this morning left me aghast.
Miller has held office for seven years.He is a solicitor. He was a student at the same private school as one of the Royal scions. He carried a witch's broom as a symbol of cleaning out corruption from City Hall at the time of his election.
He announced, after the garbage strike, he would not be a candidate in the next election and was proud of what he had accomplished.
It seemed Miller had everything going for him. Youth,style, good looks, education. his own hair.But something doesn't jibe.
Rob Ford by contrast is presented in the worst possible light by the Toronto media. Reference is made to bad-fitting suits, his weight and Oh My God, the man sweats.
Miller decided he had had enough. He had to fight back tears when he made the announcement.
He expressed regret when Adam Giambroni withdrew from the Mayor's race after being exposed as a bit of a sleaze-ball.
Now this; Miller's insinuations against the new Council while giving an exit interview.
He refers to the $80.5 million computer leasing scandal that happened on his watch. He didn't catch it. He spent additional $13 million for a public inquiry.
Despite being the man in charge, he took no responsibility for any of it.
A computer salesman openly wined and dined and bedded a leasing official within the Miller administration and he didn't find out about it until the contract was millions of dollars overspent.
What accounting could he offer the public for that oversight?
Instead he throws out insinuation,there might be a link between people at victory parties for some new Councillors.
He was careful to note he wasn't there and "if it was true".
But what was that about?
He wasn't defeated. Why is he bitter?
He has a new job lined up. Bitter doesn't fill the bill.
Crass is a word used in connection with Rob Ford, Toronto's Mayor-elect. To-day his brother was described in the Star as a "cunning business man"
Words like that are not used in connection with outgoing Mayor.
Clearly there's a disconnect with the phrase,style and grace.
What's that about.
Maybe it's time for the Toronto media to take a collective look in the mirror.
There might be old-fashioned snobbery afoot.
Monday 22 November 2010
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5 comments:
No big surprise. The Star did their best to try and torpedo Rob Ford during the election.
Each branch of Toronto Media has their own slant. Some more than others
I am not surprised. The Star is about as far to the left as they dare go. Their over-the-top campaign to discredit Ford and continual war against the car are just two examples.
As Fishy says, the other media outlets are just as bad. CFRB is to the right - although not as much as they used to be with Bill Carroll; The Sun equally to the right.
Every media outlet has it's own editorial slant - be it TV, radio, papers or blogs.
Personally, I think Rob Ford is a good thing for Toronto. The left has had too much influance in Toronto. They have missed too many opportunities that they are rtying to make up for now but will be too little, too late.
Fuimus
He is just behaving in the same way that many politicians behave. Background has absolutely nothing to do with class. Real class is internal; it doesn't make a lot of noise.. you know, empty vessels and all that. It has nothing to do with which school you attended or who your friends are or what your profession is. It is about who you really are inside.
Just read through the Auroran. Cllrs. Gallo and Gaertner and Ms. Beaton seemed very upset about a letter a citizen had submitted for last week's paper. I think it quite interesting that our two G's would find what a citizen has to say so distressing. This is new. That old saying, "Methinks thou dost protest too much." comes to mind. I could not care less with whom, or even if councilors have coffee together. I do however resent when politicians try to insult my intelligence. We all know exactly what the intent of that circus meeting was and what the intended agenda was.
On a bright note Evelyn, neither one of them mentioned you in their letters, so you got a week off from being blamed for the "mis-information".
Luckywife
Re: the "continual war against the car..."
I agree that criticisms of Ford's physique are meaningless, in that they contribute no new information. Business is business. It is what it is. Ford looks unhealthy (according to Wikipedia, he's only 41?) All of these statements are tautologies that achieve nothing, and are often used to mask a lack of any meaningful comment.
But it seems right that Ford's bumper-sticker messages resonate with Aurorans. They've chosen to live in a space that is designed to be navigated exclusively by car. Why would you bike around Aurora? Where would you bike to? The same goes for walking. And
these same people say they could never live in Toronto because of "all that traffic." Or "all that pollution." They prefer the "fresh air" of Aurora, which they breathe every time they roll down the window while driving between their house and the Leisure Complex, or Walmart, or the Grocery Store.
No matter how many anecdotes you come up with of Aurorans who walk their dog every morning, the suburbs are a health disaster. People walk less because there's just nowhere to walk to.
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