"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Second Thoughts

After holding on to it for  a  couple of days, I posted a lengthy comment yesterday.  Then I changed my mind and removed it. 

It referred to nefarious activity including a fatal  street  shooting. It was connected to the wild and  woolley stories about Toronto's Mayor,  After  I posted it , it occurred to me I  have no proof of the story. I don't even know  who  sent it to me. 

What business do I have  passing that information along the line?  None at all. I removed it. I don't know if harm came of it. I know next time I  get  such a comment  Iwill go with my first instinct. 

I thought of other  NEGATIVE comments published  about politicians at all l;evels and all stripes.  which are not my opinion. 

Obviously, there's a line of demarkation.  I need to determine where that is. 

I've known  a few politicians in my time and  seldom met any who did not experience  tremendous humility at the moment of being elected.. They are people like everyone else. 

It's the   business of politics that's more intricate than one might imagine. 

The last  sentence of the  removed comment was "Time to take the blinkers off. Stop whitewashing"

But I'm not whitewashing. Judging by the number of people with a real aversion to him, Rob Ford 
is an unlikely politician. 

Yet he is the Mayor of the lmost  populous and diverse city in Canada. 

The terrible things  being said about him now,  were being said before he was elected. 

Three's nothing smooth, urbane or unctuous about the man. He is what you see. He's not handsome. Nor articulate. He's clearly bull-headed, Not easily persuaded. No artifice surrounds him. 

Yet he won a sufficient number of votes to put him in the  Toronto Mayor's chair.

He didn't steal it.  No Tamany Hall  or the like helped him into it. No ballot boxes went missing.

Winning the Mayor's office in Toronto. is surely recognized  as a Herculean  accomplishment .

Not only has he not enriched himself at the public trough, he donates his salary to charity. And that wasn't  made public until the brothers  were jointly  subject to  particularly scurrilous accusations..

So why, you might ask did The Toronto Star and Globe and Mail do what they did. 

Because for all the reasons cited above, they thought they could.

They were mistaken. 

Therein lies the  fascination. 

Whatever they hurled at him. However much the muck was raked. 

He's still standing.

And they're not looking  all that clean and tidy. 

When iyou comes right down to it, even if you know what crack cocaine look like, how do you know,
from a video, it's  being smoked in a pipe.?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

if and when the video surfaces will you alter your stance?

Anonymous said...

We have been learning things we probably didn't need to know. But that has happened here before when Aurorans all took a crash course in law - & are still on the curve.
Apparently all kinds of stuff can be smoked in pipes so we really do not know whatever the Star is trying to make us ' know '. That being said, it truly is a bloody mess in TO.

Anonymous said...

Political Points
Andy Radia
" Former staffer admits she might be to blame for Mike Duffy filing fraudulent expense claims "
She might be right on the double-dipping but she surely knew where he lived.

Anonymous said...

@ 6:12 PM
Can you tell one substance from another from a video? Why would you assume it is the one which produces skinny addicts? That boyo is no light-weight.

Anonymous said...

The Star has just taken another crack at Mayor Ford. They said that there had been orders to destroy records.
IMMEDIATELY Canadian Press published a denial. " TO Official says Mayor didn't order records destroyed. "

Anonymous said...

You better than anyone can talk about being drawn and quarterd both in the press and by your peers , and all you ever did was tell the truth , can't imagine what they would have done if you were caught on video smoking crack

Anonymous said...

A few clarifications are in order here.

First, it wasn't a couple of days - it was barely even one: I posted that comment yesterday evening.

Second, my final words were "As the saying goes, where there's smoke there's fire. Time to take the blinders off." (that's a direct quote - yes, I kept a copy of my post for future reference; old habit)

I said nothing about whitewashing anything. Perhaps you've confused my comment with another.

But for the record, this "story" is in fact public knowledge, and has been part of the ongoing dialogue since it broke. I can't believe you missed it:

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/05/28/rob_ford_crack_scandal_other_man_pictured_with_mayor_hurt_in_fatal_shooting.html

Neither the authenticity of the photo nor the people depicted therein have been denied by anyone involved.

For further reference:

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/man-22-dies-from-injuries-after-king-street-shooting-1.1214632

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/04/04/man-wanted-in-shooting-death-outside-king-street-nightclub-turns-himself-in/


A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words.

(I don't expect you'll approve this post either, but I at least wanted to set the record straight - accuracy is important in matters of public interest. Plus, I hate being misquoted.)

Anonymous said...

A strong indication of how the Star is currently regarded was given yesterday. The Star sent questions to a # of people at the City Hall ' strongly advising ' them to get in contact. Not a single one had responded by the 3 o'clock deal-line.

Anonymous said...

8:22

There is hyperbole for you.

Anonymous said...

I'm afraid the latest departures from Mayor Ford's office leave him with little choice. He has to leave and/or sue. Pity that.

Anonymous said...

@ 8:47 PM
Why are you making such a big deal out of old news? Evelyn didn't comment other than that she had no proof. There is plenty of missing proof to go around. Are you going to connect the Mayor of TO with a gangland shooting? Are your ' sources' better than those of others ?

Anonymous said...

In Real News, yesterday Donnie Snook pleaded guilty in St. John. Saves a nasty trial but doesn't repair the damage he did over the years.

Anonymous said...

On a lighter ? note, PEI is mocking Senator Duffy. A local radio station has a promotion. It offers " Do ya a Duffy " awards. One listener per day receives $20.00 to pay back a personal loan. No strings or need to say where it came from. An early winner used the money to repay beer money borrowed last summer that he hadn't ever gotten around to paying back.

Anonymous said...

While the focus is on Ford and Duffy, the Provincial Liberals are quietly firing nurses and closing beds. 60 in London, 22 in Bracebridge, 40 in Scarborough, to go with those previously let go in Niagara Falls,FortErie,Windsor,
Brockville,and Ottawa.
Where is the MEDIA?
Under Mike Harris this would have been front page news!People still bring up the daily regurgitation of the Liberal Media from the Harris Years. This was one of them, but strangely there is a pass here. I wonder why?

Anonymous said...

To 5:04 AM
I'm not sure about the Globe but suspect the Star are licking their self-inflicted wounds/

Anonymous said...

The new big story is in B.C where the Liberal government has rejected the Northern Gateway pipeline. Unless you can get that stuff about hospitals onto the front line, it will be ignored. Sorry, I have no suggestions.

Anonymous said...

That dreadful airplane crash will pull the Premier from her office. Maybe it could be used as a wedge for wider inquiries ? Jut saying.

Anonymous said...

You are not missing much. A Highly touted Facebook rally to demand Ford's resignation fizzled out when a few hundred turned up instead of the expected thousands. There were others wanted him to stay who got no press. It rained on them all.

Anonymous said...

The watchdog head of the Canadian spy agency, appointed by PM Harper, Arthur Porter, plans to fight extradition & apply for bail in Panama. He has been sent to a very nasty prison in the interim.
Another present for Stephan Harper.