As ludicrous as it may seem, ...yeah he does. And the real pisser is in the past month Torontonians have really been scrutinizing Mayor Ford, ...and we're rating him far more favourably than we thought we would be. I know I for one am really pissed about this. I have a few friends who sit on Toronto City Council, and there have been a few times when I've had to sit on my hands rather than call them up and chew them out for some of their more snide remarks against the man.
And it really frosts my cookies that I am secretly rooting for him.
I don't like the man, I think he's a crude, abnoxious, vulgar little reptile who definitely proves that money cannot buy you class, ...but there is no getting around the fact that he, despite all his flaws, ...and Lord knows he has many, ...he is Toronto's Ron Paul.
In all the years he has sat on council, he has been consistent about what he felt was the waste of tax payer money, and in the years following amalagamation, the spending spree under Mayor Miller WAS out of control. He vowed to "end the gravy train". He never promised to behave well, he never promised to acquire a bit of polish, finesse or class, ...he promised to end the gravy train, reduce the budget, and make Toronto a thriving city again, while meeting the needs of her rate payers, ...and he's done exactly that. Despite his foibles, and his inarticulate ways, he's been keeping his campaign promises to the voters, ...which is not something you see everyday.
Reporters know that if they stick a microphone in front of his face, they will get nothing but pure controversy, and comedians know they will get comedy gold. A few friends of mine have actually come up with a sold-out comedy review all based on Ford. They've booked out comedy clubs, and the entire venue every night is Mayor Rob Ford jokes... "He puts the coke in Etobicoke" (You gotta be a Torontonian to appreciate that one). However, the ironic part is that the more & more they attack him, and the more and more Torontonians shake our heads in disbelieve at his antics, and his consistent stepping in the poop, we are forced to do an honest assessment of his job performance, ...and even we have to reluctantly agree that the man is doing an excellent job of doing
exactly what he promised to do, and was elected to do.
He's never wavered in that regard.
Prior to this, my biggest dislike of Ford, stemmed from his blatant catering to the homophobe vote. But even on this one, he never caved in, ...and refused to attend the Gay Pride parade, as every other Mayor before him had.
I guess the "teaching moment" or whatever the heck Obama likes to refer to them... the big lesson for politicians to take away from this is... Keep your campaign promises! When you get into office, do exactly what you promised to do while you were campaigning.
Despite it all, he's still maintained his sense of humour.
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/Toronto/ID/2419881460/ - 2min: 22 seconds
