The Stupid Among Us

I was in a rather foul mood yesterday, and I think it was largely attributable to the ongoing spectacle known as Toronto civic politics. Like one sated on too much unhealthy food, I am royally sick of the disruption caused by the crimes and misdemeanours of Rob Ford and his tag team partner, brother Doug. But what I think especially set me off was the pathetic whinging of the duo, who project an image of deep hurt over what Doug calls the "public flogging" of his brother; coupled with the inability to feel even a scintilla of shame or remorse over what they have done to the city and its people, it renders both of them unfit of public office.

But what enraged me most was the patent stupidity of the duo that they hold out as some sort of perverted testament to their characters: "Rob was elected to do a job, and he will continue to do it," says the chief enabler. Big Baby Brother plaintively brays, "All I can do is apologize and move on." Neither is able or willing to acknowledge the massive damage to public reputation, morality and civil discourse they are both responsible for.

To make matters even worse, yesterday during the council meeting they both engaged in a shameful attempt at moral equivalence. Brother Doug barked at Denzil Minnan-Wong, "Have you ever smoked marijuana?"



While the stupid, aka Ford Nation, might have felt that his suggestion of hypocrisy was warranted, people with higher cognitive functioning would have immediately seen the shameless flaw in his 'strategy,' namely that whether anyone has ever smoked pot or gotten behind the wheel when they shouldn't have has absolutely nothing to do with the issues and demons facing his brother. There is simply no comparison.

Yet I got the distinct impression that reputed Drug Dealer Doug felt that he had scored a victory in his defense of his troubled and troubling brother. And I guess that's what really set me off, as it is clearly emblematic of both the intellectual and moral poverty of the rabid right-wing, the faction that seems to believe that you can bully and bray to victory.

Rob got into the act as well, 'magnanimously' offering to pay the cost of drug tests for all council members.

And oh, how they love to play the victims here, besieged by a bloodthirsty mob over a few merely private peccadilloes. Doug gave a CNN interview in which he offered the following emblems of victimhood, his family in general and his daughters in particular:

“Is it tough on the family? Yes, it's tough on the family,” Ford said. “We've been getting death threats. My daughters, I have four young girls, they were threatened to be sodomized and raped."

Just what is a charter and card-carrying member of the Profoundly Stupid Club to do?

I don't have the answer for him and his fellow travellers, but perhaps it is well past time to stop ceding so much airtime and print and influence to the benighted right wing. Perhaps it is time to simply tell them, in language and tones that they can understand, to shut their mouths, stop their bullying, go to hell, and leave the weighty matters of public office to the adults in the room.

Toronto Councillor Adam Vaughan maybe said it best yesterday: "We've spent too much time on this fool already."