On The Perils Of Retirement

As a retiree, I occasionally think that maybe I have too much time on my hands - too much time to follow politics, especially its more sordid aspects which, sadly, seem to define almost all politics today. National, provincial and municipal affairs appear beset with a kind of self-indulgence and selfishness (perhaps the two are synonymous) that, I believe, is wreaking havoc on the social health of the nation. Federally, we see a government mired in corruption and seething with contempt; provincially, a rabid and pervasive partisanship seems to have the public good as only a distant afterthought; municipally, we have the spectacle of a scorched earth policy being practised by Toronto's chief magistrate and his brother. Something is indeed rotten in the state of Denmark.

I do not live in Toronto, but anyone who thinks that the damage being done by the Ford follies is confined to Ontario's capital city is deluded. Putting aside all of the criminal and unethical acts he seems to partake in, the mayor's absolute refusal to see council's stripping of his powers as anything other than politically-inspired renders him manifestly unfit for public office, since clearly the demands of his and his brother's egos take precedence over the stability and well-being of the city of Toronto. But what about the fact that this debacle is being watched closely nationally, even internationally?

Despite their obvious intellectual limitations, I am convinced that on some level the Ford brothers must know that their insane antics are deeply corrosive to everyone's faith or trust, however slight they may be, in politicians everywhere. As but one example, they must know, yet they do no care, that reducing yesterday's council meeting to little more than a tag-team wrestling match, complete with the obligatory cat calls to the spectators, removes any dignity that one might associate with public office.

I am posting no video here of yesterday's events, but anyone so inclined can find them easily enough on the Internet - video of the Fords with Peter Mansbridge, on Cnn, and with NBC's Matt Lauer. To watch any of them will confirm the abject narcissism of the Ford brothers, but they will also probably consolidate a cynicism and disgust that only the insensate could be immune from. I can't bring myself to post them

The true irony here is that there really is only one solution to the wholesale destruction of politics taking place at all levels: voter engagement. But the longer the selfish, the ignorant and the mercenary dominate politics, the less and less likely it is that significant numbers of people will be willing to get involved, even if it is only to go to the ballot box, to stop the madness.

I am not at all hopeful about the future we are leaving to succeeding generations.

Something Different

...to counteract the cynicism we can't help but feel following the political beat:

So They Really Do Care After All

This story should lay to rest any of the insidious propaganda about Walmart not caring about its workers.

The Hypocrisy Of The Harperites

It is no revelation to state how hypocritical the current Conservative cabal is. However, those tough-on-crime zealots are betraying new depths of their natures by their advocacy of 'compassionate', or should I say expedient, treatment of that exemplar of all that is wrong with the right, the disgraced Chief Magistrate of Toronto, Rob Ford. Not for them the fury they direct at Justin Trudeau for admitting to smoking a joint, but rather compassion for those who need to seek treatment.

Contrasting, for example Peter MacKay's public musings about Trudeau's unfitness to lead due to his dalliance with weed, the Justice Minister had this to say recently about the beleaguered Ford:

Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay is calling on Rob Ford to get help after the Toronto mayor admitted publicly that he had smoked crack cocaine, an illegal drug.

But Mr. MacKay, whose Conservative government styles itself as tough on crime, declined to offer an opinion on whether Mr. Ford should step down. “That’s not for me to say,” he told reporters in Ottawa.

In his column in today's Star, Tim Harper offers some stinging commentary on this most troubling double standard:

The Conservative party of Canada, most significantly its Toronto ministers and MPs, is now defined by its silence over the tumultuous train wreck known as Rob Ford in the past two weeks.

“Conservative values are Canadian values. Canadian values are conservative values,’’ Stephen Harper told us after he won his 2011 majority.

But watching those “values” daily trashed by a man his party embraced, Harper has remained silent. He has done what he so often does. He has merely made himself unavailable to any Canadian journalist while chaos engulfed Ford.

The reason the conniving Conservatives have adopted what Tim Harper calls their 'hug-a-thug program is obvious:

The Conservatives will not risk alienating what is left of Ford Nation, even if it is the last man or woman standing.

But one would be wrong to think that Peter MacKay, who some regard as an upper class twit, is the only hypocrite here.

Health Minister Rona Ambrose, a woman so unrelenting in her war on drug use she cut off heroin for addicts in treatment, now has nothing but hugs for a self-confessed crack cocaine user.

“It is a touchy subject only because none of us want to pass judgment on someone who is going through a very difficult time,’’ Ambrose said in Calgary Friday.

And who can forget Julian Fantino, the perpetually dour and apparently humourless Veteran Affairs Minister and ex-cop whose selective remorseless pursuit of some ne'er-do-wells is the stuff of legend (Toronto bathhouse raids when he was the chief cop there is but one example)?

“I look at it as a humanity issue,’’ he told his local newspaper. “I’ve been involved in my whole career (in policing and politics) in dealing with situations where people, for whatever reason, get into serious personal difficulties and family difficulties. I’ve looked at it strictly from a human dynamic point of view.’’

Of course, last week Finance Minister Jim Flaherty teared up, brimming with compassion when contemplating Mr. Ford's demons. No judgement there.

Tim Harper saves his greatest scorn for Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver:

In the midst of last week’s Ford follies, Oliver appeared on CBC’s Power and Politics and was asked by host Evan Solomon about the unbelievable event of the day in his city.

“This is a sad and difficult situation but I have nothing to add,’’ Oliver offered.

When pressed on to whether he might have a view as an MP from Toronto, Oliver served up a civics lesson.

“Well, they are different levels of government, they are elected separately and they each have their different constitutional responsibilities and we respect the constitutional division of powers.’’

I suppose at his age, Oliver should be commended for his obvious agility in twisting himself out of shape to avoid answering Solomon's questions.

I shall leave you with a picture that my friend Gary alerted me to that perhaps pictorially sums up the Conservative cabal's solution to the problem of Rob Ford, given the obvious importance of altering the optics and 'changing the channel':

The Ford Saga Continues

I have shamelessly cribbed the following from Montreal Simon. Please check out his commentary on the continuing Toronto soap opera known simply as The Rob Ford Follies.


Opener - CBC News Toronto - Mayor Rob Ford... by IdolxMuzic

From The Pens Of Editorial Cartoonists

...some Saturday afternoon wisdom:

A Thought For The Children

I hope this will be one of my last posts about the Rob Ford soap opera, but that is probably a futile hope, given the rich sociological and political insights that his escapades provide. However, today my thought is not about him or his quite possibly abused and complicit wife Renata. Today, my thoughts are for their children.

Rarely seen in public, the pair, a young boy and girl, must be living a hellish life, not only because of the public ridicule and odium heaped upon their father, but also due to the very real possibility that they are at physical risk. Recent revelations, thanks to the release of the previously-redacted police documents, is a narrative revealing the children's unwilling association with alleged drug dealer and extortionist Sandro Lisi, as well as crack addict Bruno Bellissimo, who sat with them in the back seat of the vehicle ferrying Ford to the Garrison Ball during one of the mayor's many nights of impairment.

Add to that the video of the raging mayor, perhaps at home, vowing in hyperbolic language to kill someone, as well as the fact that police have attended the home many times due to domestic disturbances.

It got to the point earlier this week that I actually looked up the contact information for the Toronto Children's Aid Society to express a concern about their well-being, but my wife suggested it would be futile because I have no personal knowledge of their possible imperilment.

Lest one think their mother Renata is somehow shielding them from the worst excesses of their father, Rosie Dimanno has a piece in today's Star that strips away that comforting possibility:

It was late at night, nearly a year ago, that Renata Ford pulled up in a taxi outside her parents’ home.

According to a police report, the contents of which have not been proven in court, the mayor’s wife was slurring her words and belligerent with the driver, police sources have told the Star. She either refused to pay the fare or did not have the money.

Their argument became so heated that the cabbie called for police assistance.

When cops arrived, they observed that Mrs. Ford had bruises and cuts to her limbs and face that appeared to be a few days old. But, when asked about it, she refused to say how the injuries had been suffered. She was, in fact, too incoherent to say much of anything — either inebriated or on drugs.

The upshot of this event is that nobody was charged. When police tried following up the matter in subsequent days — as they always do when domestic abuse is suspected — Mrs. Ford was not cooperative.

As much as Ford's wife may be a beaten-down victim who likely commands little respect within the Ford hierarchy - Doug Ford once referred to her on their now-defunct radio show as "the Pollack'- she is also, by virtue of her decision to 'stand by her man,' both figuratively and literally, just another of her husband's enablers and complicit in, at the very least, the psychological abuse that police records suggest is a quotidian fact of life in the Ford household. Tellingly, Dimanno reveals that over the past eight years, police have attended the Ford home at least two dozen times for domestic disturbances.

Like the infamous Michael Jackson, who was able to carry out his terrible depredations against children for so many years thanks to his money, power and influence, I cannot help but wonder whether the same dynamics are at work with regard to the well-being of the Ford children.

I see no way that this story has a happy ending.