— Musings —10.27.2010 02:15 PM
— Musings —10.27.2010 02:15 PM
Ford let it be known where his priorities are. He was coaching disadvantaged youth who play for a city championship tomorrow. He basically said to “CBC” thank you for the attention, I’ll give the show some respect but my priority my right now are the kids!!! What is wrong with that? What is wrong with putting our youth before “show”?
With all due respect, Rob Ford walks his talk and if it pisses off the talkers who don’t walk it, so be it. As a lifetime Liberal, I’m proud I voted Ford. Pierre Elliot Trudeau would be proud!
You’re on crack.
It was like listening to a John Candy/Chris Farley routine, but funnier. I haven’t laughed that hard in ages.
I needed that.
So you are stating “show” over substance is what counts? It was MORE IMPORTANT to appease the “LIBERALS” with “show” then actually care about our youth?
I disagree.
WTF does this have to do with Liberals or Conservatives? Listen to that interview! Christ, it’s hilarious!
The next four years are going to be an excellent source of material.
Exactly. That was maybe the funniest interview ever. I thought I was listening to an old SCTV sketch. Next time he’ll answer while seated in the bathroom if we’re lucky.
Agree. I missed the intro, and for a minute i thought I was listening to something from The Mercer Report.
Guess we’ll have to start calling TO. ‘Melonville,’ now. Here’s a prescient segment featuring Candy’s ‘Mayor Tommy Shanks’ which parallels Fords rather, um, ambivalent relationship with the press, and is a hint of some possible things to come:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_6lh7F09O4&feature=related
While I am ambivalent regarding how he did or did not exhibit grainy populism in this interview, he was rude and dismissive with the interviewer. And, to be charitable, perhaps this is because he feels he owes no debt of gratitude to institutions such as the CBC due to their treatment of him to date.
However, one of those very institutions is now under his purview but not his control; the city council. If he engages those discussions with the same dismissive, lax and disorganized approach, Toronto, all of it, left, right, up, down and sideways, will hear about it. and they won’t be giggling.
Sb,
Let’s just say he’s not exactly off to a flying start.
There were two seperate issues in this election. The first is there is obviously a need to control spending at city hall, the other is there is a need to bring in someone who can put the controls in place and do some proper planning.
Just because Rob repeated over and over and over, that he would put an end to the gravy train, does not make him the right person for the job. Whenever I hear that someone has critisized Ford and said he is not the right guy for mayor, the counter argument is always Toronto needs someone who will come in and manage the finances properly. That does make Rob is the right guy, I have yet to hear him say anything concrete. The gravy train theme is already wearing thin.
The other thing, he plans to cut the vehicle registration tax, that’s fine, cut it after you find the “waste” so that things remain at least neutral. A new CEO doesn’t come into a company and start by cutting revenue, that makes no sense.
Harper did the same thing with GST, he started by cutting revenue and gave us a nice deficit.
Conservative Fiscal Planning = Stupid.
Can Ford execute on the ‘stop the gravy train’ sound bite? Just askin’
Well I haven’t see a train carrying gravy into the city yet today, so I guess he did!
Sorry dan, that was Gravy Stain, NOT Train
Cry me a river for the CBC! Fords supporters and most of the country applauded when he dumped the Corp. Frig them! It was only another one of their gotcha! games anyway.
And you guys are going to have to do better than this if you are planning to spend the next 4 years attacking the mayor-elect on behalf of the Toronto lefties and the elites. And yes that’s what it’s all about. Personally I don’t care, but this is just grabage, with all of you giggeling like little kids.
Bwa ha ha haha!
Yes. A “gotcha! game.” One scheduled by his communications director who told the producers of the radio programme to call Mr. Ford at a specific time on a specific day. Which said radio programme did.
If this is, “gotcha journalism” I have to wonder how you folks are actually going to deal with difficult questions that you haven’t prepared for.
When did Rush Limbaugh move to Toronto?
Good one!
I couldn’t make it past “…forget the water right now and go get CHANGED!!!!!”.
The depth of my cringe hurt my forehead.
BAH!
It’s basically an “I don’t care about [insert broadcaster] here” interview. Making them call at a time when you are busy with something else.
If I had a championship game the next day, I won’t give the time of day to an interviewer.
Then Mr. Ford might need to have a word with his communications director who scheduled the interview.
The fact is this guy is the Mayor of Canada`s largest city. Get that image in your head people. Toronto, Ontario Canada.
He is supposed to be our representative, our point man, the tip of the spear.
Do you honestly believe he can move this city forward and finally bring it to a first class level, on par with other cities in North America, with that level of unmannered behaviour ?
Pathetic.
Toronto is already a first class city on par with other cities in North America. There’s nothing to do to “finally bring it to a first class level”. It’s not the only first class city in the country
If what you really mean is that Toronto is in Canada and will never get noticed in the American press because it isn’t American, well that’s a different issue entirely.
We and other first class Canadian cities don’t need approval from the folks down south. If that’s what you mean by “North America”.
I believe Toronto has a long way to go before it reaches anywhere near a first class city and I’ll limit the scope to Canada, to make the point more clear. It has huge potential but nowhere close to being realised.
Btw, I live in Toronto and have for 20 + years – I have lived elsewhere too.
ps: I don`t think Rob Ford is the person who can or will help Toronto reach it`s potential.
Ford announced a radical cost cutting project this afternoon. He will be moving City Hall to a van down by the river!!!
HA! LOL, love it! That could be his new waterfront redevelopment plan. Oh god oh god what are in for the next few years? It’s certain that even these “real Canadians” that JH and Leon seem to speak for will be sick of him and embarrassed they voted for him within 6 months.
This is one reason why we love this guy! Sure it’s funny, but in a familiar, wonderful way. Can you imagine Smitherman putting a kid’s team he coaches, over the CBC? Of course not, but us regular folk who DO coach our kids’ teams KNOW how hard it is to juggle work/life etc… and this is an excellent mirroring of regular people’s lives, ‘cept for Rob’s the freaking MAYOR! :))))) That was AWESOME dude, and for you not genuinely *getting it* is the reason Libs lost and will keep on losing for a while yet! 😉
I keep on harping on this, but the fault wasn’t with the CBC, but with the communications director who scheduled the interview.
Of course, the more I think about it, the more I have to wonder if this was staged. You know, Ford ditches the elitist CBC in favour of disadvantaged children playing football. Play up the, “everyman” persona that Mr. Ford has created for himself, perhaps?
Naw!!!! That’s to cynical!
Sorry, I listened to his phone interview with Sun-TV’s Canoe Live instead. They actually have a prominently and openly public lesbian columnist-reporter within their newspaper / TV news’ real news section. CBC – if that’s who this interview was with – still appears stuck in its 1970s intolerance. Besides, who’s got more post secondary education, Mansbridge or Ford?
..took just awhile to moderate, didn’t this 😉
“how he’s going to get re-elected?”
Because that’s EVERY guy doing his best managing a huge work load AND doing exemplar work with youth, for free! You have become jaded in your old age Warren, or is it a Liberal thing? 😉
Hmm… how to prioritize…. maintain an ongoing commitment to coach a youth football team… or…. talking to an an ambush “journalist.” 🙂
How was it, “ambush journalism” when Ford’s own people told them to call Ford at 3:00 at the football game?
Is it now, “ambush journalism” when politicians aren’t prepared for the questions that they are asked?
He could’ve scheduled the interview for a time he wasn’t busy with something else. He’s to be commended for this volunteerism. But I’d love to see some research on the volunteer work other politicians do, while holding office and managing to properly conduct interviews at the same time.
Warren,
Sometimes I wake up and wonder in the middle of the night — did the third order of government, or any of its representatives, have anything to do with pitching the United Nations for the Security Council seat???????
Not sure implying the 47% who voted for Ford as stupid is a winning strategy. Sure hasn’t worked for the federal libs…but Warren always knows best..Bwa ha ha haha!
Everywhere you see Rob Ford, look at the palm of his hand: scrawled across it are the words “Stop the gravy train.”
Dave,
Maybe the boys thought the butterfly was thirsty so they filled the jar with water?
I always seem to get a giggle listening to As I Happens phone interviews. In this case I was wondering what the interviewer was smoking before journalism classes at Carleton. 🙂
Actually I think this was a very calculated move (ok not by Ford but certainly by his staff). CBC went to great pains at the end of the interview to point out that in scheduling the interview, his people were adamant that it take place at that particular time–which just so happen to coincide with his coaching/hollering duties. That he seemed entirely uninterested in the CBC’s questions and just kept on repeating what he’s going (or hopes) to do as mayor probably made a lot of people cringe (myself included). But then I’d wager these were the same who voted for someone other than Ford.
Well played, given the folksy role that he’s carved out for himself and the honeymoon period that is afforded to almost all who get elected to a position for the first time. Of course this kind of stunt just won’t wash later on. But for now, looks to me like he’s taken a page out of the Ralph Klein playbook: people laughed plenty at that guy, but in the end he got the last laugh again and again on election day.
Rob Ford will get re-elected for the same reason he was elected in the first place: because many of the immigrants that make Toronto the wonderful, cosmopolitan, multicultural city that is, come from cultures that are not accepting of homosexuals. Take the Tamil anti-gay ads, for instance. I am convinced that if Smitherman was straight, he would be mayor.
That was hilarious. Although I am not a communications expert I am sure he will (or has already) become the poster child for how not to follow the text book. However I don’t see how this hurts him. Anyone who has ever coached kids in any sport will relate to this. He is an ordinary, everyday guy. Thats why people voted for him. The interview only re-enforces that. Harper and Iggy should pay attention. If either were better at being ordinary everyday guys, Canadians might actually relate to them and they would be in a much better place right now. There was another former politian who some people made fun of for his communication “limitations”, however Canadians saw him as an ordinary everyday guy and related to him, I believe he recently won three strait majorities, can’t remember his name…
yeah, but he was accessible to the press, had directly engaging scrums w. them all the time; he didn’t hide from them or limit them to 2 pre-approved qs; or scream at, or babble to them distractedly in a pre-arranged interview.
Bell – did he drink lattes and shmooze with all the fashionista T O lefties? Imagine the angst – the insiders suddenly found out they are not the center of the universe – they are the outsiders.
Bwa hahaha indeed!
OK, so the man that’s going to lead the largest city in our fair land. Most likely the 2nd largest economy in the country. More people than most provinces, can’t even focus on a telephone interview with one of the most popular radio shows in the country at 3pm in the afternoon – even after his communications director set it up?
I’m truly proud to be a Canadian. Makes me weepy even.
Yeah, he blew this interview big time. Then again, I am always happy when someone upsets the balance of an interview – because interviewers tend to be so smarmy and controlling. They have an agenda, with their clever little attempts to “dig into the issues”, and most often they call the shots and put the interviewee on their heels. It’s nice when that balance is upset – even if this was a bit of an extreme example.
I think KISS might be relevent here. The guy didn’t know it was live.
It wasn’t live, Jason. It was being recorded for that night’s show.
If Ford did this on purpose the day after winning the election because he wanted to gratuitously show disrespect for an audience that probably didn’t vote for him – then the prognosis for his regime is very poor. What next? Will he agree to an interview with someone from the Toronto Star and have them be marched into a bathroom where Ford is sitting on the toilet wiping his ass while answering questions?
The idea is to be magnanimous and humble in victory and to at least go through the motions of wanting to be conciliatory. If Ford tries to be that polarizing right from the get-go – he’ll quickly ending up losing every single vote on council 30-13.
like, uhhh, those who didn’t vote for Ford are, what’s the big word you used? Maginanimose?
Sorry, never heard that word before. What’s it mean?
Magananimity can, and should be practised by all.
Warren and his supporters might lead by example.
Jus’ sayin’
oohh, my bad (I’m not worthy!)
that’s magnanimity
typin’ too fast and all
Ford is doing great. All of you lefties should loosen up. The interview was hilarious, but in an endearing way.
It’s not a “leftie” or a “rightie” issue. One would hope that one’s mayor could multitask, or at least be organized enough to have his communications director schedule an interview on a day which would be more convenient for the mayor. I don’t know why his supporter are celebrating this, because it makes him look foolish.
And how is he doing great? What has he done so far? He was only elected this past Monday. He may very well be a fantastic chief executive for Toronto, but don’t you think you should wait until he accomplishes something before offering your praise?
Stephen Le Drew was beside himself on CP24 yesterday complementing him on his choices for the transition team.
Well, then we all take back all the mean things we said about Rob Ford!
Seriously, it’s a professionalism issue. Someone referred to “grainy populism” above. Nope. Just plain rude and ignorant. You can’t *ask* a media outlet to call you, then blow them off. You wouldn’t do it your own life, so why can he? Toronto is hooped.
The most disturbing thing about the interview was the obvious display of a complete lack of a plan — for anything. He just kept talking about the gravy train. The budget is balanced. He’s promising to cut revenues so what services will he cut to pay for the tax cuts? Nobody knows…. Not even him.
That is funny, lighten up, that interview sums up why he won. David Spade should be his chief of staff.
If you are too busy to speak to someone, don’t answer the phone. That is common courtesy.
Does he live in a van down by the river?
I think that Warren is completely correct when he asserts that Rob Ford will help the provincial Liberals. I assert that in short order his supporters will run out of logical contortions to defend him with. You know the sort the Republicans trotted out that “W” was actually very intelligent. However most former supporters will be too busy denying they voted for him.
I don’t for a second doubt that half-assed interview is a direct jab at the CBC and left-leaning media.
Everything…from the cut outs to the “gotta go”…
It comes across poorly for him, but you can just tell he had his middle finger up to the phone the entire time.
This should explain the Ford victory: voting ward by ward – http://www.patrickcain.ca/?p=321
Sorry, Andrew. You’ll have to elaborate.
Your post seems to suggest that Ford was voted in by “lower folk” compared to you studs in the downtown core.
I’m not from Toronto, so all this harping on Rob Ford on the liblogs made me look up who he is.
He’s certainly crude, rude, and bombastic. But here’s the thing: he was successful where every other boring whitebread milquetoast “respectable” center-right candidate failed in Toronto. In spite of prior arrest records, he was able to overcome these. If it wasn’t for his strange charisma that make people like him, any of Ford’s past scandals would have destroyed any other generic candidate.
Here in Calgary, we voted for the professorial nerd who still lives in his Mom’s basement. The eastern media is making much of his minority Muslim background, but Nenshi spent a lot on advertisement on the local conservative talk radio station, presenting himself as a pro-business candidate who wants to cut red tape. It was also an anti-incumbent “let’s throw the business-as-usual bums out” wave as had occurred in Toronto. In Calgary, the people resented council’s rubberstamping of unsustainable suburban sprawl (Bronconnier the liberal mayor, McIver the conservative opposition on council were two sides of the same coin). In Toronto, the people revolted against the liberal elites and their arrogant social engineering.
I get it with the Candy and Farly comments. Ford is fat. Wow. Thanks for that.
Interesting pattern when you look at voting outcome by ward….it seems that the Dippers hold of Toronto is shrinking….soon they’ll all be squatting on Ward Isle.