Here’s the recap:

1.  Yesterday morning, a producer at the John Oakley Show called me around at 8 and asked me to go on to discuss Rob Ford’s booze problems.  I said sure.

2.  At 8:30, I went on.  I tried to be fair; I said people would forgive him if he came clean.  Mid-way through, they brought Doug Ford on.  They didn’t tell me they were doing that, but no big deal. They’ve been giving the Fords an uncritical platform for years, and that’s not going to change anytime soon.

3.  Doug Ford immediately started going after me, so I went right back after him.  Ford and Oakley falsely said that I was party to the legal action against Rob Ford.  I’m not.  But before I could say so, the station cut the line.

4.  When I went on their web site, I saw a Doug Ford clip there, but not mine.  I then tweeted at them, asking when they would put it up on the Internet.

5.  They didn’t respond.  Silence.

6.  I gave Oakley until this morning.  When it still wasn’t up, I wrote an open letter to his show.  Other media started to retweet what I wrote.

7.  Someone at the Oakley Show hurriedly tweeted the link to the exchange between Doug Ford and I.  It was up for a few short minutes.

8.  And, as of now, it isn’t.  It’s vanished. The tweet containing the Kinsella vs. Ford link is gone.  So is the clip. Check for yourself.

9.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Fortunately, I saved a screen cap of the Oakley Show’s tweet, and the link.  It’s below.

10.  Now that Lent is over, I can swear.  The John Oakley Show look like a bunch of chickenshits, here.  They look like cowards.  Someone pushed back against their loathsome pals, the Fords, and they didn’t like it.  Management, or the Fords, or someone, told them to take it down. So they did. They’ve disappeared evidence of it.

Like I say, there can be only one conclusion.

Oakley’s a chickenshit.

 

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You asked, we delivered. Not sure why they drop the volume level on my voice there – when I played it for him, Son One noticed it right away. Your guess is as good as mine.

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Dear Oakley guys:

When I agreed to go on your show to discuss Rob Ford’s drinking problem, yesterday morning, you didn’t tell me Doug Ford would be on too.

No matter. When you brought him on, and he immediately started behaving like an idiot, I told him what a few million of us think of him.

I’ve asked you when that exchange was being posted on your web site – after all, you yesterday put up a clip of Doug Ford, but not me. You still have not responded.

Is there something you are afraid of? I’m sure that’s not the case.

Please put up the exchange, so I can share it with folks. They’re interested.

Increasingly, too, they’re also interested in whether you are protecting the Fords from being embarrassed.

Again.

Sincerely,

Warren

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Spotted by the ever-vigilant Steve Ladurantaye.  When Sun News Network asked viewers who’d they like to see with their own show, this what the form autofilled:

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A reporter contacted me today about the interim leader’s departure. Here’s what I said:

He’s been like many last-term presidents and Prime Ministers – when they’re no longer seeking another term, they end up having their greatest accomplishments.

I opposed him, openly and loudly, as a possible full-time leader of the Liberal Party. (He, meanwhile, seemingly detested Yours Truly – calling me a “stupid blogger” at least once!)

My opposition to him was nothing personal – he had a record from Ontario as an NDP Premier, and it was a bad one. As much as he would have liked to erase it, it was part of the historical record. It was what it was. The Conservatives were going to use it against him.

But, since he announced a year or so ago that he intended to keep his promise, and not seek the full-time leadership, he’s been outstanding.

I say this as someone who has never been a huge fan of Bob Rae: he has literally been one of the reasons the Liberal Party has been kept alive. After the May 2011 disaster, everyone expected the Liberal Party to disappear. Bob Rae – along with others – kept that from happening.

Not to get all Biblical or anything, but I liken this new phase in his life to Moses. He led his people to the edge of the promised land, but he isn’t entering it himself. That will be his most enduring legacy.

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It’ll show up here, I think.

I started by pointing out that many other politicians who battled with the bottle – George W. Bush, Brian Mulroney and (to a lesser extent) Ralph Klein – conquered their demons, and came back to be big winners.  I said voters are pretty forgiving, and I could see voters forgiving Rob Ford, but he needed to take the first step.

The Oakley guys then brought on Rob’s red-necked, knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing brother, Doug, to talk over me.  A string of insults and epithets commenced.

That bully bullshit might work with someone else, but not Your Humble Narrator.  I thereupon told Dougie, in the nicest possible way, that he was sleazy, a buffoon, a disaster and that he should spend more time actually doing his job instead of going on talk radio 24/7.

It was a lot of fun.  If someone finds a link, send it along.

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I’m about to go on the Oakley show – the show that created Rob Ford, in effect – to talk about his ongoing problems. Tune in if you can!

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Lilley and Kirbie duke it out.  Kirbie 1, Lilley 0.

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Story here.

And anyone involved in politics in Ontario can tell you this story is the tip of the proverbial ice berg. There’s a lot more.

What’s it mean? It means this conservative joke will continue to elect progressives in and around the GTA indefinitely. He’s the best thing that has happened to his opponents in years. I mean, kicked out of a pro-military event: for conservative hacks, that’s tantamount to sending back your Diamond Jubilee medal to Stephen Harper, wrapped in a copy of the Liberal Red Book. It just isn’t done.

A few weeks ago, I posted the photo, below (but deliberately avoided commenting on what his accuser, also pictured, was saying about him). My point: does this guy in any way help his side?

Um, no.

 

UPDATE:  And let’s not forget this week’s other mess: his comments about an ongoing criminal trial.  If the accused’s lawyers don’t end up using Ford’s sub judice comments in an appeal, I’ll be pretty surprised.

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