Ongoing Rob Ford crack cocaine scandal

[BoMac]

http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hal...app=noRedirect

[cobl04]

Originally Posted by BoMac

Also, allegedly, a sex tape is forthcoming.

Oh. My. God.

Who would do that with that man? How?

[dazzledbylight]

Originally Posted by U2BROTHR

I'm so embarrassed of my city.....

Ah, U2Bro .... ( I went through to end of thread and see he's finally heading for rehab) ....

... think of it as a warp in the Space-Time Continium...a real aberation, if you will, of what the the range of usual types of mayors Toronto has had.

Yes, I was amazed that this Mayor happened to you Torontoans.

And I know from good buds here in Interland in/near Toronto that Canadians can partee-down like the rest of us...
So it was ....not quite as shocking to me as maybe to some others who have certain general ideas about MapleLeafers.

Visited Toronto and Montreal a looong time (family vacation w my parents) ago. Enjoyed it very much. Hope to visit again some day.

[dazzledbylight]

Originally Posted by digitize

Rob Ford is the Silvio Berlusconi of North America.

wait... was Silvio B also a loud drunkard?

[elevated_u2_fan]

please resign, please resign, please resign

[Hewson]

Originally Posted by BoMac

Also, allegedly, a sex tape is forthcoming.

Oh. My. God.

Not sure if this will be as popular as Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson.

[elevated_u2_fan]

This is equal parts funny and sad...

Rob Ford did cocaine on wild night, witnesses say | Toronto Star

On March 15, an hour before he disappeared into a washroom at Muzik, Ford ran into pop star Justin Bieber in a common area of the exclusive nightclub near Toronto’s waterfront, according to witnesses. Ford tried to shake Bieber’s hand and became enraged when Bieber jokingly asked him, “Did you bring any crack to smoke?”

People familiar with his activities over the next five hours (at least two partygoers, a Canadian actress and a Bieber follower tweeted that Ford and Bieber were there but did not provide details) say that Ford drank to excess and at one point went to a private washroom. He emerged 45 minutes later and was incoherent and rambling.


“My wife and children hate me. I am in over my head,” Ford reportedly said.


A cleaner at Muzik had to go into the bathroom and clean up vomit left after Ford exited. Two sources told the Star that Ford returned to the table and kept drinking, staying at the club until 5 a.m.


A few weeks after this event, on April 5, Ford was at the Air Canada Centre, apparently drunk and belligerent, and was barred from an executive lounge. He left and made his way to Muzik. According to witnesses, Ford slipped into a closed-off part of the club with two females and another male. He emerged an hour later disoriented and apparently high.


Ford said that night that his mother and father were never there for him and commented that “no one knows what I'm going through.”

[Diemen]

It's really hard being a white male with political power and no legal repercussions for illegal drug use.

[bono_212]

I know you're saying that sarcastically, but in this case, I kinda think that's true.

This is a guy, from my understanding, that kinda came from nowhere and then began receiving an awful lot of spotlight. In all likelihood, what was a drinking problem and a drug habit has gotten out of hand, due to the scrutiny and pressure that he has basically constantly been under since last year.

It being unchecked, as you point out, I'm not really surprised that he seems to be getting near the edge.

[Diemen]

I completely disagree, I think it would be a helluva lot harder for him to be a regular citizen, and even harder had he been a minority who was caught with a drug problem. He isn't even giving up his mayoral campaign, he's just "taking a break."

I have a hard time digging up much sympathy for the guy, given his politics (which have made life harder for those struggling with addiction, ironically, and increasingly marginalized those already on the margins) and his attitude throughout this whole scandal, which has basically amounted to thumbing his nose at his detractors, while evidently continuing the exact same behavior that caused the scandal in the first place.

[elevated_u2_fan]

Diemen for Mayor!

[anitram]

Originally Posted by bono_212

I know you're saying that sarcastically, but in this case, I kinda think that's true.

This is a guy, from my understanding, that kinda came from nowhere and then began receiving an awful lot of spotlight. In all likelihood, what was a drinking problem and a drug habit has gotten out of hand, due to the scrutiny and pressure that he has basically constantly been under since last year.

I think you have it wrong. He didn't "come out of nowhere" - he's been sitting on Toronto city council for almost 15 years. And the same loudmouth boor he is now. And his family is fairly influential, wealthy and his father was a member of the provincial parliament.

RF was essentially the same character he is now, except as a city councillor rather than Mayor. He has a history of embarrassing behaviour, a history of drug/alcohol use, domestic problems/abuse calls to his house (by a variety of his wife, mother in law, etc). These were fairly consistent before he became Mayor, it's just that nobody in the media paid much attention as he was well-liked by the voters in his riding and by all accounts actually a very attentive councillor concerning their needs.

This in combination with the fact that his sister is a known life-long drug addict, as was her former common-law partner, the fact his one older brother is a known addict (though to his credit he stays out of the public eye), and in combination with all the stories coming out about Doug having been a small-scale dealer it's pretty obvious that he's had a problem that was out of control for a long, long time. But nobody cares about a random councillor with a problem, or a random private citizen.

ETA: He is clearly a ridiculous person but I very much blame his enabling family for the situation he is in. Your brother/son has a drug problem? Deny it and let him smoke crack in your basement! Really sad.

[prbiker15]

Originally Posted by anitram

Your brother/son has a drug problem? Deny it and let him smoke crack in your basement! Really sad.

This is what surprised me. I really don't know what to think of that. Either they couldn't intervene, they didn't care or both.

[bono_212]

I hope it wasn't being misconstrued that I feel like this isn't his fault, I was just suggesting that the free reign has probably been a factor in his increasingly erratic behavior.

[dazzledbylight]

thanks, diemem for those two posts.

anitram... thanks for all that backstory.
a very troubled family...

[anitram]

Originally Posted by bono_212

I hope it wasn't being misconstrued that I feel like this isn't his fault, I was just suggesting that the free reign has probably been a factor in his increasingly erratic behavior.

Not at all, but your post seemed like you thought he came out of nowhere and couldn't handle the pressure. My suggestion is that he's always been like this, the only thing that's different is that it's now being reported. He boozed, did drugs, partied hard, allegedly slapped his wife around...but none of us would have read about it in the papers.

[bono_212]

Sorry, I was going to write a longer post, but had to run back to work. But I was going to acknowledge the fact that, no, I didn't know a lot what you pointed out to me about his political history. My mistake.

[LemonMelon]

Originally Posted by anitram

He boozed, did drugs, partied hard, allegedly slapped his wife around

He's just an Average Guy.

[elevated_u2_fan]

a man of the people!

[anitram]

That's sort of the thing, you can't blame people like bono_212 for thinking he came out of nowhere. He looks and sounds like a dumb hick that was dropped on the planet 4 minutes ago but in fact he came from a wealthy family, his father was incredibly accomplished and well-respected, he lived in a huge house in one of the nicest parts of town and basically had every advantage in life.