If Rob Ford’s mayoralty had been a scripted reality show, it would have strained credulity, as this trenchant Marcus Gee column reminds us. Gee rounds up some of Ford’s greatest hits — including a few I’d missed, like Ford’s vote against naming a street after Nelson Mandela; his failed bid to distribute 10,000 Easter eggs at a parade where he wasn’t welcome, his appointment of disgraced, drug abusing athlete Ben Johnson to his campaign team, and his profane rant against a security guard who denied him entry to a VIP lounge at a hockey game.
You had me on the edge of my bar stool with the police angle. Would they get the goods on Rob and drag him away in cuffs? Now we find out the cops are fighting each other and it looks like he’s home free. Who saw that coming? Still, you guys may be going too far for real this season. The latest episodes stretch our viewers’ willingness to “suspend disbelief” (I think Spielberg said that).
A mayor who votes against naming a street after Nelson Mandela (then says it was a mistake)? I mean, Nelson Mandela! A mayor who claims to be an ordinary Joe – loyal friend of the poor, fearless foe of the elites yada yada – tries to bully his way into an exclusive lounge at a hockey game? Come on. How does your rich boy get off pretending to be real people now?
The bit about the Easter parade was good, sure. He gets banned from the parade and gets stuck with 10,000 Easter eggs. I laughed.
But with the Ben Johnson stuff, you went way over the top. What guy who is in trouble for drug use brings out a guy infamous for using steroids and poses for the cameras with him? It just reminds voters of the whole crack thing in the middle of an election campaign. Here I am, folks, the most notorious Canadian in the world – standing next to the guy who used to be the most notorious Canadian in the world. What real-life person would do that?
The Ford Show is riveting, but soon we’ll stop believing it [Marcus Gee/The Globe and Mail]
(Thanks, Mom!)
(Image: God Emperor Fob Rord I, by Torley, CC-BY-SA)