Thursday, June 13, 2013

Rob Ford knew some guys - big deal!

Ok, a massive police raid with 42 teams across the Province.  Neighbourhoods shut down at dawn by battering ram entry and
 flash bang stun grenades.  Dozens of arrests, 40 firearms seized, millions of dollars of cash and drugs uncovered. 

And what's the lead to the story?

"Rob Ford knew men in photo"

Errh, well, who cares?




7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I care.

No, not from the point of view of guilt by association.

But more important and telling to me are the actions of those close to the mayor, on his staff and among his political associates. Their comments that the mayor should deal with his personal issues reveals more than any photo because those people are in the committee rooms and meetings where the mayor's behavior would be well noted. Senior staff and campaign managers distancing themselves by quitting their jobs is even more important.

The mayor could be vulnerable to blackmail, extortion, or other forms of inappropriate, if not wholly illegal, pressure. For example in the garbage privatization project the mayor insisted on a single supplier which weakened the city's power compared to a multi-source contract. Why? Nobody knows but if the mayor is associating with criminals and drug dealers and engaging in illegal activities all his decisions come into question.

That's why I care.

p2p

The Mound of Sound said...

Jim, you know better than this. You're positing a criminal defence argument that's not particularly relevant. This man is Toronto's Chief Magistrate, the mayor. He's not a street corner news vendor. Those whom he associates with are relevant, particularly when they begin turning up murdered or the subject of legally sanctioned wiretaps.

As Anon quite rightly points out, those who hold powerful office are incredibly vulnerable to blackmail or extortion. I don't know many high profile elected officials who freely hang out with gang bangers and hard core drug dealers much less be photographed embracing them.

Sometimes, James, your academic side gets the better of you

Anonymous said...

"extortion"..?
As in a billion dollars to move gas plants to win elections?
As in allowing non Canadian citizens to vote because there's 250,000 of them and you know they would all vote for you?
This mayor is white and overweight and is as nimble politically as a cow on ice and thats what bugs so called "progressives". There is a mayor in London who payed for his son's wedding with tax payers money, where are the headlines? What difference does it matter if "you" think he's guilty, or me for that matter. There is no evidence, none, at least so far. But, yet, here are the so called progressives dancing around the fire pit chanting and singing "guilty guitly". It reminds me of the scene from Beauty and the Beast where the town folk get together in a mob and yell..."kill the beast, kill the beast". I think there is something to this, I think if Ford was lilly white he'd have a lawyer and press conference already done, but, thats just me and I'll wait until I see actual proof, I guess being Progressive means you really dont need proof, just a mob and some pitch forks. Sad, and, pathetic.

James C Morton said...

I hear your points -- I guess what I am saying is the real story is the effect on a neighborhood -- a mainly black neighborhood. And I wonder if the colour of the people involved is what makes the story focus so much on a middle aged white guy - albeit an important one...

Anonymous said...

Bingo!! You cant pick right now. If you have no respect for the effects of this on Mr Ford or his family then you dont care about the effects on the neighborhood.
It is an important story, and, I cant think of one reason to believe Mr Ford, he's lied before, but, what difference does that make in actual law? In the hunt for Mr Ford the progressives have left a trail of victims.

Anonymous said...

@James. I do not really think that the colour of anybodys skin is that relevant. I know it is not to me, I live in Etobicoke Lakeshore, and the local street crack dealers and prostitutes are white, or black or latino, but they are all equally scary looking and seriously troubled. I guess that there are still a lot of people around who are prejudiced, but I am not, and the issues are still pretty serious to me. The Mayor probably/possibly smoking crack is so wrong on so many levels. Drug gangs get busted all the time, Mayors do no expose themselves to blackmail all the time, so my interest in this story is based on whether the Mayor has been lying. Ifhe has then an incumbent Mayor is not going to win re-election, and THAT is real news.

Stephen Downes said...

I liked the way the police spokesperson put it on CBC - that this was a case where a particular neighbourhood was being victimized by criminal activity. Which cuts right to the heart of it - whatever community, ethnicity, etc., the criminal element is in the minority, and makes victims of the other members of the community.

As for the Ford thing, suppose the headline said "Rob Ford made his fortune with and was funded by the people in this photo." Assuming that the people in the photo are part of the criminal network of drug dealers, hen this would be a very significant allegation. No, mere association doesn't show such a connection. But it raises the possibility.

At the very least, it has shed new light on Ford's pious proclamations about being a self-made businessman (and one wonders how many respected members of the business community got their start in a less-than-respectable fashion).