Rob Ford Vs. Toronto

What a couple of days. For anyone who hasn’t heard, here’s a recap:

1. Police release report indicating Alexander Lisi’s suspicious behaviour with Mayor Rob Ford.
2. Police Chief Bill Blair indicates to the press that they have the alleged video in which the mayor smokes crack. Blair says he was “disappointed as a citizen” about the contents of the video.
3. Rob Ford arrives at city hall, later telling the press that he cannot comment because the matter is before the courts.

So where does that leave us? We now have a confirmation that the infamous video does exist, its the same video the mayor had previously denied existed, and now that it does exist he still won't comment on it. If you ask me I’d say that the mayor has few options left to go on. His political career and any chance of (god forbid) re-election are quickly crumbling. The only way for him to get out of this mess is really just to admit what's in the video before it’s made public, and the clock is ticking.

The mayors lawyer also denies the video, but through more crafty means saying that Ford is “innocent of any allegations made about his smoking crack cocaine.” Essentially that if the mayor is seen in a video where he is abusing a substance, that substance is not crack cocaine. This fits in with the mayors previous denial of the video saying “I do not smoke crack cocaine nor am I an addict of crack cocaine.” I’m going to make my bets now that if that video is released, the mayor is probably smoking weed or (even sadder) tobacco.

Not surprisingly Ford Nation (Rob Fords ever-loyal voters) continue to blatantly ignore the evidence against the mayor. Heres some of their recent tweets:

So Toronto where does that leave us? Well, we have a mayor battling (yet another) scandal. Fords popularity as of October 31 was a disgraceful 39% after dropping 10% over the course of a day. The police have confirmed the alleged video exists, and the mayor and his lawyer say they still can't comment on it. To top it all off Ford Nation seems more blind than ever.

My two cents on the matter is that if the mayor wants to survive politically and run for another term, it would be in his best interests to tell the public what they may or may not see in the video. At least then he could seem like he actually cares what the city thinks of him, and subsequently kill the matter once and for all.