RIP Rob Ford

The think tank here at Falling Downs had a lot of fun at Rob Ford’s expense, but I’d like to think that overall, it was good well-intentioned fun. While I don’t think he had much in the way of political accomplishments to boast about (that was pretty much limited to turning modestly paying trash collector jobs into poorly paying privatized trash collector jobs), he certainly carried himself with an admirable I-do-what-I-do swagger.

We don’t have to live in Toronto, thank God, but we listen regularly to Toronto traffic reports, just so we can remember why we should keep thanking God. But we get there every couple of months to meet up with the Juniors and sometimes the old Jewish relations who can’t make it up here anymore, so we’re somewhat familiar with the place, but we’re not intimately acquainted by any stretch.

That’s why we relied on the Toronto media for our Ford Nation info, especially the faux liberal Toronto Star. Ford Nation was, the way I understood it, a bunch of backward looking white racists pining for the good old days of Toronto the Good.

The good and white. Wasn’t hardly a day where I wouldn’t pick up the Star and read all about Ford’s misogyny and racism and alcoholism and addictions and misogyny and racism etc. In fact, the Star bent the boundaries of journalistic integrity on a regular basis with reportage that amounted to fat-shaming and general character assassination. They still somewhat lamely claim that paying money for “gotcha” videos was a public service, as opposed to a black eye for journalism.

So I was a bit taken aback when I viewed a little bit of the funeral today. Seems that women and non-white folks were extremely well represented. What did they see in the man that the Toronto Star missed?

Anyway, this is about Rob Ford, not the sorry state of journalism today. All respect, Mr. Ford, and condolences to your loved ones. Thanks for being you.