• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

BREAKING: Councillor Rob Ford, Toronto's most famous mayor, has died at age 46

Status
Not open for further replies.
W

Walpurgis

Banned
OpinionatedCyborg said:
I have sympathy for the wife he terrorized and the children who will grow up without a father.

Rob Ford was a bad person on multiple levels. I suspect a lot of people aren't familiar with him beyond videos of him being a goofy crack-smoking clown. It's too bad he died so young and in such a drawn out and painful way. He might have redeemed himself if he had lived longer, but now he no longer has the opportunity to correct his legacy as a racist, homophobic, perennial drunk driver, crack-abusing, wife beating asshole who, beyond the aforementioned personal failings, was also a disaster as a public servant, supporting regressive and damaging policies as well as divisive politics for the people of Toronto (I haven't mentioned his connections to organized crime either). He was a vile man, but he was also a victim of a vile family, namely his toxic mother and his overbearing sociopath brother who manipulated and gleefully embarassed him publically.
Click to expand...

OpinionatedCyborg
Thread Clinging Troll
(Today, 02:34 PM)
 
S

Savitar

Member
He was a black eye on Canada, was a horrendous mayor for Toronto and his family seems to be pretty crummy at best and that's putting it extremely nicely. But no one deserves to die from cancer.
 
O

OpinionatedCyborg

Member
Walpurgis said:
OpinionatedCyborg
Thread Clinging Troll
(Today, 02:34 PM)
Click to expand...

Walpurgis said:
He was a funny guy, like a really funny guy. He was, without a doubt, the funniest and funnest man in Canadian politics.
giphy.gif

I know that he made some racist comments but you've got to respect that he smoked crack with regular citizens instead of just rich white guys.

RIP Rob Ford. You are missed (by me, at least).
Click to expand...

.
 
P

Pedrito

Member
I'm sorry he died so young (46? I thought he was in his mid-fifties) and I'm sad for his friends and family, but I won't pretend that he was wonderful or misunderstood just because he died.

Yeah, the media were relentless, but he brought a lot of it on himself with his antics and by continuously denying the obvious and even lying. And his political career was based on cheap populism.
 
B

BeesEight

Member
When the news mentioned he was being placed in palliative care, it was clear he didn't have much longer to go. Cancer is an unfortunate way to end.

Guy was truly awful, however. I get the idea of not disrespecting the recently deceased but to see him held as a hero for some is disheartening. I was glad to see him out of office and happy to have him out of politics but I didn't need him dead.

His disrespect for the LGBT community was disgraceful, though. Not to mention the racism, spousal abuse, drug problems and horrendous politicking. But, I suppose we can forgive that because he made for some funny gifs.

His death is unfortunate but I'm not sad to see him gone.
 
S

Strike

Member
He was certainly a colorful character to say the least. Terrible politician and public figure whose antics while at times funny, certainly did more harm than good for the city he represented. Nevertheless, he still had family that cared about him. RIP and condolences to his family.
 
K

Kuro Madoushi

Unconfirmed Member
BeesEight said:
When the news mentioned he was being placed in palliative care, it was clear he didn't have much longer to go. Cancer is an unfortunate way to end.

Guy was truly awful, however. I get the idea of not disrespecting the recently deceased but to see him held as a hero for some is disheartening. I was glad to see him out of office and happy to have him out of politics but I didn't need him dead.

His disrespect for the LGBT community was disgraceful, though. Not to mention the racism, spousal abuse, drug problems and horrendous politicking. But, I suppose we can forgive that because he made for some funny gifs.

His death is unfortunate but I'm not sad to see him gone.
Click to expand...
Has anyone here put him on a pedestal...? Most I think are saying bad mayor, bad councillor, bad family man, overall piece of shit. Deserved divorce, jail time, and loss of his job, but I don't think he deserved to die by cancer.
 
Y

yanipheonu

Member
Ford, we may have disagreed on things and had distain for your actions, but I'd still take you over Trump any day.

I feel really bad for his brother. He stood by Rob through everything. If there was a good story out of Rob's schenaneigans it was the loyalty of his family.
 
Sapiens

Sapiens

Member
yanipheonu said:
Ford, we may have disagreed on things and had distain for your actions, but I'd still take you over Trump any day.

I feel really bad for his brother. He stood by Rob through everything. If there was a good story out of Rob's schenaneigans it was the loyalty of his family.
Click to expand...

Doug enabled Rob.
 
J

jstripes

Banned
Hycran said:
If anything this should serve as a moment to bring us together to celebrate the few things he did that were good, but also realize that it could have been so much better but for his personality flaws
Click to expand...

He was an excellent councillor for his home ward. He personally dealt with everything his constituents asked of him, returning every call, and spent a great deal of time reaching out to them.

Unfortunately, those skills didn't scale to being mayor of a diverse world class (yes, I said it) city with millions of people who have a wide variety of needs. His personal life also didn't suit the extra scrutiny that comes with that position.

From what I understand, he likely never wanted to be mayor to begin with. The Ford clan, who viewed themselves as a political dynasty, had put intense pressure on him to carry his father's political legacy.
 
G

gabbo

Member
I sympathize with his family, especially his young kids. No one should have to lose a family member like this, especially so publicly.
That said, I think he was a terrible mayor, and his brand of conservatism is toxic to political discourse. He sold his phony 'man of people' persona well, I'll give him that.
 
E

EvilMario

Will QA for food.
Kuro Madoushi said:
Has anyone here put him on a pedestal...? Most I think are saying bad mayor, bad councillor, bad family man, overall piece of shit. Deserved divorce, jail time, and loss of his job, but I don't think he deserved to die by cancer.
Click to expand...

Basically. He didn't deserve his ultimate fate (fuck cancer), but I don't feel the need to praise him either.
 
G

Goodstyle

Member
OpinionatedCyborg said:
his overbearing sociopath brother who manipulated and gleefully embarassed him publically.
Click to expand...

That's... an interesting way to characterize him. Seemed more like a spineless guy who couldn't speak up when he needed to. He was clearly torn up about his brother's public humiliation from what I've seen.
 
M

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
OpinionatedCyborg said:
I have sympathy for the wife he terrorized and the children who will grow up without a father.

Rob Ford was a bad person on multiple levels. I suspect a lot of people aren't familiar with him beyond videos of him being a goofy crack-smoking clown. It's too bad he died so young and in such a drawn out and painful way. He might have redeemed himself if he had lived longer, but now he no longer has the opportunity to correct his legacy as a racist, homophobic, perennial drunk driver, crack-abusing, wife beating asshole who, beyond the aforementioned personal failings, was also a disaster as a public servant, supporting regressive and damaging policies as well as divisive politics for the people of Toronto (I haven't mentioned his connections to organized crime either). He was a vile man, but he was also a victim of a vile family, namely his toxic mother and his overbearing sociopath brother who manipulated and gleefully embarassed him publically.
Click to expand...
Can't argue with that. Not to mention when he was caught on video violently screaming threats to kill someone.

No one deserves cancer but I can't say he deserves the sympathy. His family does, for sure.
 
O

OpinionatedCyborg

Member
This video has stayed with me: https://vimeo.com/110365134. It does a great job of capturing the atmosphere at the Ford election night party. You get to see the Fords and their supporters at their most personable. Most relevant is a touching moment with Ford's children at 3:30.
Goodstyle said:
That's... an interesting way to characterize him. Seemed more like a spineless guy who couldn't speak up when he needed to. He was clearly torn up about his brother's public humiliation from what I've seen.
Click to expand...
I agree with you that Doug was torn up about Rob's humiliation. Doug was also a vehement defender of Rob's. However, Doug contributed to the abuse of Rob, both publicly and privately. I suppose this isn't too different from a lot of sibling relationships where the attitude is "I can bully my little brother, but if you do the same thing there will be hell to pay."
 
U

uncelestial

Member
Well, I can't say I expected it to be cancer. In a way, if that's what was going to get him, maybe it's kind of a silver lining that he partied so hard and went out in a blaze of glory.

That all said, fuck his racism and homophobia.
 
W

Walpurgis

Banned
Silexx said:
I think this is a good article that sums up the complexities around Ford.

https://newrepublic.com/article/131886/rob-ford-died-make-amends
Click to expand...
Wow. That's actually quite sad. While we all got to have a laugh at his funny gifs and can still view them for more laughs, his family lost him on what seems like pretty bad terms. I don't believe that he was comatose and I recall reading that at least one family member was with him in the hospital 24/7 so hopefully they were able to come to satisfactory reconciliation. Funny guy but what a sad way to go.
jstripes said:
He was an excellent councillor for his home ward. He personally dealt with everything his constituents asked of him, returning every call, and spent a great deal of time reaching out to them.

Unfortunately, those skills didn't scale to being mayor of a diverse world class (yes, I said it) city with millions of people who have a wide variety of needs. His personal life also didn't suit the extra scrutiny that comes with that position.

From what I understand, he likely never wanted to be mayor to begin with. The Ford clan, who viewed themselves as a political dynasty, had put intense pressure on him to carry his father's political legacy.
Click to expand...
Tabris alt account detected.

Huh. Didn't know about the dynasty. I thought it was just him and his bro.
 
J

jstripes

Banned
Walpurgis said:
Huh. Didn't know about the dynasty. I thought it was just him and his bro.
Click to expand...

Yup. Their dad was a city councillor in Etobicoke, and then a one-term Tory backbencher at Queen's Park.

Rob's nephew legally changed his last name to Ford and ran for school board trustee in the last election.

Also, Doug fucked off back to Chicago after losing his mayoral bid running to replace Rob.
 
D

Dr.Acula

Banned
Another 'keep it real' eulogy.

http://www.haemorrhage-music.com/ford-eulogy

[...]

Ten years ago, when he was a city councillor, a drunken Rob Ford caused such a disturbance at a Maple Leafs game that he had to be removed by security. A couple visiting from out of town received the brunt of his abuse, as he shrieked things like “How would you like your little wife to be raped and shot in Iran?” to them. While he could be forgiven for this misbehaviour (after all, he’s not the first person to be an obnoxious drunk at a sporting event), what he did next cannot be forgiven. Two days after the game, he was confronted by National Post reporters who’d gotten wind of this incident when they learned of a complaint filed by that visiting couple to the city clerk. Ford, presumably not drunk at the time, insisted to the media that it wasn’t him, he wasn’t even at that game, and that the couple must be lying. The following day, he reluctantly admitted the truth, but a pattern was established that he would repeatedly follow for the rest of his life: when caught doing something wrong, he would first deny it, and call his accusers liars, until his own lie could no longer be sustained, at which point he would begrudgingly own up to his own actions, while lashing out at anyone who mentioned it. This despicable modus operandi would be repeated on the 2010 campaign trail, when he denied that he’d ever been charged with drug possession in a 1999 Florida drunk-driving incident, and most famously when he denied for six whole months that he’d been caught on video smoking crack with violent street-gang members. For those six months, Ford continually accused reporters who’d seen the video of lying, until eventually when the police recovered the video, he finally admitted to smoking crack, and claimed that his six months of lying was the fault of reporters who “hadn’t asked the right question”.

[...]

Rob Ford’s conduct was so egregious that he was served a libel notice after accusing a reporter of being a pedophile on a TV interview. At first, Rob stuck to his guns and wouldn’t retract his foul accusation, until the deadline of the libel notice was about to expire, then in a classic weaselly move, he had his lawyer issue a written retraction, but didn’t bother to publicly vocalize it. To this day, many of his supporters continue to parrot that accusation, seemingly unaware that Ford did in fact retract it. And Ford made no further effort to enlighten them on that point. Shakespeare wrote "the evil that men do lives after them", so we must not only remember Ford's words and deeds when he was alive, but also his poisonous effect on the city and its civic discourse. He deliberately pitted different factions and regions within the city against each other, emboldened his supporters to flaunt their bigotry and threaten others with violence (much as we now see occurring at Donald Trump rallies), and propagated so many falsehoods about everything from transit strategies to what's in the city budget, that even now it is difficult to have rational and informed discussions about these matters.
Click to expand...

A liar and a bully who went after the careers and reputations of people who tried to call him on his shit.
 
W

Walpurgis

Banned
Dr.Acula said:
Another 'keep it real' eulogy.

http://www.haemorrhage-music.com/ford-eulogy



A liar and a bully who went after the careers and reputations of people who tried to call him on his shit.
Click to expand...
But right to the end, Rob Ford refused to change, and even in his final year as a mostly-absentee councillor, he continued his practice of trying to disrupt council meetings, blindly voting against any and every motion, and submitting articles to newspapers full of hyperbolic attacks against the current mayor (along with all the usual suspects).
Click to expand...
This is quite sad. If he was in any condition to do that, he should have at least given some thought to the legacy that he'd leave behind. It's not like he was randomly shot. He's probably known that he was going to die for months.

I don't live in Toronto so I didn't know all of the details but the more that I read about him, the worse he sounds. I still appreciate the gifs but I can understand if the residents of Toronto hate him.
Indicate said:
Everything he said was right.
Click to expand...
I never said he was wrong. I was actually making fun of his name (opinionated).
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
jstripes said:
Yup. Their dad was a city councillor in Etobicoke, and then a one-term Tory backbencher at Queen's Park.

Rob's nephew legally changed his last name to Ford and ran for school board trustee in the last election.

Also, Doug fucked off back to Chicago after losing his mayoral bid running to replace Rob.
Click to expand...

There was also the story of John Tory's majoral campaign in 2003, where he reportedly had to go visit the Fords to seek the elder Ford's support and approval.

When John Tory was running for Toronto mayor in 2003, he was told he needed to meet with the Fords, the “gatekeepers to Etobicoke.” Doug Sr. was a key guy in Conservative circles, but when Tory showed up at an airport-area restaurant, the entire family, except for Kathy, was waiting for him. Diane held court, asking nearly all of the questions and delivering the verdict: “We like you. You’ll get elected, because we’re going to help you in Etobicoke … you’ll serve for a period of time and then it will be Robbie’s turn,” Tory remembers the matriarch saying.
One source close to the family told Doolittle, “The Fords think of themselves as the Kennedys. They talk about it. They’re the Canadian Kennedys.”
Click to expand...

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/02/03/5_things_you_didnt_know_about_rob_fords_family_revelations_from_the_book_crazy_town.html
 
I

Indicate

Member
Walpurgis said:
This is quite sad. If he was in any condition to do that, he should have at least given some thought to the legacy that he'd leave behind. It's not like he was randomly shot. He's probably known that he was going to die for months.

I don't live in Toronto so I didn't know all of the details but the more that I read about him, the worse he sounds. I still appreciate the gifs but I can understand if the residents of Toronto hate him.

I never said he was wrong. I was actually making fun of his name (opinionated).
Click to expand...

ok. I'm still angry that some Torontonians believe he was for the tax payers. On top of the unnecessary Scarborough Subway Extention that increases property taxes, he wanted to build a ferris wheel. ridiculous.
 
G

gabbo

Member
Indicate said:
ok. I'm still angry that some Torontonians believe he was for the tax payers. On top of the unnecessary Scarborough Subway Extention that increases property taxes, he wanted to build a ferris wheel. ridiculous.
Click to expand...

The waterfront was just sitting there, doing nothing! He HAD to do something to change that!
 
B

Breads

Banned
He was only 46? I thought he was near to mid 60s.

:edit:

Oh it was cancer that did him in. That's actually quite surprising. At the very least not what I (and apparently a lot of other people) were expecting.
 
T

Trouble

Banned
RIP

I feel like he was robbed of his final media frenzy by dying on a day with too much stuff going on. I've had the news on all day and nary a mention of Ford.
 
F

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
jstripes said:
Yup. Their dad was a city councillor in Etobicoke, and then a one-term Tory backbencher at Queen's Park.

Rob's nephew legally changed his last name to Ford and ran for school board trustee in the last election.

Also, Doug fucked off back to Chicago after losing his mayoral bid running to replace Rob.
Click to expand...
His dad was never a city councilor. He was a one-term MPP and that's only because Doug Jr and Rob pushed him to run because they were sick of him complaining about the "commie" Bob Rae.
 
D

Darksol

Member
He was a transphobic, homophobic, sexist, anti-union, pro-cop, anti-bike, wife-beating, drunk-driving, authoritarian bigot who was a national disgrace. I'd be lying if I said I was sad.
 
P

PastorOfMuppets

Banned
One thing Rob Ford's becoming mayor of Toronto did is that it lowered the opinion of every Torontonian has about the 905 area code suburbs. I will never forgive the 905 region for that.
 
M

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
Dr.Acula said:
Another 'keep it real' eulogy.

http://www.haemorrhage-music.com/ford-eulogy

A liar and a bully who went after the careers and reputations of people who tried to call him on his shit.
Click to expand...

Darksol said:
He was a transphobic, homophobic, sexist, anti-union, pro-cop, anti-bike, wife-beating, drunk-driving, authoritarian bigot who was a national disgrace. I'd be lying if I said I was sad.
Click to expand...

But guys he was funny and made people pay attention to Toronto/Canada for like a week
 
G

gabbo

Member
PastorOfMuppets said:
One thing Rob Ford's becoming mayor of Toronto did is that it lowered the opinion of every Torontonian has about the 905 area code suburbs. I will never forgive the 905 region for that.
Click to expand...

Yeah, internal conflict within the city is greaaat. Not like we'd ever want to come together to get shit done. I say we never forgive Rob Ford for turning the city against itself for cheap pandering.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Toronto Mayor Supports Renaming Etobicoke Stadium After Racist Crackhead Rob Ford
2
80
8K
TheRealCanadianBros. replied
  • Locked
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has dropped out of the Mayoral election
2
74
5K
jstripes replied
  • Locked
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has been diagnosed with a tumor
2 3 4 5
202
16K
Johnny Cage In The Shower replied
  • Locked
Rob Ford is coming back from rehab on Monday
2 3
106
10K
jstripes replied
  • Locked
Tip a 40 for the Celebrities who died in 2016
2 3
128
21K
Shambalakan replied
Top Bottom