Thomas Rubino<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Toward the tail-end of George Bush\u2019s tumultuous 8 years as commander-in-chief of the United States, I began to pick up on the rather subtle yet very widespread opinion regarding his intelligence. It\u2019s still commonplace today in fact, when I do hear about the former president it\u2019s usually something centered around his incompetency or malice. Whether these allegations are true or not, they are almost always met with applause and more than a few yuks.<\/p>\n
Similar sentiments have been present since over a year ago (wow, time flies) during Rob Ford\u2019s election campaign. Over a year has passed with Ford acting as our 64th<\/sup> and current mayor, and the jokes surrounding Rob still continue with full force. Poking fun Well, perhaps they can. Rob Ford has consistently demonstrated his inability for the job and his general incompetence in many fun ways. Let\u2019s take some brief inventory, shall we\u2026 He harbors a deep-seeded hatred of cyclists and bike lanes, old people, people not from Etobicoke, 911 dispatchers, and even fellow Leaf fans! (albeit while This last point is the one that brings to the \u201cFord Freeze\u201d we are experiencing today. During his campaign last year, the Toronto Star published an article regarding some complaints about his behaviour as a football coach after his confrontation with a young player over some poor performance on the field. This prompted the Ford freeze \u2013 the As John Honderich correctly notes in his December 1st<\/sup> column, \u201cMayor Ford has Other journalists have thankfully responded to the Ford freeze. David Nickle, The effort is also fundamentally futile. In this day and age, with technology and the So what should the Star do? One option would be to do nothing, as there are evidently ways to work around the freeze. But shouldn\u2019t there be a reaction to something so Well, as it turns out, there is. The Star has recently filed a complaint with the city\u2019s Thomas Rubino Toward the tail-end of George Bush\u2019s tumultuous 8 years as commander-in-chief of the United States, I began to pick up on the rather subtle yet very widespread opinion regarding his intelligence. It\u2019s still commonplace today in fact, … Continue reading
\nat Toronto\u2019s very own dough-boy is admittedly very fashionable; anyone can do it (including those of us below voting age). However it\u2019s this aspect of our communal
\nridicule that parallels that which was present during Bush\u2019s tenure. Though
\nwe\u2019ve all indulged in it, I fear that Rob Ford I.Q jokes are becoming the jokes
\nthat stupid people laugh at. Can all these people really claim they are smarter
\nthan the mayor?<\/p>\n
\ndrunk). I won\u2019t go into detail here, but his proposed budget for 2012 would
\nclose swimming pools and homeless shelters, cut programs for student nutrition,
\nAIDS prevention and arts, and raise property taxes by 2.5% while increasing TTC
\nfares by an extra dime. This is all to say nothing about his conduct as a football
\ncoach\u2026<\/p>\n
\nspecific order by Mayor Rob Ford that all official notices and pronouncements
\nfrom his office not <\/em>be provided to the Toronto Star. This ban has been in place for over a year now, as the mayor has said it will not lift until the Star runs an apology
\nabove the fold on page 1 \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t talk to the Star<\/em> till you
\nguys apologize. You guys (are) liars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nno obligation to speak to or being interviewed by the Star\u201d. He is, however,
\nobliged to ensure that public press releases and notifications from his office
\nare indeed public. Members of the press gallery were briefed about arts funding
\nrecently in private, and were specifically asked to not tell the Star about it.<\/p>\n
\npresident of the city hall press gallery made the point that, \u201cthe offices of
\nthe mayor and members of council are public, taxpayer-funded institutions\u201d and
\nthat, \u201cTo exclude any gallery member \u2026 is an abuse of process and office.\u201d The
\nright to free speech and the right to gather information are both apparently
\nguaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms! (Google it).<\/p>\n
\ninternet as a means of communication, nothing stays hidden for long. Just as it
\ngoes with facebook \u2013 once it\u2019s on the internet, it belongs to everyone. The
\n\u201cfreeze\u201d is totalitarian in nature and displays the sickly elements of
\npropaganda present in communist regimes. This is ironic given Mayor Ford\u2019s
\ncontempt for all those commie pinkos out there.<\/p>\n
\nmorally and, some would argue, legally <\/em>unjust?<\/p>\n
\nintegrity commissioner to ask for a ruling. This writer personally never even
\nknew we had an integrity commissioner, but upon further investigation, he\/she
\nwill launch an investigation if the allegations are judged to be in violation
\nof the city\u2019s Code of Ethics. The Mayor\u2019s office has not responded to a request
\nfor comment on this matter. We can only hope in the coming weeks that Mayor
\nFord will give us once again something to laugh about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"