North America’s Strangest Mayor

Rob Ford, the Mayor of Toronto, has been in the news lately because someone allegedly has a video of him smoking crack. I have no idea whether the video is genuine or not, but Ford is a distinctly odd character. He makes Rahm Emanuel look like a normal human being; in some respects, anyway. New York Magazine compiled a list of 20 things you should know about Rob Ford. Not all are suitable for a family web site.

This sort of thing is typical:

On St. Patrick’s Day, Ford was escorted out of the bar Bier Markt after “storming the dance floor” and exhibiting generally drunken and “incoherent” behavior.

On the other hand, some of the items listed by NY Magazine sound like bad raps, perhaps motivated by the fact that Ford is a member of Canada’s Conservative Party. Some are merely outbursts of political incorrectness. Politics aside, though, some of Ford’s misadventures are pretty funny. Like this collision with a television camera, which prompted a loud and profane exclamation:

Then there was Mayor Ford’s brief stint as a quarterback. If you think he doesn’t look like an athlete, you are correct. This is reminiscent of the famous butt-fumble. Only, to his credit, Ford hung on to the ball:

The question I can’t answer is, how does a guy like that get elected to public office? Is it some kind of a joke, like when we Minnesotans elected Jesse Ventura governor? Does he have some other virtues that we aren’t hearing about? I really don’t get it. On the other hand, there are a lot of political careers that I don’t understand. Harry Reid? Maxine Waters? Joe Biden? The list goes on and on; but, whatever your political persuasion, Rob Ford belongs on it.

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