Tribulations of a big fat populist mayor

One thing you have to say about Toronto Mayor Rob Ford; he did it his way.

And now a judge has rendered him the ex-mayor, barely two years into his term, over a conflict of interest case so facile that it can only enhance Ford's prospects for re-election.

Here's what Canada's newspaper of record has to say;

He failed utterly to understand the line between his personal interests and his role as the city's chief elected official.

This was the mayor who called senior civil servants to his office to demand paving and other repairs outside his family business in Etobicoke. This is the mayor who used publicly paid workers in his office to help coach his football team. This is the mayor who called the head of the Toronto Transit Commission about a bus that was being dispatched to pick up his high school football team after an aborted game.'

At least the Globe was inclined to give the man a chance. The Toronto Star on the other hand made it a point of pride to play "gotcha" journalism from the very beginning.

I think for the most the above critique rings true. At the same time, how did he fumble the transit file any more than Miller before him? And for all-round buffoonery, he still had a ways to go to match Lastman.

And a lot of the stuff presented above, such as his commitment to his football team, has helped him in the eyes of the public, especially the non-white public.

So gloat if you will, liberal journalist community, but Rob Ford will return!