In spite of my comments in the previous blog about the
importance of citizens being active in demanding answers from their government
I am becoming somewhat uncomfortable with the media's attack on Toronto's
mayor. I don't like Rob Ford, I don't like his policies, I don't like his
approach to budgeting and I don't like his apparently absolute assumption that
his way is not only the right way, it is the only the way. While he may be a
great dad or even a great football coach, I think he may be a buffoon of the
highest order with few if any redeeming political characteristics or values.
None-the-less he is being picked on by the media and now by
late night television hosts from the US. Three reporters have reported that
they saw a video of him smoking crack cocaine. To be clear it was two reporters (who report to an editor and a
board) and one on-line reporter from a self published internet publication who saw
it. No one else has. People both in the media and within the political world of
Toronto are demanding that Ford stand up and either deny the validity of the
video or else admit that he has a problem. He did that the first day and has since chosen
not to talk about it on apparently the advice of his lawyer. Given that he
frequently seems to open his mouth before he engages his brain, that was
probably good advice.
There are, in my mind, two separate problems with the
attacks on Ford. One - only three people have seen the video. If it does exist
and even if it is a clear as the three reporters indicate, that does not mean
that it is true. I suspect that even I could, given the sophistication of
computer software available, make a reasonable realistic video. Do you remember
the video that went viral last year of an eagle swooping down on
Mount Royal in Montreal and snatching a child? It was totally untrue. It had
been manufactured by some students. I suspect one can make almost anything look
true for 90 seconds.
I have read that there are a number of relatively sophisticated
processes that one can do to determine if a video has been tampered with or
manipulated. I think we need to check out the video before we decide to hang
the guy from the nearest light post. So given the fact that in Canada someone
is innocent until proven guilty - I think we need to cut the mayor just a
little bit of slack. Is there anything
that he could say to prove his ignorance? I don't think so. I think he could
deny substance abuse until the cows came home and people would still want him
to say more. We need to see the video
before we make a decision.
However the second and in my mind far more serious problem
with all of the hullabaloo to get him to speak on this issue is what happens if
the tape is purchased and it is found out to be a hoax? All of the right wing
ultra conservatives will stand up and cheer, all of those who are sitting on
the fence in terms of Ford's values and policies will swing over to his side, and
all of those who are secretly inclined to cheer for the underdog ( I know I am not
the only one) will feel vindicated and support him in the next election.
If the video is proven to be false then we have just given
him a free get-out-of-jail card for the next time he screws up. He will become
the mayor who can do no wrong and when he does mess up (and you know he will)
no one will believe it. So back off just a little bit and wait for the proof. People
don't need to work so hard make Rob Ford stumble. It he is given enough
slack he will do it all by himself.
