Advice for the Fords

[Midnight Blue]

Advice: stop doing this!

I agree. Former Offensive Linemen were not born to throw a Football.

They usually fall down when they try, and head straight for the Cheesecake (or what's left of it).


BTW, that clip is hilarious!


Perhaps this was one of Ford's football injuries. Though I'm not making excuses for him.


And while we're on the topic of Football injuries, I'd like to shamelessly invite people to visit the "Brag about your Football injuries, here" thread, which is also in this "Sociable" section.



Ka' Pla !

[Midnight Blue]

Here's a column by Gerry Nicholls, who can be surprisingly funny, for a Conservative:


http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion...571/story.html



Actually, he's one of my favourite writers.


I will re-print his column here, for those who may not be able to access it online:





Fear not the Fordian hordes




By Gerry Nicholls, Ottawa Citizen November 24, 2013 12:01 PM



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Aaron Lynett/postmedia news

Photograph by: Aaron Lynett , National Post




The recent outrageous antics of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford have forced Canada’s intellectual elite to ponder the political force known as “populism.”

And what they’ve discovered in this pondering exercise scares the heck out of them.

Postmedia columnist Andrew Coyne, for instance, recently concluded that Ford’s brand of populism was the “the same aggressively dumb, harshly divisive message that has become the playbook for the right generally in this country, in all its contempt for learning, its disdain for facts, its disrespect of convention and debasing of standards.”

Meanwhile, his colleague Michael Den Tandt warned of “Ford’s visceral appeal to the under-educated working poor in the city proper” and noted ominously, “add to that the 905 belt’s long-standing, benign neglect of any issue other than the tax bill. It’s a recipe for political influence that extends far beyond the mayoralty of Toronto.”

Get the picture?

Coyne, Den Tandt and other defenders of urban civilization are terrified at what the emergence of populism, with its Attila the Hun-style messaging, means for the future.

Before long, the teeming hordes of uneducated, bible-thumping, Tim Hortons coffee drinking, non-CBC-watching, suburbanite barbarians, whipped up into a frenzy by the demagogic rantings of Ford and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will be unleashed to ransack libraries, loot universities and worse — block city bike lanes with their SUVs.

A shocking scenario to be sure, but before anybody panics and spills their lattes, I should point out that populism is by no means a new phenomenon nor is it always associated with the “right.”

In fact, populism, which is a political tactic of appealing to a voter’s sense of resentment, was around back in the days of the ancient Roman Republic.

Roman politicians who sought the votes of the economically disenfranchised mobs were called populares, which means favouring the people. Typically aristocrats, these populares affected lower-class accents and promised things such as cheaper bread, land redistribution and expanded citizenship.

Their political opponents, by the way, were called optimates, which roughly translates as “urban downtown elites.”

At any rate, if you flash forward to today’s Canada, you will find that populism is often employed by “progressives.”

Indeed, anytime a progressive politician echoes the “Occupy movement” and rails against the economic dominance of the famed “one per cent,” they are appealing to a populist sentiment.

We even saw populism rear its head in the by-election in the genteel, urban and sophisticated riding of Toronto Centre. The NDP has accused the Liberal candidate of shipping jobs outside the country, while Liberals have pointed out the NDP candidate lived in a lavish home.

Yup folks, that’s populism.

And yes, both Ford and Harper used populist tactics. But their messages weren’t “dumb” or “harshly divisive,” nor did they promote a “contempt for learning” or a “disdain for facts.”

For his part, Ford’s message of “stopping the gravy train” appealed to voters who were fed up with establishment politicians who put the needs of special interest groups and public sector unions ahead of everybody else.

As for Harper, he promised to keep our streets safe from criminals and our economy safe from former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, who was portrayed as an out of touch academic. And today he talks about protecting consumers from cable companies.

My point is, you can disagree with Ford and Harper’s messages, but they are not exactly “grab your torches and pitchforks” sort of appeals. And the people who supported Ford and Harper are not uneducated rabble, but Canadians who care about protecting and enhancing their quality of life and who want governments to exercise fiscal responsibility.

So relax everybody, Ford’s recent behaviour is not a sign of a coming apocalypse. There are no barbarians at the gates; civilization is safe.

Gerry Nicholls is a communications consultant. gerrynicholls.com

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