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The nasty response by the non-progressive media to Doug Ford’s entry in the race speaks more about them than it does about Doug Ford

Toronto media wastes no time turning on Doug Ford



Toronto media wastes no time turning on Doug Ford
After a flurry of activity that saw Rob Ford, the most famous municipal politician in the history of civilization, withdraw from the 2014 mayor’s race and his brother Doug throw his hat into the ring, the media was quick to pounce on the candidacy of Douglas Ford, Jr.
On Sept. 10, Rob Ford was hospitalized after complaining of abdominal pain and later that day it was announced he had a tumor. The next day he was transferred to Mt. Sinai Hospital who have more expertise in that area. Although the results of biopsies will not be known until the end of the week, it does not look good. Ford’s hospitalization happened just two days before the deadline for registering to run as mayor or formally withdrawing from the race took place. There was a lot of speculation of what would happen in light of the mayor’s illness. Doug Ford has served almost one complete term as city councillor. He ran his brother’s campaign but announced he was leaving politics after the Oct. 27 election to return to the family business. Shortly before the 2 p.m. deadline on Sept. 12, Rob Ford withdrew from the mayor’s race and registered to run for his old council seat, currently held by Doug. Doug registered to run for mayor. While the brothers are different people, they have the same political philosophy that led to Rob Ford’s huge victory in 2010. They both believe in the mantra of respect for taxpayers and stopping the gravy train at city hall.

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The liberal media such as the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, CP24 and CBC have been against the Ford brothers since day one, long before allegations against Rob Ford of crack use and drunken stupors arose. To these outlets, the Fords were too conservative and too uncouth to ever hold public offices. That these outlets that always opposed the Ford brothers would turn on Doug after he registered to run for mayor was consistent and hardly surprising. What was interesting in the last few days was how quickly the Toronto Sun and the National Post turned against Doug Ford before he has begun to campaign for mayor, choosing to spend time at his brother’s bedside. The Toronto Sun used to be a populist newspaper that championed the “little guy,” the same people who the Fords stand up for by questioning the idiotic amount of spending at Toronto City Hall that leads to unnecessary increases in property taxes and user fees. No more. An editorial in the Toronto Sun, written by Lorrie Goldstein after Rob Ford’s hospitalization, urged him to step down “for health reasons.” For his own good don’t you know. The reality is Goldstein is just as much an elitist as his counterparts at the Toronto Star and has nothing better to do except worry about the embarrassment Rob Ford caused to the city of Toronto. The same day Rob Ford withdrew from the race and Doug Ford entered, Goldstein penned a column stating Doug is not qualified for mayor because he has only served one term as councillor. Except for the progressive media who supports Olivia Chow for mayor, the Toronto Sun is supporting John Tory. Their boy, who is tied in with Bell and Rogers that own 80 per cent of Toronto’s media, is the number one choice of elitist, non-progressive media.

Tory is a perennial loser who is only interested in the top job

Doug Ford has been a councillor for three years, nine and one-half months. That is roughly, more or less, three years, nine and one-half months longer than Tory has ever served at city hall. Tory is a perennial loser who is only interested in the top job. Incapable of leading, Tory’s platform consists of singing Kumbaya with other councillors and other levels of government. His policies will be dictated by others, especially Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne. The campaign is down to three major candidates. As Doug Ford is spending time with his brother and has yet to begin to campaign, the upcoming never ending series of debates will feature only Chow and Tory as candidates with a chance of winning. Lorrie’s boy Tory is so afraid of debating Chow one-on-one that he cancelled appearances at debates this week he had already agreed to. But Goldstein is fretting about Doug Ford simply being too inexperienced to lead the city. As silly as Goldstein’s column was, one written in the National Post by Christie Blatchford was downright nasty. The National Post is not the same newspaper started by Conrad Black in 1998 and they, too see John Tory as the golden media boy. Not only did the Ford brothers withdraw and register last Friday but nephew Michael Ford did the same thing. Michael, who was registered to run in Doug’s ward as councillor, withdrew and then registered to run for school trustee. Blatchford compared Toronto under the Fords to North Korea, even going so far as to label family matriarch Diane Ford, who is not running for public office, as “Dear Mother.” Toronto is of course nothing like Pyongyang and to make the analogy was just a way of taking a cheap shot at the Fords and Blatchford’s readers who are dumb enough to think it is true. Anyone who is a Canadian citizen, resident in the city of Toronto and not in jail, could have paid $200 and had their names put on the ballot. There are over 70 people currently on the ballot to become the city’s next mayor. The Fords complied with all the rules when they registered and withdrew. Doug Ford has just as much right to run for mayor as the other candidates that include a clown and a dominatrix who is running on the platform of whipping the city into shape. But Blatchford likes to compare Doug’s entrance to the way a communist dictatorship is run. Disgraceful. A quick Forum Research Poll taken after Friday’s 2 p.m. deadline showed Doug Ford in second place with 34 per cent while John Tory led with 41 per cent support. Olivia Chow was third with 19 per cent. The previous Forum poll, taken a week ago, showed Rob Ford second but with only 28 per cent support. Doug gained at the expense of the third place Chow. The nasty response by the non-progressive media to Doug Ford’s entry in the race speaks more about them than it does about Doug.


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Arthur Weinreb -- Bio and Archives

Arthur Weinreb is an author, columnist and Associate Editor of Canada Free Press. Arthur’s latest book, Ford Nation: Why hundreds of thousands of Torontonians supported their conservative crack-smoking mayor is available at Amazon. Racism and the Death of Trayvon Martin is also available at Smashwords. His work has appeared on Newsmax.com,  Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.

Older articles (2007) by Arthur Weinreb


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